End of the Hobbit Movies

[TheNeonHyena]

So, Tolkien is big in our household. I'm talking there are posters on our walls, not just from LOTR and Hobbit, but Khuzdul reference materials and timelines posted around our bedroom. My boyfriend is a Tolkien Scholar, has dedicated years of his life to the study and reconstruction of some of his languages. So needless to say, the Hobbit premier was kind of a THING for us. The biggest problem was we hated the movie. It was nothing we wanted it to be and we felt like it was a weak end to such a glorious journey.

 

I'm just curious about if anyone else has seen it, considers themselves to be Tolkien fans or simply has an opinion on it.

 

No spoilers please! I've seen it but it's not nice to anyone else that hasn't already seen it.

[Anime]

I've read The Hobbit and am in the process of reading LotR (I read about half of it- got to the elf council, I think- when I was 11 and my interest fell). I quite like the Britishness of the book. (spoilered for people who haven't read, though really it's a bit outside the normal spoiler date)

"Okay, let's go hide and think of a way to deal with this dragon." "......THEY KILLED IT ALL READY CRAP QUICK GO MAKE A WALL SO WE CAN BE BUTTS ABOUT THE TREASURE" (just imagine some stronger words in there)

and the movies kinda..... neglected that. I have little faith that the end will go as it should,

that is, that the dwarves and Bilbo will have nothing to do with the dragon slaying and that Bilbo will be KOed for most of the battle ("We thought you were dead" "Yeah thanks help me up before you start with that.")

but it should at least be good humor fuel for my friends group.

[pulpfreeoj]

I've been a fan of LOTR since I was little (the movies came out but I got the book for Christmas and read them before ever seeing it) and Tolkien in general for slightly less. I actually got The Hobbit later and, funnily enough, had the opposite problem of most people- instead of taking a few tries to get into LOTR it took me a while to really get into The Hobbit for some reason. I love Tolkien's works and the world he constructed.

 

I feel like the Peter Jackson Hobbit movies haven't lived up to my expectations, as someone who hasn't seen the last one yet. The first was actually pretty good and held a lot of potential, but I really felt let down by the second one. My favorite parts of the second were the Smaug parts, everything else was lacking, in my opinion. And even then, the dwarves did things that ruined some of the Smaug parts

like the gold statue scene, what on Earth was that about? Also, the "gold sickness" being a literal thing caused by some supernatural power of the Arkenstone instead of a metaphor for greed that has gotten out of hand is turning me off quite a bit, but I have come to realize over the years that Jackson's Tolkien movies have a tendency to lose a lot of the subtlety of Tolkien's work and take things literally more than is comfortable to me.

The less said about the focus on the romance subplot or the handling of (and adding unnecessary things to) the Bard storyline, the better.

 

So basically, I don't have high hopes. But I'll still see it, because I love Tolkien and I want to see it through. For what it's worth, I absolutely LOVE Martin Freeman as Bilbo and don't think there's a better casting choice they could possibly have made.

[Anime]

I agree with that last bit- Martin Freeman was an amazing casting choice, hands down. If we get better versions he needs to reprise his role. Best thing about the movies, really. He has that specific "...What." face he makes as co-leads who're dragging him off to adventure that fits so well.

[Guest WonderlandWanderer]

I've read The Hobbit and plan to read LOTR over break and I enjoy the movies; I haven't seen the last Hobbit yet, I'm waiting until it's been out a bit- I hate crowded places-so I hope it lives up to my expectations. I know that they added things that weren't in the book and at first it annoyed me but the more I reread and then rewatch it doesn't bother me too much, I can deal with the creative liberties. So all in all I enjoy them

[eileen_kelli]

I'm not sure if I'll ever be prepared for the epic task of reading any of LotR or the Hobbit. I feel like I'd have to take a lot of notes (everything has like 10 names!), and have references ready to help explain everything. and a map.

I've always been quite pleased with the movies, even with all the things I know (from fans of the books) they changed or didn't include.

 

...actually I'll probably never read the book because it would make me sad/disappointed/furious about favorite things they left out. Ignorance is bliss.

 

The end of the Hobbit was...alright. I think my opinion is tainted because I knew Peter Jackson didn't want to direct, and when another director pulled out, he was forced into the role to get the movies made. Must have been an exhausting undertaking. But as for the last movie, there were some i dunno, out of place moments or reaction shots, odd emotions happening. Left me a little disappointed, but overall not bad. Mostly, my favorite parts were all Legolas, who I'm told wasn't even in the book. Ha.

[Various]

Oh boy.

 

I LOVE Tolkien. (Cookies for anybody who rightly guesses my reaction to the Hobbits films based on that sentence :P )

 

I saw FotR in the cinema when I was 10 and that was it. Loved it. Loved all three films. I'm dyslexic and I used to really struggle with Tolkien's writing style but because I loved the films so much I persevered with trying to read LotR. After years of failed attempts, I finally managed to read LotR from cover to cover when I was 16 (took about a week). Since then I've read it at least once a year, normally twice. Read the Hobbit after I managed to read LotR. Had the same sort of issue with the Silmarillion but finally managed it when I was 20. As for his other works, the History of Middle-earth, Unfinished Tales, all his fairy tales (Tales from the Perilous Realm), Children of Húrin, the Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún, Beowulf, his collections of essays, his Letters got them all, read them all. Only one I'm missing (I think) is the Fall of Arthur but I got that from the library.

I never would have read them if it wasn't for the LotR films because they gave me the reason to keep on trying, and trying, and not give up with trying to read his books. So I love the LotR films.

