# The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug - Seen it; open spoilers **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 14, 2013, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hobbit-the-desolation-of-smaug-seen-it-open-spoilers/676312 "2013-12-14T17:44:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![tim314](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim314/32/3468_2.png) [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2014, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hobbit-the-desolation-of-smaug-seen-it-open-spoilers/676312/161 "2014-01-05T14:19:28Z")
> [@Deeg](#): > > You have a point on some of the complaints but a lot of the problems I had were not just the deviations but some of the silliness: Thorin dancing on the _lips_ of Smaug?!? The dragon starts off menacing and ends up being ridiculous. Exactly. For the most part, people aren’t complaining that Jackson added stuff that wasn’t in the book, they’re complaining that he added stuff that’s just not very good. Like cheesy video game action sequences. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2014, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hobbit-the-desolation-of-smaug-seen-it-open-spoilers/676312/162 "2014-01-05T14:21:20Z")
“Cheesy” just about covers it. I thought the first movie much better than this one. The wife too. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2014, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hobbit-the-desolation-of-smaug-seen-it-open-spoilers/676312/163 "2014-01-05T16:03:37Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Sorry I didn’t spot Colbert and his pipe - I’ll have to look more carefully next time. He was the guy with the eyepatch (that he didn’t need) who was watching Bard. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2014, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hobbit-the-desolation-of-smaug-seen-it-open-spoilers/676312/164 "2014-01-05T16:24:02Z")
> [@The\_Man\_In\_Black](#): > > About the high frame rate. Me and the people I saw it with thought it looked like shit in many places. I can’t exactly put my finger on it, but it just didn’t look good at all in a lot of places. I saw it in HFR and it made the 3D almost tolerable. Anyway, I’m looking forward to a marathon Hobbit Extended Edition / Director’s Cut session in 2 years’ time. Perhaps the Hobbit on the Saturday and LOTR on the Sunday? ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2014, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hobbit-the-desolation-of-smaug-seen-it-open-spoilers/676312/165 "2014-01-05T16:29:08Z")
> [@tim314](#): > > Exactly. For the most part, people aren’t complaining that Jackson added stuff that wasn’t in the book, they’re complaining that he added stuff that’s just not very good. Like cheesy video game action sequences. Yes. Two hours of being chased by goblins (that weren’t seen in the book any time during this part of the story) and another half hour of being chased by a dragon (who most of them didn’t go anywhere near during this part of the story, never mind get into any chase sequences) gets kinda tedious. ---
**Author:** ![vontsira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/51bf81/32.png) [@vontsira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vontsira)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2014, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hobbit-the-desolation-of-smaug-seen-it-open-spoilers/676312/166 "2014-01-05T16:36:22Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Sorry I didn’t spot Colbert and his pipe - I’ll have to look more carefully next time. > [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > He was the guy with the eyepatch (that he didn’t need) who was watching Bard. “Google is your friend” – usually, but occasionally it lets you down a bit. Likely because I’m not in the US, and not much plugged into popular culture, the “Colbert and his pipe” references meant nothing to me. The only significance for me of the name Colbert, was from dimly-recalled history lessons from 50+ years ago, concerning a guy called Colbert who was a big wheel in financial / economic stuff in 17th-century (I think) France. Google seemed to deliver nothing about the historical French bod; but told of a geezer called Stephen Colbert, who I’d never hitherto heard of, but who seems to be an American celebrity, and who is the person referred to re DOS. Ignorance fought, sorta-kinda, I suppose… ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2014, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hobbit-the-desolation-of-smaug-seen-it-open-spoilers/676312/167 "2014-01-05T22:53:49Z")
> [@vontsira](#): > > “Google is your friend” – usually, but occasionally it lets you down a bit. Likely because I’m not in