Support NeoGAF

[Zabuza]

Lol this movie was so bad. Are people seriously saying they loved this?

Not one death scene was memorable or felt like it mattered. Everything they added that wasn't in the book was garbage. The CGI was terrible. The fights weren't anything special. I could go on, but some posters have already echoed my thoughts.

I actually enjoyed the first two quite a bit, but this was a very poor movie. Making this a trilogy was a terrifically bad idea.

 

[Lime]

"Seek out this guy that's going to show up in the next 3 films" was also a very awkward and unwieldy scene.

It was like poetry, it rhymed.

 

[brandonh83]

Lol this movie was so bad. Are people seriously saying they loved this?

Seriously.

 

[Shining Sunshine]

Strangely, I was quite disappointed. It was just a giant battle that didn't seem to be well paced as the Battle of Pelennor Fields. It lacked dramatic climax of peril and rescue.

Also, it didn't seem to have interesting set pieces as Return of the King like lighting the beacons, seeing Minas Tirith, or the death of Sauron.

Strangely, I really liked the first two, but this felt it lacked the great moments.

Also, anyone who watched HFR, did it feel like it was not as smooth as the first two movies? It seemed like it wasn't 48fps.

 

[Red Comet]

Lol this movie was so bad. Are people seriously saying they loved this?

Not one death scene was memorable or felt like it mattered. Everything they added that wasn't in the book was garbage. The CGI was terrible. The fights weren't anything special. I could go on, but some posters have already echoed my thoughts.

I actually enjoyed the first two quite a bit, but this was a very poor movie. Making this a trilogy was a terrifically bad idea.

The movie sort of represented a lot of the worst of Jackson, and I don't think any of the Hobbit movies were on the same cinematic level as the LOTR trilogy, but I loved this in its own way. It was nonstop action and just a lot of dumb fun.

 

[Zabuza]

The movie sort of represented a lot of the worst of Jackson, and I don't think any of the Hobbit movies were on the same cinematic level as the LOTR trilogy, but I loved this in its own way. It was nonstop action and just a lot of dumb fun.

I really can't figure out why but I felt that way about the first two and this one just bored me to tears. I mean I really disliked it. Not saying the first two were particularly great movies but something was off about this one.

 

[Darksol]

I enjoyed all three films, but they don't touch the first three

 

[Morgoth]

My biggest question...is the 3d as good as it was in the Desolation???

Yes! But that might be because the theater I work at just got remodeled and finally has silver screens instead of white ones from the 90's and I might just be seeing what 3D is supposed to look like for the first time. I did think DOS 3D was good but not as good as BOTFA

 

[Calcium]

Just got back from seeing it in IMAX 3D. Overall I enjoyed this one as much as the other two Hobbit movies. The trilogy is decent, but never comes close to the Lord of the Rings movies.

I can't understand why the Alfrid character was given so much screen time. He wasn't funny at all and every scene he was in just took time away from other characters that were much more deserving.

I also felt the war wasn't ended properly. After Thorin died and the post battle discussion scenes started up I felt like "Uh, I guess the war is over now?". They didn't show the enemy retreating or being overwhelmed really, I guess I was just supposed to assume the battle was over when the eagles showed up.

 

[Darryl]

I guess there's no more "the next film will make up for this ones shortcomings". The trilogy was pretty average. I'm very disappointed. The Hobbit had so much potential. The only part of these films that felt like it belonged was the very first hour of the first film. The rest of it was boring, incomplete, or just excessive war porn.

 

[Jokergrin]

Lol this movie was so bad. Are people seriously saying they loved this?

Not one death scene was memorable or felt like it mattered. Everything they added that wasn't in the book was garbage. The CGI was terrible. The fights weren't anything special. I could go on, but some posters have already echoed my thoughts.

I actually enjoyed the first two quite a bit, but this was a very poor movie. Making this a trilogy was a terrifically bad idea.

completely agree

 

[ana]

After watching the first Hobbitt I had no desire to watch the next one in the theatre and looks like I'll catch this one when it comes from the tv...

When compared to LOTR this "trilogy" seems to be lacking something that made those films special..

