The Hobbit trilogy - News, rumours and discussion

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V

Vashetti

Banned
Potential list of EE scenes, only click if you've seen the movie

More Beorn
More Dain
More Bard
Bombur line
More about Legolas' mother
Gandalf's "How shall this day end?!" line
Bilbo's "When faced with death, what can anyone do?" line
Gandalf's "This was the last move in a master plan, a plan long in the making" line
Thorin's "Everything I did, I did for them" line
Ice chariot/warg chase
Dwarf army on rams
Elven arrow volley
Thorin/Fili/Kili funeral
Dol Guldur/Elven Ring plotline

Shots in here that were missing from the movie
 
Yoshichan

Yoshichan

And they made him a Lord of Cinder. Not for virtue, but for might. Such is a lord, I suppose. But here I ask. Do we have a sodding chance?
1 more hour till I get to see this for the third time

HYPE
 
8

8BitsAtATime

Member
I've seen it twice so far....maybe I'll go to the midnight showing tonight

yBUh8B6.jpg
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W

Windam

Scaley member
Yoshichan said:
1 more hour till I get to see this for the third time

HYPE
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Going back for a second viewing (as I always have with these films), but sadly not on release day (tomorrow) due to an ill-timed calculus exam. :( The trilogy marathon last night wasn't in HFR, and I need to get my cup and special branded 3D glasses still.
 
S

Spineker

Banned
Count of Monte Cristo, may I ask, the High Fells of Rhudaur are essentially non canon because Jackson invented the location to streamline The Hobbit's plot.

So where was the actual resting place of the Nine, before Sauron resurrected or summoned them, however you want to put it?
 
E

Edmond Dantès

Dantès the White
Spineker said:
Count of Monte Cristo, may I ask, the High Fells of Rhudaur are essentially non canon because Jackson invented the location to streamline The Hobbit's plot.

So where was the actual resting place of the Nine, before Sauron resurrected or summoned them, however you want to put it?
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In terms of the Legendarium there wasn't any. They were never in such a position and were very active in carrying out Sauron's schemes. The Witch-king in particular with his campaigns. The Rings of Power reduced them to thralls of Sauron but they were never laid to rest.
 
E

Edmond Dantès

Dantès the White
Howard Shore reflects on scoring six films in the franchise
MTV News: At this point, you’re six films in on the series… So what’s it like to be finally rounding the finish line?

Howard Shore: Well it feels pretty good! It’s been many years since “Fellowship of the Ring,” it was 14 years ago… It took almost four years to write “Lord of the Rings,” then there was a gap of a few years, and “The Hobbit” is now three years. I’ve been in Middle Earth for quite a bit, but I really do love it. I mean, Peter [Jackson] makes amazing movies, so it really has been fun.

MTV: “Battle of the Five Armies” is in an interesting place because it’s both a culmination of the “Hobbit” trilogy, and setting up what happens in “Lord of the Rings.” How do you balance those two elements while crafting the score?

Shore: At the end of this “Hobbit” film it’s only 60 years going into “Fellowship of the Ring,” and we kind of link into “Fellowship.” So you’re kind of riding in the middle… You’re ending one story, but you’re getting ready to begin an even larger, grander tale.

MTV: So when you were crafting the score, were you trying to transition the themes from what you were dealing with in “The Hobbit” to what you were setting up in “Fellowship of the Ring?”

Shore: A little bit of both. There’s a little touch of “Rings” motifs in this score, mostly towards the end of the film — and in the beginning there’s hints of things that preceded it, mostly Smaug motifs.

MTV: Is there something in particular that separates the sound of “The Hobbit,” versus “Lord of the Rings?”

Shore: Yes, indeed. “The Hobbit” was written before “Lord of The Rings,” Tolkien wrote it back in the ’30s as a children’s story — so it has a much lighter feel to it. Taking that into consideration when we started on “An Unexpected Journey,” I worked in a much purer way in the beginning. Then through “Smaug,” things got darker and with “Battle of the Five Armies,” the shadings got even darker.