the US, and not much plugged into popular culture, the “Colbert and his pipe” references meant nothing to me. The only significance for me of the name Colbert, was from dimly-recalled history lessons from 50+ years ago, concerning a guy called Colbert who was a big wheel in financial / economic stuff in 17th-century (I think) France. Google seemed to deliver nothing about the historical French bod; but told of a geezer called Stephen Colbert, who I’d never hitherto heard of, but who seems to be an American celebrity, and who is the person referred to re DOS. Ignorance fought, sorta-kinda, I suppose… Don’t feel bad. I’m an American, and while I’ve heard his name and know he’s some sort of political commentator, I could not tell you if he’s right or left wing or what he looks like. Of course, I’ve been gone a while myself. To me, “Colbert” still means “Claudette.” ---
**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:** [January 6, 2014, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hobbit-the-desolation-of-smaug-seen-it-open-spoilers/676312/168 "2014-01-06T02:16:13Z")
Colbert’s a spoof of conservative commentators: [http://www.colbertnation.com/](http://www.colbertnation.com/) Here he is in the movie, I guess: [http://www.themarysue.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/hqdefault-112.jpg](http://www.themarysue.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/hqdefault-112.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2014, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hobbit-the-desolation-of-smaug-seen-it-open-spoilers/676312/169 "2014-01-06T02:27:05Z")
Thanks. So he spoofs conservative commentators. That could explain my confusion over which wing he really is. ---
**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:** [January 6, 2014, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hobbit-the-desolation-of-smaug-seen-it-open-spoilers/676312/170 "2014-01-06T16:29:58Z")
I just realized Lee Pace (Thranduil) was also in _Lincoln_, as the conservative young (younger in the movie than IRL) Congressman Fernando Wood. He begins speaking at 0:45 here: [- YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiSAbAuLhqs) And pics here: [http://d1oi7t5trwfj5d.cloudfront.net/02/e17fa01edb11e2938622000a1d0930/file/lee-pace-lincoln-first-look.jpg](http://d1oi7t5trwfj5d.cloudfront.net/02/e17fa01edb11e2938622000a1d0930/file/lee-pace-lincoln-first-look.jpg), [http://www.leepace.net/photos/albums/film/lincoln/stills/normal\_LINCOLNSTILL-002.jpg](http://www.leepace.net/photos/albums/film/lincoln/stills/normal_LINCOLNSTILL-002.jpg), [http://25.media.tumblr.com/072fbe25078da9f35229955edd2f3fcb/tumblr\_mleg4h9zfU1rj50qfo5\_500.jpg](http://25.media.tumblr.com/072fbe25078da9f35229955edd2f3fcb/tumblr_mleg4h9zfU1rj50qfo5_500.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![turtlescanfly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/65b543/32.png) [@turtlescanfly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/turtlescanfly)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2014, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hobbit-the-desolation-of-smaug-seen-it-open-spoilers/676312/171 "2014-01-07T00:54:37Z")
> [@Johnny\_Ecks](#): > > The economic effect of reopening the mountain would be catastrophic deflation. Best to leave it buried. Only if they tried to spend it all at once (or within a short period of time). Wasn’t it established that dwarves were almost as bad as dragons for hoarding gold (i.e. acquiring it for the sake of having it, not necessarily spending it). Surely if the dwarves simply took up residence, and established trade with the people of Laketown and spent modestly relative to the increase in local population, any economic disaster could be averted. And yes, the hoard represented more gold than has ever been mined in the history of the planet Earth… but this is not Earth. We can suspend disbelief enough to accept the existence of elves, dwarves, dragons, hobbits, and magic (at least for the sake of the story) but not that this mythical land might be made of different stuff? ---
**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:** [January 7, 2014, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hobbit-the-desolation-of-smaug-seen-it-open-spoilers/676312/172 "2014-01-07T03:10:02Z")
> [@turtlescanfly](#): > > …And yes, the hoard represented more gold than has ever been mined in the history of the planet Earth… but this is not Earth… It was the Professor’s conceit that Middle-earth was indeed Earth, thousands of years ago. See the third paragraph here: [Middle-earth - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle-earth) ---