 

[RatskyWatsky]

Just saw it:

Pros:

+ Lee Pace
+ Battle Elk
+ War Pig
+ Combat Goats
+ Lee Pace
+ Beorn turning into a bear in midair (even if they stole it from Animorphs)
+ The Billy Boyd song at the end
+ The ending directly leading into Fellowship
+ Lee Pace
+ The women and old people choosing to fight
+ No more Middle Earth movies
+ Lee Pace

Cons:

- Characters speaking gibberish ≠, well, anything. it's not interesting nor is it drama - it's dumb and cringey
- Thorin's about face after he hears quotes from the previous movies
- Alfrid. Why?
- Anti-climactic opening sequence which really really really should have been the ending to the second film
- Horrible CGI monsters
- Horrible CGI Scottish Dwarf (why in the flying fuck didn't they just get a real actor for the part????)
- Dumb videogame battle sequence featuring old men fighting flickering ghosts
- Turning every main character into a videogame character
- Galadriel turning green and banishing Sauron with her mean voice
- Bard is a poor man's Faramir (who, in turn, was a poor man's Boromir/Aragorn)
- Bard's dumb kids
- "We're being overwhelmed by the enemy! The battle is los-wait a group of 5 dwarves have just arrived! We're saved!"
- Deus ex Machina Eagles
- "Oh no, that....one dwarf died!"
- Stephen Fry
- "Oh no, that....other dwarf died!"
- Tepid romance subplot
- Thorin's death scene with Bilbo was a ripoff of Boromir's death scene with Aragorn
- The utter failure of Peter Jackson and Co. for making me care about any of the non-LotR characters. The shot at the end of Bilbo saying goodbye to the dwarves? Was that supposed to elicit some sort of response from me? What were any of their names, even? I have no idea, nor do I know what their personalities were - contrasting them with the characters in LotR, where each one was carefully defined, only highlights what an awful job the writers did with making any of these characters come alive.

 

[Duress]

I liked it, but it definitely would have been better, if they had cut it down.

 

[RatskyWatsky]

I also felt the war wasn't ended properly. After Thorin died and the post battle discussion scenes started up I felt like "Uh, I guess the war is over now?". They didn't show the enemy retreating or being overwhelmed really, I guess I was just supposed to assume the battle was over when the eagles showed up.

That really bugged me as well. After the eagles arrived, it was just...over. And then a few minutes later the movie was over. I feel like we didn't get enough scenes showing the aftermath (both the literal aftermath of the battle and also the more emotional side of it).

 

[Shining Sunshine]

That really bugged me as well. After the eagles arrived, it was just...over. And then a few minutes later the movie was over. I feel like we didn't get enough scenes showing the aftermath (both the literal aftermath of the battle and also the more emotional side of it).

Yeah, it was really weird. All they had was Legolas saying goodbye and some stupid scene with Tauriel and Thranduil. There wasn't much closure for the Human side either. They just blew some horns and that was it.

In comparison to Return of the King, where the end of the battle was followed up by the last battle with Sauron, this seems so off.

Also, I don't get why they didn't end the last movie with the death of Smaug. Starting with the death of Smaug made it feel like the movie already ended. Such a weird decision.

 

[Death Metalist]

My thoughts on the film from the movie thread.

This is the opinion of a person who never read The Hobbit book. Good movie even though there are things that frustrate me about it for example some of the stupid shit with Legolas, when people see the movie they'll understand, the elf/dwarf love subplot and also how everything just doesn't have the same emotional impact as The Return Of The King because PJ clearly wanted to make a "Return Of The King" but within The Hobbit narrative. It's much better to not compare The Hobbit trilogy to LOTR's trilogy but take it as it's own thing or a lite LOTR if you will. The movie does what it's set out to do, be a full out war movie with an ending that ties with the first LOTR. The second half of the film is pretty much the big ass battle with the five armies till the ending, which is great. I love Middle earth and it's kind of bittersweet that this may be the last we see of it on the big screen which is a shame because the characters here are not as strong as they are in LOTR. The wars as well as pay offs in The Return Of The King were orgasmic and full of suspense because the fate of everyone is at an end which is the same thing here only it feels less realized where as in TROTK, everyone in Middle Earth was fucked and it helped that it showed you how things went from alright to pretty much shit.

