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The Hobbit trilogy - News, rumours and discussion

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Another negative review comparing these movies to the SW prequels.

Seriously now.. If this movie reaches the level of hate that those films got, I'll become a eunuch.
 

NeoGiff

Member
I know that Azog has been a matter of contention, but I think he looks absolutely incredible in this shot from one of the latest TV spots (click to enlarge).

Much better than he did in AUJ, at least (although this could be down to the lighting, color grading etc.).

e5AHVZF.png
 

boiled goose

good with gravy
Prologue 1 - Old Bilbo + Frodo scene

Prologue 2 - Dwarves finding the Arkenstone + Smaug attacking Erebor

Radagast's is involved with the whole Necromancer sub-plot, which we'll see a lot more of in DoS.

Prologue 3: the war of the dwarves and orcs.

I just finished watching the EE and... yeah, I dunno. I do believe the movie has pacing problems. And the whole tone is a bit conflicting - it's like it tries to be both a lighthearted fairytale and a serious epic adventure in the LOTR mould. And it can't be both, so it fails (in a sense) because the "seriousness" tarnishes the fantastical elements so to speak, but you can't also take 100% seriously a movie with a singing gobling king, a trio of arguing trolls with thick accents and no real urgency to the plot.

That... and some of the effects. Now, don't get me wrong - most of them (especially Gollum!) are simple amazing. The problem I have is that a lot of things look... well, fake. In a sense. Not because they're bad effects - but because they look like they don't really belong there. No weight, no wear, no effect on their surroundings. Then again, the LOTR trilogy also had effects like these but... I dunno, it seemed they were better placed, so that they didn't overwhelm the rest of the movie.

All in all I still like it. I mean, as I've already said, I'm too much of a fanboy. But it doesn't hurt to be a bit critical, huh? :p

I agree with pretty much everything. The brooding Thorin and scary Azog really clash with the comical Goblin town, rivendell extended, and troll sequences. It is not THAT bad, but I feel a few adjustments could have made it more consistent. The goblin town sequence was a little too King Kong, when the heroes feel so untouchable the element of danger is diminished. The mines of moria in FotR is much more effective and soo much better. The comic relief humor writing just feels much weaker for the movie compared to the trilogy. Goblin king dying: 'that outta do it'. Weak. Gimil: "that still only counts as one" effective.

The main issue I have with the film though is how much it references elements in the trilogy. Gandalf darkening the room in bag end, galadriels telepathy, the butterfly calling the eagles. It is not that it is there, it is how it was done. the recycled music really made it feel gratuitous. The butterfly at the black gate in RoftK was so much more subtle and effective for example.

All that said, I still enjoyed it.
 

Vashetti

Banned
I know that Azog has been a matter of contention, but I think he looks absolutely incredible in this shot from one of the latest TV spots (click to enlarge).

Much better than he did in AUJ, at least (although this could be down to the lighting, color grading etc.).

That does look admittedly great.
 

NeoGiff

Member
That does look admittedly great.

Something that struck me last night about Azog was that a lot (all?) of what we have seen him do so far has been almost in slow motion. Not necessarily in his manner of speech - that's the choice of Manu Bennett - but in the way he moves. He has almost exclusively been moving slowly either by a slow-motion directorial choice (Azanulbizar, Out of the Frying-pan), or because the scene doesn't demand him to move quickly (Weathertop).

In that shot we have of him in Dol Guldur, he seems to be in full motion at normal speed, and he looks incredible. So, what I'm saying is that a lot of our negative reception of him may simply be as a result of his exaggerated slowness thus far (added, of course, to his rushed rendering in AUJ).

EDIT: Pasted this idea over on TORn, I wonder what will become of it.
 

Curufinwe

Member
The main issue I have with the film though is how much it references elements in the trilogy.

The plinth that Bofur hops up on in Rivendell to sing his song (actually Frodo's song from The Prancing Pony in the books) is the same one the ring was placed on at the Council of Elrond in FotR.

rings2.jpg

The-Hobbit-An-Unexpected-Journey-Extended-Edition-Screenshot-37.jpg
 
The review says the Barrel sequence is about an hour into the film

Keep in mind that that is where AUJ originally was supposed to end.

Puts into perspective just how much footage they shot for them to make this into 3 movies. Adding that to AUJ would make for a 4 hour movie. Fucking crazy. Would love to know just how that movie was originally supposed to flow/be edited

Is there a bigger version of that banner?
 

