Because if I didn’t see it I’d always be wondering what it was like, and if there were some good parts that were worth seeing, and unhappily being left out of discussions by fellow Middle-earth fans who did see it. Having seen Thorin & Co. come this far, even wincing at times along the way, I want see their journey through to the end.
If you say so. It still seems to me like going to a restaurant where the food was bad, the service was worse, and there was a roach in your salad, and then coming back the next night because the head chef had taken a pastry class and you wanted to try his cheesecake.
His NO-BAKE cheesecake.
I’m in Skald’s camp.
And not merely because he invited me to lead his Legions of Doom and Despair. Really.
How do the Extended Editions / Director’s Cut versions of the Hobbit so far compare with the theatrical release versions?
Really, my only criticism of the theatrical releases so far is that I had to see them in 3D and I just can’t relax into a 3D film.
Doesn’t bother me a bit. Once again I disagree with a lot of PJ’s choices, but it’s hard to get upset about them. I’m thoroughly enjoying participating in his vision about what Middle Earth looks like, and how he’s choosing to expand the Hobbit story to better fit into Middle Earth (something JRRT tried to do also, later in his life.)
I admit to be less interested in watching Hobbit film 1 multiple times than I was for LOTR films. But that just may be me, as I’ve gotten older. Or not.
I haven’t looked at what is in the extended version vs. the theatrical release, but clearly I either missed the entire Thrain bit in the theater, or it’s an extended scene.
In the first movie, Gandalf brings up the threat Smaug poses if he aligns himself with ‘the Enemy’. Saruman dismisses this as fantasy, since he is sure Sauron is forever powerless and ‘the Necromancer’ is just some easily dealt with Human Sorcerer. The second makes it clear that Smaug is firmly aligned with Sauron and will be a major weapon in the coming war. Now obviously, this isn’t in The Hobbit because the whole War of the Ring wasn’t on Tolkein’s map yet. However, it works well to tie him in to the whole story and make it even more vital that Smaug is slain.
I think I have figured out Jackson’s idiosyncracies. I know in advance what I will be getting, so I don’t think I will be disappointed.
The visuals will be beautiful.
The drama will be ham-handed, but well-intentioned.
The action sequences will be absurdly overdone, with the coyote and roadrunner serving as technical advisors for the CGI team.
He actually could have had an excuse for the action scenes. He should have told the story as flashbacks, with a frame story of elderly Bilbo telling tall tales to a group of hobbit children. Whenever the action gets too far-fetched, cut back to the frame story, and show Bilbo exaggerating things to entertain the kids.
I like the depiction of Smaug, especially the glowing chest when he is preparing to breathe flame. Benedict Cumberbatch is a great actor, but Richard Boone had a better voice for the role.
In some mildly alternate reality, Guillermo del Toro’s 3+ hour The Hobbit movie is exquisite.
I want to visit that universe.
Please bring a copy back for me when you do.
Okay, I’ll send over a continua buggy. On the way back I’ll need you to stop over in the Marvel of universe and deliver a small package to Stark Industries.
If it’s not ticking or leaking noxious fluids, my friend, I’d be glad to.
I didn’t particularly like the first Hobbit film (the only one I’ve seen so far), but I think that’s more because of the source material than what Peter Jackson did with it. It just doesn’t fit very well in the Lord of the Rings universe, in my opinion.
The problem was Jackson fell in love with his LOTR and is unable to simplify. The Hobbit is a fairy tale, not an age ending epic. A grocer goes off on an adventure and discovers to his surprise that he’s brave. It isn’t a relentless series of action sequences built solely to give Lego video game ideas.
Reviving to say there’s a fan cut out there. Here are the cut notes:
I figured it out in a way. There are only so many non-orcs (or orcs, for that matter) in the world that it is possible to slaughter, so each orc, no matter how large and well-armored they seem, statistically has probably never killed anyone. Once [del]the PCs[/del] Thorin and Company have killed their first few, they are vastly more experienced.
I would have left in the Dol Guildor stuff. That was some of the better scenes. Other than that it sounds good.
I’m not a really big fan of the books. I liked the LotR movies more than the books by a considerable margin. The Hobbit movies have not been as good but I’ve enjoyed them quite a bit. I can certainly understand how if you’re a big fan of the books it might seem like a train wreck but for me they’re quite a lot of fun.
No. Books are books, and movies are movies, and I hope McKellen* and Freeman and Skeris make a boatload of money and live happily ever after.
- Does anyone else remember his Juliet’s soliloquy in “Acting Shakespeare”? Breathtaking.
I liked The Hobbit. I’ll agree that it would have been better as just two movies with a lot of the fight scenes eliminated, but overall we enjoyed watching them.