The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug

[Elskidor]

Anyone else gonna see it? Anyone else excited? Predictions on how well it will do against the previous film or the LoTR series? I think most people here know I'm a fan. I'll be at the midnight showing with high hopes and a pointy hat!

[Bolivar]

I'm gonna try to see it on Saturday my expectations are pretty high After how much I enjoyed the last one. It looks like this one is going to have a lot of changes from the source material but I'm optimistic and interested as to how it will play out.

[Shorty]

Going to see it Saturday! I am not a midnight crowd person and I have to work the day of.

I wasn't in love with the first installment, but I hope/think this one will be much better (Benedict Cumberbatch).

[Scotty_ffgamer]

I enjoyed the first one quite a bit despite all of its flaws. I have feeling this one will be better, though. I'm pretty excited for it! I don't know when I'll get to see it, though.

[Elskidor]

I've been paying attention to the critics, and all though not all of them have been recorded at RT yet, this one is getting a lot more praise than An Unexpected Journey, which I still loved. It's about at 26/30 bad to good review ratio, so that's a pretty good sign.

[Raine]

I'm waiting for the cinema to open up reservation! I'll watch it on thursday, release date, with my sister..like last year. Took friday morning off work for it :3 Aaaand we had a Hobbit/LotR movie day on saturday, watched all extended versions from 10:30am to 1:30am next morning!

(So yeah, I'm pretty excited)

[Miriel]

I'm cautiously optimistic about this because the reviews do seem to be better than it was for the first film. BUT, a lot of the rumblings I'm hearing is that it's more in line with the tone and feel of Lord of the Rings, which seems to be what most people want.

It's not what I want though. I wanted a children's movie. :(

But in any case, please baby jesus let the whole Legolas/Tauriel stupid love story thing be extremely brief. Thank you, amen.

[Elskidor]

You won't have to worry about Tauriel or Legolas, though there may be a certain dwarf and Tauriel you should watch out for. ;)


It does seem much more serious than the lighter tone of AUJ, but really the only thing bad I've heard about is the use of CGI vs prosthetic costumes, which I could care less about. Peter Jackson may have taken the pacing critics complained about last time a bit too serious. It's suppose to be very fast, and never a slow or dull moment, so I'm predicting a very action packed film, with little room for song and cheer(I like songs though!).

[Elskidor]

Saw it, loved it, and damn I'm dead beat tired!


Edit because I can't sleep!



Alrighty, I liked it from start to finish. Legolas and his super hero stunts were probably my biggest complaints just because I don't see PJ giving as much to other characters and races. Slanted Elf love, I get it, but honestly I don't really have any complaints.

Smaug was done wonderful, Gandalf's story was cut too short if anything..I loved his side plot. If pacing was an issue for you in AUJ, it won't be here unless you prefer it slow, because this sucker moves fast and there is no slowing down when this train has started. I am looking forward to a slightly slower version with the extended version, but that's probably just because I'm a geek amd want more more more. If anything though the scenes feel possibly cut too short, and Smaug might runs a bit too long. Smaug is a dragon that future film makers will be using as their inspiration to get it right. Every scene Smaug is in is an instant masterpiece.

Sauron, Azog and Gandalf...I loved this side stuff, and was left yearning for more! Tauriel works well too. I like the invention of Tauriel and it's told in such a way that it doesn't hurt the story, and give a bit more character development to a certain Dwarf, and seeing as there are 13 of the them you kinda wanna try to flesh out as much as you can. It worked for me!

From Beorn to barrel riding, it's a fun movie adaption. If your a purist then you'll likely hate half of it though. Oh, and it is very heavy on using CGI this go around so if you don't like that then you will find a lot of issues with the Orcs. I'm tired so I'll try to update this better tomorrow.

[Shaibana]

i am definitly not that critical when i watch a movie, and i absolutely loved this 2nd part of the hobbit and they ended it at the right moment, jeez what a cliffhanger :3

i swear i would have riot if they killed of Kili

what i also loved is that they give a little more insight and personal camera time to the other hobbits.
as for An Unexpected Journey it felt like the Thorin and Bilbo (and ofcourse gandalf) show, this one did not feel like that

[Del Murder]

Will see it out of obligation, but like Miriel I wished they made it more whimsical like the original novel.

I'm really looking to the third movie though, with the battle of 5 Armies. I've been looking forward to that since this movie(s) were announced!

[Rantz]

Count me among the ones who would prefer less action, fewer chase scenes, and more whimsy. Also, I normally have no trouble seeing actors as the role they play rather than the roles they've had in the past, but it was incredibly hard for me to see Thranduil as anyone but the pie maker, and Tauriel as anyone but Kate from Lost. As for the latter, she's definitely more out of her element here, and she's not a versatile enough actress to pull it off well at all, I think.

Having said all that, I still liked it for what it was. It was definitely an entertaining watch in and of itself.

[Fuzakeru]

I'm going tomorrow night with a ton of my friends to see it! I'm pumped up!

I've been listening to Misty Mountain on repeat all week mixed in with my Christmas music. :love: :excited:

[Elskidor]

I think keeping it action packed from start to finish was a direct response to the critics who claimed the first filmed was slow going. Never listen to a critic! There are way too many different opinions, and you can't please everyone. I fully suspect the Extended Edition will slow things out and flesh out characters more, which i the only version I consider after it is released. I've never watch a theatrical version after the Extendeds are released.

[Rantz]

Well, less action doesn't necessarily have to mean slower. But yeah, can't please everyone.

[Sephex]

They won't let the dragon in Shanghai because there is too much of him already.

[Aulayna]

I think this film suffered big time from middle film syndrome, in that with the first you knew what it was leading too, but now the middle film is just like the padding between the two. I really felt like it had pacing issues toward the end, the stuff in the mountain just went on and on and on and on and on and on and...

But having said that I still enjoyed it, well apart from the fucking spiders - as someone who's afraid of spiders, that was a bit uncomfortable to say the least, even though I knew they weren't real.

I do like how it continued the comeday trend the first film set of Dwarves falling out of things or Dwarves falling from silly heights and surviving.

[Ayen]

I loved it and couldn't care less about them using CGI. Smaug was great and I'm hyped for the third film.