Loxley

Member
So, for those of us that are still interested in seeing how this trilogy ends, let's speculate about There and Back Again.

We know three major events have yet to happen,
Smaug's attack on Laketown, the Battle of Dol Goldur, and the Battle of the Five Armies
. Personally I think at this point it's safe to say that the rumor from way back suggesting that
Smaug would be 'resurrected' by the necromancer and take part in the Battle of the Five Armies
is completely false, thankfully.

We speculated in the DOS spoiler thread that Tauriel (major book spoilers)
will likely bite the dust alongside Kili, Fili, and Thorin during the battle.
Personally, I'm extremely excited to see
Billy Connolly as Dáin. His description (that of a mohawk'd dwarf riding a giant boar) sounds freakin' rad.
 

Ixion

Member
Personally I think at this point it's safe to say that the rumor from way back suggesting that
Smaug would be 'resurrected' by the necromancer and take part in the Battle of the Five Armies
is completely false, thankfully.

How come? PJ said the plots are going to connect in the third film. Sauron gaining control of Smaug seems like the most direct connection to make.

Why else would Sauron be "fixed on the mountain"? Does he want the gold?
 

Loofy

Member
Just finished watching the extended edition features. Gotta say I was disappointed. I guess I was expecting they'd take a page from Game of Thrones and put in some 'Lore' featurettes, not just behind the scenes production stuff.
 

Ether_Snake

安安安安安安安安安安安安安安安
How come? PJ said the plots are going to connect in the third film. Sauron gaining control of Smaug seems like the most direct connection to make.

Why else would Sauron be "fixed on the mountain"? Does he want the gold?

I'm pretty sure that whoever will be resurrected is either the orc leader or the dwarf king from the flashback of the first movie. The whole
gang at Dol Goldur
is probably there for that. I'm guessing the orc leader will be resurrected and lead that army.
 

Loxley

Member
Just finished watching the extended edition features. Gotta say I was disappointed. I guess I was expecting they'd take a page from Game of Thrones and put in some 'Lore' featurettes, not just behind the scenes production stuff.

They're likely saving all of the 'History of The Hobbit' features for the final 'There and Back Again' DVD/Blu-ray release.
 

agrajag

Banned
The plinth that Bofur hops up on in Rivendell to sing his song (actually Frodo's song from The Prancing Pony in the books) is the same one the ring was placed on at the Council of Elrond in FotR.

rings2.jpg

The-Hobbit-An-Unexpected-Journey-Extended-Edition-Screenshot-37.jpg

Ok, sorry to derail the thread, but the second high resolution shot looks so much more set-like than the one from FOTR. Can we stop blaming HFR for this?
 

Loxley

Member
Man, there is not one aspect of these movies that someone won't complain about. Its actually starting to become amusing to me.
 
Man, there is not one aspect of these movies that someone won't complain about. Its actually starting to become amusing to me.

When you hate a movie, you gotta really hate it.

I'm sure I've seen a post or two calling these movies the worst ones ever.

Oh well!
 

Ixion

Member
HO

LY

SHIT


I just saw The Arkenstone Edition of An Unexpected Journey (the fan edit) and it turns a good movie into a fantastic movie. A 7/10 to a 9/10.

Everything that I disliked about the movie has been cut, the pacing is fantastic, some of the missing songs from the score have been restored, and a few of the good scenes from the extended edition were even included to emphasize Bilbo.

On one hand, I'm glad someone showed how good a properly edited version can be, but on the other hand I'm even more disappointed in how poorly edited the original version is.

I honestly felt this version was on the same level as LOTR. Removing all that stupid crap really makes a difference.
 

DS-61-5

Member
HO

LY

SHIT


I just saw The Arkenstone Edition of An Unexpected Journey (the fan edit) and it turns a good movie into a fantastic movie. A 7/10 to a 9/10.

Everything that I disliked about the movie has been cut, the pacing is fantastic, some of the missing songs from the score have been restored, and a few of the good scenes from the extended edition were even included to emphasize Bilbo.

On one hand, I'm glad someone showed how good a properly edited version can be, but on the other hand I'm even more disappointed in how poorly edited the original version is.

I honestly felt this version was on the same level as LOTR. Removing all that stupid crap really makes a difference.

Posted comments to this effect in one of the other threads, but yes, it's excellent. All 5 of my friends who loved LOTR and then hated AUJ either liked or loved Arkenstone.
 

