Gosh. I'm sitting here watching the credits roll and I'm a bit a loss for words after watching all three back to back to back in the theater. There is so much to like about this movie that I'll have to revisit this thread later.

First off, it's without a doubt the best Hobbit movie of the three. I would rank this one as good (or almost as good) as any of the three from the original trilogy.

As much grief as the Hobbit trilogy gets, I'm going to miss this franchise. I'm going to miss seeing Legalos be a ficken badass...and especially Gandalf. I hope Ian gets an Oscar this time around for his work in this universe.

What I liked:
They jumped right into it at Lake Town. I especially liked the Bard in this one. His standoff with Smaug was better than I thought it would be. I actually care about him and his family in this movie.

Galadriel being a badass in Dol Guldur. We've never really seen how powerful she could be.

The battle scenes...particularly the dwarfish armies.

Thorins fight with Azog.

Martin Freemen.

Billy Boyds song at the end.

Beorn joining the fight.

What I disliked....
Any and every scene with Kate from Lost.
The cave trolls with baby faces.

What I wanted more of:
More battle scenes.
More Beorn

All in all, if I were to rank the franchise, as of this very second, I would rank as follows:

1: TT
2: FOTR
3: BFA
4: ROTK
5: UJ
6: DoS

I give it 4.9 wing wangs out of 5. If there is a directors cut that cuts out Kate, it's a 5/5.

Glad to hear people are liking it! Thanks for the info!

Really agree on beorn. He was barely in the fight.

Opening scene was great.

I thought they did a great job with thorin in the whole movie from his madness to his redemption.

Also love how quickly he wrapped it up and brought it to the beginning of fotr. No 20 endings that rotk suffered from.

since i won't see it until it's on HBO,can you tell me what saruman does to get the others off sauron's tailat dol guldur?

I only got to see half of it due to a family emergency.

Saruman just kinda says "I got this" and the other characters leave dol goldur.

Nothing. Galadriel is spent after expelling Sauron out of Dol Guldur. Saruman tells Elrond to take her to Lothlorien and that he'll take care of Sauron himself. He also makes the case that as long as the he doesn't have the ring of power, Sauron will not be powerful enough to rule middle earrh....or something along those lines.

Wow, that's disappointing.

If all you want to see Sarumam fighting, you won't be disappointed.

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Wow, that's disappointing.

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I thought it worked fine.
The scene was pretty cool seeing the Wizards and high elves fighting.

Also, you expect Sarumam to beat down Sauron and then turn right around and join him in the next movie?

I was hoping to see Saurman"pursue" Sauron,but once the others are gone, he instead talks to him and the scene trails away with Sauron working his sorcery on Saruman's ego.

I don't think he was in a talking mood.

Also, there was a bit of a look in Sarumans eyes when he first sees Sauron. I actually took that to mean he was falling under his spell then.

Why? ROTK has serious issues with being too long. The battle of Gondor was epic, but the movie was only half over at that point.

Going tonight

ROTK was the movie that never wanted to end.

Did anyone else's theater get really dusty at the end???

Just got back. I thought it was the best of the three, and a fitting end to the Hobbit trilogy.

Here's what I liked and disliked, specifically: *SPOILERS*

What I liked:

• The Dol Guldur fight scene was awesome, but definitely too short. Galadriel banishing Sauron was pretty badass.
  
• Smaug attack and death scene was really well done.
  
• There was a HUGE improvement in the CGI, I thought. The orcs all looked really good, Bolg and Azog especially.
  
• The pace was really quick, which was very refreshing for a Middle-Earth movie. The action never let up except for a few minutes early on.
  
• Billy Boyd song was fantastic.
  

What I didn't like:

• The early parts of the battle were a little chaotic and hard to follow, imo. I wasn't sure if Azog's strategy was to take Erebor or to take the city.
  
• Beorn for all of FIVE SECONDS? Come on, we should've seen some badass bear action for at least a couple of minutes. Wasted opportunity.
  