I do like how the dragon wasn't able to hit jack trout, though.

[Elskidor]

I'm hype for the extended version, lol. Third film too of course, but I have a feeling a lot was cut. Beorn and Gandalf didn't share a single line that I recall, so I'm thinking there must be more of that scene. Thorin's father, Thrain was also in the movie originally, but he obviously was missing in the theatrical version. Considering how PJ stated he likes this one better than the other 4 I just have a feeling there could be a good hour worth of material that he toyed with puting in the movie and then cutting back out from the movie, and spliced and diced to respond to the pacing critics that were pretty rough last year.

[Ultima Shadow]

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c344/AGAFURO/Bernkastel4.pnghttp://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c344/AGAFURO/Yukari2.png
"I AM FIRE! I AM... DEATH!"
"Yes, Bern, the dragon was cool. We get it."

[Ayen]

Bet you now the critics complain about the film moving too fast :colbert:

[Elskidor]

Uh oh, Hitler heard about Tauriel already.

Hitler reacts to Tauriel - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxC1XJDMAJc)

[Shaibana]

Uh oh, Hitler heard about Tauriel already.

Hitler reacts to Tauriel - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxC1XJDMAJc)

these hitler clips are not that funny when you actually understand them :|

[Botchmun]

To avoid spoilers I do wish to say this movie was made of meh and wank. I was impressed and enjoyed most of it but those of you who have seen it will agree that there was a bit too much wanking.

[Scotty_ffgamer]

But having said that I still enjoyed it, well apart from the smurfing spiders - as someone who's afraid of spiders, that was a bit uncomfortable to say the least, even though I knew they weren't real.


Interesting note about these movies that was mentioned in the production video diaries they were releasing on youtube; these scenes actually really bothered Peter Jackson as well. Apparently he's pretty afraid of spiders and could not handle this stuff very well, haha.

Also, I just got back from watching it, and I loved it. Yes, I would have preferred more whimsy and to have it feel more like a children's story. I knew I wasn't going to get that, though, and it was great for what it was.

[Shorty]

Bet you now the critics complain about the film moving too fast :colbert:

It's a legitimate complaint. I felt like Peter Jackson was shooing me along through a good portion of the beginning of the film. This story has been made into three smurfing separate films. There is no excuse whatsoever for quickly-paced scenes and fast camera cuts unless they are playing on high tension.

I didn't think it opened well, but at the beginning of watching this film I resolved to myself, "I think I was perhaps a bit too negative and critical of the last film. I'm going to try to separate this one from the story that I know and love and try to appreciate it for what it is." That resolution lasted for perhaps ten, maybe fifteen minutes.

By the time Legolas was popping off orcs left and right whilst rafting down a slew of unfriendly rapids atop the heads of two dwarves and proceeding to hop from head to head of the dwarves while he continued to shoot at the enemies, I was ready to leave the theater. The only saving grace that kept me in my seat was that I came to see Benedict smurfing Cumberbatch as a dragon and that was what I wanted to see.

Smaug and Bard were the only two things good about this movie. The rest of it can burn in a fire. I am ready to give up on this trilogy.

I will write an actual elaborating review of it at a time later than now when I am not seething about three wasted hours of my life.

[Ayen]

I'm talking about the critics who complained about the last movie being too slow which is why this one isn't.

I never read the books so can't comment on any of that.

[Elskidor]

I can easily add some nagitive critical response to Lego. Oh yeah, I'm not a fan of the use of Legolas in these films at all, but this began in TTT as well. I was not a fan back when he was skate boarding on shields or taking down giant Mumikil at ease. The overall use of Legolas in all these films have always troubled me, so I was not surprised to see him acting like the super Elf hero this time around, but I've always felt what's the point of Gimli and Aragorn when you have super Elf that can do virtually anything?

Even for being completely fabricated, I thought Tauriel made a far better elf than Legolas, and Thranuil was even better. My biggest complaint on the Hobbit trilogy would be the loss of feeling like the characters are in serious trouble, AUJ mostly did this though. The over the top stunts do not stop at Legolas, for I really did not like Thorin sledding over hot molten gold like it was a water slide at an amusement park either. The happy fun escape from the goblin tunnels were all too easy too.

As for straying form the source material of the original book though..not really bothered by much of what has been done. I grew up on the book and the cartoon way before getting into LoTRs so it is not because I never read or loved the book. by the time he published The Lord of the Rings Tolkien was already unhappy with The Hobbit and he planned on doing a rewrite of it to match the more adult theme of Lord of the Rings. This was never a secret. He was working on connecting his books together more. We know enough about Dol Guldur for it to be in the movie, and it makes sense completely. Those changes not only do not bother me in the least, but I'm happy they are given there place.

Azog and Tauriel are written in with still the spirit of Tolkien's world so I don't mind their additions as much as some, but I would if they were portrayed as ridiculous as Legolas and some of the insane stunts Peter Jackson has allowed the characters to do. I do wish someone had been there to draw the stops when Peter Jackson was getting out of hand. It's like he knows he's going over the top sometimes, but can't seem to control himself. Giant golden dwarf, Gimli and Pippin farting, The army of the dead looked terrible and Gimli's comedy during that section was not needed, Gimli portrayed as comedy relief in general, bird poo on Radagast, cheesy Disney Great Goblin King...nope, not a fan of that either. But there was less in Lord of The Rings because he knew there was much at risk. It's almost like he feels in the clear, and he's free to go over the top, because it does not matter anymore. At any rate, I do love the film and this trilogy. The things I enjoy far out weigh the things I do not like.

[Shaibana]

gimli and pippin farting??

i did not like the goblin king either :o

i was not that bothered with the giant golden dwarf, a mather of fact, Thorin's (grand) father was already known as a greedy dwarf with a crapload of gold. it would make sense for him to melt some of that gold an make a masterpiece.

[Elskidor]

Pippin farted in TTT I believe, and I was thinking the same of Gimli in Return of the King..maybe it was a burp though. Guess I'm not too fond of gas humor, but I know some people will watch a a 5 minute youtube video filled of fart noises and think it's just the best thing since sliced bread.

