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The first two Hobbit movies = Transformers: Middle Earth

That's an exaggeration, but there is a lot of gratuitous CGI action to stretch the movie into three segments when it should be two at most, or even one long movie. As a Tolkien purist, they turn me off by deviating so heavily from a story that doesn't need embellishment. However, they do have some great scenes (even for a fanboy) and I would expect them to be an enjoyable watch for people who are looking for a fun movie rather than a faithful representation of a classic novel.

I'll watch part three in theaters because I expect it to be by far the best of the three.

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Spot on for the second movie. The first movie wasn't far from the book, as movies go.

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The first movie way way different. It added the Orc and all the dwarves conflicts with him. It added radagast and bunny sleighs. It added a whole bunch of Thorin backstory that was never in the book, and a lot more action, too.

I said as movies go, it wasn't as far off in left field as the second movie. There were unnecessary deviations, but not like Smaug.

Fantastic video for The Last Goodbye, performed by Billy Boyd.

which I won't see until it's on HBO 9 months from now.

Um, why. Theater?

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which I won't see until it's on HBO 9 months from now.

Um, why. Theater?

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I have twin 2 year olds.

Rereading both The Hobbit and Fellowship of the Ring now. As great a trilogy as LOTR is, The Hobbit book is so much more readable and enjoyable. It hasn't lost its charm and excitement despite not having opened it in thirty years. I find myself reading pages of Fellowship multiple times as my mind drifts. I often critic ize.Jackson, but he was wise in doing some editing of certain things like Tom Bombadil.

I have very few problems with his adaptation of LOTR, and merging Tom Bombadil into Treebeard is not one of them. I'd probably have preferred that they leave him out entirely since the Treebeard parts dragged a bit, but no Bombadil is ok with me.

That said, I much prefer LOTR to the Hobbit, book and movie.

Well i'm to the Prancing Pony, so perhaps it will pick up now.

I picked up The Simarrilion as a kid and tried to read it. Damn.

As a kid??? you crazy! I didn't read that until college.

Yeah I didn't make it through it. I was a bit of a loner that year I guess. Ass deep in AD&D too.

Y'all ever see the D&D episode of Freaks and Geeks? Complete greatness.

What parts of Tom B did they merge with treebeard?

The only specific thing I can think of off the top of my head is that in the movies Treebeard saves them from the tree that ensnares Pippin and Merry but in the books that's Tom.

...and that was only in the extended version, right?

I don't recall. I haven't watched the theatrical versions since the extended versions came out.

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...and that was only in the extended version, right?

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Yes.

Reviews starting to come out, sitting at 77% on RT. General consensus seems to be that it's the best of the trilogy, if not quite on LOTR's level, which is pretty much as expected.

Everyone seems to be praising the battle of five armies, which makes me very excited.

Also only 144 minutes long. Relatively short for a Middle Earth movie.

December is about to pick up!

wrong thread. lulz

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It simply amazes me how week RJ cast these movies. Bilbo was almost exactly as I imagined him.

I've been watching all the making of material on the Desolation of Smaug Extended bluray, and it's crazy how much they had to change once they decided to go to three movies.

They basically had both movies done as far as the structure of the story went. The climax of the first movie was supposed to be the barrel sequence, and the second would start in Laketown. But once they made the decision to split, they moved all of Mirkwood and the barrel sequence into second movie, and decided to start the second with the flashback in Bree. So they had to rebuild Bree, which was not originally gonna be in there.

Right before the second film was due, PJ realized they had to move the Smaug attack on Laketown into the third movie, which left them without a big climax. That's when they decided to create the big action scene in Erebor with Smaug and the dwarves. They created that whole sequence basically from scratch, and had just a couple of weeks to finish it. (Effects, sound mixing, score, etc.)

Kind of crazy, but it also explains why some of the CGI in that scene was subpar. (The giant gold statue melting comes to mind.) But considering how quickly they did it, I think they did a pretty impressive job overall.

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I've been watching all the making of material on the Desolation of Smaug Extended bluray, and it's crazy how much they had to change once they decided to go to three movies.

They basically had both movies done as far as the structure of the story went. The climax of the first movie was supposed to be the barrel sequence, and the second would start in Laketown. But once they made the decision to split, they moved all of Mirkwood and the barrel sequence into second movie, and decided to start the second with the flashback in Bree. So they had to rebuild Bree, which was not originally gonna be in there.

Right before the second film was due, PJ realized they had to move the Smaug attack on Laketown into the third movie, which left them without a big climax. That's when they decided to create the big action scene in Erebor with Smaug and the dwarves. They created that whole sequence basically from scratch, and had just a couple of weeks to finish it. (Effects, sound mixing, score, etc.)