Iceman

Member
Posted comments to this effect in one of the other threads, but yes, it's excellent. All 5 of my friends who loved LOTR and then hated AUJ either liked or loved Arkenstone.

I'm definitely interested in checking this out. Also looking forward to the 45 minute long DOS fanedit. Or maybe the EE will have more meaningful scenes from Mirkwood and with Beorn. Pad it to a full hour even.
 

Daft_Cat

Member
Posted comments to this effect in one of the other threads, but yes, it's excellent. All 5 of my friends who loved LOTR and then hated AUJ either liked or loved Arkenstone.

The film fan in me thinks this is great work... but the franchise fan misses some of the bloat.

I really hope this guy also does a cut of the trilogy as two films (as originally planned)... and maybe even just one film. Why not?
 
HO

LY

SHIT


I just saw The Arkenstone Edition of An Unexpected Journey (the fan edit) and it turns a good movie into a fantastic movie. A 7/10 to a 9/10.

Everything that I disliked about the movie has been cut, the pacing is fantastic, some of the missing songs from the score have been restored, and a few of the good scenes from the extended edition were even included to emphasize Bilbo.

On one hand, I'm glad someone showed how good a properly edited version can be, but on the other hand I'm even more disappointed in how poorly edited the original version is.

I honestly felt this version was on the same level as LOTR. Removing all that stupid crap really makes a difference.

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings (Extended Edition)
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Soundtrack
The Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle-Earth (Video Game)
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Video Game)

Uh.
 
HO

LY

SHIT


I just saw The Arkenstone Edition of An Unexpected Journey (the fan edit) and it turns a good movie into a fantastic movie. A 7/10 to a 9/10.

Everything that I disliked about the movie has been cut, the pacing is fantastic, some of the missing songs from the score have been restored, and a few of the good scenes from the extended edition were even included to emphasize Bilbo.

On one hand, I'm glad someone showed how good a properly edited version can be, but on the other hand I'm even more disappointed in how poorly edited the original version is.

I honestly felt this version was on the same level as LOTR. Removing all that stupid crap really makes a difference.

How do I download this? I can't figure out how to from the page you linked.
 
HO

LY

SHIT


I just saw The Arkenstone Edition of An Unexpected Journey (the fan edit) and it turns a good movie into a fantastic movie. A 7/10 to a 9/10.

Everything that I disliked about the movie has been cut, the pacing is fantastic, some of the missing songs from the score have been restored, and a few of the good scenes from the extended edition were even included to emphasize Bilbo.

On one hand, I'm glad someone showed how good a properly edited version can be, but on the other hand I'm even more disappointed in how poorly edited the original version is.

I honestly felt this version was on the same level as LOTR. Removing all that stupid crap really makes a difference.

is this some sort of trap or are you for real?


real real, or fake real? i'm confused!
 

Draconian

Member
You know, I've never watched any of the EE appendices, but the ones in AUJ make me want to go back and rewatch all the LOTR EE's and their documentaries. Had no idea Ian McKellan had to film by himself because they had to do composite shots with him and the dwarves to maintain scale. Really fascinating stuff.
 

cmr-94

Member
You know, I've never watched any of the EE appendices, but the ones in AUJ make me want to go back and rewatch all the LOTR EE's and their documentaries. Had no idea Ian McKellan had to film by himself because they had to do composite shots with him and the dwarves to maintain scale. Really fascinating stuff.

If you liked the AUJ EE appendices you will love the LOTR ones. Enjoy!
 

fallout

Member
The LOTR EE documentaries are great quality. By the time you get to RotK, it does start to wear a little thin, but they're still well worth watching.
 

Loxley

Member
There are rumors going around right now that Jackson will be shooting pick-ups for 'There and Back Again' in May of this year. James Nesbitt and Richard Armitage have mentioned it, so I'd say that's probably pretty likely.

Maybe he's reshooting scenes to ditch any remnants of the Kili/Tauriel relationship :D
 

Loxley

Member
You know what annoys me? When I find versions of songs from OSTs on YouTube that are better than the ones included on the official album.

Case-in-point: The Hobbit theme ("Over Hill" on the OST), except someone wisely enhanced the drums from 1:09 onward. Crank up the base, it's awesome (for reference, here's the version from the album). It's a small change, but makes a pretty significant difference in my opinion.

The Eagles are falling!

http://wellington.scoop.co.nz/?p=63856

eagle.jpg


Thankfully no one was hurt.

Yikes o_O
 
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