Megalosaro
Banned
I bought the blu ray of this when it came out back in... November I think? I finally sat my ass down and watched it yesterday.
I need to preface this with a bit of background.
One of my earliest memories of my childhood is watching the Rankin Bass cartoon on Disney channel, I think. It was a movie I enjoyed as a kid but didn't really understand. But in any case, beyond vague memories of Smaug, Bilbo Baggins and Gollum and a magic ring, I didn't really remember much about Middle Earth when Peter Jackson's movies first started coming out in 2001.
I remember when 2001 came out, most of the conversations my class mates had about movies were focused on Harry Potter. No one gave two fucks about LotR. But then December hit and people lost their god damned minds.
I was one of them.
I was 14 when Fellowship came out and I was dealing with some pretty serious issues that I don't think a teenager should have to deal with. My parents were spiraling down hill into a mid-life crisis or something. And so Fellowship came out and it offered a very unique brand of escapism for me to cope with life at the time.
I loved Fellowship so much, I immediately went out on bought all of Tolkien's books, delving deep into Tolkien's world. By Summer of 2002, my family would be homeless for the next two years, and the only possessions I was able to keep on me were Tolkien's books, which I read and re-read.
I loved all of Peter Jackson's LotR movies as well (nitpicks and minor complaints aside) and was genuinely happy with them.
I was keenly aware of the issues the Hobbit faced, regarding issues with Peter Jackson and New Line and also New Line vs the Tolkien Estate. But I still wanted the Hobbit to come and was pretty excited when they finally entered production.
The films we have gotten... they're pretty lacking in all honesty. I don't mean for this to shit on this trilogy though. I'll just leave this comment here to fit my criticism: Any sort of complaint I had with LotR has been amplified here. Melodrama for the sake of melodrama that detracts from the central narrative, fanservice, unneeded conflict. The Dol Guldur stuff, a sequence I was most looking forward too, was severely mishandled and came across as corny at best. A shame, because I was REALLY looking foward to it.
My biggest complaint is that Legolas gets Orcrist through half the trilogy. That sword is one of Thorin's defining features god damnit!
But anyway... on to BotFA specifically.
Out of all the EEs, this is probably the most unnecessary one in all honesty. I think there was just a handful of new story scenes, most of them inconsequential. Alfrid's death was kind of dumb (he could have crawled out of that dude's mouth
), and the dialogue at Dol Guldur for the scene with Gandalf was as bad as every other Dol Guldur scene. I do appreciate the footage of Thorin's funeral though. Great stuff there.
The new battle footage here was amazing though (for the most part). The chariot sequence... Holy SHIT PJ. That was fucking awesome.
I also love the dwarves and elves fighting before the orcs arrived. Some good stuff there, no matter how brief it was.
The only thing I thought was stupid was Legolas's surgical kills as he rides the bat up to Ravenhill. Fucking pants on head stupid.
My complaint about the movie in general:
People criticize the battle for the theatrical version. My only complaint really is Ravenhill. Taking Thorin and Co out of the mix to fight Azog basically solo was a bad decision imho. Don't get me wrong, Thorin SHOULD have been the one to fight Azog, but removing them from the main battle sucked.
Changing the nature of the black arrow to being a balista bolt kind of sucked too. I loved Bard's "I've always retrieved you, but not this time" line was one of my favorite moments from the book. I do like the "Don't look away from me" line though.
So yeah.... A lot of fumbles for the Hobbit movie and I think ultimately the whole project probably falls into the 6/10 range. They tried juggling too much and ultimate the movies feel messy, which is a shame because they were well casted. In the end, I prefer the Rankin Bass version of the Hobbit, which never lost sight of what the Hobbit is supposed to be. A fun, charming adventure though a mysterious world.
I hope when this franchise gets rebooted (and they will), the next director is as passionate as Peter Jackson was. But also learns from PJ's mistakes.
I need to preface this with a bit of background.
One of my earliest memories of my childhood is watching the Rankin Bass cartoon on Disney channel, I think. It was a movie I enjoyed as a kid but didn't really understand. But in any case, beyond vague memories of Smaug, Bilbo Baggins and Gollum and a magic ring, I didn't really remember much about Middle Earth when Peter Jackson's movies first started coming out in 2001.
I remember when 2001 came out, most of the conversations my class mates had about movies were focused on Harry Potter. No one gave two fucks about LotR. But then December hit and people lost their god damned minds.
I was one of them.
I was 14 when Fellowship came out and I was dealing with some pretty serious issues that I don't think a teenager should have to deal with. My parents were spiraling down hill into a mid-life crisis or something. And so Fellowship came out and it offered a very unique brand of escapism for me to cope with life at the time.
I loved Fellowship so much, I immediately went out on bought all of Tolkien's books, delving deep into Tolkien's world. By Summer of 2002, my family would be homeless for the next two years, and the only possessions I was able to keep on me were Tolkien's books, which I read and re-read.
I loved all of Peter Jackson's LotR movies as well (nitpicks and minor complaints aside) and was genuinely happy with them.
I was keenly aware of the issues the Hobbit faced, regarding issues with Peter Jackson and New Line and also New Line vs the Tolkien Estate. But I still wanted the Hobbit to come and was pretty excited when they finally entered production.
The films we have gotten... they're pretty lacking in all honesty. I don't mean for this to shit on this trilogy though. I'll just leave this comment here to fit my criticism: Any sort of complaint I had with LotR has been amplified here. Melodrama for the sake of melodrama that detracts from the central narrative, fanservice, unneeded conflict. The Dol Guldur stuff, a sequence I was most looking forward too, was severely mishandled and came across as corny at best. A shame, because I was REALLY looking foward to it.
My biggest complaint is that Legolas gets Orcrist through half the trilogy. That sword is one of Thorin's defining features god damnit!
But anyway... on to BotFA specifically.
Out of all the EEs, this is probably the most unnecessary one in all honesty. I think there was just a handful of new story scenes, most of them inconsequential. Alfrid's death was kind of dumb (he could have crawled out of that dude's mouth
), and the dialogue at Dol Guldur for the scene with Gandalf was as bad as every other Dol Guldur scene. I do appreciate the footage of Thorin's funeral though. Great stuff there. The new battle footage here was amazing though (for the most part). The chariot sequence... Holy SHIT PJ. That was fucking awesome.
I also love the dwarves and elves fighting before the orcs arrived. Some good stuff there, no matter how brief it was.
The only thing I thought was stupid was Legolas's surgical kills as he rides the bat up to Ravenhill. Fucking pants on head stupid.
My complaint about the movie in general:
People criticize the battle for the theatrical version. My only complaint really is Ravenhill. Taking Thorin and Co out of the mix to fight Azog basically solo was a bad decision imho. Don't get me wrong, Thorin SHOULD have been the one to fight Azog, but removing them from the main battle sucked.
Changing the nature of the black arrow to being a balista bolt kind of sucked too. I loved Bard's "I've always retrieved you, but not this time" line was one of my favorite moments from the book. I do like the "Don't look away from me" line though.
So yeah.... A lot of fumbles for the Hobbit movie and I think ultimately the whole project probably falls into the 6/10 range. They tried juggling too much and ultimate the movies feel messy, which is a shame because they were well casted. In the end, I prefer the Rankin Bass version of the Hobbit, which never lost sight of what the Hobbit is supposed to be. A fun, charming adventure though a mysterious world.
I hope when this franchise gets rebooted (and they will), the next director is as passionate as Peter Jackson was. But also learns from PJ's mistakes.