[Movies] The Hobbit Trilogy (Possible Spoilers)

[Wilian]

The movie was nothing like the book

I think you read the wrong book.

[BHD]

I actually prefer the hobbit story in the books over the lotr books. But this movie has sooo much that isn't in the books that it slows down the book material. When you have a character, Azog, who was killed in lore YEARS before the Hobbit takes place and the events of the council which takes place over 300 years before the hobbit as well slow down the film and really takes the focus off of Bilbo which is who this story is about.

I thought adding Azog was a bit odd at first, but I didn't really mind later on. It's nice to have someone you know of leading the orcs and goblins that attack the company. If they kept getting attacked by random packs of goblins it would be too "meh", and they're probably setting him up to be the leader of the goblin army that attacks after Smaug is defeated.

The White Council has met quite a few times I take it, and didn't the appendices explain that what Gandalf is doing in the movie is exactly what he's doing in the book (we just don't get told about it)? As far as I know, Gandalf went to Dol Guldur to drive away the Necromancer, and his real reason behind supporting Thorin & co is to keep Smaug from hearing anything about that battle, and deny the Necromancer a chance to recruit the dragon. If so, what happens in the movie is pretty accurate.

Or am I completely off here?

[Venziir]

I think you read the wrong book.

Yes and no really, for let's be fair, there were a lot of scenes in the movie which were either heavily altered or simply added in the movie if you were to compare the two.

[dezzick]

Yes and no really, for let's be fair, there were a lot of scenes in the movie which were either heavily altered or simply added in the movie if you were to compare the two.

\
It is really close to the book and remember Peter Jackson also added some appendices to the movie. Peter Jackson also wants the Hobbit to have nice draw into the LOTR movies unlike the Hobbit Book.

[Pachycrocuta]

I thought adding Azog was a bit odd at first, but I didn't really mind later on. It's nice to have someone you know of leading the orcs and goblins that attack the company. If they kept getting attacked by random packs of goblins it would be too "meh", and they're probably setting him up to be the leader of the goblin army that attacks after Smaug is defeated.

You are probably right. And since they are splitting it into 3, I guess they figured they needed an antagonist for the ones without Smaug, since if I remember right that Smaug is supposed to be the antagonist. I didn't have any problems with them including him in the movie.

[Wilian]

Yes and no really, for let's be fair, there were a lot of scenes in the movie which were either heavily altered or simply added in the movie if you were to compare the two.

Only things that off hand I remember being heavily altered of the actual book (Not the appendix stuff taken from the end of Return of the King) were following:

Orc chase after troll encounter which was stupid, I admit that. Stone giants not playing football, which was a good change, Radagast stuff and then having Azog at the end tree scene over just the Goblin Town goblins.

[Deleted]

I thought adding Azog was a bit odd at first, but I didn't really mind later on. It's nice to have someone you know of leading the orcs and goblins that attack the company. If they kept getting attacked by random packs of goblins it would be too "meh", and they're probably setting him up to be the leader of the goblin army that attacks after Smaug is defeated.

The White Council has met quite a few times I take it, and didn't the appendices explain that what Gandalf is doing in the movie is exactly what he's doing in the book (we just don't get told about it)? As far as I know, Gandalf went to Dol Guldur to drive away the Necromancer, and his real reason behind supporting Thorin & co is to keep Smaug from hearing anything about that battle, and deny the Necromancer a chance to recruit the dragon. If so, what happens in the movie is pretty accurate.

Or am I completely off here?

Nope, pretty much spot on.

[sef24]

So I went to see this film at the midnight showing in "3D, 48 FPS." I have known of this movie coming up for some time now but I was not super hyped day by day like I am with a lot of games. The week before it came out I started to get more hyped over the movie, and Thursday night I decided to go to that Midnight showing looking really forward to this movie.

I have never read a Middle Earth book, but growing up I loved the Lord of the Rings movies. It started interest me in the console games like "Return of the King" on Xbox and the RPG on Gamecube. Lots of great memories on those games.

After watching "The Hobbit" I came out realizing that this is one, if not the most enjoyment I have had watching a movie. I usually fall get really tired going to these midnight showing. I nearly fell asleep during "The Dark Knight Rises," but this one I was full of energy throughout the movie. The closest part of the film where I started getting tired was when they visited the elves, but that scene ended rater quickly.

The Bilbo actor played the role phenomenal, and the Gollem scene was just incredible. I had a smile throughout the whole movie.

I am not much of a reader, but I bought the book yesterday and am excited to read it. The book was smaller than I would have thought for a 3 movie series, but the first movie kept my interest throughout and I am confident they won't stretch out the next 2 movies.

[BHD]

So I went to see this film at the midnight showing in "3D, 48 FPS." I have known of this movie coming up for some time now but I was not super hyped day by day like I am with a lot of games. The week before it came out I started to get more hyped over the movie, and Thursday night I decided to go to that Midnight showing looking really forward to this movie.