So I tried to begin in a lighter place, and take us into dark place, which is then leading into “Lord of the Rings.” I tried to keep the storytelling — I think we all did — intact, because we thought people would watch the six films together… Although it would take you quite a long time, I think over 20 hours.

MTV: At this point are you tying up your themes, or were you still creating new ones for “Battle Of Five Armies?”

Shore: There’s new characters: Bain and Bolg. Bolg we’re met before, but [the role] was much more developed. You also had to resolve everything that had come before. I mean, Smaug and Lake-town is its own complete work, if you will; and how Smaug’s thematic material worked with Lake-town, and the interweaving of all of those characters…

But in this film you’re not introduced to new cultures. The chessboard is set and now you’re just moving the pieces around and creating the grand finale with the battle.

MTV: You’ve done a bunch of concerts for “Lord of the Rings.” Do you think you’ll do the same thing for “The Hobbit?”

Shore: I don’t know yet! The “Rings” concerts are still going… There’s concerts this month in Belgium and in Europe. There’s a rather large series of concerts at Lincoln Center in April. It takes quite a few years to create those scores, to actually play them in concert, to play them live. Each one of the “Rings” scores took about a year. So 8-12 months to unarchive those scores and rebuild them so they can be played live. So if it does happen, it will be a few years to get it organized.

MTV: There’s been all this back and forth over the past few days, where Ian McKellan said, “I don’t think Peter Jackson Is done with Middle Earth yet,” and then Peter Jackson said “Nope, I’m done with Middle Earth.”
So what’s your take on it? Where is Peter’s head at, and would you want to come back if there was a seventh Middle Earth film of some sort?

Shore: Well I do love Middle Earth, I mean I love working in the world. I would say, never say never. I think Peter references having rights to other works. This may well be it. These six films… So I guess we’ll see. But never say never, it would be lovely to make a return at some point to the world.
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Link
 
Ixion

Ixion

Member
alexlevesque said:
Yeah, I think they put that consensus up a bit too early
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They can always change it. The consensus for AUJ was more positive than it is now. At first it mentioned how Martin Freeman and Ian McKellen gave standout performances, but then that was removed.

Curufinwe said:
It's gone back to fresh - 60%.

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_hobbit_the_battle_of_the_five_armies/

For comparison AUJ was 64% and DoS was 74%.
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I hope it stays fresh. Having one rotten movie in the series will annoy me a little. lol

With that said, it looks like this installment will also end up with the lowest IMDB rating. It's already at 8.1 with only 40,000 votes. It will probably end up around 7.6 or so, compared to the other two movies being at 8.0.
 
T

tryagainlater

Member
DoS being having the best critical reception of the trilogy just shows you really shouldn't listen to the critics concerning these movies. Well, I haven't seen the third one yet to judge but Smaug is definitely not better than Journey, Christ.
 
T

tryagainlater

Member
I actually haven't seen any of the extended editions for The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings for that matter. I've been saving it for the eventual 6 movie collection. I am interested to see how much Smaug improves though since I've seen that sentiment a few times for that movie.
 
Yoshichan

Yoshichan

And they made him a Lord of Cinder. Not for virtue, but for might. Such is a lord, I suppose. But here I ask. Do we have a sodding chance?
Curufinwe said:
I agree, but I think all those RT reviews are for the theatrical version.

74% is generous for theatrical DoS.
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maybe I asked this before, but what's special about DoS EE?
 
F

Franchuzas87

Member
Yesterday I went to the Hobbit marathon, all three films in 3D HFR.

I liked BOTFA, I really did, but the CG stands out more than ever in a bad way. I'm fine with characters like Azog or Bolg being CG instead of prosthetics, with CG landscapes that are hard or impossible to achieve in real localizations, or with CG armies in long shots. But when a clearly CG Dain and clearly CG Thorin hug each other close to the camera you know they have gone too far. Is baffling how they use CG (and not always good one) even for simple shots like that, and there is a bunch more.

Still, I liked the movie. A lot. I'm not even mad at some OTT action scenes like the Legolas ones. I just think Peter Jackson has taken too many unnecessary "shortcuts" and the result is not as elegant as it could.
 
