# I'm pissed off with the multi part movie craze **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 21, 2012, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-pissed-off-with-the-multi-part-movie-craze/632144 "2012-08-21T06:24:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2012, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-pissed-off-with-the-multi-part-movie-craze/632144/21 "2012-08-21T18:41:40Z")
_ **To be continued in Thread 2…** _ ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2012, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-pissed-off-with-the-multi-part-movie-craze/632144/22 "2012-08-21T18:47:46Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Well, in all fairness to the OP, there does seem to be a lot of “lets break this big book into 2+ films” movies: > Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows I and II > Twilight Breaking Dawn I and II > The Hobbit 1,2 and 3 > > And that’s not even counting book series (Hunger Games), sequels that form a continuous story arc (Nolan’s Batman films). > > Let’s just hope creating multi-film crossover franchises like The Avengers doesn’t become a norm. I haven’t seen like half the related Avenger films! I can’t speak for Twilight since I have never seen them, but I don’t think any of those movies have the “To be Continued” unfinished ending. They’re all still movies with a beginning, middle & end, they just also make up parts of a larger whole. The Batman films & Hunger Games series are ever less “unfinished” since you can watch any one of those on their own. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2012, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-pissed-off-with-the-multi-part-movie-craze/632144/23 "2012-08-21T18:50:51Z")
I don’t know about the Hobbit. Sure, they are definitely stretching it…BUT there is a ton of stuff that happens in the book. Honestly, I’d rather watch three movies and be really, really entertained, than watch 1 or 2 movies and feel like I missed a bunch of stuff or that the plot was rushed. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2012, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-pissed-off-with-the-multi-part-movie-craze/632144/24 "2012-08-21T18:55:28Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Or try watching David Lynch’s _Dune_. Pepper Mill saw it before reading the book, an criticized it for leaving most of the book out. Somebody - it might have been Lynch - was on a radio talk show in San Francisco about a year before Dune premiered (it had just finished primary filming and started post-production/effects), and made a comment that a significant amount of the book would be left out because “nobody wants to watch a 15-hour movie.” ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2012, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-pissed-off-with-the-multi-part-movie-craze/632144/25 "2012-08-21T18:59:20Z")
> [@That\_Don\_Guy](#): > > “nobody wants to watch a 15-hour movie.” I do. Well, not _Dune_, but something I was really interested in. I love movies, but often regret the “format limitations.” _The Lord of the Rings_ was too short. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2012, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-pissed-off-with-the-multi-part-movie-craze/632144/26 "2012-08-21T19:47:21Z")
Nothing can beat Clue. You had to watch 3 whole movies to get 10 extra minutes of material. Totally worth it too. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2012, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-pissed-off-with-the-multi-part-movie-craze/632144/27 "2012-08-21T19:52:57Z")
> [@Enderw24](#): > > Nothing can beat Clue. You had to watch 3 whole movies to get 10 extra minutes of material. > > Totally worth it too. Heh, DVD is so much better - I have it with all three endings. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2012, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-pissed-off-with-the-multi-part-movie-craze/632144/28 "2012-08-21T23:17:17Z")
LOTR was 3 books (or six), so 3 movies made sense. I could see Hobbit being two movies (esp with some of the appendices), 3 is stretching it. I Imagine this scene: Bilbo: How did you get your name? (Oakenshield) Book Thorin: One paragraph Movie Thorin: cut to 15 minute battle scene Brian (who actually wouldn’t mind see that) ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2012, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-pissed-off-with-the-multi-part-movie-craze/632144/29 "2012-08-21T23:25:02Z")
Looking at the relative sizes of the print versions, I think I have to agree there’s got to be some padding going on to get three movies out of “The Hobbit”, since LotR went three movies at at least 3x the thickness in print form. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2012, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-pissed-off-with-the-multi-part-movie-craze/632144/30 "2012-08-21T23:29:30Z")
They are adding other stuff in that was implied, like when Gandalf fights “the Necromancer” (Sauron) after the Hobbit is concluded. They aren’t going to make three movies out of “little person joins 15 different little people, finds a fancy piece of costume jewelry, helps kill a dragon, and hides while a war goes on.” ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2012, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-pissed-off-with-the-multi-part-movie-craze/632144/31 "2012-08-21T23:56:22Z")
I have no problem with splitting big stories into parts but each split should then in turn be a full story. You can have unresolved plot lines and threads and open questions but the movie itself tells a full story. To take an example that is probably one of the best of medium: The Empire Strikes Back basically tells the story of the attack on Hoth and how our characters escape and eventually find safety. Lots of continuing plots and threads but it tells a story of its own. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2012, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-pissed-off-with-the-multi-part-movie-craze/632144/32 "2012-08-22T01:26:45Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > They are adding other stuff in that was implied, like when Gandalf fights “the Necromancer” (Sauron) after the Hobbit is concluded. They aren’t going to make three movies out of “little person joins 15 different little people, finds a fancy piece of costume jewelry, helps kill a dragon, and hides while a war goes on.” You left out the spiders. There were lots of spiders, which can result in spooky slow pans. Then if they leave in the songs and poetry, that’s three films right there. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2012, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-pissed-off-with-the-multi-part-movie-craze/632144/33 "2012-08-22T01:46:26Z")
Also, before spiders, they meet the Elves. Cue obligatory shot of Orlando Bloom, eyes fluttering, even though he wasn’t mentioned in the novel. Maybe they could put the Tom Bombadil sections as a coda just to shut the Internet of 2001 up. ---
**Author:** ![csupp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@csupp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/csupp)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2012, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-pissed-off-with-the-multi-part-movie-craze/632144/34 "2012-08-22T01:52:42Z")
LOTR is a tough gauge for book length to film length conversion. If memory serves, in the book The Two Towers, the battle at Helm’s Deep is described briefly through character exposition. Whereas in the film, it makes sense for Helm’s Deep to be a cinematic centerpiece, and dominate a big chunk of the screen time. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-pissed-off-with-the-multi-part-movie-craze/632144.md?page=1)