movies/tv The Hobbit

[Silverhoof 2,844]

 

Production diary 12 just came out! Awesome! Today was also a massive fan event with secret footage only available to fans who went to special theaters around the world. It was not available online. So this is all I can show you right now.

[Jokuc 8,173]

@@Silverhoof, nice!

 

 

Alright everyone, ANOTHER video of The Desolation of Smaug is now out! It's a sneak peek vid sorta. More like a long trailer to me.

 

Anyways here it is

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfflhfn1W-o

[Dog man 48]

I am a BIG fan of Middle Earth and all its epicness. I've seen All the LOTR movies countless times, I've seen the Hobbit: an unexpected journey  and can't wait for the Deso-Something of Smaug. I've read part of the Fellowship of the ring and parts of the Hobbit book also. I alsohave Lego lord of the Rings and LOTR:Conquest..

I think I would rather 2h 50m than 3h 30m Because then I won't have to wait so long for toilet and snack break Da Dum Tss!

The HFR is going and did make the movie look even better, also if there making it in HFR that probably means that its more expensive right? Hopefully that means the Director/Producer/All that Film Role stuff has put faith and alot of effort into this movie.

 

Also has anyone seen the LOTR and Hobbit animated movie? They wern't that bad except sam gangees ( Ithink thats how you spell it) face in  LOTR animated movie, its very funny

 

Edited November 5, 2013 by Nye1254

[Antismurf9001 1,271]

I found out recently that they're apparently releasing an extended edition of The Hobbit.  Because apparently the theatrical release wasn't extended...

 

I think that the best way that I've heard these movies described was by Rob Walker, who said that The Lord of the Rings movies were made like The Hobbit was written, while the The Hobbit movies are being made like The Lord of the Rings was written.  While all of the stuff with the Necromancer and such is cool, I find it unnecessary and that it distracts from the main story.  Don't get me wrong, I thought that An Unexpected Journey was a fine movie; I just found it rather disappointing when compared with The Lord of the Rings trilogy which was very focused and had much better visuals (the stupid CG graphics make it look like some combination of Lord of the Rings and Avatar).

 

Also has anyone seen the LOTR and Hobbit animated movie? They wern't that bad except sam gangees ( Ithink thats how you spell it) face in  LOTR animated movie, its very funny

 

Yes for The Hobbit animated, and yes for both of the Lord of the Rings animated.  The Hobbit was good if I remember correctly, as was the Lord of the Rings that covered both Fellowship of the Ring and Two Towers.  As for the one that only covered Return of the King... well... the most memorable thing from it is probably this:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoAfb3f04mo

Edited November 5, 2013 by Antismurf9001

[Jokuc 8,173]

Alright guys! I am super excited, tomorrow I am going to watch The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug!

 

I really hope it's going to be good. I've heard that this one will feel more like the lotr movies. Hopefully it will! That's one of the things I missed in the first movie.

 

 

 

poor americans u have to wait some more days :3

Edited December 9, 2013 by Jokuc

[Jokuc 8,173]

Alright people, I just watched desolation of smaug and I gotta say, it was awesome! I'll write more tomorrow

[GONEFOREVER 518]

Lord of the rings: Great movies and books

The hobbit: Great book okay movie :|

[The Leafeon Pinkeh 3,603]

I haven't watched the Lord of the Rings movies, but one day I WILL do a lotr marathon!

But I have only read The Hobbit and I loved it! :DD
I've watched the Unexpected Journey part 1.. 4 times now.
Before I read the book, at the part of the book with Tom and those trolls, when hobbit & company were waiting to attack Smaug, and after I finished the book.

I love the movie xD and am super looking forward to seeing the new movie!

[Troblems 5,617]

I read all the books in high school. I really enjoyed The Hobbit. The Lord of the Rings I had a harder time with, because I did not find Frodo to be a good character. I found him to be rather insufferable.

 

As for the movies, LotR I have. I never watch them.

