The Hobbit (film series)

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The first of the Hobbit trilogy opens Dec. 14. Is anyone besides me going to watch it? I think the hardest part of watching the film after reading the book ( several times) the characters are always different than I had pictured them in my mind. I thought the Ents in the first Lord of the Rings were really lame but it would be hard to make them seem less hooky. See you at the flicks on Dec. 14th.

 

December 12th here (Norway).

 

I'd hate to watch it lip-synched here.
I might as well wait for the disc release and watch it in English.

 

A must see. The Hobbitt followed by the Lotr were the first books I ever read outside of school, read for fun that is. So they have a special place in my heart. Though I liked the Lotr movies, I was disappointed in some of the story changes. I really wanted to see a Glorfindel. At lest this time I know going in that the changes are there so I will enjoy the movies for what they are.

 

The world premiere was here in New Zealand a couple of weeks ago. It's so awesome to have a movie that showcases the awesome scenery our country has to offer.

Even Air New Zealand is getting in the act, with their Hobbit-themed safety video.....

 

Nothing against N.Z., Harbourboy, but lots of movies have showcased the scenery of New Zealand!

Besides LoTR flicks and The Hobbit, also 30 Days of Night (that says something about the conditions in Alaska when people would rather go to New Zealand than to AK to film a movie about Alaska!), Bridge to Terabithia, Black Sheep, The Ferryman, The Tracker, King Kong, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Whale Rider, Without a Paddle, The World's Fastest Indian, The Last Samurai, and Vertical Limit--all since 2000. Heck, the dreadful Yogi Bear was even filmed there, and principal photography in Avatar was done in Wellington. Not all of those were blockbuster films, but those are all movies I've seen, here in the states.

Don't get me wrong--I love the scenery apparent in these movies, and New Zealand is in my Top 10 of countries I want to visit--but one could almost argue we're getting to some New Zealand "overload!"

 

It premiers today, up here in Norway. The reviewers mostly gave the movie a 4 out of 6, I see. The main criticism was directed at the special effects. Aparantly Jackson went abit overboard when it came to the CGI etc.

 

Overload? A couple of dozen movies over two decades, compared to 58 trillion movies and TV shows set in USA over the same period, half of those in New York?

 

I'm not saying we need tons of more movies set in backlots in LA or in NYC (still often backlots in LA postured to look like NYC)! There are plenty of interesting, gorgeous places in the States to film at that people never do. But enough with the States!

I'm just saying there are intriguing, beautiful, even haunting places all over the globe, many of which have hardly or never been celebrated on-screen.

 

Watched tonight with all the trimmings. The technology was impressive especially the super hd or whatchamacallit but even the 3d which I am generally not a fan of was done well. As for the movie itself, well, it is worth watching but I think ctrl-alt-del was bang on the money with this http://www.cad-comic.com/cad/20120801

Must be the first time in history where they remove nothing or very little and add lots when filming a book.

Oh and New Zealand mountain landscapes really feel old by now.

 

I saw it with my boys yesterday (12/15). Thoroughly enjoyed it.

 

Saw the Hobbit last weekend and it was great. I thought the 3-D was done well with no overload. The Dwarfs well done well and a lot like imagined. The worgs were well done. The only downer was the abrupt ending. Now i'll have to wait for the next installment. It was better than the Lord of the Rings. Peter is learning how to get it right.

 

What age group do you guys think is "age appropriate" for the movie? My 5 yr old daughter knows I want to go see it, so she ahs been asking if she can come. She loves her daddy and wants to do whatever I am doing.... I let create a PC in BGEE. A female Bard, as she likes to sing. Also busted out my old nintendo to let her play the original Zelda.

 

I brought my 5 1/2 year old and 9 1/2 year old boys. The 5 1/2 year old did well, but the movie was a bit long for him, so during hour 2 he started asking if it was almost over. But he managed to watch the whole thing, occassionally laying his head on my lap for a change of pace, I guess. He's into swords, combat and all that "boy stuff". It's hard to say how your daughter will do, especially if she doesn't typically like monsters and medieval type stuff. The movie lasts a full 3 hours, plus the previews, so you'll have to use your best judgement.

My 9 1/2 year old loved it every bit as much as I did. The only question is, who will end up being the bigger geek. Him, or me? Unfortunately for him, that apple landed directly next to the tree.

