Totally disagree. I reference back to the Fellowship of the Ring, and the part where they're navigating Moria all the time. Specifically when they're running from the Balrog, it's a stunning scene to watch & blows me away every time I see it. The score helps too. That, minimal usage of CGI with characters, and the locations LOTR was shot in are just outstanding/breathtaking. I usually watch the trilogy once a year and I can't recall at any point thinking that the effects weren't great. The Hobbit on the other hand, was brutal - and so disappointing.
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Legolas doing Matrix/Jedi stuff on the elephant's back was the warning that things were about to turn grim for the franchise. that's one of the few parts in LOTR that looks like video game cutscene. I think even Viggo mentioned that Jackson began to lose his way around that time, because of the amount of budget and creative control he was handed after the earlier movies...basically exactly the same thing as Lucas.
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Legolas doing Matrix/Jedi stuff on the elephant's back was the warning that things were about to turn grim for the franchise. that's one of the few parts in LOTR that looks like video game cutscene. I think even Viggo mentioned that Jackson began to lose his way around that time, because of the amount of budget and creative control he was handed after the earlier movies...basically exactly the same thing as Lucas.
By the second film of LOTR, things had started to fall apart a little, and you could see where Jackson was going with the CGI stuff, particularly in those drawn out battle sequences.
Even Gollem looked far better in the first film, where he was seen sparingly in the shadows. The battle scenes just draw on far too long in the 2 later movies and many of the large CGI elements are painful to watch. The smaller scale and shorter battles in the first film do a much better job of creating a sense of urgency.
Legolas doing Matrix/Jedi stuff on the elephant's back was the warning that things were about to turn grim for the franchise.
Ah yes. Good point, that scene was hilarious.
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Originally Posted by blankall
The battle scenes just draw on far too long in the 2 later movies and many of the large CGI elements are painful to watch. The smaller scale and shorter battles in the first film do a much better job of creating a sense of urgency.
I loved the battle scenes in LOTR. I thought they were really well done and nicely broken up.
FOTR is one of my all time favourite movies, but the quality of every Tolkien movie steadily declined after it, I still haven't seen the last Hobbit movie and don't think I ever will.
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Add another vote to the LOTR was amazing and Hobbit was awful.
I always thought Jackson did a great job on the LOTR trilogy, the last half of ROTK aside, and never blamed him for some of the changes he made. I thought some were for the best and some were likely because of the studio meddling and him needing to keep the movie marketable.
The Hobbit, like others I've never thought it would make a good movie. I thought Jackson would do it justice and it is very disappointing how it turned out.
I don't think it's impossible to make a good movie out of The Hobbit, but live action wasn't the way to go here. I kind of think a style like Corpse Bride or Nine would have worked well for it.
I don't think it's impossible to make a good movie out of The Hobbit, but live action wasn't the way to go here. I kind of think a style like Corpse Bride or Nine would have worked well for it.
Yep. Something whimsical like the book, which was written for 6-10 year olds. Translating it into an epic adult action movies was a terrible decision. I mean, I get why the producers would want to take that approach from a business standpoint. But artistically, you're doing a disservice to the material by turning a light-hearted children'a story into a series of mega-kinetic adult action movies.
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If this day gets you riled up, you obviously aren't numb to the disappointment yet to be a real fan.
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There are plenty of children's movies that are enjoyable to watch as an adult. Epic hour long battle sequences are what sunk this one....Just the name, Battle of Five Armies made me put off watching the last one. Who enjoys that?
There are plenty of children's movies that are enjoyable to watch as an adult. Epic hour long battle sequences are what sunk this one....Just the name, Battle of Five Armies made me put off watching the last one. Who enjoys that?
As I said earlier the Battle of the Five Armies was pretty much the only part of the Hobbit films I enjoyed
I like movies with pre-firearm warfare.
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I thought what hurt the movie was the tone, the cameras, the pacing and the ambiance of what was happening. I read all the Tolkien books and what I specifically remember is everything was painted in such a way that the world seemed very big, overboding, scary, dark, gothic if you will. Things would inch along at moments and tension would build, real tension because the descriptions in the book painted a more nefarious atmosphere.
