The Hobbit: A Long-Expected Spoiler Movie Thread

[Happy Ent]

I think most people here agree that Fellowship of the Ring > An Unexpected Journey,

I’m not sure I agree. But a comparison would be unfair to FotR in the sense that so much new ground was broken with that movie.

I think both movies are outstanding. If I’m forced to find problems (which I find slightly perverse) I think Journey has fewer than Fellowship; in particular the cast is perfect—lead characters Bilbo and Thorin are so much better than Frodo and Aragorn it‘s not even funny.

Also, I like the tone in the newer film better. (And not only because it suits the book to have a slightly goofier, less grimdark attitude.) In terms of pacing, the newer movie avoids the screeching halt after Moria, and instead manages to end with excitement and characterisation, and a well-plotted shot of the Lonely Mountain. Well done.

Both movies have real sensawonda, and take their time. I love that. I feel I could stare at Erebor city for hours.

[Cold Pie]

Both movies have real sensawonda, and take their time. I love that. I feel I could stare at Erebor city for hours.

I completely agree with this. A lot of people here complain that the film was too long. I didn't think so at all. A lot of book to movie adaptations feel a bit stressed with a lot of things happening all the time. It's just plotplotplot, no time to get to know the charachters etc. It's nice with a movie which takes it time for a change, not hurrying through everything too fast. Tolkien were a writer that had long explanations and descriptions of everything. He didn't rush. It's nice to see that The Hobbit movie isn't rushed

[Revan Baratheon]

I think most people here agree that Fellowship of the Ring > An Unexpected Journey, however I enjoyed the latter one as well.

Like trying to compare star wars(1977) and matrix (1999) . Matrix is technically better but Star Wars is more iconic, it also has the prestige of being the "first to do what it did", just like fotr is the "first complex and serious high fantasy film". So there will always be that nostalgia factor in your judgement, which will cause to have a subconscious biasness towards FOTR.

So it is impossible for a subjective audience like us to say fotr is better.

[Maltaran]

It was interesting to see which dwarves they played up, and why. Balin because of Moria in LOTR, Fili and Kili presumably so there's more of an emotional impact when they get killed at Five Armies, and Bofur apparently for the sole reason that he's James Nesbitt.

[Happy Ent]

Regarding dwarves (*), it’s possible they’ll play up other dwarves in the remaining movies. Bombur will have his time in the sun (or rather, the river). Gloín could have a confrontation with Thranduil to add depth to the development of his son Gimli Elf-friend. And so on; plenty of hours left. Maybe somebody’ll get tossed.

(*) See what I did there?

[Cold Pie]

Regarding dwarves (*)

(*) See what I did there?

Concerning Hobbits?

[elshaggy]

I saw this last night. As someone who has just finished reading the Hobbit for the first time this past fall, I enjoyed the film and the expanded world building. Meeting Radagast was a pleasant surprise.

It has made me want to pick up the Silmarillion and learn more about Middle-Earth. The Rings films didnt really do that for me. I might even feel inspired to finally read LotR.

What I know most is that it feels painful knowing part 2 is a year away.

[niamh]

Regarding dwarves (*), it’s possible they’ll play up other dwarves in the remaining movies. Bombur will have his time in the sun (or rather, the river). Gloín could have a confrontation with Thranduil to add depth to the development of his son Gimli Elf-friend. And so on; plenty of hours left. Maybe somebody’ll get tossed.

(*) See what I did there?

Sadly, I did :lol:

[nickg]

Saw it yesterday with my wife ( she loved to it ). Was a bit worried going in, and the prologue only made it worse. The narration, IMO, was pretty poor.

Other than that i I loved it. Maybe 30 minutes too long, but I want to see it again, and in 48fps this time. 8/10. Fellowship beats it out as my favorite.

[Corvinus85]

Great movie, I don't care what anybody says. I'm not sure how the whole 48 frames/sec worked, though.

[Sci-2]

I liked the slow place as well. There just seemed to be an actual world out there in this one, as opposed to Fellowship which felt more narrow in focus.