 

*Spoilers...*

Saw it yesterday and honestly wasn't that impressed, sure the special effects we're some of the best I've seen but the acting and story progression was mostly just ok and the whole movie felt rushed somehow.

All the new characters seemed quite shallow and apart from the main dwarf I can't really remember much about any of the other dwarves, not even their names. And if you haven't seen any of the other lotr movies then the old characters wouldn't leave much of an impression either.

So it was kinda hard to be worried about them whenever they were in any sort of danger since you didn't really have any kind of connection to them.
And the whole Thorin outburst against Bilbo seemed really taken out of the blue since there we're never much of any buildup to that confrontation.

And the humor! Why is it that every "epic" movie nowadays needs to be crammed with humor, be it superheroes or dragons. Watching Gandalf talking about golf was really weird.
In general the Hobbit seems to be aimed to a much younger audience whereas the lotr movie were more serious.

And just to be picky, why does Gandalf only use his magic when it has the most dramatic effect? And why not have the eagles fly them all the way to the lonely mountain?

 

Yeah, I also found the "golf" line off-putting, it felt pretty out of place. Same with the goblin king's reaction to being slain. Seemed like the writers were trying too hard to put in some funny lines, whether they fit or not.

Altogether I still liked the movie though.

Hm, I wouldn't say that.
Legolas "skateboarding" down stairwells was pretty silly, and the whole "kill count competition" thing was in my opinion overdone and quite a bit too cheerful and casual considering the context.

 

The humor overall does seem forced. It would have been nice if it were only the "golf" reference - Bilbo's reaction to it and Gandal's reply is perfect, but when you add the other similar (and far less stellar) scenes it loses much of its (positive) value. The death of the goblin king was very badly done.

And yet again this movie fails to address that the eagles are sentient, proud creatures, much like the elves and dwarves but significantly less in number. They even have their own culture. They were not creatures Gandalf could just summon at will (one time when Gandalf asks Gwaihir the wind-lord for an additional favor the latter responds with a somewhat polite epic-story equivalent of f*ck off). If I were a (very busy) king, and a friend suddenly came up to me and asked if he may use me as a personal taxi service then I would seriously consider reassessing my "friendship" with that person. That much at least would have helped quell the "why did the eagles simply not escort Frodo to Mt. Doom" argument.

Thorin's reaction to Bilbo made sense the first few 40 or so minutes, but I always expected Bilbo to gradually earn the company's and Thorin's respect and trust by the end, as he did in the book (the pacing in the book was gradual). I did not expect that Bilbo to pull that stunt he did in the movie - that and the part where Thorin completely reverses his opinion of him (that whole scene felt unnatural) were the lowest points of the movie for me, in part because the developing cold->neutral->grudging respect->acceptable ally->ally->good ally->betrayed?->true fiend relationship between Thorin and Bilbo was one of the highlights of the book and spanned the entire work. The movie went from somewhere between cold and neutral->true friend-ish in 10 seconds.

This movie makes you wonder why Gandalf barely casts any spells in the LotR movies.

I like the characterization behind some of the dwarves, hated some of the others'.
Bombur seems more like a token character, although he was one of the more important dwarves in the book. Apparently the spirit of that role has been passed to Bofur, who was completely forgettable in the book. This could be a good thing I guess.
Some dwarves (like Thorin and Fili) look natural and the others look... fake.

There are indeed several other good scenes.

Radagast finally gains a face and a personality, and I really like his characterization/role in the movie. My favorite character so far, I like how the movie subtly invites you compare/contrast him with the likes of Saruman. His transportation method is a bit over-the-top, but I guess it makes him more memorable if he's going to be a main character and have more screen time in the next few movies (otherwise that'll be going down as a disappointment). Really liked that forest-house and necromancer's haunt scene.

Overall, not bad. But the second movie better be good.

 

I saw it yesterday with my son. It was better than I expected.

I did think that the White Council seemed to remind me a lot of the Jedi Council, although we know that Saruman's down playing of the re-emergence of Sauron was for different reasons than the Jedi underestimation of the re-emergence of the Sith.

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I do agree about the Eagles though. I feel more could have been done to minimise the "deus ex machina" role they seem to play.

But this is a quibble. Overall I thought the movie was spectacular and we can't wait for the next one.