The irony of it though is that my favorite scene in the movie happens to be something far away from the big battle itself which is the Dol Guldur scene for the simple fact of seeing Saruman busting some ass with swift, fast movements. I fucking did a double take because I was all like "Yeah, he'll just shove them with his magic" but no, he went to town on them fuckers with his staff. If Christopher Lee in real life moved like that which I doubt, I'll have to take a bow because that looked fucking badass. It helps that the movie had spectacular sound effects and the CGI ranged from really good to decent. Overall though, I enjoyed the movie and I feel that the trilogy as a whole is more enjoyable when one can watch all 3 closely together.

EDIT: I also forgot to mention that the soundtrack also is no where near LOTR level.

 

[Senator Soufflé]

Did anyone else think everything was over-designed? There was a quadruple amputee troll with flail arms, the Ringwraiths are all WoW characters and the Orcs look ridiculously over-armoured it would put Uruk Hai to shame. It doesn't even fit into the existing material in the other films and just breaks continuity, a bit like prequel Star Wars to Original Trilogy where it looks like everything goes backwards.

 

[Ultra Magnus]

Guys I really really want an Adventure of Bilbo movie because there needs to be a better linker between LOTR and Hobit movies. As a person who is new to all of this I did enjoy the movie.

 

[Cloud Strife]

The movie was ridiculous, but in a fun way.
I was laughing my ass off at all the over-the-top action scenes and Thorin's dramatic close-ups. CGI Dain was horrible. "Alfred" was horrible. No resolution, just lol I'm leaving bye and YOUR MOTHER LOVED YOU.

I'm so fucking pissed that the Smaug scene wasn't added to the last film, it was literally 5 minutes. Showing Thorin going crazy would have bee enough of a cliff-hanger, thanks PJ!

 

[kharma45]

Saw it last night, genuinely awful. Down there with the Star Wars prequels.

HFR 3D was again crap, I don't know why I convinced myself to try it again.

 

[Vashetti]

Interview with Luke Evans where he mentions potential Bard EE scenes.

 

[ActuallyHulk]

Didn't really enjoy it. I pretended I did though because it was my sister's birthday and I didn't want her to feel down. Dain looked and sounded like he belonged in World of Warcraft. The movie did nothing to change my stance that Legolas and Kate could have been 100% cut from the entire trilogy and the story wouldn't have suffered one bit. Also Galadriel should stop shopping at Hot Topic. I couldn't stand the whole subplot with Not Wormtongue either. Hoping for a fan edit.

 

[bananafactory]

The movie was ridiculous, but in a fun way.
I was laughing my ass off at all the over-the-top action scenes and Thorin's dramatic close-ups. CGI Dain was horrible. "Alfred" was horrible. No resolution, just lol I'm leaving bye and YOUR MOTHER LOVED YOU.

I'm so fucking pissed that the Smaug scene wasn't added to the last film, it was literally 5 minutes. Showing Thorin going crazy would have bee enough of a cliff-hanger, thanks PJ!

I was thinking that as well. Show us the Smaug attack/death at the end of DoS, then close on a shot of Thorin looking over his gold with a glint of madness in his eye. Boom. Credits.

 

[Rootbeer]

I wonder how much of the problems come from Jackson being burnt out on Tolkien stuff. He kinda had his hand forced into directing these.

 

[NealMcCauley]

I wonder how much of the problems come from Jackson being burnt out on Tolkien stuff. He kinda had his hand forced into directing these.

That and taking over for del Toro. You can still see his hand in character appearances and the look of certain areas.

 

[radioactivez0r]

Sample paraphrase from one of these: "The rangers call him Strider. I will let you find out his real name for yourself."

I snickered really loudly at this, because WHY CAN'T YOU JUST TELL HIM!? Is it some big secret? I mean you already told him his father's name and everyone in the audience knows who you are talking about.

