# The Hobbit movie(s) anticipation thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 22, 2010, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hobbit-movie-s-anticipation-thread/557969 "2010-10-22T02:44:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 37
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hobbit-movie-s-anticipation-thread/557969/721 "2014-08-01T16:02:29Z")
> [@N9IWP](#): > > TORN’s frame-by-frame analysis: What a load of anti-critical fanboyism. ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hobbit-movie-s-anticipation-thread/557969/722 "2014-08-01T16:22:19Z")
The gushing was a little much. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2014, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hobbit-movie-s-anticipation-thread/557969/723 "2014-10-27T00:45:58Z")
Desolation of Smaug Extended edition is now available on Itunes, with a Blu-ray soon. It is improved, as all Extended versions are in my opinion. It benefits greatly in three ways: 1. Beorn has more scenes that flesh him out more. 2. The magic evil forest before the elves section is massively improved by showing more of the dwarves becoming confused. Hard to explain, but it is less rushed and is now a full sequence. 3. Thorin’s missing father, Thrain, is a new storyline deleted from the theatrical and added back in. Thorin mentions him in the beginning and Gandalf finds him in Dol Goldor. They actually had edited him out of scenes with Gandalf, and it is nice to see him back in and the storyline edited back in. Don’t worry, Smaug is not extended at all. I guess we got the full extended version of inside the mountain in the theatrical version. It’s 25 minutes longer and all the extra scenes are worth it. Pick it up. ---
**Author:** ![JKilez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e5b9ba/32.png) [@JKilez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKilez)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2014, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hobbit-movie-s-anticipation-thread/557969/724 "2014-10-27T01:59:02Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Don’t worry, Smaug is not extended at all. So, at least it has one thing going for it. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2014, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hobbit-movie-s-anticipation-thread/557969/725 "2014-10-27T08:29:17Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > 1. Thorin’s missing father, Thrain, is a new storyline deleted from the theatrical and added back in. Thorin mentions him in the beginning and Gandalf finds him in Dol Goldor. They actually had edited him out of scenes with Gandalf, and it is nice to see him back in and the storyline edited back in. Ah, PJ strikes again. Thrain did indeed end up in Dol Guldur and Gandalf did find him there, but that was long before the Party - that’s how Gandalf got hold of the map and the key. But hey. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2014, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hobbit-movie-s-anticipation-thread/557969/726 "2014-10-27T14:10:28Z")
Some of Jackson’s decisions are completely incomprehensibobble to me. That whole long dragon-fight cartoon sequence was in, but Thrain was out? \ I would love to be able to edit OUT lots of scenes in both movies so far. And I’m sort of dreading the third movie, I suspect it’s going to be one huge battle (Smaug vs town, which might be interesting) then some of Bilbo and then another huge battle (of Five Armies.) My main problem is that these movies are NOT about the hobbit. ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2014, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hobbit-movie-s-anticipation-thread/557969/727 "2014-10-27T14:21:17Z")
> **[Peter Jackson walks us through his battle plans for 'The Hobbit: The Battle...](https://ew.com/article/2014/10/23/peter-jackson-hobbit-the-battle-of-the-five-armies/)** > > Peter Jackson walks us through his battle plans for 'The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies' 45 minutes for the battle of five armies. :smack: Throw in whatever amount of time you need to burn Laketown to the waterline and assault Dol Goldur/Rescue Gandalf and you may have 15 or 20 minutes of actual story in there somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2014, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hobbit-movie-s-anticipation-thread/557969/728 "2014-10-27T14:34:12Z")
> [@Malacandra](#): > > Ah, PJ strikes again. Thrain did indeed end up in Dol Guldur and Gandalf did find him there, but that was long before the Party - that’s how Gandalf got hold of the map and the key. But hey. I forget how he gets the map and key in the movie. Thrain does ask him about the key and map in the extended movie and he tells him he gave it to Thorin. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2014, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hobbit-movie-s-anticipation-thread/557969/729 "2014-10-27T14:34:57Z")
> [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](#): > > Some of Jackson’s decisions are completely incomprehensibobble to me. I’m with you. I’m not opposed to changing things in a movie based on a book, but in name of Eru Ilúvatar please change them to something _good_. I.e. _not_ bunny sled driving by a joke of a character with bird poop caked in his hair. _Not_ overly long sequences of video game-like mook slaughter. _Not_ an awkward and implausible “romance.” _Not_ scenes that inconsistently wobble between your main characters being utterly incompetent buffoons and being members of a supreme über-effective fighting squad. _Not_ undermining the strength of your best characters (via the “[Worf effect](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheWorfEffect)”) in a cheap but ultimately ineffective effort to create suspense. If you keep piling peril upon more peril, what you get in the end is a badly told parody with no punch line. > [@](#): > > I would love to be able to edit OUT lots of scenes in both movies so far. Agreed. The editing in the first two movies is lamentable at best. > [@](#): > > And I’m sort of dreading the third movie, I suspect it’s going to be one huge battle… But here’s the thing. It won’t be a well-done battle, with believable pacing and sequences of real drama. It will be another overly long sequence of video game-like mook slaughter, but with less suspense. > [@](#): > > (Smaug vs town, which might be interesting) Indeed. This is the only part of the trailer that caught my attention. However, I dread the inevitable use of the “Dwarvish Windlance.” :smack: > [@](#): > > My main problem is that these movies are NOT about the hobbit. Yep. Bilbo’s actual experiences and growth are very much tertiary in PJ’s “vision” for these movies. Even the scene in the treetops with the butterflies was botched, not to mention his heroism against the spiders, which was utterly ruined. Honestly, I think I’m done. I watched all of the LOTR movies, even purchased the extended videos, and like them, for the most part. I watched the first two Hobbit movies with increasing agitation and discomfort. Not because stuff was changed. Because much of it was _so poor_. ---