 

The Hobbit, I saw the first part, and I was pleasantly surprised, especially because I was dreading it. That being said, it's really not the Hobbit. It's Hollywood's adaptation, and I think two movies would have been sufficient, if they had stuck to the plot line, rather than adding in parts of the Silmirilian.

 

Oh well.

[Silverhoof 2,844]

I took a half day off on Friday just to see the movie.

[The-Master 1,176]

I am clutching my tickets with barley contained excitement. So far this is shaping up to be the best Hobbit film so far, and I didn't think that was even possible. I hope the rest of the audience doesn't mind my cheering and/or crying during the film.

[Wayzer 1,418]

I've seen the movie, I thought it was pretty cool. Not the best one I've seen but still fine!

 

I have yet to read the books

[RustyChevy 37]

Love the books. Love the films. I re-read and re-watch every year. Got my ticket for the midnight show on Thursday. Going in costume, unless it snows. SO STOKED. XD

[Jokuc 8,173]

Lord of the rings: Great movies and books

The hobbit: Great book okay movie :|

  

 

but you've only seen the first part

 

I haven't watched the Lord of the Rings movies, but one day I WILL do a lotr marathon!

But I have only read The Hobbit and I loved it! :DD

I've watched the Unexpected Journey part 1.. 4 times now.

Before I read the book, at the part of the book with Tom and those trolls, when hobbit & company were waiting to attack Smaug, and after I finished the book.

I love the movie xD and am super looking forward to seeing the new movie!

 

 

it was awesome, I'm gonna do a little review thingy when I get home

 

 

I've seen the movie, I thought it was pretty cool. Not the best one I've seen but still fine!

 

I have yet to read the books

 

 

Read the books, they are awesome Part 1 of the hobbit was absolutely okay imo but part two was way better

 

 

 

Love the books. Love the films. I re-read and re-watch every year. Got my ticket for the midnight show on Thursday. Going in costume, unless it snows. SO STOKED. XD

Yeah its worth it, the second movie was more like lotr things happened all the time and there were some things that were in the movie that wasn't in the book. I'm thinking of one particular thing.. (can't say for spoilers but now I know what the third one is gonna be about)

I should have done this a while ago but I'm sick and I should be asleep right now but I'll do it anyways,

 

 

---

 

 

I watched The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug yesterday on a night premiere. I must say, the movie was awesome!

 

 

 

It didn't start out exactly where the first movie ended, instead, this movie first gave this little flashback with Thorin which I liked a lot and then it started directly at the place where they meet Beorn. One of the first things I noticed with this film was that it was filmed in a very cool way, there was a lot of close-ups and the camera where traveling through different places like in a video game film (one of the best camera works was when Azog stood on a cliff). The second The Hobbit movie has waaay more action that the first one. In this movie, things happened all the time, you followed two "different" things at the same time, and this made it feel like watching a LotR movie, which I loved.

 

This new elven character Tauriel, was pretty cool, however I felt like they gave her maybe a little too big role in the movie. She's a normal warrior but the movie made it feel like she was some sort of princess. I must say, everything in the movie was awesomely done, as I said it felt more like lotr than the first one did, however you still have these things that makes it.... Just not lotr material. It's hard to explain what I mean without spoiling anything but I don't mean the jokes or anything like that, it's more like some of the things that happened were things that never would happen if it was filmed lotr-style. By the way, this movie was funny Especially one scene. do a barrel roll

 

One this I disliked about the first movie was that it wasn't bloody/gory enough. They hit their enemies multiple times with swords but you could not see any damage done. However in the second movie, you do see this a couple of times. Believe it or not but this movie actually had two jump scares in it which I didn't even expect myself haha. It was great to see those in 3D!

 

I don't really have much to say about the movie other than that I loved it, the only thing I disliked was one particular scene in the end that was a bit ridiculous if you ask me. ...Though there was a couple of things that was added in the movie that is not in the books and one of those scenes is... ...let me just say you get the "omgomgomgomg =O" feeling when seeing it. When I first heard about how much that was going to be in the 2nd movie, I wondered how they would be able to make a 3rd cause there wouldn't be a lot left to show, however now I kinda understand what they're doing here.