[Shaibana]

Pippin farted in TTT I believe, and I was thinking the same of Gimli in Return of the King..maybe it was a burp though. Guess I'm not too fond of gas humor, but I know some people will watch a a 5 minute youtube video filled of fart noises and think it's just the best thing since sliced bread.

i feel ur gas-pain, bro

[Freya]

A whimsy fantastical book is criticized cause its action stunts are too fantastical. Okay.

I enjoyed this movie. It was fun. It was an over the top fantasy film as all the lotr movies have been.

Smaug was scary looking.

[Scotty_ffgamer]

Smaug, I felt, was pretty much perfect in this movie. He really stole the show!

I can understand people's issues with the action scenes, particularly with Legolas, but I honestly felt they were a lot of fun for the most part.

[Tavrobel]

Pippin farted in TTT I believe, and I was thinking the same of Gimli in Return of the King..maybe it was a burp though. Guess I'm not too fond of gas humor, but I know some people will watch a a 5 minute youtube video filled of fart noises and think it's just the best thing since sliced bread.

Bread scene in Lorien (Fellowship). Legolas is explaining how little bread you have to eat to be full, Merry asks Pippin how many he ate. "Four." /burp

Celebrating in Edoras (Return), Gimli gets drunk, burps, and points out that other people can't hold their liquor while passing out. He did not win.

Spoiler alert, there's a third movie. I'll wait for that.

[Shaibana]

yeah ok, the burps i have seen, but i dont remember any farts :o



A whimsy fantastical book is criticized cause its action stunts are too fantastical. Okay.

I enjoyed this movie. It was fun. It was an over the top fantasy film as all the lotr movies have been.

Smaug was scary looking.

fantastic? are you talking about legolas riding the 2 barrols?
i dont mind some cool stunts, but that part just.. i didnt like it

[Elskidor]

Alrighty, I found the fart scene and it was a burp, lol. Although a few others mistook it for a fart scene as well. That isn't as bad.

I don't really ever give any of these movies negative critical response, but to be fair the over the top stunts aren't my thing. Fellowship and most of the LoTR films kept their action within the laws of physics. I tend to fall out of the fantasy world I'm emerged in if I see something too jarring that I can't wrap my head around.

Yes, Smaug was definite brilliance on screen. And Martin Freeman has also owned Bilbo in a way I didn't think was possible. The casting in general is near flawless.

[Psychotic]

Saw it, wasn't keen at first, warmed up to it.

+ I smurfing unashamedly loved the ridiculous stunts. As Freya says it's a fantasy movie and I want to see something fantastic. Nothing like Tolkien's original? Good. Tolkien's fighting scenes were godawful. It's fun, it's exciting, it's intense and I enjoyed it immensely.
+ I loved the visual design. Mirkwood, The Woodland Realm, Laketown, the treasure pile, oomph, yes, gorgeous. Same for the Elven armour.
+ I did not hate Tauriel like I thought I would! I quite liked the story of the Elves and I liked Legolas being a huge dick because it neatly highlights the development as a character in LotR to an extent - his racial prejudices being dropped.
+ Bard was great, a really strong presence and I loved Laketown politics.
+ Creepy spiders! Much scarier than Shelob was!
+ The Sauron reveal.
+ SMAUG

- While I liked Tauriel and assumed there'd be a Legolas love story... did there really need to be a smurfing love story arc with Kili? God damn.
- The Beorn scene was rendered utterly pointless. What the smurf was that all about? I loved the little intro in the Hobbit with more and more Dwarves showing up. Instead, five minutes of "Yep, Orcs are dicks, have some ponies".
- Orcs interacting with Sauron like he's their bro. "YOU PROMISED ME HIS HEAD RAAAAGH!" and "pfft yeah I serve super secret Sauron, Elves, what of it? :smug:" get to smurf.
- I still have no interest in these Orcs as villains anyway.
- Bilbo becoming a bit of a Ring junkie already in Mirkwood. No :colbert:
- I would've liked to have seen more of Gandalf and Radagast. Buddy Wizard-Cop movie would be incredible.

[Freya]

Kili is amazing and hot. He needs loving too. I'm okay with tauriel. Dwarfxelf login!

[Shaibana]

Kili is amazing and hot. He needs loving too. I'm okay with tauriel. Dwarfxelf login!

Thumbs up for you :P
as cute as i find that romance, i also find it a little awkward :P

[Del Murder]

The Beorn scene was rendered utterly pointless. What the smurf was that all about? I loved the little intro in the Hobbit with more and more Dwarves showing up. Instead, five minutes of "Yep, Orcs are dicks, have some ponies".
They made three blasted movies out of this book and they couldn't fit in the funniest scene of the whole story? This better be in the extended edition.

[Ayen]

You're all just jealous you don't have the elves infinite arrows cheat. Doesn't work as well when you're cornered, though.[/joke]

[Psychotic]

Given the way they did it, I think it's impossible to put it into the extended edition which is a damned shame.

[Elskidor]

Oh, I think there will be more to Beorn in the EE though. Seems off that Gandalf and Beorn don't share one bit of dialogue, unless I'm forgetting something.

Funny tidbit on an interview with the actor that plays Thorin concerning one of the scenes. Funny stuff.

Richard Armitage: [Laughs] Ha, I knew someone would pick up on that! At the time, I remember thinking, “He’s got me running around with a wheelbarrow... is he actually taking the piss?” [Laughs] It sort of looks like he’s going gardening. Emergency gardening in Erebor!

[Freya]

https://24.media.tumblr.com/2c4236103de22c991f0c27d3b701df16/tumblr_mxserirUAc1sy96deo1_500.gif

https://24.media.tumblr.com/8fb728c84786fe1e5b0c7927931913ed/tumblr_mxtcpi0Npa1sx0miio1_250.gif

I ship them so hard. I'm a fan girl. I admit it. It's cute. Dwarf and Elf love is not a normal thing so it is adorable to me.

[Bolivar]

I feel like they rushed past the different locales in the beginning and just kinda had very little happen in laketown and the mountain at the end. Also I don't know if this film had to end on such a cliffhanger. I thought the first one ended on the perfect note with them making it out of the Misty Mountains.

