The Hobbit

[Kapol]

Wait, the guy who played Baggins was the same person who played Dent in HHG2TG? I knew he seemed familiar. Now I want another Hitchhiker's movie...

Anyways, on to the movie itself. For me, this is pretty much all fresh. I've never seen all of the LotR series. Watched the first when it was originally released, when I was a lot younger, and got bored of it quickly. I've never read the books beyond the first LotR movie.

So coming from that prespective, a lot of the movie came off as making small nudges and winks about things that it assumes the watcher knows about. It seemed like there was a few scenes that were supposed to make me go "Oh hey, it's that person/thing! Wow!" But I never really got that feeling.

The movie did feel padded in some places to me. One of my big annoyances with the series is that I worry they padded it out just to get three movies from it. After seeing the first... I'm on the fence. There was padding, but the movie generally held my interest long enough that I never got too bored. At the same time I feel like I had watched a lot of stuff occur, but nothing really seemed to happen that was substantial. Most of the movie seemed to be drawn out fights. I also felt that the first bit where Bilbo was writing the book felt really out of place. It was another one of those moments where it felt it was showing off Frodo as if saying "Remember this guy? He's here too!"

The movie was a lot of fun and I don't regret seeing it. While there were things I didn't care for about it, I'd still recommend checking it out.

[JustAName]

Tally and Logic said everything I would have, probably. I didn't like one-arm, Radagast was kind of like wtf is this, and the council meeting dragged a bit.

I didn't think about it in LotR, but Rivendell just felt wrong in this one. It was supposed to be low and comfy; the last homely house. And I did wish they'd done the elves singing as Bilbo and the dwarves came into the valley, but I guess they'd already set up the elves as very decorous and couldn't do that.

(And if I'm going to get REALLY nitpicky, they did the bit with the trolls wrong, and- yeah. I'll stop now.)

It was fun, but kind of disappointing altogether. Maybe if I see it again later on, I'll like it more, without the expectations. I certainly was happy every time a quote was right out of the book.

[Duckay]

I didn't think much of the film as a whole, but I don't feel like seeing it was a waste of time.

I felt like either they could have done the whole story without stretching it out into three films, or at least made the first film quite a bit shorter. It dragged on a bit long for my liking. I didn't mind the riddles scene at all, though; while there were moments certainly played for comedy, I felt like it was legitimately frightening at the same time. The comic moments helped that, in my opinion, though I obviously appreciate that not everyone feels that way.

[LogicSword]

I didn't think about it in LotR, but Rivendell just felt wrong in this one. It was supposed to be low and comfy; the last homely house. And I did wish they'd done the elves singing as Bilbo and the dwarves came into the valley, but I guess they'd already set up the elves as very decorous and couldn't do that.

(And if I'm going to get REALLY nitpicky, they did the bit with the trolls wrong, and- yeah. I'll stop now.)

Agree about the elves. They're meant to be irritating as hell. They even had Brett Mckenzie as one of the elves, why wouldn't they let him sing?

And yes, the trolls were also awful.

[Merrymaker_Mortalis]

I think there's a problem when the audience is concerned that the film will entirely take place in The Shire. I felt that. I was relieved when they actually got bloody moving. It was like the inverse of Return of the King where it felt like it never bloody ended (at least it was tying off story threads). In this case it felt like the film never bloody started.

[Jenelmo]

That problem with them not getting a move on is also in the book, as i remember the first time i tried to read the hobbit the first 60-70 pages is just here is some people eating and a lot of almost identical names you have to learn

[Kapol]

The troll scene didn't annoy me that much because I didn't expect anything from it. At least not in how they did it. It seemed like they dragged it out a lot longer then they needed to. I enjoyed the riddles scene, but at the same time I also felt that it was dragged out. Overall there were a lot of times where it felt they were stretching it out more then they needed.

Also, we get that the area is beautiful to look at. You don't need to have a montage of people walking after every single big event/scene. It gets boring pretty quickly.

[Geoff_B]

Well they have to fill out 3 movies somehow

[Kapol]

They have to fill out 3 movies that were supposed to be 2 movies you mean. And if you're gonna stretch a series out, why not do it without making each movie 3 hours long? I'm beginning to think that Peter Jackson has a condition focused around the number 3.

[Geoff_B]

One answer which explains everything.

Money.

[Master Gunner]

I liked the movie.

I was very much concerned going in at the amount of padding they would have to do to stretch it out to three movies. However, the extra stories worked for me. The B-Plot expanding what Gandalf was up to throughout the story is a bit heavy-handed in making The Hobbit into a full prequel to LotR, but I still found it interesting enough to go along with, and I found Radagast to be amusing. As for the one-armed orc, it does help flesh out Thorin's backstory, and it adds a proper villain to tide us through the movie since it doesn't have a proper goal of its own to work towards. Yes, they're forcing the movie into the standard Hollywood narrative format, but the format is there for a reason: it works.

The troll scene, yes it was different from the book and could have easily been a lot closer while still showing the Dwarves in action, but it worked. Gollum's scene I had no issues with at all. I agree with Fayili on Rivendale though. The movie Rivendale really plays up on the "elegance" of the elves, to the detriment of the scenes in The Hobbit. The antagonism between the dwarves and the elves is also far more than I remember it in the book (though granted, it has been a decade since I last read The Hobbit).