 

One thing I wanted more of in the movie was awesome music, the ending music was kinda meh. But whatever. I think I'll give the movie a 9/10 (lotr is 10 for me and this was good, but not as good)

 

 

Edited December 12, 2013 by Jokuc

[Scootalove 10,689]

I feel like seeing The Hobbit since, I'm hearing a lot of good reviews about the movie. So, I'll definitely check it out.

[Antismurf9001 1,271]

Alright, so it looks like I'm in the minority here, but I'm just going to come out and say that I thought that The Desolation of Smaug was terrible.  It really hurts to say that, because I thought that The Lord of the Rings was so amazing, and I still cite The Return of the King as my favorite movie.  I wasn't a huge fan of the first film, so I wasn't expecting too much, yet I was still disappointed.  Spoiler-filled angry rant below:

 

 

Let me get this out of my system now: they put a sex joke into The Hobbit.  They put a sex joke into The Hobbit.  At what point has anyone ever read The Hobbit and said, "Yeah man, that was good, but it really could have used a sex joke.  And a love triangle.  And CG orcs.  And dozens of meaningless and fairly boring plotlines that only serve to distract you from the main character.  And the barrel-riding scene should be more over-the-top than most anime fight scenes."  I will stand by my opinion that I found the first half of this film to be terrible.  The second half was better, but (for me) there wasn't anywhere to go but up at that point.

 

I found most of the characters to be boring except for Bilbo, who there was surprisingly little of, considering that he's the main freaking character.  Yeah, that's right, Bilbo is actually supposed to be the main character!  Not Legolas, not Thranduil, not completely useless fuel for a love triangle Tauriel, not Fili, not Gandalf, not Bard, not the Master of Lake Town (who, by the way is one of the most generic, lazily-written villains I've ever seen whose only purpose is to make Bard look like Robin Hood), but Bilbo freaking Baggins!  Even a lot of the performances by the actors were boring to me; the only ones I really cared for were Bilbo, Thorin, and Bard.

 

The music: what happened?!  Where did the Lonely Mountain theme go?  Is that really the theme to cut out when they're actually at the Lonely Mountain?  I realize that a lot of the music there was the dwarven theme from the Fellowship of the Ring (when they're in Moria), which I appreciate, but the Lonely Mountain theme was this trilogy's Fellowship theme.  Maybe it was there, but it was more subtle, though I don't see a reason for that in a movie where the only subtle thing was apparently ninja-orcs.  I also found the music as a whole to be frustratingly blaring and in your face when it really didn't need to be.

 

And some of the writing...  Did they really need that corny writing?  I could finish a number of their sentences with a frighteningly high accuracy rate.  Example 1: *Thranduil beheads orc* Legolas: "You said you would free him." Thranduil: "I did free him."  Example 2: Smaug: "I am fire.  I am................................. death!"

 

All of that being said though there were some things that I thought they did well.  As a whole, I thought that the visuals were better than the first film, particularly with the landscapes.  They still have CG orcs, but that's something that we just have to deal with at this point.  The scene in the dwarf forge though did not live up to this.  I thought that those graphics were terrible, and the sort of thing I expect from a SciFy movie, not the team that brought us Gollum.  This is a paragraph about things that I liked though, so I'll stop with that.  Smaug was excellent.  Everything about him, from the voice actor to the visuals, was just perfect.   I'm a bit confused as to how he knows about Sauron regaining power, seeing as he's been asleep for X years, and dragons never really associated with Sauron anyways as far as I know, but that's just nit-picking and I don't really care that much about it.

 

So yeah, at this point, I don't really care about seeing the third film.  I am not excited for it, and I can wait.  I'll end up seeing it, I'm sure (my sister will drag me there if anything), but I am expecting nothing.  Who knows, maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised?  I really hope that's the case.

 

 

To anyone who had the misfortune of reading the above; please don't take it too seriously.  It is an angry rant, and nothing more.  I'm not a professional reviewer, nor do I claim to know anything about cinematography, so when I complain about the visuals, music, and writing, I mostly don't really know what I'm talking about.  I just had to get that out of my system, because I loved the Lord of the Rings films, and I loved the book of The Hobbit, and it really irritates me to dislike the combination of the two.