I have never read a Middle Earth book, but growing up I loved the Lord of the Rings movies. It started interest me in the console games like "Return of the King" on Xbox and the RPG on Gamecube. Lots of great memories on those games.

After watching "The Hobbit" I came out realizing that this is one, if not the most enjoyment I have had watching a movie. I usually fall get really tired going to these midnight showing. I nearly fell asleep during "The Dark Knight Rises," but this one I was full of energy throughout the movie. The closest part of the film where I started getting tired was when they visited the elves, but that scene ended rater quickly.

The Bilbo actor played the role phenomenal, and the Gollem scene was just incredible. I had a smile throughout the whole movie.

I am not much of a reader, but I bought the book yesterday and am excited to read it. The book was smaller than I would have thought for a 3 movie series, but the first movie kept my interest throughout and I am confident they won't stretch out the next 2 movies.

I'm happy to hear such a good response from a non-reader. Just a "warning" about the book, though. A lot from the movie(s) aren't in there. They have taken a lot of Tolkien's notes from the appendices at the end of the Return of the King book and added it in because it takes place at the same time as Bilbo's journey. But the things added are mainly focused about Gandalf. It's still a very good book.

[sef24]

I'm happy to hear such a good response from a non-reader. Just a "warning" about the book, though. A lot from the movie(s) aren't in there. They have taken a lot of Tolkien's notes from the appendices at the end of the Return of the King book and added it in because it takes place at the same time as Bilbo's journey. But the things added are mainly focused about Gandalf. It's still a very good book.

Yea I am currently at the 3 troll camp as of this time of post, really liking it so far

[Spl4sh3r]

usually movies are filmed in 24 frames per second or fps, this one is in 48, its not bad, its better but old movie critics are complaining

Actually it depends on which you watched. When I was gonna go to the Cinema I had the choice of The Hobbit, The Hobbit 3D and The Hobbit 3D HFR. Only the last one of those has 48 frames per seconds, the other two are the standard 24. So even if it is filmed in 48 doesn't mean it is viewed in 48 :P

[Uthan]

*May feature minor spoilers*
Really liked the movie as well, although there are a few hugely annoying changes I just can't get over. For one, pretty much everything with Thorin. He's supposed to be the oldest dwarf in the company, at a respectable age of 195, and feature a "very long beard", but does instead look more like a human than a dwarf in my opinion. It also seems quite odd how Thorin seems to not age at all between the clip of Smaug assaulting the lonely mountain and the actual time of the movie, even though it's supposed to be about 170 years in between. While I understand some simplification for the sake of making it easier for a fresh audience to follow it wouldn't have been that hard to pull off (xxx years earlier note, someone referring to young Thorin by name etc). And even so, it still doesn't make sense how Thorin visually doesn't seem to age while Balin goes from being brown haired/bearded to white (ignoring the fact Balin was only 7 at the time Smaug drove the dwarves from the mountain). Is it really not possible to have 2 "older" main characters or is there some other explanation for such a large unnecessary change I'm missing?

Also slightly annoyed by Azog, but not really so much with him per se as how it changes the pace of the movie. While the story is already supposed to be "out of the frying pan into the fire" to some extent (quote from the book even), adding another threat to haunt them right after the trolls and further doesn't really feel necessary. Also really missed the goblins chasing them from the mountain and the singing as they're burning the trees they're hiding in, which wouldn't really have worked with the orcs and obviously was left out.

Best part overall though was everything Radagast, really awesome addition, and can't wait for part 2 and 3 despite the other stuff ^^

[conscript]

Also slightly annoyed by Azog, but not really so much with him per se as how it changes the pace of the movie. While the story is already supposed to be "out of the frying pan into the fire" to some extent (quote from the book even), adding another threat to haunt them right after the trolls and further doesn't really feel necessary.

I think that is probably going to tie in more in the next two movies rather than just being an orc out for vengeance. Azog has ties to Sauron in the lore. I expect that he will somehow connect to what is going on with the Necromancer. I like pretty much everything they did with that character except for the chase immediately following the troll encounter like you said. If they were so close to the entrance to Rivendell why didn't they just push on for the half an hour it would have taken for them to get there rather than camping out? They seemed to get to the entrance real, real quick following their encounter with Radagast and then the orc chase.

[BHD]

Just saw it for the fourth time, and I noticed something I completely missed the first three times. When you first hear Saruman talk, the isengard/uruk-hai theme plays slowly in the background. Lovely touch.

Uthan's post made me remember something that while I don't find it annoying, I do find it a bit out of place. Dwalin and Balin's appearances. After the journey Dwalin settles down and has lots of babies, while Balin rallies dwarves into reclaiming Moria. One turns out like a couch-potatoe and the other reclaims a lost kingdom. Yet the first one looks like a viking-dwarf and the other looks like Santa Claus! I've always been a fan of Balin, and I do still like him in the movie, but considering what they do afterwards I slightly feel that their appearances should switch. ^^

About Thorin's appearance. I think they made him look younger than he is because he's supposed to be a fighter, and while Gandalf pulls it off, having a very old-looking dwarf leading this company would feel wrong. At least in my opinion. However, he does have a few gray hairs. The reason for making his beard so much shorter I do not know, but I'd like to think that it's because he's a very big character that has to act out more emotions than most of the dwarves, so they removed most of the beard to enabling us to see him better.