Anyway, I haven't been a big fan of the Hobbit movies (this should have been been Battle of the Five Armies And Also Bilbo Shows Up Sometimes) so I wasn't planning on seeing this in the theater, but it was a friend's birthday so I went. First time seeing the HFR and I didn't care for it at all - I think it makes all the effects stand out much more, in a bad way.

I also thought Thorin's performance was really overdone - I get it, he has dragon sickness and is Broody McBrooderson for 80% of the movie. It got really old. I found Bilbo to be the best character in the movie, which is ironic considering how little he's actually in it. I guess way to make your screen time count. I'll check out the extended editions after my friend owns them all, maybe.

 

[Hero_of_the_Day]

Never really cared for the LotR movies, thought the first two hobbits movies were way better. This movie fucking sucked. I was dying for it to be over by the end. I was going to lose my mind if we had one more slow motion as someone runs to save someone else moment.

I wonder how much of the problems come from Jackson being burnt out on Tolkien stuff. He kinda had his hand forced into directing these.

I don't know how he did it. It doesn't make up for the movie sucking. But, it had to be insane to do three movies at once once, and I can't fathom doing it a second time. Spending so many years of your life looking at the same stuff would drive anyone insane.

 

[AAAnonymous]

LOL can't believe Del Toro is going to get out of this looking "not-so-bad" again. The amount of jocking that guy gets...

 

[Jokergrin]

well at least we'll always have the LOTR trilogy to go back to

 

[StealthGoblin]

- Horrible CGI Scottish Dwarf (why in the flying fuck didn't they just get a real actor for the part????)

If you are referencing Dain II Ironfoot, that was an actual actor. Billy Connolly.

 

[Windam]

Still having a hard time getting over "Legolas... your mother loved you. More than anyone else."

Why does this matter right now? You couldn't have told him that in the past 2000 or so years that he's been alive after his mom kicked the bucket?

 

[Hero_of_the_Day]

If you are referencing Dain II Ironfoot, that was an actual actor. Billy Connolly.

He absolutely looked like CGI, so there was something fucking weird going on with him.

 

[RatskyWatsky]

Did anyone else think everything was over-designed? There was a quadruple amputee troll with flail arms, the Ringwraiths are all WoW characters and the Orcs look ridiculously over-armoured it would put Uruk Hai to shame. It doesn't even fit into the existing material in the other films and just breaks continuity, a bit like prequel Star Wars to Original Trilogy where it looks like everything goes backwards.

Yeah, that bugged me too (and also in the Star Wars prequels). The Orc technology looks so much more advanced in The Hobbit films than it does in the LotR trilogy.

The movie did nothing to change my stance that Legolas and Kate could have been 100% cut from the entire trilogy and the story wouldn't have suffered one bit.

Honestly? Legolas and Tauriel should have been cut. Gandalf's Dol Goldur adventures (with Saruman, Galadriel, Radagast, and Elrond) should have been cut. Stephen Fry and Alfrid should have been cut. Bard's family should have been cut. The movies would have been much better off if they had focused exclusively on the Dwarves and Bilbo, with bits of the Elves and Bard scattered here and there.

The biggest problem that I have with these movies is that they're so damn bloated. A taut, tight journey following the core characters would have resulted in a far better series of films methinks.

I was thinking that as well. Show us the Smaug attack/death at the end of DoS, then close on a shot of Thorin looking over his gold with a glint of madness in his eye. Boom. Credits.

Yep. When Thorin was going mad, I thought to myself "Now this would have been a great place to end tDoS on..."

I was going to lose my mind if we had one more slow motion as someone runs to save someone else moment.

Dude. That happened so. many. times. often in quick succession.

Character A is about to get stabbed/crushed/killed
Character B swoops in at the very last second and saves them, only to be put into danger themselves
Character A swoops in at the very last second and saves them

etc. etc.

If you are referencing Dain II Ironfoot, that was an actual actor. Billy Connolly.

There was one scene where I thought he looked like a real human, but almost all of his other scenes (including his first few) made him look like a Jeff-Bridges-in-Tron-Legacy-esque CGI character.