The over the top action can be a bit much and it almost turned me off of RotK last time I watched it. But I'm satisfied with Jackson's departures because, unlike the liberties they take in Game of Thrones, the original stuff is still fun to watch and overall well done. The chase scenes are starting to get repetitive but they're still so incredibly choreographed I really don't care.

[Scotty_ffgamer]

Psychotic hit on one of my favorite things about this movie: the visual design. Yes, I do prefer practical effects/make up/etc to CG, but the set design and such is all pretty beautiful. These were my favorite aspects of the Lord of the Rings honestly, and I think it's still pretty strong in these movies.

That being said, the old 1977 cartoon movie is still the best movie adaptation so far :colbert:.

Speaking of which, I almost want to try to organize a EoFF watch party of the cartoon Hobbit. I think that would be fun. I don't think I own the movie, though.

[Botchmun]

warning: I'mma do a big angry rant post. It's big and It's angry.

In the original book, Bilbo came into his own as the big fooking prawn fantastic hero of the story. He manned up, saved the dwarves from giant spiders (which gets bonus points because regular sized spiders make most EoFF users wet themselves with fear*) and then proceeded to hack and murder them WHILE SINGING A SONG ABOUT HOW STUPID AND LAZY THEY WERE. A few of my friends were thoroughly disappointed by the turn of events that is how the scene played out instead, but this is where my first personal gripe with the movie comes up.

Imagine you go into a theater, you get the seat you like (back row wall seats are my favorite.) and you put on your cheap viewmaster "3D" glasses. The movie starts, there's all the actors using awesome camera angles and scaling to look shorter than Gandalf, the humour is there and the music kicks in and takes you to that magical place only a good fantasy story can take you. Then you reach one part and the music stops. You're wondering why the music stops, why'd the music stop? Orlando bloom wearing a platinum blond wig walks into the foreground, completely blocking the entire movie. Without a word he just drops his little elf breeches and wanks. This is the rest of the movie.

If Peedar Jikksun wants to remind us that he made the sequel to the hobbit before making the hobbit then good for him, pat on the shoulders and give the fuzzy little munchkin a Jaffa Cake. If Legolas showed up in the background drinking a diet pepsi through a straw and gave us an uncharacteristic thumbs up I'd have been fine and thrown a double-thumbs up and a dorky grin at the movement screen. No, we get hardcore CGI poncy pansy elf Orlando Bloom movie takeover porn for two lifetimes longer than we should've. I'mma spoiler the rest because the rest is my other huge gripe about the movie and it is a spoiler so spoiler tags. 'Sup dawd, I heard you don't like spoilers, so I spoilered that I'm using spoiler tags so you can have your spoiler spoiled by my spoiler spoiling spoiler.

Go to hell, the writing and directoral staff of Desolation of Smaug. Don't end with a huge dramatic cliffhanger after adding a ton of worthless and groundless faffing about to detract from Bilbo's encounter with Smaug. Bilbo was supposed to show how our little hero was able to keep talking and working while gripped by terror, his presence known to the great and looming Smaug. You added a ton of needlessly stupid running about and background effects that were not in the original book, and as such you wasted a huge chunk of time that could've been spent with the death of Smaug and gearing up for the third movie. Hell if they'd cut down a lot of the drek from Desolation of Smaug we could do this in two movies flat!

[Freya]

If they kill smaug in this film, how many will want to see the next? How many who weren't book fans would say, " oh the bad guy they set out to kill is dead. I sure do wonder what happens next after the main bad guy they've built up for two films is dead." Not many. Even if there is more to the story, making it into three films has just made them string it out. Non book readers wouldn't want a movie about taking back a mountain by dwarves and a hobbit from a dragon if there was no dragon left.

The problem this movie/series has much like every movie adaptation is its source material. It has source material. So rather than being seen as its own entity its basedoff that source. Everyone knows, or should know, the movies/shows will never be exactly how it was wrote and how the reader interpreted. They are two different mediums. What works in a book doesn't always work in a film.

If you ignore the source material, forget it exists (which I can do since it's been so long since I read it) this movie and its predecessor was fun and entertaining. Its when you start tearing it apart at the seams from the source material that it's less enjoyable. It isn't and never was made to be exactly like the book, it's an adaptation and I personally thought it was done well. I was entertained.

If I wanted the book, I'd read the book. My mind has better special effects anyway.

[Shorty]

If the amount of time and care went into this movie as went into Lord of the Rings, I think I would have appreciated it so much more. Everything felt rushed - from the shots to the dialogue to the action scenes. With the resources that have clearly been demonstrated with LotR, why the smurf were so many of the action scenes so poorly animated? Unacceptable.

As the movies go on, I am having a bit of trouble feeling Martin Freeman for Bilbo. I love Martin Freeman - I absolutely adore him. I think his little ticks, his furrowed brows and concerned facial expressions are so absolutely wonderful and he brings a sort of "real" feeling to the character in that he behaves in ways and has these characteristics that we all do and he doesn't appear to be perfectly, flawlessly acting. He just flows as an actor and convinces you of his part. And he's so smurfing lovable and handsome as trout, and therein lies the problem. I've always thought of Bilbo as a sort of almost borderline annoying grumpy mid-life hobbit who becomes irritated at the slightest upset in his life and becomes annoyed easily. The whole point of this journey is to change him into an adventure-seeking soul, and the more I watch Martin Freeman, the more I don't think I see that change happening because he already reflects the adventure-seeking so well already. I guess I'm still stuck on Ian Holm because he perfectly encapsulates the grumpy leave me alone well-to-do sort of hobbit that Bilbo is in my mind. But he does wonderfully in his role and that's all I can ask for, because I have no complaints whatsoever of seeing him onscreen.

I wish the scene with Beorn had been a little longer. Going back to my original complaint, it felt rushed.

The bit with Gandalf visiting the ruins and the Necromancer were okay. I did like seeing Gandalf more involved in the journey and this film than I originally thought I would. I greatly dislike Radaghast and was relieved that he was only on screen for a few minutes.

I still hate the fact that the orcs and Azog have been involved up to this point.

