"The Hobbit"

[calgaryred]

I liked the Hobbit more than Lord of the Rings,then again I thought Lord of the Rings was an ok trilogy, and had more hype than it deserved. In the end I like dwarfs more than a band of hobbits, hobbits always seemed more gay.

[Tinordi]

I actually enjoyed it, I'm about 20 years removed from the book so I'm not puritanical on the translation.

The 3d wasn't bad either, my biggest complaint was that it didn't really add anything to the movie, more of a novelty.

I liked how they linked in the rise of Sauron to the movie created a sense of foreboding.

But otherwise, I liked how it kept more to the tone of the Hobbit, which is why it shouldn't really be compared to LotR. It's about a artist not an epic battle between good and evil. Scenes like in the shire, and at Rivendale helped set that tone. I actually loved the opening dwarf party crash scene.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

I don't think it's appropriate for a 6 year old. For one it's too long to keep their full attention and two it's too scary and violent for a 6 year old.

Yeah, 6 might be too young. On the other hand, my girlfriend is giving me a hard time today because we took her 11 year-old brother to it last night and the kid hasn't stopped talking about how awesome it was since.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by rubecube

Yeah, 6 might be too young. On the other hand, my girlfriend is giving me a hard time today because we took her 11 year-old brother to it last night and the kid hasn't stopped talking about how awesome it was since.

Agreed. After watching it, I am pretty convinced that taking him probably would have been a bad idea because of the violence and general gruesomeness of the Orcs and the Necromancer would probably be pretty frightening. Not sure where the Necromancer came from. Without it fresh in my memory was that alluding to the ring wraiths, or the army of the dead from ROTK?

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by Wormius

Agreed. After watching it, I am pretty convinced that taking him probably would have been a bad idea because of the violence and general gruesomeness of the Orcs and the Necromancer would probably be pretty frightening. Not sure where the Necromancer came from. Without it fresh in my memory was that alluding to the ring wraiths, or the army of the dead from ROTK?

Spoiler!

The Necromancer is Sauron

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by calgaryred

I liked the Hobbit more than Lord of the Rings,then again I thought Lord of the Rings was an ok trilogy, and had more hype than it deserved. In the end I like dwarfs more than a band of hobbits, hobbits always seemed more gay.

Cool. Glad you enjoyed watching them in the high school locker room. Very progressive post.

[Yeah_Baby]

Originally Posted by rubecube

Cool. Glad you enjoyed watching them in the high school locker room. Very progressive post.

I was really upset in RotK when Eowyn goes to war. She really should have just stayed at the camp kitchen. Killed the Witch-King? As if.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by Yeah_Baby

I was really upset in RotK when Eowyn goes to war. She really should have just stayed at the camp kitchen. Killed the Witch-King? As if.

*Waits for the next post that points out that the entire Tolkien universe is inherently racist*

[Yeah_Baby]

Originally Posted by rubecube

*Waits for the next post that points out that the entire Tolkien universe is inherently racist*

You can tell that Tolkien and Lewis were friends. Narnia is as racist.

[Igottago]

Saw the movie tonight. I must admit I had reservations about it, thinking it would be a big let down after the superb lord of the rings trilogy. However, I thought the film was excellent. Jackson's vision of middle earth really pulls you in again and I loved the continuity with the previous trilogy, including getting the same actors back for returning characters. Really enjoyed it and looking forward to the next one.

[icecube]

The Hobbit was a MASSIVE letdown for me. Three big gripes..

Overuse of CGI- What happened to all the orcs/goblins being real people in makeup? That added to the realistic feeling of the movie. That's now gone, replaced by ####ty looking characters like the Goblin King (Gollum looks amazing though). As soon as they went into the mountains and were surrounded by these crappy CGI characters I knew I had had it with this movie.