**Author:** ![Airk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Airk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airk)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2014, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hobbit-movie-s-anticipation-thread/557969/730 "2014-10-27T14:51:22Z")
> [@Knorf](#): > > If you keep piling peril upon more peril, what you get in the end is a badly told parody with no punch line. Let me go back and face the peril! No, it’s too perilous! ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2014, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hobbit-movie-s-anticipation-thread/557969/731 "2014-10-27T15:44:20Z")
> [@Airk](#): > > Let me go back and face the peril! > > No, it’s too perilous! Precisely. Example: the first hobbit movie. In the books, the company escapes from the goblin caves to find themselves outrun by wargs (“Out of the Frying-Pan into the Fire”). They climb into trees, but the goblins catch up and set fire to all the trees (“Fifteen birds in five fir trees”). For most ordinary people, this is _plenty_ perilous. But for Peter Jackson, no, there needs to be more peril. Soooo… an ancient nemesis shows up, whom Thorin fights hand-to-hand before conveniently hopping back into the trees. Still not enough peril. The trees, although they are ancient, huge, and have very deep roots, are somehow more easily uprooted than corn stalks and topple into each other, one by one, like dominoes, until the entire company is stuck in a single tree. PJ decided that still more peril was needed. The last tree, in addition to being on fire and overburdened with thirteen dwarves, a hobbit, and a wizard, is perched over a sheer cliff, with a vertiginous drop of what looks to be several miles. Yeah. Need moar peril!!!1 :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2014, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hobbit-movie-s-anticipation-thread/557969/732 "2014-10-27T17:25:43Z")
> [@Knorf](#): > > …I’m not opposed to changing things in a movie based on a book, but in name of Eru Ilúvatar please change them to something _good_. I.e. _not_ bunny sled driving by a joke of a character with bird poop caked in his hair. _Not_ overly long sequences of video game-like mook slaughter. _Not_ an awkward and implausible “romance.” _Not_ scenes that inconsistently wobble between your main characters being utterly incompetent buffoons and being members of a supreme über-effective fighting squad. _Not_ undermining the strength of your best characters (via the “[Worf effect](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheWorfEffect)”) in a cheap but ultimately ineffective effort to create suspense… Well said. I’m sure I’ll see the third film for the sake of completeness and closure, but this is pretty much my reaction so far. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2014, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hobbit-movie-s-anticipation-thread/557969/733 "2014-10-27T18:41:06Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > I’m sure I’ll see the third film for the sake of completeness and closure… I hope I don’t. I fear I might. Aargh! ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Airk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Airk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airk)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2014, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hobbit-movie-s-anticipation-thread/557969/734 "2014-10-27T19:14:38Z")
> [@Knorf](#): > > I hope I don’t. I fear I might. Aargh! ☹ I dunno; I love Tolkien, but I laughed myself halfway out of my chair in my viewing of movie 2, so clearly I’ve found some way to derive amusement from these movies. ---
**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:** [November 6, 2014, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hobbit-movie-s-anticipation-thread/557969/735 "2014-11-06T18:31:31Z")
New trailer: Brian bats? ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2014, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hobbit-movie-s-anticipation-thread/557969/736 "2014-11-06T19:02:01Z")
> [@N9IWP](#): > > New trailer: > > > Brian > bats? Well, that trailer does make me choke back vomit a bit less. The bats don’t bother me; maybe they give a better excuse for the arrival of the eagles. Aside from trolls carrying on in what appears to be broad daylight (wtf?!), the battle scenes look like they might be pretty good. The acting from the dwarves looks solid, always a strong point in the first two movies as well. But there’s more silly dwarf-elf romance. Blech! The mountain scenes are striking, very beautiful. The awful tension in the days before the big battle looks to be well done. It’s nice to see that it was the whole White Council in force to deal with Sauron, and it’s plausible to me that Saruman’s treachery was already underway. Aarrgh! Will to resist! Crumbling! ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2014, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hobbit-movie-s-anticipation-thread/557969/737 "2014-11-06T19:29:00Z")
Middle Earth really needs a good dental plan. ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2014, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hobbit-movie-s-anticipation-thread/557969/738 "2014-11-06T19:46:38Z")
> [@N9IWP](#): > > New trailer: > > > Brian > bats? They’re actually in the book. Clouds of bats darkening the sky followed the orc army coming from Gundabad. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2014, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hobbit-movie-s-anticipation-thread/557969/739 "2014-11-06T20:00:21Z")
> [@Grey](#): > > They’re actually in the book. Clouds of bats darkening the sky followed the orc army coming from Gundabad. well of course they’re from Gundabad - the Eagles are from Kindagud. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2014, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hobbit-movie-s-anticipation-thread/557969/740 "2014-11-06T20:09:23Z")
Was Smaug even in that last trailer? Is he gonna be killed so early in the last one that he’s barely in it? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hobbit-movie-s-anticipation-thread/557969.md?page=36) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hobbit-movie-s-anticipation-thread/557969.md?page=38)