I have Tengwar (Elvish script, 1 is Sindarin, the other Quenya, ) tattoos. (I've learnt to write in Tengwar even) I love the soundtracks to LotR, have met Howard Shore. Most of my spare money goes on Tolkien stuff. (Most of my neopets have Elvish names as well :p )

 

So I was very excited for the first Hobbit film. I knew it would, I wanted it to, be different from the LotR trilogy because the books are different. So I wasn't expected FotR version 2. It was OK, I did enjoy it. It wasn't brilliant, was very bloated but it was OK. All the added stuff I could kind of deal with.

 

The second film. I can't even. I just. OK, going to copy/paste what I wrote somewhere else but changing the swearwords :P Spoilers for LotR films and DoS:

 

 

OK, the LotR films, PJ knew his main audience would be book fans so he knew he couldn't alienate them that much. There were major differences from the book but I can accept that they were needed (book vs film, changes are needed). I love the little nods to book fans that PJ put into the LotR with some of the things that were changed. Sam's "It's all wrong. By rights we shouldn't even be here. But we are." in Osgiliath is the most obvious. And all the extra stuff in the EEs that was straight out of the book. (Fangorn at Helm's Deep for example)

But with the Hobbit films, well the book fans could jog on as far as PJ was concerned. His main audience now are fans of the LotR films, not the book so he could do whatever he wanted.

And then there's the whatsherface Xena Warrior Elven Princess what on earth is she doing there person. I'm just trying to erase her and Kíli out of my mind.

I think what gets me the most about DoS is all the stuff PJ put in trying to link it back to the LotR films but it doesn't make any sense! Like whatsherface and the kingsfoil. WTH? OK, disregarding the fact that it wasn't a Nazgûl because continuity, who needs that crap? But in FotR, Frodo can't be healed by Aragorn, or by Arwen (you know, Elrond's daughter and Galadriel's granddaughter pretty much the two most awesome elves left in Middle-earth), nope, he needs Elrond and even then it's a close call. But then, despite all of that from FotR, some random chick from gods knows where, is able to do it?

And what for? For some completely implausible romance between an Elf and Dwarf which completely eradicates just how unique and important Legolas' and Gimli's friendship was. You know, the friendship that was quite a big deal in the LotR films because dwarves and elves do not get on yet are thrown together in the quest to destroy the Ring? No. Just no.

(Anybody who is reading this and thinking "but this a film, not the book!" I'm not talking about things from the book. I'm talking about things established in the LotR films which the Hobbit films have just twisted upside down and inside out because continuity is not important. )

I can sort of understand wanting another female character. But obviously the only completely original way of having a female character in a film is to give her a weapon and a love interest. Or even better, make her part of a love triangle. Because that has never been done before in any film ever.

And then there's how the Hobbit films looked. Putting aside all the stupidity of the plot, the films don't actually look that good. They are far too fake. Yeah I know, fantasy film but the LotR films looked real. Things like the bigatures and then CGI to add to that. So the places look real. Or like a painting that you could walk around in (Rivendell, especially for the painting thing) Whereas in the Hobbit, it's all green screen and everything is CGI and it's just fake.

I saw DoS once in the cinema. Haven't watched it since, even though it's on Netflix. I don't want to smash my laptop in a rage. I will not be going to see Battle of Five Armies in the cinema, and I highly doubt I will ever watch it, even when it's on Netflix.

Spoiler because of the ending of the book and what should happen in Battle of Five Armies.

The only part of the Battle of Five Armies that I want to see is Kíli getting killed (although if that will happen is doubtful because obviously the only thing they've taken from the book is character names and about three lines of plot and nothing else), then whatsherface dying all alone then nobody mentioning her ever again because she shouldn't be there in the first place. If that doesn't happen, I'm not watching any of that film.

To sum up: An Unexpected Journey was OK. Nothing brilliant but not terrible. I do have it on DVD and have watched it a few times. Desolation of Smaug was awful and I wanted to rinse my eyes out in bleach after I saw it and erase it from my memory. No idea about Battle of Five Armies because I'm not going to watch it.

[AllTimeMarr]

I loved all the LotR and The Hobbit movies! Well the last one was pretty sad :(((((

But yeah, I haven't read any of the books, and I just love to go to the cinema, haha.

[meatfalls]

I liked the last movie, but that's it. I was disappointed it. Like, this is the last movie. I wasn't sad when it ended, I wasn't involved at all. It was a 2.5 hour battle with an unnecessary romance thrown in for good measure. Like pulpfreeoj said, it lacked the subtlety that Tolkein had, and that's something that makes him worth reading. I didn't hate it, but if I am marathoning The Hobbit/LotR, it's the one I'd be least excited for.

[pulpfreeoj]

I just saw the last movie yesterday for New Year's Eve, and...yeah, my opinions pretty much remain unchanged.

 

First one was the best, LOTR films were much better though (and naturally the books blow them out of the water but I digress). Even my mother said she liked the LOTR films better. There were definitely some enjoyable parts, and it was visually gorgeous as always (minus some really obvious CGI in a couple parts that detracts from the whole thing, what in the world were they thinking), but I wouldn't pay to watch it again.

 

I am gonna see if we still have a copy of the Rankin/Bass Hobbit movie, I always liked it.

[Angeló]

i saw it last sunday and it was really good but the RETURN OF THE KING is so much more epic ... and lots of the battling was "weird" ... like Bilbo attacking the hordes of orcs .. he was never that brave ...