Edited December 14, 2013 by Antismurf9001

[Jokuc 8,173]

@@Antismurf9001, I can see what you mean with everything you bring up there (especially the music, wtf happened? I also didn't like the "I am fire, I am death" thing or the look of the orcs) but I still think the movie was awesome.

 

If it was filmed in lotr style with a more... what should I say... "realistic" as in fantasy realistic (haha) and a way more like lotr, the film would be like twice as good.

 

I wish they did that but it is what it is. After all, PJ has already said that he's making the movies different purposely http://io9.com/5871790/peter-jackson-reveals-why-the-hobbit-is-nothing-like-lord-of-the-rings

so he's not trying to copy the ltor style (which I think he should have done though)

Edited December 14, 2013 by Jokuc

[Antismurf9001 1,271]

@@Jokuc, yeah, that's fair.  There's definitely a lot of action in this one, so I can see that being very appealing.  I just might have wanted to see a little more done with the characters (though they kind of went through all of the necessary character development in the first movie...).

 

If it was filmed in lotr style with a more... what should I say... "realistic" as in fantasy realistic (haha) and a way more like lotr, the film would be like twice as good.

 

Yes, absolutely.  I couldn't agree with you more.

[The-Master 1,176]

Now for me to go and rectify every cruelty bestowed upon this film.

 

 

 

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug was a fantastic film, it was a genuine pleasure to watch. I know that many "purists" will still be against the advancement in CGI along with the alterations of plot and characters, but it's my strong belief that they actually enhance the story where practical methods, such as prosthetics or early rendered CGI, would actually have been a serious drawback. As much as some people want to hold on to their original trilogy there is a time where you have to realize that they are classics, released over a decade ago. It's this reluctance of change that has really caused a divide in the Tolkein fandom. So I went to the theatre expecting not to see a replica of my childhood memories, but a whole new film with it's own individuality.

 

So let's start with the point many people have brought up; Barrels out of Bound. In my opinion that was one of the major highlights of the film, and indeed one of the most memorable. For those who have read the book you know that their escape is rather dull. They float down the river undetected, get tied into a raft and float off to Laketown without incident. From a narrative perspective it's far to anticlimactic and would have made the first half of the film a bit of a drag. Most of us knew that Peter was going to add in his own ideas, but to what extent we had no idea. Many thought it would just be like some kind of theme park ride just short of a photo finish booth. However, me and all my friends agree that it was actually one f the best parts of the film with its sheer pace and creativity. At first we thought that it would be following on from its predecessor where every dwarf escaped without a scratch, but no, reality came crashing down when Kili takes an arrow to the knee. It was actually surprisingly powerful and it left my rather stunned for a moment. The whole scene was quite an adrenaline rush after the suspense that came with escaping the Dungeons of Mirkwood.

 

Most people would also complain about the love story arc between character A and character B, but for those of us who aren't using their stick legs to lodge them selves firmly in the sand while the tides coming in, it was actually rather touching. It tests the characters greatly as one of them must decide between her commitment to her homeland and doing what she believes is right. Even the characters themselves have a difficult time coming to terms with the situation, especially one of said characters states that she "cannot be her". Almost reminds me that I have emotions and they occasionally come back to life in sharp jolts of pain.

 

I'll just say it now; I loved the characters in this film, whether they be from the book or original, they were all certainly memorable. Let us not forget that Tolkein defined what we today would call "clique". But even within these parameters Peter Jackson has done a brilliant job at bringing these names on a page to life. Bard is just brilliant and his introduction earlier in the film was better than leaving it till later. Tauriel was a complete badass (an attractive badass at that) but the most interesting part about her is the moral conflict she must go through as this evil begins to arise again. Bilbo was fantastic as per usual, especially with his interactions with Smaug and his lust for the Ring. Thorn was really interesting, especially when you begin to see what they were foreshadowing in the first film. Steven Fry even did a wonderful job at portraying the Master, a self-entitled politician who bears this personal grudge against Bard but also seeks personal gain through the arrival of the dwarves. Rest assured all the characters were brilliant and you will leave with plenty of favourites to choose from.