Shift in tone- I wasn't really feeling the lighter tone of the movie, I think it would have flowed better with the LOTR trilogy if they kept it the same as those movies. Kids still enjoy those movies. I don't care if the book was more family friendly. It feels off when you go from a goofy guy like Radaghast to seeing someone get their head chopped off. The Trolls were somewhat cheesy but forgiveable. The mountain scene was pure cheese (the goblin kings death scene was infuriating).

Bloated- I'm a fan of the extended editions of the Lord of the Rings. They're all I'll watch now. This movie could use a retracted version. Chop out some of the long dinner scene, the singing, everything involving Radaghast the brown and you have a much better movie IMO. (I loved the intro and enjoyed the stop in Rivendell personally). I'm guessing they could have made two fantastic two hour movies if they didn't get greedy for trilogy money.

All that said, there was still enough for me to like in this movie that I will probably still buy it and will be seeing the other two for sure. It wasn't a disaster like the Star Wars prequels, but it could have and should have been much better. I have a professional editor buddy who I will be begging to make me a better cut of The Hobbit once it hits blu ray.

[Azure]

I didn't like the lighter tone either. I think the battle scenes could have been a lot more serious.

It never seemed like the 'good guys' were ever in any danger, while in LOTR, the battle scenes were pretty scary to smaller kids.

But, such is the book.

[Mass_nerder]

Originally Posted by icecube

Overuse of CGI- What happened to all the orcs/goblins being real people in makeup? That added to the realistic feeling of the movie. That's now gone, replaced by ####ty looking characters like the Goblin King (Gollum looks amazing though). As soon as they went into the mountains and were surrounded by these crappy CGI characters I knew I had had it with this movie.

Seriously, I cannot wrap my head around this.
Azog looked silly. If they made orcs look convincing using actors in the original trilogy, why change it now?
Maybe it was just the higher frame rate making the CGI look less realistic(?), but I thought it looked cheesey
I was able to look past the CGI, and enjoyed the movie, but that aspect of it could have been a lot better.

[3 Justin 3]

I have a feeling it was the higher frame rate making the CGI look worse (less realistic), it just looks too fake.

That and the movie was extremely over saturated (and I'm never one to complain about this kind of stuff).

I didn't mind the tone of the film. I also don't think Jackson made this a trilogy for money, I really don't think he is the kind of person who would milk these films. He wants to tell all the stories in Tolkien's arsenal (The Samarian, etc.) and he is putting everything into these movies as a result. That isn't to say that I didn't think The Hobbit should have been trimmed by 20 minutes.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by rubecube

Spoiler!

The Necromancer is Sauron

I see.

Spoiler!

Is that from the book? I have never read the books so I wasn't sure if Sauron had at that time crossed over to the dark side. I got the vibe from the roundtable meeting that he was hiding something though and may have been involved with the Necromancer.

[Yeah_Baby]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

I see.

Spoiler!

Is that from the book? I have never read the books so I wasn't sure if Sauron had at that time crossed over to the dark side. I got the vibe from the roundtable meeting that he was hiding something though and may have been involved with the Necromancer.

Spoiler!

You know Sauron isn't Saruman right?

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Yeah_Baby

Spoiler!

You know Sauron isn't Saruman right?

Spoiler!

I do but I've always got their names mixed up. Is Saruman still good at this point??

[AR_Six]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Spoiler!

I do but I've always got their names mixed up. Is Saruman still good at this point??

Spoiler!

Yes, presumably, though prideful - he was in competition with Gandalf, as there were some (Galadriel) who trusted Gandalf over Saruman despite the fact that Saruman was the head of the order and ostensibly the greater wizard. He is later corrupted after finding the palantir when he moves to Orthanc.

[killer_carlson]

Saw it again last night, this time in 3d. Have to say i preferred the 2d version.

Still, i really enjoyed it again.

The casting of bilbo is magnificient and the goblin king reminds me of that Simpsons episode where Homer goes to hell and a demon says:"So you like donuts, now you can have all the donuts in the world".

[Bane]

IMO, 3D brought nothing to the movie. Thought it was a good movie, fitting nicely with the other LOTR movies. Could have done without the CGI giants doing their WWE routine though.