P

Pai Pai Master

Banned
tryagainlater said:
I actually haven't seen any of the extended editions for The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings for that matter. I've been saving it for the eventual 6 movie collection. I am interested to see how much Smaug improves though since I've seen that sentiment a few times for that movie.
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they pretty much pulled all the best character moments from the theatrical release. I hated DoS theatrical but I loved the EE, it's a much better paced and well-rounded film.
 
C

Curufinwe

Member
#TheRoadGoesEverOn would be a more positive hash tag to use. Being kind of bitchy towards the movies which, despite their many flaws, brought millions of new readers to Tolkien seems unnecessary to me.
 
L

Loxley

Member
Curufinwe said:
#TheRoadGoesEverOn would be a more positive hash tag to use. Being kind of bitchy towards the movies which, despite their many flaws, brought millions of new readers to Tolkien seems unnecessary to me.
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I don't think they mean for it to come off as antagonizing. The Tolkien Society have always come of as pretty neutral when it comes to the films - as they should. They know that probably at least a third of their members are fans of the films or at least discovered Tolkien through the films.

Heck, they've got three separate news stories on their front page right now pertaining to the films, none of which are negative in any way.

Battle of the Five Armies has strong opening in cinemas
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, the final film in Sir Peter Jackson’s trilogy of films based on J.R.R. Tolkien on The Hobbit, has had a strong start by taking $117 million in the opening weekend.

The Office: Middle-earth
American television programme, Saturday Night Live, has filmed a parody called “The Office: Middle-earth” starting Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins. For those who haven’t seen the original UK version of The Office, Martin Freeman rose to prominance as the character Tim.

Stephen Colbert interviews Smaug
Stephen Colbert, American comedian and well-known Tolkien fan, “interviews” Smaug live on air. In the interview Smaug advocates a return to the gold standard, and admits not to having read the book or heard of Tolkien!
 
A

ascii42

Member
Curufinwe said:
#TheRoadGoesEverOn would be a more positive hash tag to use. Being kind of bitchy towards the movies which, despite their many flaws, brought millions of new readers to Tolkien seems unnecessary to me.
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Indeed. I had read the Hobbit years earlier, but it was seeing the trailers for Fellowship of the Ring that got me to finally to read the book. After I saw the movie I quickly read through the other two books. Even if I didn't love the movies themselves, I'd still love them for that.
 
E

Edmond Dantès

Dantès the White
Curufinwe said:
#TheRoadGoesEverOn would be a more positive hash tag to use. Being kind of bitchy towards the movies which, despite their many flaws, brought millions of new readers to Tolkien seems unnecessary to me.
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Loxley said:
I don't think they mean for it to come off as antagonizing. The Tolkien Society have always come of as pretty neutral when it comes to the films - as they should. They know that probably at least a third of their members are fans of the films or at least discovered Tolkien through the films.

Heck, they've got three separate news stories on their front page right now pertaining to the films, none of which are negative in any way.

Battle of the Five Armies has strong opening in cinemas
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, the final film in Sir Peter Jackson’s trilogy of films based on J.R.R. Tolkien on The Hobbit, has had a strong start by taking $117 million in the opening weekend.

The Office: Middle-earth
American television programme, Saturday Night Live, has filmed a parody called “The Office: Middle-earth” starting Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins. For those who haven’t seen the original UK version of The Office, Martin Freeman rose to prominance as the character Tim.

Stephen Colbert interviews Smaug
Stephen Colbert, American comedian and well-known Tolkien fan, “interviews” Smaug live on air. In the interview Smaug advocates a return to the gold standard, and admits not to having read the book or heard of Tolkien!
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ascii42 said:
Indeed. I had read the Hobbit years earlier, but it was seeing the trailers for Fellowship of the Ring that got me to finally to read the book. After I saw the movie I quickly read through the other two books. Even if I didn't love the movies themselves, I'd still love them for that.
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The Society and its members (including me) merely treat the films for what they are; just another gateway into the works of Tolkien. They serve a purpose and we're glad that they allow for another generation to join the worldwide community.
 