 

And then there's Smaug. There are so few words I can say that actually describe what I saw, he was utterly terrifying yet charming. He was such a pleasure to listen to yet you also wanted to get the hell out of the room before he starts spitting more than words. The battle with Smaug was on an epic scale, the interactions with him even better. You really felt for Bilbo in these scenes, you felt just as vulnerable and the poor hobbit. You honestly have to see him yourself simply because it's something everyone needs to experience and understand from their own perspective.

 

There was so much I loved about this film, I loved the characters, the story, the effects, the whole deal. It's a treat for anyone, whether they enjoy Tolkein or not. If you're a self-proclaimed purist then you are the one who misses out unfortunately. For the few flaws that it has I believe none detract from the overall journey. And that is what these films have become; a journey into Middle Earth.

 

9/10

 

 

Edited December 14, 2013 by The-Master

[Frosty Flurry 173]

One simple word. Cumberbatch.

[Silverhoof 2,844]

Hmmm. Well, the film was good, but I read the book and the dramatic departures from the story bothered me. For those who have never read the book, that may not be such a big deal.

 

Beorn was great. loved that scene.

Tauriel was fun, but the love triangle with a dwarf? after just a chance meeting? unbelievable.

 

The added characters in Laketown were not needed except for padding, and pad away they did. Bard being constantly on the run was a distraction, not a help.

--The dwarves were never split up in the book, none were left behind in Laketown. Why Peter Jackson did this, I'll never know.

 

The dialog between Smaug and Bilbo was wasted when the dwarves were wrongly inserted. The fight between Thorin and the dragon was exciting, but was not needed. (it was never in the book)

---this led to a weird problem, when Smaug (in the midst of battle with dwarves), suddenly abandoned his treasure to the thieves in order attack the human Laketown.

 

For me, knowing just how great the book was, ruined an otherwise good movie. I own the LOTR set, I'm not sure I will own the Hobbit movies. The hobbit would have made for an epic one or two movie package. but three lengthy movies is not a good thing in this case.

 

 

Edited December 15, 2013 by Silverhoof

[Antismurf9001 1,271]

Well, the third movie's out; might as well revive this topic.  I posted earlier about how much I disliked the second movie, so let's go back to that and see what happened.

 

So yeah, at this point, I don't really care about seeing the third film.  I am not excited for it, and I can wait.  I'll end up seeing it, I'm sure (my sister will drag me there if anything), but I am expecting nothing.  Who knows, maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised?  I really hope that's the case.

 

Bottom line: nope, I was not pleasantly surprised.  Unless someone really cares, I will spare anyone reading the full rant.  It essentially boils down to this: I didn't understand the pacing, a lot of things didn't need to be there, everything was overly cartoonish (spoiler alert: Bard manages to MacGyver a ballista out of broken wood, a bowstring, and his first-born son....), and I couldn't get behind the music.  It had some good points too though.  Pretty much all of the Bilbo scenes worked well, and there's a really cool fight scene in Dol Goldur.  The burning of Lake Town was also quite well done up until the moment that I mentioned earlier...

 

In any case, I'm glad that this is the last movie because I really don't want to see any more.  Personally, I wouldn't recommend it, but eh, you can decide for yourself.

Edited December 18, 2014 by Antismurf9001

[Tameless 979]

Just saw the new one last night. "Battle of the Five Armies". I highly recommend it. Very action based.

[CC_Maud_Pie 6,431]

Some things I noticed about The Hobbit series:

- The cinematography is not as good as The Lord of the Rings. In fact, the scenes change quick that it can be bad for your eyes if you're sensitive to that. I've even heard reports that it didn't make some people feel good.

- It divided one book into three parts. I think they did that for the money to be honest. I didn't like how the second film ended.

 

Overall:

Lord of the Rings > The Hobbit