the hobbit (page 2)

mrsjones5

There's so much in that book I don't see the need to add anything to it. Maybe he needed to pad it to make three movies out if it.

shame that but I still wanna see it.

still thinking

I liked it

It was entertaining...I had a few laughs watching it.

It's nothing like LOTR...which I didn't actually enjoy.

Hortensia

OK, so tell me about Star Trek Into Darkness -- I didn't go see it because the trailers I saw on youtube were boring

I never was a LOTR fan, nor a Star Trek fan. I'm a Martin Freeman and Benedict Cumberbatch fan. I have to admit, though, much as I like BC, his voice can get so boring it could put you to sleep. It's a deep dreamy voice, but sort of monotonous.

sd-7

Well, I personally enjoyed 'The Hobbit'. It seems you pointed out a significant tone problem with the way the film starts--showing Smaug and all that first maybe wasn't the best way to start it, since that stuff doesn't even pay off until much later in the story anyway. To me it was mostly the Dwarves and Bilbo being chased by one thing or another for a long time. I felt like it was enjoyable and engaging, but it didn't entirely pull me in until the Stone Giants scene.

I did think the humor was good and the action was interesting, but there wasn't anything that made me feel like this is LOTR until much later in the film. And the Riddles in the Dark scene was without doubt the highlight of the film. I did find it peculiar that Azog was given scenes in the film, and I thought fitting in the White Council was a stroke of genius. I mean, there was certainly stuff in LOTR that was taken from the Appendices--Aragorn and Arwen, for instance, which is barely mentioned in the main book, or the history of how the One Ring was lost. So I saw no problem with bringing that stuff into The Hobbit. All in all, it was a good film, but maybe just shy of the brilliance of the LOTR trilogy.

I tried watching it a second time and I have yet to do so...but then maybe that's 'cause I don't want the Mrs. to see that I'm watching 'The Hobbit'. I think the story would've worked better if they'd stuck entirely to the book, which moves at a fairly good pace--frankly, this is a story that I would think could have been told in one film, or at most two films. I'm still trying to figure out how the White Council's story somehow makes this into a third film, unless maybe they're going to include a rather detailed story of Saruman's becoming corrupted and his dealings with Rohan and/or Gondor, if I recall correctly...

The funny thing was, when I was watching 'Hobbit' with subtitles, there were these weird moments where the subtitles would even tell you what kind of music was playing. (EPIC MUSIC) appearing on the screen at a pivotal moment in the finale really ruined the moment for me...made it seem almost absurd. Maybe I should try watching it without the subtitles, it's just sometimes I have trouble hearing what the characters say.

As for Star Trek, I was excited about 'Into Darkness'--so much so that I read the novelization. I rarely go to theaters anymore, I think the last film I saw in a theater was 'The Dark Knight Rises'. The story, in my opinion, was great. Great action and humor and heart just like the first one. Plus an interesting twist on how Star Trek '09 affects some of the things that should've happened on the Enterprise's various Trek stories. I think I was left wanting more from the character Benedict Cumberbatch plays, but there's still a lot to enjoy there. But I'm speaking as one who read the novel, and usually the novels are more insightful and detailed than the movie is. I look forward to whatever happens if there's a third film. But with Episode VII possibly taking Abrams out of the equation, it could make an opportunity for some really good ideas or some really bad ones. Which is like saying nothing at all, right? Right.

--sd-7

DeWandelaar

3 hours long? I am waiting for the extended version :D

DATA-DOG

I like the HOBBIT, but it was more kid oriented. I am suprised that no one has made a Radagast the Brown sled racing video game.... They took quite a few liberties with the story as well. If you are a fan of the story then you can't help but notice. Still it is the best live-action Hobbit movie ever made. To be honest, I would be thrilled if Hayao Myazaki would do an animated version of the story. I loved the old cartoon version, it just needs some updating, and needs to tell more than a cliff-notes version of the story.

JeffT

J R R Tolkien left behind a HUGE body of work on Middle Earth. The Hobbit and LOTR are only the most well known part of the cannon. PJ took big pieces of background material and worked them into the movie. Additionally, the dwarves singing and throwing dishes IS in the original.

That said, he took some liberties I did not care for, notably Radagast's sled and Bilbo's characterization. I still plan on seeing the other two.

the hobbit