Kind of crazy, but it also explains why some of the CGI in that scene was subpar. (The giant gold statue melting comes to mind.) But considering how quickly they did it, I think they did a pretty impressive job overall.

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I don't remember the beginning of Hobbi 2. What was the flashback in Bree?

Gandalf and Thorin meet at the Prancing Pony. Gandalf tells Thorin he needs to reclaim his homeland and that they need a burglar.

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I've been watching all the making of material on the Desolation of Smaug Extended bluray, and it's crazy how much they had to change once they decided to go to three movies.

They basically had both movies done as far as the structure of the story went. The climax of the first movie was supposed to be the barrel sequence, and the second would start in Laketown. But once they made the decision to split, they moved all of Mirkwood and the barrel sequence into second movie, and decided to start the second with the flashback in Bree. So they had to rebuild Bree, which was not originally gonna be in there.

Right before the second film was due, PJ realized they had to move the Smaug attack on Laketown into the third movie, which left them without a big climax. That's when they decided to create the big action scene in Erebor with Smaug and the dwarves. They created that whole sequence basically from scratch, and had just a couple of weeks to finish it. (Effects, sound mixing, score, etc.)

Kind of crazy, but it also explains why some of the CGI in that scene was subpar. (The giant gold statue melting comes to mind.) But considering how quickly they did it, I think they did a pretty impressive job overall.

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Yeah, I was pretty pissed off about that whole sequence when I first saw it, as the book, The Hobbit, is my favorite book in my entire life. But I did read the entire book to my son before going to see that particular movie, so he had his own ideas about the story. I took that 9 year old son to see Desolation of Smaug (yes I carried him to a PG13 movie, gasp) and he absolutely loved the movie. We made a big deal of it before we went and I have to say when I walked out of the movie, I was cursing Peter Jackson under my breath. When I saw the toothy smile of my son, though, it was all better.

My thought is The Hobbit three movies are a little like rain / rape ..... insert Clayton Williams quote here.

The thinking is that Gandalf wants Thorin to take out Smaug so Sauron can't use Smaug as an A-Bomb in the coming War for the Ring?

Can someone remind me what actually happened (in the book) when Bilbo went into the mountain? He goes in once and steals a cup. He goes in a second time and he verbally spars (while invisible) with Smaug, which pisses him off. Smaug goes out and smashes up the outside door and eats their horses, the dwarves (and bilbo all hide out in the tunnel. Bilbo goes in one more time and lets slip "Barrel rider", Smaug goes and levels Laketown (and *spoiler alert* gets killed).

Meanwhile the dwarves huddle in the dark in the tunnel for a day or two and don't hear anything so they eventually just go and retake the mountain unopposed?

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The thinking is that Gandalf wants Thorin to take out Smaug so Sauron can't use Smaug as an A-Bomb in the coming War for the Ring?

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Yep, pretty much. He says precisely that in the white council meeting in Rivdendell.

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Can someone remind me what actually happened (in the book) when Bilbo went into the mountain? He goes in once and steals a cup. He goes in a second time and he verbally spars (while invisible) with Smaug, which pisses him off. Smaug goes out and smashes up the outside door and eats their horses, the dwarves (and bilbo all hide out in the tunnel. Bilbo goes in one more time and lets slip "Barrel rider", Smaug goes and levels Laketown (and *spoiler alert* gets killed).

Meanwhile the dwarves huddle in the dark in the tunnel for a day or two and don't hear anything so they eventually just go and retake the mountain unopposed?

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I'll have to review that latter part. I don't remember that well.


I would say this, however; the best parts of the book are all the parts leading up to the exchange with Smaug. Thereafter, it gets a little muddled, or at least the story isn't quite as compelling or personal. Just my opinion.

Is Smaug the only dragon left in Middle Earth? I can't recall if any of the books touch on that.

Last of the great fire drakes. There may be some minor ones still around in the extreme north.

Agreed. Once the dwarves take back the mountain the story gets a lot less interesting. There's a standoff with the elves for a few pages, and then the battle starts and is basically skipped over. Then the book ends.

The ending is not very climactic, and I think this is the part of the story where they can really improve on the book significantly. Especially considering the very positive reception the battle of five armies is getting critically.

And the book is written as a children's story about a grand adventure - where the journey itself is the focus. So there's really little emphasis placed on this huge battle as a "grand climax" because the whole book was telling the tale on one small being placed in extraordinary circumstances and his personal growth through them.

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And the book is written as a children's story about a grand adventure - where the journey itself is the focus. So there's really little emphasis placed on this huge battle as a "grand climax" because the whole book was telling the tale on one small being placed in extraordinary circumstances and his personal growth through them.

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Amen to that theme, book report writer.

Haha, thanks!