E

Edmond Dantès

Dantès the White
It seems Peter isn't quite ready to leave Middle-earth
“If I had to start tomorrow, I would say no, because I definitely would appreciate a break to clear my head and get my little New Zealand stories done, which is where my passion and my heart is heading now,” the director says. “But ask me in two or three years, and I’d probably say yes. It would be hard to see another filmmaker go into this world, because I certainly have an emotional ownership of it.”
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The rest of the interview: Link


Interesting comments and combined with Howard Shore's recent comments and others, one wonders. Of course, it's natural for such comments to be made at the end of a journey.
 
C

Curufinwe

Member
I think what preceded that answer is important, because "isn't keen" is a rather large understatement.

Nevertheless, with all this going on, there remains the lingering question of whether the final chapter on Tolkien has been filmed. There’s a lot more material, including short stories, but they are tightly controlled by the Tolkien estate, which isn’t keen on more movies.

But what if things change, and the Tolkien properties become available for future filming. Would Jackson be interested?
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H

Harmen

Member
Personally, I would love to see movies based on the other Tolkien stories by Jackson.

Yes, the Hobbit is no Lord of the Rings, but still miles better than most fantasy films out there and by no means something like the prequel trilogy of Star Wars in terms of quality difference. I do think they made a mistake by going for a trilogy (pacing could be much better with two) and focusing too much on CG, but that is more a missed oppertunity than having bad movies.

Edit: how are those extended editions of the first two movies? Have not seen those cuts.
 
S

Stormwatch

Member
Franchuzas87 said:
I liked BOTFA, I really did, but the CG stands out more than ever in a bad way. I'm fine with characters like Azog or Bolg being CG instead of prosthetics, with CG landscapes that are hard or impossible to achieve in real localizations, or with CG armies in long shots. But when a clearly CG Dain and clearly CG Thorin hug each other close to the camera you know they have gone too far. Is baffling how they use CG (and not always good one) even for simple shots like that, and there is a bunch more.
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Yes! This REALLY bothered me. Dain looked so bad that I actually spent time trying to figure out which scenes DIDN'T have a CG version of him.
 
C

Curufinwe

Member
Edmond Dantès;143860288 said:
He's most probably referring to material that comes under the banner of WB's licence. Certainly not material guarded by the Estate.
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Like an Aragorn: Origins movie?

I really hope it doesn't come to that.
 
F

Franchuzas87

Member
Even if there are some things I don't like about this Hobbit trilogy, I would totally be day one for a new Jackson's Middle-earth film.

I just love that world, being there on a new adventure. For me is like the Zelda series in gaming. While some are truly masterpieces (like Ocarina of Time), others are, well, definitely not as good (like Phantom Hourglass). But a new Zelda game is always something worth playing, has some great ideas here and there, and a strong gameplay conexion with the rest of the franchise.
 
L

Loxley

Member
Edmond Dantès;143862643 said:
Something akin to Shadow of Mordor seems the most likely. New stories set during the Third Age of Middle-earth and possibly integrating elements from the appendices.
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I think that's the safest bet. With Shadow of Mordor's success, WB now have a franchise-within-a-franchise. And since the film universe is it's own separate thing, they could fairly easily adapt it to the screen and make it fit within the established film canon. When all is said and done, these Hobbit films will have made $3 billion dollars, so you can bet WB is going to do anything and everything they can to hang onto the license. Even if that means making up their own stories.

As for Jackson, I wouldn't be surprised if next time around he got someone else to direct (like del Toro with The Hobbit originally) while he stayed on as a producer and worked on his own personal projects. He'd definitely have a hand in the screenplay and would watch over production (this film universe is his baby after all) but I think that will probably be what ends up happening.

If it even ends up happening, that is.
 
K

Kyleripman

Member
Edmond Dantès;143862643 said:
Something akin to Shadow of Mordor seems the most likely. New stories set during the Third Age of Middle-earth and possibly integrating elements from the appendices.
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Loxley said:
Even if that means making up their own stories.
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I definitely do not want this. The best parts of these films are the parts that come directly from Tolkien.
 
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