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The Hobbit Extended Editions
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dragonfart28
Banned
Hexxen-Panda
Member
I concur with the OP. The EE of The Hobbit felt to me like it evened out the weird-ass pacing of the theatrical releases. Even with all the cringy and terrible additions that PJ and co added to the film, the almost perfect casting carry these films for me. Having a couple more of these character moments really helped the films work better overall.
Sidenote: BotFA in HFR 3D was really cool. A lot of it already looked like a video game, so it only made it more tolerable.
Sidenote: BotFA in HFR 3D was really cool. A lot of it already looked like a video game, so it only made it more tolerable.
I watched all of these in theater, the last two with my folks because really liked the original LOTR movies. Each one was more terrible than the last. I have no desire to watch the extended editions even if they fix some pacing issues. That is the least of the problems with this trilogy.
I'm a huge LOTR fan and still watch the extended versions of those films every year.
I'm a huge LOTR fan and still watch the extended versions of those films every year.
TheChewyWaffles
Member
OP I don't think adding more crappy backstory for fan-fiction characters (whoever that idiot Orc was) is going to do anything for these shitty movie. Should have been one film, period...two at the most.
sobaka770
Banned
Watcher the extended editions recently.
They are better, just as the LotR EEs. I'm all in favour of doing these for movies as they encapsulate the full author vision.
That being said, Hobbit is still a pretty mediocre trilogy. These movies aren't BAD. There are much worse things to experience in the cinema or on your tv, but they are still a serious letdown, unfocused, forgettable and boring. EEs don't fix any of that.
The only issue that EEs solve just a bit is more dwarf exposition. Hobbit severely lacks inter-character banter which would flesh out the personality of each dwarf. We get a bit more singing, a bit more exposition here and there for Bombur and other dwarfs which is nice. That being said, I still can't remember who is Gimli's father (his only scene is literally saying to Legolas that Gimli is his son), and other dwarfs never being more than a gimmick (fat, hearing-impaired,funny hat etc.). Yes, the books don't flesh out the dwarves either, but then make the movie shorter so it wouldn't matter.
The Kili and Toruviel romance is still utter shlock and I can't believe it's in the movie. Everything about it is wrong.
CGI was never the problem. What they did with it is. Most action scenes are completely ignoring the laws of physics, and there's no tension throughout any of the three movies. This is what makes The Hobbit trilogy so disappointing. The EE Legolas on bat scene just cements the utter riddiculousness of the whole endeavor.
Remember when Legolas took on a mumakil in Return of the King? It was a goofy scene, but:
1. The battle was won anyway.
2. It was one goofy scene in the whole movie.
3. It was designed to break the constant tension.
In The Hobbit every scene is like that. Dwarves falls into pits that cannot be survived, crushed by ogres, get shot with arrows that all magically hit the ladder that they are holding etc etc. I don't care whether orcs, wolves, even molten gold are CGI, it wouldn't matter if it was used wisely. And it's not.
I get that the Hobbit is "lighter" and "for children", but you can't shove it into the same universe as LotR especially since the book, while for children was scarce on details and you could imagine things, here it's all over-the-top.
Worst thing: if you watch the Hobbit and then LotR, Legolas is totally ruined. I think the only way that Orlando Bloom agreed to his role was: "I have to be superman" - "No problem, you will murder hundreds of orcs (Helm's Deep crying in the corner), fly bats and defy laws of gravity".
Pluses: EEs add some characterisation, movies look and sound good - duh.
They are better, just as the LotR EEs. I'm all in favour of doing these for movies as they encapsulate the full author vision.
That being said, Hobbit is still a pretty mediocre trilogy. These movies aren't BAD. There are much worse things to experience in the cinema or on your tv, but they are still a serious letdown, unfocused, forgettable and boring. EEs don't fix any of that.
The only issue that EEs solve just a bit is more dwarf exposition. Hobbit severely lacks inter-character banter which would flesh out the personality of each dwarf. We get a bit more singing, a bit more exposition here and there for Bombur and other dwarfs which is nice. That being said, I still can't remember who is Gimli's father (his only scene is literally saying to Legolas that Gimli is his son), and other dwarfs never being more than a gimmick (fat, hearing-impaired,funny hat etc.). Yes, the books don't flesh out the dwarves either, but then make the movie shorter so it wouldn't matter.
The Kili and Toruviel romance is still utter shlock and I can't believe it's in the movie. Everything about it is wrong.
CGI was never the problem. What they did with it is. Most action scenes are completely ignoring the laws of physics, and there's no tension throughout any of the three movies. This is what makes The Hobbit trilogy so disappointing. The EE Legolas on bat scene just cements the utter riddiculousness of the whole endeavor.
Remember when Legolas took on a mumakil in Return of the King? It was a goofy scene, but:
1. The battle was won anyway.
2. It was one goofy scene in the whole movie.
3. It was designed to break the constant tension.
In The Hobbit every scene is like that. Dwarves falls into pits that cannot be survived, crushed by ogres, get shot with arrows that all magically hit the ladder that they are holding etc etc. I don't care whether orcs, wolves, even molten gold are CGI, it wouldn't matter if it was used wisely. And it's not.
I get that the Hobbit is "lighter" and "for children", but you can't shove it into the same universe as LotR especially since the book, while for children was scarce on details and you could imagine things, here it's all over-the-top.
Worst thing: if you watch the Hobbit and then LotR, Legolas is totally ruined. I think the only way that Orlando Bloom agreed to his role was: "I have to be superman" - "No problem, you will murder hundreds of orcs (Helm's Deep crying in the corner), fly bats and defy laws of gravity".
Pluses: EEs add some characterisation, movies look and sound good - duh.
brandonh83
Banned
Always thought the Hobbit movies were epic, beautiful and loads of fun. Loved all the characters. But I didn't read the book so that's not something I took with me mentally into the theater.
Not LOTR great but jesus I'm struggling to think of anything that is.
Not LOTR great but jesus I'm struggling to think of anything that is.
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