Of course, a lot of the significance of things like the eagles and the Nercomancer comes from having seen/read the sequels (and Silmarillion). If I'd seen the Hobbit before the other films I may not have liked it as much.

Still, I couldn't help but feel there was a callback to the 80's style films like Willow, where the world is shown as a dark but also delightful place.

[Seventh Pup]

One thing that bothered me though, was the movement of Radagast. Wasn't he supposed to be in the Mirkwood? How then did he transport himself so swiftly to the plains west of Riverdell? Crossing the Misty Mountains is a colossal undertaking, yet here it seems like he rose with his rabbit cart the whole way.

I think his Rascally Rabbits may have taken that left turn Albuquerque.

[Corvinus85]

I think his Rascally Rabbits may have taken that left turn Albuquerque.

Rhosgobel Rabbits.

And yes, that was probably the weakest part of the movie. They really wanted to show how Gandalf got his information about the Necromancer, but another way would have been better.

[Mark Antony]

Smaug Destroys Erebor Prologue < Last Alliance Prologue

Bilbo writes "In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit" < Bilbo writes "Concerning hobbits"

Gandalf arrives and meets Bilbo < Gandalf arrives and meets Frodo

An Unexpected Party > Bilbo's birthday party

Gandalf convinces Bilbo to go on the Erebor quest > Gandalf convinces Frodo to leave with the One Ring

Bilbo joins up with Thorin & Company > Merry & Pippin joins up with Frodo & Sam

Encounter with warg scouts < Encounter with black riders at Buckleberry Ferry

Thorin & Company meet Radagast < The hobbits meet Strider

Thorin fights Azog flashback > Isildur fights Sauron flashback

Radagast & Necromancer at Dol Guldur < Gandalf & Saruman at Orthanc

Encounter with the Trolls > Encounter with the Ringwraiths at Weathertop

Gandalf presents Bilbo with Sting > Strider gives hobbits Morgul blades

Bunny sled chase < Flight to the Ford

Thorin & Company arrive at Rivendell > Frodo wakes up in Rivendell

Elrond says "some may not deem it wise" to retake Erebor > Elrond says "The Ring cannot stay here, Gandalf"

The White Council < The Council of Elrond

Stone Giant fight > The Caradhras pass

The chute at the entrance to Goblin Town < The watcher at the gates of Moria

Encounter with the Goblin King < Encounter with the Cave Troll

The collapsing scaffolding in Goblin Town < the collapsing bridges in Moria

Riddles in the Dark = The Bridge of Khazad-dum (Fly you fools on is just too classic imo)

Thorin fights Azog < Boromir fights Lurtz (Be at peace Son of Gondor>>>)

Thorin & Company look on to Erebor from the Carrock > Frodo & Sam look on to Mordor from Emyn Muil

An Unexpected Journey VS Fellowship of the Ring

IMO

[11th Heaven]

I just saw it and very much liked it. Definitely an 8/10.

It wasn't flawless. I like that it was lighthearted in a way that LOTR wasn't, but sometimes it became a bit too goofy. Much of the segment in the goblin stronghold felt like it had been lifted from Tom and Jerry. I also would have liked more time character developing with the Dwarves, although it could be seen as a positive that the film made me like them so much I wanted to spend more time with them.

I don't think the score is quite as fantastic as FOTR, much as I love the main "Misty mountains" theme. I didn't really like that they inserted a lot of the tracks from the original trilogy but would then punctuate said track so it wouldn't be exactly the same - it just felt jarring.

I've got no clue why there's this whole issue with 48fps. The film looked completely "normal" to me (and was visually beautiful).

Really looking forward to the next two!

[Captain Victarion Greyjoy]

I have read The Hobbit a long time ago , was the first book i read in english , not on my native language . Was a decent book , but that was a long time ago and a I remembered few things about it(the ridles , the battle of the 5 armies ...).

The movie was just awesome , it was worth paying the ticket , I had a good time...sometimes it felt a bit to long , but I don't complain . I am looking forward for the next movie , Peter Jackson is a genius , I expected the movie to be quite childish and just a movie that you do to cash some fast money , but I was proven wrong.