---------- Post added 2012-12-16 at 12:19 AM ----------

I think that is probably going to tie in more in the next two movies rather than just being an orc out for vengeance. Azog has ties to Sauron in the lore. I expect that he will somehow connect to what is going on with the Necromancer. I like pretty much everything they did with that character except for the chase immediately following the troll encounter like you said. If they were so close to the entrance to Rivendell why didn't they just push on for the half an hour it would have taken for them to get there rather than camping out? They seemed to get to the entrance real, real quick following their encounter with Radagast and then the orc chase.

Gandalf mentioned that they should keep going and head for Rivendell, but Thorin didn't want to have anything to do with elves.

[Zatheyll]

Just saw it for the fourth time, and I noticed something I completely missed the first three times. When you first hear Saruman talk, the isengard/uruk-hai theme plays slowly in the background. Lovely touch.

What is this dedication.

[Arrowstormen]

I thought adding Azog was a bit odd at first, but I didn't really mind later on. It's nice to have someone you know of leading the orcs and goblins that attack the company. If they kept getting attacked by random packs of goblins it would be too "meh", and they're probably setting him up to be the leader of the goblin army that attacks after Smaug is defeated.

The White Council has met quite a few times I take it, and didn't the appendices explain that what Gandalf is doing in the movie is exactly what he's doing in the book (we just don't get told about it)? As far as I know, Gandalf went to Dol Guldur to drive away the Necromancer, and his real reason behind supporting Thorin & co is to keep Smaug from hearing anything about that battle, and deny the Necromancer a chance to recruit the dragon. If so, what happens in the movie is pretty accurate.

Or am I completely off here?

The reason Gandalf helped the dwarves getting back Erebor is because he knew Sauron was going to rise again, and he needed Erebor to be a defense against the men from the east when that time would come. During the War of the Ring, Erebor was in war against the Men of the East the whole time, keeping them at bay.

Found that gem in the Appendix.

---------- Post added 2012-12-16 at 12:43 AM ----------

Just saw it for the fourth time, and I noticed something I completely missed the first three times. When you first hear Saruman talk, the isengard/uruk-hai theme plays slowly in the background. Lovely touch.

Wait, what? I'm going to see it a second time, but fourth? Man, they gonna make a billion $ from this.

I think that is probably going to tie in more in the next two movies rather than just being an orc out for vengeance. Azog has ties to Sauron in the lore. I expect that he will somehow connect to what is going on with the Necromancer. I like pretty much everything they did with that character except for the chase immediately following the troll encounter like you said. If they were so close to the entrance to Rivendell why didn't they just push on for the half an hour it would have taken for them to get there rather than camping out? They seemed to get to the entrance real, real quick following their encounter with Radagast and then the orc chase.

I believe the guy who voiced the Necromancer said he was at the Battle of the Five Armies too.

[Berri]

I watched it tonight and was pleasantly surprised. The film does a great job at adding some colour to Middle Earth - sticks close to the story, is a little more light-hearted than LotR, and in general does a great job brining that nerd in you back.

Love the movie, would recommend.

[BHD]

What is this dedication.

Huge Tolkien fan, gotta live up to the name! :> Have to admit that most of my knowledge of Middle-Earth comes from wikis, though. But I recently bought most his books to change that. I've only read and re-read The Hobbit, LotR and Silmarillion so far, but I'm working on Unfinished Tales atm.

The reason Gandalf helped the dwarves getting back Erebor is because he knew Sauron was going to rise again, and he needed Erebor to be a defense against the men from the east when that time would come. During the War of the Ring, Erebor was in war against the Men of the East the whole time, keeping them at bay.

Found that gem in the Appendix.

Oh, forgive me. I forgot about Gandalf talking to Frodo and.. was it Gimli? about the dwarven wars that took place at the same time as what we read about in the books. You're completely right about that being Gandalf's reason. But I still think that what I said in my previous post could be somewhat true. Since Gandalf mentions the possibility of Smaug joining Sauron, something he obviously don't want to happen.

[Arrowstormen]

Oh, forgive me. I forgot about Gandalf talking to Frodo and.. was it Gimli? about the dwarven wars that took place at the same time as what we read about in the books. You're completely right about that being Gandalf's reason. But I still think that what I said in my previous post could be somewhat true. Since Gandalf mentions the possibility of Smaug joining Sauron, something he obviously don't want to happen.

That'd be another issue of not taking back Erebor yes.

[starkey]

I think you read the wrong book.

Yeah he did, he was reading The Cat In The Hat By Dr Seuss, he was scratching his head wondering why there wasn't any cats in the movie.