• Once the main battle dies down and it shifts into the one-on-one fights betwen Azog/Thorin and Bolg/Tauriel/Kili/Legolas, the fights started to feel a tad repetitive after a while. It was almost a relief when Kili finally gets killed.
  
• Gandalf fiddling with the pipe was funny, but it felt out of place in the middle of the emotional scenes. To go from mourning Thorin to that, back to Thorin, felt awkward.
  
• The scene where Thranduil tells Legolas about Aragorn felt a bit cheap and tacked-on.
  
• The music wasn't bad, but it wasn't memorable in the least. I still like putting on the LOTR soundtracks every once in a while, but I don't see myself doing the same with these Hobbit soundtracks.
  

All in all, I'd say it was a really fun movie, and I'll probably be giving it another watch, though it has its faults.

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funny, but it felt out of place in the middle of the emotional scenes. To go from mourning Thorin to that, back to Thorin, felt awkward

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Everyone in my theater was laughing at that. I thought it was a bit odd that Thorins body was probably just a few yards away from them.

Chubby girl dressed as the she-elf here in Dallas. Good Lord

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Chubby girl dressed as the she-elf here in Dallas. Good Lord

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She's gotta live,just like the rest of us. Dammit.

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Chubby girl dressed as the she-elf here in Dallas. Good Lord

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She's gotta live,just like the rest of us. Dammit.

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Actually, my seats turned out to be right next to her little posse. Turns out they are young Ags. Charming little group

Definitely the best of the 3. Reminded me why I loved the first trilogy so much. Overall, the entire set was good and it'll be hard to say goodbye to Middle Earth on the big screen....until someone remakes them in 30 years and I get to ***** and moan about it.

I do wish we could have seen more of Beorn during the battle, but I'm glad they hit all the main points of the movie, with everyone ending where they are supposed to. Can't wait for Legolas: The Adventures in the North.

There was two guys in dwarf/viking outfits at my theater. Had one on either side of me at the urinal. Kinda funny actually.

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There was two guys in dwarf/viking outfits at my theater. Had one on either side of me at the urinal. Kinda funny actually.

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Yes!

Not trying to **** on the movie at all because it sounds like it's good, but I thought this was interesting.

Adaptations of movies - Minutes of film per page

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Not trying to **** on the movie at all because it sounds like it's good, but I thought this was interesting.

Adaptations of movies - Minutes of film per page

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Yeah I had to search The Hobbit for the stone giants material. It was such an insignificant part of the book. The movies honestly didn't do justice to Mirkwood, which could have been a longer scene. That place felt creepy as hell when I read it as a kid. I've never forgotten the dread.

Just to add a little bit to my review -- I think it would've been cool to have one shot of Mordor at the end, where the spirit of Sauron arrives at the tower of Barad Dur and explodes into a ball of flames, becoming the Eye of Sauron. Maybe it's a little too "on the nose", but then, so was the Aragorn scene.

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They jumped right into it at Lake Town. I especially liked the Bard in this one. His standoff with Smaug was better than I thought it would be. I actually care about him and his family in this movie.

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I have a problem with his character in the movies. As a fan of the book, he was not portrayed as someone who was looked down upon by his fellow lakemen. He was a hero figure. I'm about to go watch the movie here shortly. I 'm just gonna check my brain and try not to remember how different this is to the book and enjoy it for what it is.

Ok I just got back. I am thoroughly entertained. Is it anything like the book? Absolutely not. Is it a great movie? Absolutely. Go watch it. The battles are intense, you actually care about the characters and the tie in to LOTR is very smooth. Now that it's over, I will anxiously await the 6-BluRay compilation to be released.

I am sitting i. The theater for an 8:00 show ... My wife and I are the only ones here so far ...

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I am sitting i. The theater for an 8:00 show ... My wife and I are the only ones here so far ...

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we're with you in spirit! One ring to rule them all.

Pretty "meh" reviews so far.

When the orc takes out Kili, does he stare right at the camera and say, "It was either Kili or be Kilied"?