[Werthead]

did anyone almost feel like the goblins looked alike to the Orcs?

I agree witht that. The goblins were pretty much interchangeable with the orcs.

As mentioned above, goblins and orcs are different words for the same thing. Tolkien merely preferred using 'goblins' for the lighter-toned Hobbit and 'orcs' for the somewhat more adult Lord of the Rings. There is no differentiation between what a goblin and what an orc is in Tolkien.

In Jackson's vision, there was a differentiation with the Moria orcs, who were smaller than the standard orcs, had bigger eyes and were capable of ascending/descending vertical surfaces etc. But that's not the case in the source material.

[Lightning Lord]

Concerning Hobbit:

Overall, I really enjoyed it. Theater was uncomfortably warm, which took away, but the random girl sitting on one side of me clearly had no background in the world and hearing her reactions was amusing. Cons/pros...

Cons:

- So many scenes of just running (sometimes while killing hundreds of foes). It reminded me of Randall's summary of LotR in Clerks 2.

- Goblorks have to be the least-convincing, most nerfed-out foes of all time. 3,000 of them couldn't hold back 13 unarmed dwarves + 1 wizard that makes bright lights and loud bangs.

- Stone giants = CGI wanking. Just stop. Please.

- Eagles to the rescue. I know it's in the books. But they were changing all manner of other things, couldn't they have changed that, too?

Pros:

- Loved the singing. Chills from Thorin's song, as well as a flashback to The National's version of Rains of Castamere

- I enjoyed trying to find what each dwarf had to make it look different from the others. I had considered that it might be tricky to make 13 dwarves appear distinct. Some pass, some fail.

- Freeman and Armitage absolutely killed it. They were both fantastic and I loved just about every scene between them. Freeman's final speech about helping them get their home back...great stuff.

- The prologue Fall of Erebor was excellent. I haven't read the book in probably fifteen years, so I got a bit mixed up with names. Must have been even more confusing for those in the audience as were Unfamiliars (prob. not helped much by the attempt to write the names in local script)

- Radagast actually getting some part on-screen. I always thought he was a bit slighted in the book. I initially thought his portrayal as a goofy-bumbling hedge wizard was poor form, but then they showed him have some sorcerly chops in Dol Goldur, so it struck a nice balance.

- There was a post above about Saruman being poorly played...I agree a bit, but I thought his casual dismissal of Radagast was spot-on. Doesn't he use Radagast as a sort of patsy, and then admit it to Gandalf?

- Smaug is really being built up as a terror to behold. Really looking forward to that.

- Riddles in the Sort-of Dark: great stuff on both sides. Followed up with a moving Pity and Stay the Hand scene. I wish Gollum and Bilbo had more time together, they really interacted well.

- Hedgehog scene was f***ing adorable. If you think otherwise, you don't have a heart, you monster.

I think it would have been better served being 20 or 30 minutes shorter. Lose the stone giants, shorten the Goblin King Cave chase, tighten the Bag End bits and bob's your uncle. Still, I really enjoyed it. I'd see it in theater again, if anyone's up for it.

[Zupoleon]

Hearing some of the mixed reviews beforehand, I went in with somewhat lower expectations, and left mostly happy. Biggest complaint from me is that the film easily could have been roughly 30 min shorter...

[CloudFlare]

- Hedgehog scene was f***ing adorable. If you think otherwise, you don't have a heart, you monster.

I think it would have been better served being 20 or 30 minutes shorter. Lose the stone giants, shorten the Goblin King Cave chase, tighten the Bag End bits and bob's your uncle. Still, I really enjoyed it. I'd see it in theater again, if anyone's up for it.

Yep... but the whole hedgehog/shack in the woods took too long for a minor charactor like Radagast.

Other thing I didn't like, when the Ring came out of Gollum's possesion and fell to the ground, it landed and bounced like an ordinary ring. In FOTR, when it fell to the ground in Bilbo's house, you could sense the power contained in it when it hit with a thud and didn't bounce.