[Merrymaker_Mortalis]

It felt like they travelled up and down a lot of scenery. Walking on a flat bit, climbing mountains, walking through a valley, up a mountain ridge.
How about going around instead of over? Or flying with those magic eagles?.
They should have added coastline scenery to make it even more terrain porn.

[Master Gunner]

Going around the mountains would have added a lot of time to their journey, and as they stated in the movie, they had to make good time in case others decided to try the same thing. As for the eagles, while they will come to Gandalf's aid when he needs rescuing, they are not a taxi service, and they do not concern themselves in the affairs of man(/dwarf/hobbit/elf). As with pretty much everything in Middle Earth, they are independent intelligent creatures.

But yes, it is very much a New Zealand tourism video.

[Deedles]

I didn't really dislike anything in the movie. I liked the shots of the scenery as it felt reminiscent of LotR, and the shots were beautiful and I don't mind look at pretty things. I never got bored or distracted because while I did wonder where the main story was going I was more focused on the story presently presented to me. I didn't feel like the padding was too much as I never found myself thinking that they were standing around doing nothing.

I also liked the start, with old Bilbo and Frodo, because it felt like the start of a book, but made as a movie.

Sorry if I'm sounding incoherent, but I'm really tired. Conclusion is that I liked the movie a lot.

[MotorWaffle]

I liked this one. I'm enjoying the B-plot that's building up to the plot of LoTR, though by the end I was contemplating making a drinking game out of how often the dwarf's theme song started playing.
There were two things I couldn't really get over though: the Goblin King, who seemed more comic than anything, and I just could not get over the bird crap in Radaghast the brown's hair. Just...every time he was on screen I couldn't take my eyes off it.

[Merrymaker_Mortalis]

I thought it was fungal growth myself.

[Avistew]

Saw it as bird crap as well, and since he has a nest in his hair it would make sense.

I asked Sean about one-arm because so many people complained about it, he told me that it's all canon, just not from the Hobbit but from other stories. He did kill Thorin's grandfather, (and Thorin's father did go crazy) and he did get that thing to replace his missing arm, etc.

So in a way they're just grouping a bunch of stories together, which honestly is fine by me if it means they'll never make "The Silmarillion: The Movie".

[Drdiggit42]

It goes up to the Eagles.

I don't see why they couldn't fly all the way to the lonely mountain.

Because shut up.

It felt like they travelled up and down a lot of scenery. Walking on a flat bit, climbing mountains, walking through a valley, up a mountain ridge.
How about going around instead of over? Or flying with those magic eagles?.
They should have added coastline scenery to make it even more terrain porn.

Look, I know most people haven't read The Silmarillion, but it still annoys me when they bring this up. The Great Eagles are basically an extension of Manwe's will, while Gandalf is a maiar to Manwe, Varda, and Nienna. The Great Eagles don't answer to Gandalf, but they will lend assistance when he needs it. If they were to fly them from The Shire to the Lonely Mountain they would need Manwe's permission and the Valar don't like to meddle with the affairs of Middle Earth unless they deem it absolutely necessary (They didn't intervene in the war between Melkor/Morgoth until the forces of Middle Earth where almost defeated and even then it was only because they were moved by Earendil's plea).

I think Manwe wants Middle Earth to solve it's own problems (Although, Melkor sowed the seeds of evil and Melkor kind of is his problem). The same probably goes for why he didn't have the Eagles drop the ring into Mount Doom.

I think they really should make The Silmarillion into a movie or at least the Quenta Silmarillion and Numenor

As for my opinion on the movie, I loved it. I didn't mind ol' one-arm and a loved the added stories.

[JustAName]

I think I've figured it out. I don't really mind the IDEA of one-arm, and if they'd referenced him but not had him in the plot (of course, they wouldn't have done that), I wouldn't have really minded, but they changed the plot of the Hobbit. One of my favorite childhood stories. Which stands alone, to me. And... it just changed the feel of it. It was, for the most part, an adventuring story, with some scary running away moments, sure, but also a lot of traveling and storytelling, and... Some of the strongest memories of the book are the sleeping in Rivendell and Beorn's house. And if they mess up the Mirkwood for me, I will be very upset.

[Drdiggit42]

Yeah, if they mess with Beorn's part I will be very upset. That's one of my favorite parts (the other being the waterfall).

[Kapol]

and I just could not get over the bird crap in Radaghast the brown's hair. Just...every time he was on screen I couldn't take my eyes off it.

That was one thing that really got me too. I'm not sure why it bothered me so much, but it was just... there. Right in front of our faces.

One of the problems I had with the side-stories wasn't that they were bad or didn't add anything, it was that they felt like they just tore us away from the movie we'd paid to see to show us something semi-related. The scene with Radaghast came out of nowhere, lasted too long in my opinion, and didn't really have a major impact on the primary quest of the movie. It felt like it was there to again nudge at the fact this is happening before another set of movies. Same with the gathering scene with the wizards and elves meeting before the group leaves. And the same kind of thing happened with when it suddenly cut to 60 years later for a while.

[Elomin Sha]

I think Del Toro had a hand with Radaghast's design.

[Jamfalcon]

I think this might be why I liked it so much (in response to the favourite parts bit, not the Radaghast stuff). My favourite part, or at least the one I remember the most, is the beginning. From the first words to when the talk with the dwarves starts getting serious. And I thought they did that part perfectly.

[Drdiggit42]

I liked Radaghast's design. Hard to believe he's a maiar, though.

[stephen0118]

I liked it. I must admit it ran a little long for me. There may have been some scenes that they could shorten.