Legolas was atrocious and I loathed him. It's all fine and great to want to include the fact that he was very exclusive and racist as part of the Woodland Elves, but I wish it didn't mean that he had to act like a stupid emo bitch. Legolas was so great in Lord of the Rings because of how mysterious he was and how little he spoke, yet how filled with wisdom he always seemed to be. It could have been possible for those same elements to be applied to his character in this time while steering him toward racism of the hobbits and general protectiveness of the elves and servitude of his father. Instead, he just seemed to be glaring at everyone the entire time. Just glaring like a stupid emo bitch, and I wanted to slap him. Additionally, in Laketown when he and Azog faced off, it made no sense to me for his character to go for swords and to enter into an actual fight with him. I don't feel like Legolas would ever do that - he's too smart to be deluded by the pride of winning a sword battle when he clearly has the capacity to stick an arrow into Azog's eye within a second. That is something that a man would fall for. Instead, he made a poor decision of picking up a sword for seemingly no other reason than honor, and it all felt completely out of character to me. If Jackson didn't want to give Legolas an opportunity to kill Azog so he could be included into the next film and such, he should have just forgone that entire scene, because it was completely senseless.

I already mentioned the bit about the river and barrels scene with Legolas hopping on heads in my first post and how outraged I was. I just don't understand why anyone thought that would be a good idea. Why was it a good idea for Bombur to go rolling down next to the rapids taking out orcs left and right, and then his barrel flying across the river and then allowing it to do the same thing on the other side? The whole thing was just so, so stupid. I don't get why Peter Jackson feels the need to pull these stupid smurfing gimmicks. Is it because the viewers legitimately love them? I was so disappointed with that scene.

Right after the river barrel scene, I lost all hope. I thought there was no smurfing way that this movie could be salvaged and that it was over. I was so pleasantly surprised with Bard. He was wonderful. His entire story, from being hesitant to help the dwarves at first, to smuggling them in and caring for them and attempting to help them and standing up for his own ideals as soon as he found out what they were up to was marvelous. I was so happy to see him deny the dwarves instead of just going along with what they wanted because they paid him. Additionally, I found myself so curious about his reaction to hearing Thorin's name and rushing to find the tapestries. I couldn't figure out if he was pleased or horrified, and was legitimately on edge to find out what his reaction was going to be. As Psychotic said, I, too, loved that the town politics were focused on, and that he threw himself in the middle of it. I loved his sense of justice and the fact that he stood up to the rest of the town in the face of their greed to try to convey the consequences of helping the dwarves. How such a perfectly flawless character can be written among a pile of trash is beyond me. Bard is what Legolas should have been.

Smaug was the crown jewel. This scene has always been my favorite in the book. I love the riddles that Bilbo and Smaug toss back and forth at eachother, both sortof playing with and amusing eachother. I love the banter between the two of them, I love the fact that Bilbo manages to keep his cool in light of the fact that he is conversing with a beast who can turn him into ash in a second. I love the fact that Smaug is so curious about Bilbo - probably his first interaction with another being in a long time - and is so chuffed about being in control about the situation that he simply allows it to continue for his amusement. I was absolutely amazed at the Smaug that I was staring at onscreen, and being smitten with BC only adds to the fact that Smaug was a total and complete badass. His visual representation was absolutely beautiful, and he couldn't have looked more like how I pictured him in my head when I read the book for the very first time. It was wonderful.

Tauriel. Tauriel was an obscenity. The fact that Peter Jackson feels it is within his own right to tarnish the work of Tolkien like he has with so much of the crap in this movie and then to add his own character in because he is so utterly obsessed with Middle Earth that he has a compulsion to make himself a part of it in someway is... pathetic. There was such a clear difference in Tauriel's character from the rest of the characters, even with all of the changes made and she just did not belong there. At all. Her lines were over-rehearsed, over-acted, unnatural. There was absolutely no need, no point whatsoever in having her a part of the story. It made no sense, and was only there to please the masses with a lovestory. And the worst crime of all is that it was a troutty smurfing lovestory at that, and is thus unforgivable.

My biggest complaint in this movie is that I feel no emotional connection to anything or anyone. I don't feel an emotional connection to Bilbo, nor to Thorin, nor to any of the dwarves. Only at one time did I feel the slightest inkling of it, and that was when Bard was rushing to stop the town from aiding the dwarves because he didn't want anything to happen to his children. Aside from that, all I felt like I was doing was spectating. I didn't feel involved, I didn't feel encompassed by the story, I didn't feel anything tug at my heartstrings. As the biggest bleeding heart on this forum, if I can sit through a three hour film and not feel anything for it, there is something wrong with it.

I'm sick of Peter Jackson. I'm sick of seeing him muddle his hands in Middle Earth and becoming so obsessed with it that he just absolutely destroys it. He is a smurfing obsessive geek who has too much power in his hands with these rights to the stories and he needs to just sit down and shut up about Tolkien for the rest of his life because he has taken too many outrageous liberties with it so far. He nailed Lord of the Rings as well as he could - I think that very little feasible improvements could have been made to those films under his direction, but they turned out okay. These Hobbit films are something else. Should have quit while he was ahead.

There were a lot of other little complaints I had (like about the dwarves all rushing in to try and outsmart Smaug and thinking it was a good idea to cover him in gold - why, exactly?) but I'll just leave it at that. Oh, but I do feel like it ended on a terrible note. There was no transition into the end and no real purpose for them to stop it where they did. Again, felt rushed, like they had no time to properly plan a good stopping point.

I give this movie a 4/10. 3 points to Smaug and 1 point to Bard.

[Elskidor]

I really was not crazy about Bard, and until we see more of Beorn I suppose I'm on the fence there too. But I also was not that crazy about anything in Laketown. I think Martin owns a young Bilbo and can no longer see anyone else pulling it off, except for Ian but only as older Bilbo. I'll have to reserve judgment on the rest until the Extended Edition is released though. I do find it amusing how popular Legolas was 10 years ago, and how he's almost despised now. I do contest that via PJ's fan fiction Tauriel is done much better than Legolas in DoS. It does not really bug me even though the love story is not needed whatsoever, but I find Tauriel more believable in the Tolkien world rather than Legolas. If anything this may take a way from his LoTRs character rather than add anything good to it. He does not come across very likable.

Taking the liberty to create and delve more into Tolkien's universe is a very bold move on Peter Jackson, but I can see why he does it. Who would not? It's an awesome world and directors do it constantly in nearly every film they adapt from, but it so happens he's been given the honor to mess around in a world that is protected by millions of fans, and his footsteps are observed closely.

