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Aragalen the Green
Mithlond
Dec 26 2012, 1:04am
Post #2 of 10
(316 views)
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Finally!!! So here goes...:) (spoilerific)
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Wow! Spectacular! Amazing! I want to see it again!
That being said and gotten out of the way, here is a little more objective view (I hope), including positives and negatives. To start with, we watched it in a full theater, so ended up sitting second row from the front--a little too close, so that anytime the camera was panning across a landscape, it was out-of-focus. Still it looked great and you could sure see everything from our perspective.
Things I loved:
The landscapes.The scenery and landscapes were just breathtaking. New Zealand is an amazing place and I would love to visit someday. I could not believe how beautiful it was, and how perfectly suited for imagining Middle-earth.
Smaug attacking Dale and Erebor sequence gave me goosebumps, I liked how one never fully saw Smaug, but rather the destruction he wreaked on the towns.
Radagast the Brown. I have a sneaking admiration for Sylvester McCoy, and thoroughly enjoyed the portrayal of Radagast. An interesting juxtaposition of a nature-loving hermit with birds in his hat, frantically trying to protect the forest from the dark taint that is creeping through and poisoning everything; and the Wizard, healing his hedgehog friend, daring the ruins of Dol Guldur after the spiders led him there and fighting the wraith, and again drawing off the orcs and wargs with his bunny sled. I laughed so hard at watching Radagast and the sled tearing across the landscape, I didn't even care how he managed to get the sled over all that terrain! He was actually quite a complex character, even if we only saw him for a few minutes.
Gollum. Perfect. The scene when Bilbo is invisible and getting ready to kill Gollum, then realizing Gollum is crying and Bilbo swallowing the sympathetic lump in his throat. I cried a little too.
Goblin Town and the Great Goblin. Hahahaha!!! I want to see this in 3-D now. Almost exactly liked I imagined.
The Eagles were awesome (even if they do represent the Deus Ex Machina airlines!).
Things I didn't like:
Changes (of course, being a book first person). It distracted me to keep noticing where the changes were made, until I finally relaxed enough to watch it for what it was. That's why I'm looking forward to the second showing so I will have the fact that there are changes firmly in my mind.
Azog. I really didn't see the point of Azog still being alive to hunt Thorin, and found him unneccesary and distracting. The Wargs could have easily been chasing the Dwarves after Radagast was followed after leaving Dol Guldur. I suppose it will become clearer in the next two movies, but the whole sliced-up pale Orc out for revenge just didn't do it for me. I did like the Wargs however, much better than the whatever-they-were in LOTR.
So--there are my first impressions. I'll probably have more to add later, but wanted to add something to the reviews while it is still fresh in my mind.
*sighs happily  *
" Well well!", said a voice. "Just look! Bilbo the hobbit on a pony, my dear! Isn't it delicious!"
"Most astonishing wonderful!"
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syameese
Nevrast
Dec 26 2012, 9:39am
Post #3 of 10
(235 views)
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Saw it today, 2D – loved lots of it, other bits not so much. Going to see it in 3D next.
Pacing was fine by me and Bilbo is fantastic. But, the movie lost me emotionally from the stone giants onwards (apart from riddles in the dark). Way too much stupid implausible action – falls without injury etc, took me right out of believing the story. I mean I love Wile E Coyote, but that sort of action is not what I like in a movie that has some claims to be a portrayal of a real history.
That said, I did enjoy the movie and I do appreciate how difficult a task PJ et al had in making it consistent with, but not just repeating the LOTR. But, I really never bought into the Bilbo/Thorin arc they were trying to build, the motivation and dialogue imo seemed way too contrived and lacking in authenticity.
And then there was Azog .... Ok I bought into the reason for the character for the movie, but the evil boss killing the failed underling - give me a break, or are we on a quest to leave no movie cliche unused. On the other hand I did like Radagast, apart from the last sled chase being too long.
Will I see it again – you bet!!! Did it blow me away like FOTR and is it worthy of multiple viewings – no!
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masinger
Registered User
Dec 27 2012, 2:34am
Post #4 of 10
(152 views)
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First time viewing, and probably the last
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I'm sorry, but the film was noisy, busy, far too violent, and looked fake from beginning to end. It was about as much fun as watching someone play WoW.
I have long defended the LoTR movies as legitimate adaptations of Tolkien's work. This, however, isn't adaptation; it's bastardization. And it's very disappointing. I'll probably pass on the other two films.
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DanielLB
Elvenhome
Dec 27 2012, 8:45am
Post #5 of 10
(121 views)
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It's only 1/3 of all the story. To fully appreciate it, you need to see the entire picture.
What did you think of the first hour?
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masinger
Registered User
Dec 27 2012, 4:06pm
Post #6 of 10
(106 views)
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It's only 1/3 of all the story. To fully appreciate it, you need to see the entire picture.
What did you think of the first hour?
I know it's only the first of three films, though given how badly it has mishandled the source material I'm not sure I'd call it one third of the story.
It's hard to tell what the first hour was because the film is so busy and yet so uninvolved in its own substance. If we take it up to Rivendell, though, I think it is not particularly well structured, and I wish they had delayed the Thorin flashback so that there aren't two long narrated chunks in proximity and used the time to establish more explicitly how out of his element Bilbo is. Radagast made me cringe, and his finding the company sets up the chase-fight-chase-fight monotony of the rest.
I also hate that the film seems to forget about Bilbo when it gets to Rivendell other than to have him look briefly ecstatic when they arrive. How did he become the Bilbo whose "Translations from the Elvish" form the basis for what we know as the Silmarillion when we don't see him interacting with Imladris or its people? And yet we do have time for more juvenile dwarf jokes. I'm surprised they didn't have a farting contest.
At least thirty minutes of this film (likely the interminable Goblin Town fight sequence or the ridiculous running-away-in-open country scene) could have been cut with no loss. Unfortunately, I don't think just cuts are needed. I think characterizations and structure needed to be reworked, which comes back to problems with the screenplay. That's not something you can fix in post even when you are willing to see it (which Jackson, it appears, is not).
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DanielLB
Elvenhome
Dec 27 2012, 4:48pm
Post #7 of 10
(116 views)
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I also hate that the film seems to forget about Bilbo when it gets to Rivendell other than to have him look briefly ecstatic when they arrive. How did he become the Bilbo whose "Translations from the Elvish" form the basis for what we know as the Silmarillion when we don't see him interacting with Imladris or its people? And yet we do have time for more juvenile dwarf jokes. I'm surprised they didn't have a farting contest.
I think a lot of this will be re-inserted back into the EE. I hope anyway, because as you say, it does jar with the character we all know (and love).
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Ardamírë
Doriath
Dec 27 2012, 5:46pm
Post #8 of 10
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And yet we do have time for more juvenile dwarf jokes. I'm surprised they didn't have a farting contest.
I think a lot of this will be re-inserted back into the EE. I hope anyway.
Please say it isn't so!  Ok, I know that's not what you meant, but I thought I'd take it that way anyway!
Aiya Eärendil Elenion Ancalima! Hail Eärendil, brightest of stars!
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Ardamírë
Doriath
Dec 27 2012, 6:41pm
Post #10 of 10
(99 views)
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No, I'm glad you said it!
Aiya Eärendil Elenion Ancalima! Hail Eärendil, brightest of stars!
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Official Hobbit Review Thread #32 - Seeing it again this week, or for the first time? Post your reviews here!