He absolutely looked like CGI, so there was something fucking weird going on with him.

Yep.

 

[uncleniccius]

Yeah, it was really weird. All they had was Legolas saying goodbye and some stupid scene with Tauriel and Thranduil. There wasn't much closure for the Human side either. They just blew some horns and that was it.

In comparison to Return of the King, where the end of the battle was followed up by the last battle with Sauron, this seems so off.

Also, I don't get why they didn't end the last movie with the death of Smaug. Starting with the death of Smaug made it feel like the movie already ended. Such a weird decision.

Agreed to an extent, and the explanation of where the Arkenstone went was pretty much non existent unless I missed something.

Hopefully it'll be fixed in the extended edition - I think as a trilogy it stands up much better than as each individual film does.

 

[Johnlenham]

I wonder how much of the problems come from Jackson being burnt out on Tolkien stuff. He kinda had his hand forced into directing these.

He probably shouldn't have hacked this into 3 films and filled it full of absolute shite then tbh.
The book is good precisely because you dont have 12million bloody nobodys runninng about.

I wonder how much a fan is going to cut from the 3 films to make it good, I imagine you could take about 20mins out of each film, adding in the EE stuff when needed and have a much better set of films because of it.

 

[Dunedain_Ranger]

I liked it for the most part but all the Alfred scenes wasted a lot of time for other characters. Thorins death wasn't memorable at all. The arkenstone angle was a second thought which I hated !!!

 

[hendersonhank]

Rankin-Bass Hobbit was 80 minutes long and was a far more faithful and affecting version of this story than Jackson managed in what, 400+ minutes? Thorin's speech to Bilbo at the end of the cartoon always makes me cry. Here I was like "whatever".

This movie was terrible beyond belief. I can't think of one good thing to say about it. Every single thing they added or changed was complete garbage, and everything else managd to suck as well.

I officially give up on Jackson. He has become utter shit.

 

[Wreck-It Ralph]

I don't get people who say the deaths had no impact. Fili and Kili especially made me sad. They built them up to be two of the more likable dwarves, I thought, and they were both murdered rather brutally. Thorin's death could have been done a bit better though.

 

[hendersonhank]

When did PJ decide that a fight isn't worth watching unless every single surface above, below, and around the fighters is collapsing like the whole world is made out of Saltines, and every single strike is preceded by a pirouette or somersault?

 

[Master Yoshi]

Saw this movie last night...

Why do I feel absolutely nothing after viewing it?

 

[Wag]

Why didn't the bird talk to Bard to tell him where the spot on Smaug was to shoot? That's an important (and cool) plot point.

 

[Draper]

Saw it yesterday. Was anxiously waiting for it to end. CG war fest killed it for me. I longed for more of the intimate dialogue and performances.

 

[Gravidee]

I haven't see it yet but some 'interesting' impressions I'm reading here. I wonder how much of an improvement the extended edition will be over the theatrical?

 

[Tactics18]

Just saw it in HFR 3D. It was bad. really bad.
wtf were they thinking with that Alfrid character?
Tauriel and Filli (or was it Killi?) storyline was fucking groan worthy.
Ah. There were so much storylines and characters that they could cut.

And I still don't understand how 11 years later and the CGI looks worse than lotr.

 

[Sephzilla]

I liked the last two hobbit movies and loved LOTR, but I felt a little disappointed after TBOFA. It has none of the emotional resonance that the finale of LOTR had, for instance

I don't regret seeing it and even kinda liked it. But it's my least favorite middle earth movie

 

[Ether_Snake]

It's going to be awful, a big battle of CG cannon fodder.

 

[hendersonhank]

And I still don't understand how 11 years later and the CGI looks worse than lotr.

I swear to god you could do an apples to apples comparison of the troll in Moria in Fellowship (2001) and one of the same breed in this one (13 years later) and the older one looks more convincing.

 

[glaringradio]

If you are referencing Dain II Ironfoot, that was an actual actor. Billy Connolly.

Dain was entirely CGI. He was just voiced by Billy Connolly.

 

[BigJonsson]

Was nice to see Christopher Lee as sauraman