[Psychotic]

I greatly dislike Radaghast and was relieved that he was only on screen for a few minutes.how is this possible

You made some points that, while I disagree with you, I can accept, but this? How can anyone fucking hate Radagast? Sylvester McCoy is a brilliant actor and I absolutely adore his loopy Radagast.

[Shorty]

I mostly dislike him for the crazy antics they had him perform in the first one when the party was struggling to get away from the orcs and the wargs and so it's instilled into my opinion of his character, I guess. He didn't do anything I disliked in this film, but whenever I look at him I smurfing cringe because of all the bird droppings plastered to his face and his hair. :stare:

[Elskidor]

I greatly dislike Radaghast and was relieved that he was only on screen for a few minutes.how is this possible

You made some points that, while I disagree with you, I can accept, but this? How can anyone smurfing hate Radagast? Sylvester McCoy is a brilliant actor and I absolutely adore his loopy Radagast.


Besides for the bird poo I love Radagast and his bunnies! The bird poo stuff is a little crazy, lol.

[Freya]

Well if you had birds living in your hat, where do you think the poo goes?

[The Captain]

Overall I enjoyed it quite a bit. I went in expecting a departure from the book and was still taken on a journey. At times I had a bit of whiplash from all of the constant action but Middle Earth is not a bad place to spend time. I greatly enjoyed Laketown as well, felt very lived in.

I do wish some of the CGI was toned down, as a lot of what made LOTR so fantastic is that in spite of the fantasy and epicness, so much of it was REAL. Real actors, real fight scenes, real physics and gravity. After a while, the constant Legolas doing flips over a hundred orcs really just feels like a fan video.

Smaug was majestic and worth the price of admission on its own as well.

Which book do you think they'll extend in to a trilogy next? I'm sure someone will throw a boatload of money at PJ to do stories about the First Age of Middle Earth.

Take care all.

[Tavrobel]

Which book do you think they'll extend in to a trilogy next? I'm sure someone will throw a boatload of money at PJ to do stories about the First Age of Middle Earth.

It would be terrible as a movie trilogy. It would be phenomenal as an HBO season-long series.

[Slothy]

Just got around to seeing this tonight, and I've got to say; for all of the complaining book fans will do about changes in the movies and stuff, and all of the hate I'm sure Peter Jackson will get for it, the movies are good. In fact, he's taken four books, only 1 and 2/3rds I could actually stand to get through because Tolkien was an excellent world builder but an absolutely awful story teller, and made five movies out of them so far that are actually really enjoyable. I may be a bit biased here, but whatever he may do that angers the book fans, I'm willing to give the man a pass because he's managed to make movies that are actually watchable out of some of the most boring novels I've ever tried to read.

But as much as I enjoyed this movie, there is one thing I do feel the need to criticize a bit: Weta need to get their act together on the CGI. For most of the movie it wasn't terrible. In a lot of places it was actually pretty good aside from some really wonky physics (the barrel roll, or when they were going over at least one waterfall and fell at the same velocity they were traveling down the river rather than gradually accelerating down to the water. You know, like gravity makes things do), but by the end when they lit the furnaces the CG took a nosedive. The integration of the lighting with the real actors was spotty at best, during parts like the column Bilbo was standing on collapsing the texture quality and lighting were atrocious and made it look so fake it was hard to witness. During one part while Smaug was flying through the mine attacking them the animation got so choppy that were it a video game I'd swear it was dropping frames, and the molten gold looked like it was barely a step up from the T-1000 in his liquid form.

Now despite all of this stuff I still really liked the movie, but I have a hard time believing this stuff is coming from the same company responsible for Gollum ten years ago. The LotR trilogy had some spotty CGI in places because it was being made ten god damn years ago, but those places were few and far between and the majority of it still holds up well today. I don't know what the hell has happened to them since. They've done some genuinely great work on other films in the interim, so why they're dropping the ball so often on more Tolkien stuff is beyond me.

[Del Murder]

Oh yeah, I saw this about a week ago. It was ok. Everything involving Smaug was great but the first half of the movie was pretty dull. The Beorn stuff in particular was really unnecessary. If they are going to cut out the best part of the Beorn scene (the introduction), then why even show it at all? :mamu:

I felt this movie was way too long and would have been better at about two hours of length or little less. It just dragged on.

The crazy barrel scene didn't bother me because you could tell they were trying to be as over the top as possible. I enjoyed it. I didn't enjoy the rest of the Legolas stuff though. Too much of him just being a badass and slaying orcs when there's no reason for it and it doesn't make sense for his character at that point in time.

[fire_of_avalon]

All of the elf stuff they did could have been replaced with more Beorn/some Bombadil and been just fine.

[Pike]

I saw this and I liked it. More than the first one, in fact.

The elf girl and dwarf guy romance thing was freaking adorable and I don't even care. OTP for life.

[Miriel]

Saw it.

Forgetting all the book stuff, just looking at it purely on it's own as a movie, I thought it was just ok. It felt too much like a fluffy action flick, with not enough depth.

I thought the only poignant moment came from Thorin's reaction when he was all, "I know these walls" and finally entered Erebor.

Even though the pacing was much faster in this movie, I still thought it was way too god damn long. So many sequences just went on forever or felt totally unnecessary. I actually thought the barrel scene was kind of fun and I don't mind that kind of raucous action fun. I just felt like that's pretty much what the whole movie was, just Peter Jackson doing as many tricks as possible.

With the exception of the weird ass sequence where the dwarves were running around with Smaug chasing them, I loved everything with Smaug. Smaug and Bilbo were wonderful. But Thorin riding down a river of molton gold? Pretty dumb.

I love Legolas. I had a poster of him up in my bedroom wall through high school. But he was in this movie way too damn much. I also didn't think it made sense how serious and angry Legolas was, given how bright eyed and young he was in Fellowship. I mean, I know you can't help that Orlando Bloom has aged, but I didn't get any kind of sense that he was younger than the Legolas we saw in LotR. Tauriel wasn't as horrible as I had anticipated, but the stuff with Kili, good lord. Ughghghg.