**Author:** ![Bozuit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/edb3f5/32.png) [@Bozuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bozuit)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2014, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hobbit-the-desolation-of-smaug-seen-it-open-spoilers/676312/173 "2014-01-07T04:12:02Z")
I suppose I’m a bit late to the party. The film was enjoyable enough, but there was far too much “exciting” action. Too much Smaug, too little dignity for Smaug, too few riddles. Where was the “Attercop! Attercop!” song?? I liked the Dol Guldur parts with the “Necromancer” though, they were kind of cool. The parallel universe where Guillermo del Toro made these films after all must be a better one. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2014, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hobbit-the-desolation-of-smaug-seen-it-open-spoilers/676312/174 "2014-01-07T05:11:15Z")
To give one indicator, the action scenes seemed so endless that I eventually started thinking about how I was going to start sorting my laundry when I got home. There comes a point where excitement grows boring. ---
**Author:** ![Teuton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teuton/32/3864_2.png) [@Teuton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teuton)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2014, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hobbit-the-desolation-of-smaug-seen-it-open-spoilers/676312/175 "2014-01-07T11:38:46Z")
It was a decent movie, but not as good as the lotr ones. The orcs in Laketown seemed especially unnecessary - and the assault on Bard’s house looked like something out of Labyrinth. ---
**Author:** ![Learjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@Learjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Learjeff)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2014, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hobbit-the-desolation-of-smaug-seen-it-open-spoilers/676312/176 "2014-01-07T20:20:28Z")
I really enjoyed the 1st Hobbit movie, which I saw in IMAX 3D. I was surprised they needed two movies to cover a book that was about the same length as each of the three LOTR books, but, OK, whatever. Then as I’m looking forward to seeing TDOS, I find that it’s only segment 2 of 3. Sorry, but that’s just milking it too much. I’ll see the second two movies on DVD or when they hit broadcast and I’ll DVR them. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2014, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hobbit-the-desolation-of-smaug-seen-it-open-spoilers/676312/177 "2014-01-09T09:16:28Z")
I’ll cop to being a fanboy, if I must, but I sense an implication of an argument being advanced that a “children’s” book cannot be made into a movie that is worthwhile for adults to watch and enjoy. I pre-emptively reject any such argument, and state that I hope to one day see such a movie made from this “children’s” book. ---
**Author:** ![Gedd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gedd/32/4938_2.png) [@Gedd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gedd)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2014, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hobbit-the-desolation-of-smaug-seen-it-open-spoilers/676312/178 "2014-01-09T17:10:28Z")
> [@Teuton](#): > > It was a decent movie, but not as good as the lotr ones. The orcs in Laketown seemed especially unnecessary - and the assault on Bard’s house looked like something out of Labyrinth. You’re right! All that was missing was the rocks coming to aid Legolas! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2014, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hobbit-the-desolation-of-smaug-seen-it-open-spoilers/676312/179 "2014-01-15T02:13:05Z")
Finally saw it tonight - glad the ticket was only four bucks. Don’t think I’ll bother with the next one… ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2014, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hobbit-the-desolation-of-smaug-seen-it-open-spoilers/676312/180 "2014-01-15T03:02:49Z")
> [@Morwen Edhelwen](#): > > BTW, I’m a huge Tolkien nerd and I don’t understand why whenever a book is adapted into a movie, or TV series or miniseries there’s such an emphasis on being faithful to the original. The point of an adaptation isn’t to follow every single plot point; it’s for the adaptor to put their own spin on the story while keeping what the audience expects to see. Silly me - I always thought the point of filming a book was to tell the story in the book, not to give the screenwriters and the director a chance to show how much better their imagination is than the original author’s. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hobbit-the-desolation-of-smaug-seen-it-open-spoilers/676312.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hobbit-the-desolation-of-smaug-seen-it-open-spoilers/676312.md?page=10)