In the movies the Hobbits size aren't really used the same way as in the books. In the books you felt like you were 3 foot 10 sometimes and the world was just monstrous, the dragon was more monstrous.
The cgi totally betrayed the dragons sense of grandiosity, mythos and personality portrayed in the books. That was where they went wrong imo, they should have shot it to look more dreary, tension filled and drab because that's what the books did. In the movies the lenses made things look like a picturesque tour through wonderful lands and close ups in a soap opera, neither of which captured the books spirit. Tension never really built, it was like watching a popcorn hollywood action movie.
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Yea I agree the Dragon moments should have been in awe, instead it was just over used CGI. Some Jurassic Park like actual prop parts would have been great, especially for the conversation him and Bilbo had. Just showing us the head maybe the rest is shrouded in gloom THEN a big CGI reveal giving us what we want. Instead it was like, here he is... so... uhhh ya. Thats smaug everyone.
I read the book lots as most people have, and I re read the chapters each movie was based on before it happened. There was definitely a large disconnect. I felt Freeman was the only part of the movie that felt authentic.
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Yea I agree the Dragon moments should have been in awe, instead it was just over used CGI. Some Jurassic Park like actual prop parts would have been great, especially for the conversation him and Bilbo had. Just showing us the head maybe the rest is shrouded in gloom THEN a big CGI reveal giving us what we want. Instead it was like, here he is... so... uhhh ya. Thats smaug everyone.
I read the book lots as most people have, and I re read the chapters each movie was based on before it happened. There was definitely a large disconnect. I felt Freeman was the only part of the movie that felt authentic.
You mean the 150ft tall dwarf king statue made of pure solid gold melted down in an instant and gilding Smaug wasn't awesome to you?
I was beyond shocked and appalled at all the liberties that Jackson took that I was past the point of walking out of the theater. I wanted to stay and watch to see what other fantastical bull#### he could come up with. He did not disappoint in that regard. The movies were all truly terrible, with the first one being passable.
Totally disagree. I reference back to the Fellowship of the Ring, and the part where they're navigating Moria all the time. Specifically when they're running from the Balrog, it's a stunning scene to watch & blows me away every time I see it. The score helps too. That, minimal usage of CGI with characters, and the locations LOTR was shot in are just outstanding/breathtaking. I usually watch the trilogy once a year and I can't recall at any point thinking that the effects weren't great. The Hobbit on the other hand, was brutal - and so disappointing.
Im watching,The fellowship blue ray extended edition right know i wish during the hobbit trilogy they focused more on the acting and less on the CGI it doesn't feel like you get a lot of screen time with every character.by the end of the lots trilogy the CGI is more rampant and i think that's more were i feel it turns down even though it won almost every award possible minus actor awards.
LOTR was so utterly disconnected from the book that I would have preferred they just call it something else, The Hobbit was just a product dressed up as a story, Smuag might as well have lived in a Walmart and had a Pepsi logo drawn on his arse.
Can't help but speculate about why del Toro left the movie.
Could it be that he had a vision for the hobbit that tried to use the strengths of the book better but the studio wanted a remake of the LOTR and the cash cow that came with it?
The whole thing had a really disjointed feel and the commercial imperative was to prominent throughout the tone and architecture of the movies.
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You mean the 150ft tall dwarf king statue made of pure solid gold melted down in an instant and gilding Smaug wasn't awesome to you?
I was beyond shocked and appalled at all the liberties that Jackson took that I was past the point of walking out of the theater. I wanted to stay and watch to see what other fantastical bull#### he could come up with. He did not disappoint in that regard. The movies were all truly terrible, with the first one being passable.
Ha.
I dug up this thread because I rewatched the first two Hobbit movies with an open mind, then I found this post of mine.
My strong opinion about movie #2 remains as strong. It is terrible all around. Like those barrels would have filled up with water and sank right after they escaped the Elf dungeon. At one point Thorin is standing on Smaugs snout. Why doesn't he just eat him? Or blast him with dragon fire? The inane love triangle. So many dumb plot holes.
My stance on the first movie has softened though. I will go as far to say I like it, as the deviations from the book are not egregious. The fan service LOTR references hit the right notes.