I was impressed with Bard and thought he had a great presence and liked that his role was expanded, but the Lake Town stuff was just weird with how there were orcs everywhere and no one noticed. That really bothered me. The Sauron/Gandalf thing wasn't done as well as I had hoped, but a lot of that has to do with how crappy the orcs are as villains. What was so wrong with having physical real life actors play orcs rather than the CGI crap? For some reason, the CGI looks way worse than it did 10+ years ago with the LotR. And just visually, it's nowhere near as beautiful as I had hoped. I think a part of it is how this was all shot on digital rather than film. Just didn't have that magical quality to the imagery. The music by Howard Shore was also surprisingly lackluster.

Now that's just movie stuff. Going back to the movie as an adaptation... well, it was pretty god damn awful. It only vaguely follows the basic plot points, but going beyond all that, it doesn't stay true to the feel and spirit of the books at all. That makes me so sad.

It was an ok movie. Pretty entertaining in parts. Pretty crappy in others. I hope one day they re-do these movies and make them a true children's classic like it deserves to be.

[Sephiroth]

This is the best scene ever in Middle Earth for me:

Gandalf vs Sauron HD - The Hobbit : The Desolation of Smaug (1080p) - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpqIDQI3Gqw)

[Elskidor]

Yes, that scene is epic. I love it, but really wish PJ had not screwed up and let the Witch-King break Gandalf's staff in ROTK. How many times must we watch his staff break, lol? The Witch-King would never have been able to do something so ridiculous though, so at least this makes more sense. Epic fight and I wish it had lasted longer.

[blackmage_nuke]

The two elves annoyed me to no end. Cant we just have a nice adventure movie about short people?

[Psychotic]

Saw it again last night and I think I liked it more.

I agree with Miriel. I think I said after the first one that the CGI orc (Azog?) is poor and I can't even care about anything he is involved in because he just looks so out of place and bad. On the subject of bad CGI, extended Return of the King. The Paths of the Dead escape - those skulls. Those CGI skulls. What the smurf? They were PS1 quality skulls. The appendices say they made millions of little skulls for another shot, why not re-use those? Damn.

The River of Gold Slide was also weird, I don't get the point of it too. Incidentally the emotional bit for me happened at the same bit for Miriel, but it was Balin only being able to choke out the word "Thorin" that did it for me.

On Legolas, I think I'm going to hold judgment on it until I see the last film. Obviously there's a situation with him and Tauriel that needs to be resolved and I'm hoping we'll see some emotional growth on his part. If it ends up as just The Story of How Legolas Hated Dwarves because she chooses Kili over him or dies horribly or something then I have trouble believing it'll be great, but I will give it a chance. I am hoping for something a little bit more deep about his prejudices than "YOU STOLE MAH GURL!" though. I did like seeing his interactions with Thranduil.

[Bubba]

A bit late to the party but me and the girlfriend saw this at the weekend. I did very much enjoy it and was suitable blown away by Smaug. Extremely well spoken given the difficulties of having an elongated dragon mouth.

Legolas I think was been ruined beyond repair for me now. Like Shorty said, he just seemed to be scowling at everyone and I can't see how the third film can salvage anything from his character. Such a shame as I loved him in LOTR.

I didn't actually mind Tauriel though. She should definitely get it on with Kili so they can have weird Dwelf babies. I'm sure Tolkien would approve.

I have to agree though that the barrel scene was stupid.

[Jiro]

Oh yeah, I saw this about a week ago. It was ok. Everything involving Smaug was great but the first half of the movie was pretty dull. The Beorn stuff in particular was really unnecessary. If they are going to cut out the best part of the Beorn scene (the introduction), then why even show it at all? :mamu:


I had this thought. The Beorn scene was pretty rubbish, really.

I'm willing to let this Legolas thing slide because at times it is cool but like, why is he here being significantly better at killing orcs than he is in the LotR? I dunno. Tauriel is hot though. Worth it for that.

Bard is pretty awesome but like Miriel I found the Lake Town stuff to just feel off. Maybe it's because it's addition, but yeah, I dunno, Lake Town is kinda dodgy for me despite having kickass Bard as well as Stephen Fry being a wackjob. Should've been a winning combination.

Barrel scene was the best departure imo. I'm a big fan of the book and so I like it to kind of stick to it but fuck that was brill.

[blackmage_nuke]

Not enough Bombur fat jokes or comments from hungry Dwarves

And I dont get the fuss about Cumberbatch being Smaug, with all the effects in place I couldnt even tell it was his voice, it could have been anyone to me. Thats not to say Smaug wasnt awesome though, I liked the mountains of gold effects.

I liked Radagast. He was an enjoyable character in the LoTR book but was cut from the movie so I didnt mind his inclusion. Not that i liked gandalf's side plot but since they did do it Im glad Radagast was wedged in to show Wizards arent all just bright lights and destroying things.

I assume the only reason they included Beorn was to avoid the flak they got from taking out Tom Bombadil because they did Beorn pretty halfassed. No intro and not nearly as large, hairy and rude as I wouldve expected.

Also I really dont think so many shots of the ring were necessary. Yes thats the Ring, it's a prequel we get it.

[Niale]

Great movie, you should see it :)

[Sephex]

Did Smaug steal all of the Dwarves YouTube money? They should have got a real job.

[Freya]

You guys are all wrong TaurielxKili is the best on screen coupling in forever :colbert:

[Shorty]

You guys are all wrong TaurielxKili is the best on screen coupling in forever :colbert:

You dishonor Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh, Cary Elwes and Robin Wright, Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal, Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes, Johnny Depp and Winona Ryder, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher, Emily Mortimer and Christian Bale, Zachary Quinto and Zoe Saldana, Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant, and literally every other couple ever to make it to the screen in the history of time because they are all better than TaurielxKili and they always will be. :doublecolbert:

Except for Bella and Edward. They can be better than Bella and Edward.

[blackmage_nuke]

"The Hobbit is sexist theres no females in the book! Lets make the movie less sexist by including a female and making her entire motivation based around a guy she likes"

[Freya]

Dude hot dwarfxelf action. Can you really blame me?

https://31.media.tumblr.com/0dc7275f0c1291b3f3b45ccb7e3c8696/tumblr_mytvr49h1l1r9rgxto1_500.gif

[Shorty]

Oh yes, I blame you. I blame you. He's not even the best-looking dwarf!

also what are you talking about action there was no action. It was 100% action-less.

[Freya]

HE SO IS TO. :colbert:

It was adorable. Just suspend your Tolkien bible thumping love for a bit and just pay attention to how adorable it was! You'll come to my side soon.

[blackmage_nuke]

Rubbing Kingsfoil into arrow wounds is the First Base of middle earth

[Shorty]

HE SO IS TO. :colbert:

It was adorable. Just suspend your Tolkien bible thumping love for a bit and just pay attention to how adorable it was! You'll come to my side soon.

Can't do it. Tauriel was the worst. The lovestory was the worst and the weakest thing ever. Keep your filthy hobbit/elves mixed breeding because I don't want it. :doublecolbert:

[Elskidor]

The hottest dwarf has to go to Balin.

[Ayen]

also what are you talking about action there was no action. It was 100% action-less.

Stop sleeping at the theater.

Oh, you're talking about the dwarf/elf. Continue.

[Freya]

You are just a romance hater, Shorty. You can't love a little adorable romance. You are so cold hearted. You're such a Sauron.

[Shorty]

It is because I love romance that I do not approve of this one because it is weaksauce at best. :heart: I would refer you to the slew of couples that I just listed out and their movies to quantify what constitutes a romance.

[Freya]

It's cute. You are just a racist. You think dwarves should be with dwarves and elves with elves. You hate interracial couples. THAT'S WRONG SARAH.

[Shorty]

#ad hominem #deflecting this issue #isthiseoeo

[Freya]

https://24.media.tumblr.com/e67b07c0adb5f380ec789b3ae6020014/tumblr_myt75d8F8O1sbbk18o1_500.gif

[Shorty]

THERE IS SOMETHING ON HIS NOSE WHAT IS IT SOMEONE GET THIS MAN A TISSUE

[blackmage_nuke]

Where would they live? Tauriel would want to live in the woods and Kili would want to live in the mountains.

[Ayen]

The sky is going to swallow Kili up.

[The Man]

Couldn't they live in forested mountains? Seems the most obvious solution.

[Shorty]

Who do you think you are, Freed? You think you can just come traipsing in with your logic to solve this debacle?

[Freya]

Sarah, enough with the hate! Just love! Love the love!

[blackmage_nuke]

I hope it turns out Tauriel only wants him for his 1/14th of a mountain of gold and when they discover her betrayal it only serves to strengthen the bond between Fili and Kili when Fili offers to share his 1/14th with the goldless Kili. Brotherly love forever!

[Elskidor]

Well, if you imagine a dwarf and elf having sex that is pretty awkward. Considering how dwarf hands and feet are though I bet Kili is more hung than Legolas.

[Psychotic]

Dude hot dwarfxelf action. There's no hot DwarfxElf action. They brushed fingers for all of two seconds. Good lord, how lonely are you? xD Bolg had more action with Legolas when he put his arms around him to choke him.... mmm, hot ElfxOrc action, now you're talking.

[Pike]

I'm sorry but if you didn't think that the girl elf getting with the dwarf was cute then we can't be friends.

And yes I've read the book and no I don't care so all of you guys can go sit in the corner with your No Fun Allowed signs.


There's no hot DwarfxElf action. They brushed fingers for all of two seconds.

Exactly, and that's why they're getting shipped. That's how OTPs work. The less action the better so people can fill in with fanfic. xD

[blackmage_nuke]

Kili is a strong independant dwarf man who dont need no woman

[Jiro]

Fili and his fucking knives is the single greatest thing in that movie tbh

[Shaibana]

hahaha this confersation is Golden

im suporting you, freya:kakapo:

[Lone Wolf Leonhart]

This was just released on dvd & blu ray. I missed it in theaters, so I finally got to see it! I loved it.

Tauriel x Kili allllll day. Off with your head, Sarah.


52815

[Skyblade]

HE SO IS TO. :colbert:

It was adorable. Just suspend your Tolkien bible thumping love for a bit and just pay attention to how adorable it was! You'll come to my side soon.

Yeah, no. This is a butchery of Tolkien's work. It hasn't earned the right to call itself The Hobbit.

Dwarves and Elves do not get along. Legolas and Gimli's friendship was the first amicable relations the races had had in literally millenia. The Three Runners were an absolute first in all the ages of the world.

There was no reason invent Tauriel for the film (or, for that matter, to have three films in the first place). Inserting the "romance" was just further nonsense.

Heck, even as an original character, she's pretty awful. "Let's make a new character to have a female character, and her sole purpose will be 'deep insights' and a taboo romantic relationship". In other words, every bad OC in every fanfiction piece ever.

[Rantz]

It's all gonna be okay.

[Del Murder]

NO IT WONT

[Ayen]

Got the DVD a couple of days back. My Lord of the Rings movie collection is now complete until the next film.

[Freya]

Skyblade, your opinion is wrong again. It's okay. Just enjoy the sexiness of kilo and it'll be okay.

[Tavrobel]

hot ElfxOrc action

Well, depending on which school of Orc origin you subscribe to, this isn't that remarkable.

[Skyblade]

hot ElfxOrc action

Well, depending on which school of Orc origin you subscribe to, this isn't that remarkable.

"It's true you don't see many Uruk-hai women. But in fact, they're so alike in voice and appearance, that they're often mistaken for Uruk-hai men. This, in turn, has led to the belief that there are no Uruk-hai women, and that Uruk-hai just spring out of holes in the ground."

This is where the Uruk breeding pits from The Fellowship of the Ring came from.

[Shaibana]

hot ElfxOrc action

Well, depending on which school of Orc origin you subscribe to, this isn't that remarkable.

"It's true you don't see many Uruk-hai women. But in fact, they're so alike in voice and appearance, that they're often mistaken for Uruk-hai men. This, in turn, has led to the belief that there are no Uruk-hai women, and that Uruk-hai just spring out of holes in the ground."

This is where the Uruk breeding pits from The Fellowship of the Ring came from.

thats a lie, u just replaced the word Dwarf with Uruk-hai :P
Uruk-hai are bred in the dirt! they even showed it