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weaver
Half-elven
Jan 21, 7:14am
Views: 1177
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A fan and a non-book-reader walk into a movie...
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Can't Post
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I'm a long-time Tolkien fan, my husband has never read the books. And he's not a fan of fantasy -- his attitude, pre-LOTR films, was that Tolkien and all his dwarves and elves and wizards was well, pretty darn silly.
He took me to see FOTR under protest, and surprised both of us by being totally hooked by the film. We went on to see each part of the LOTR trilogy over 10 times in the theater, and many times on DVD since then, and he loved them as much as me.
So, now the Hobbit films come out. I've seen AUJ 4 times, he's seen it twice.
His comments:
1. Very entertaining, but not in the same league for him as the LOTR films; he missed the spiritual aspect that LOTR had.
3. Did not like Bilbo or Gandalf in this film -- did not like Freeman's "jerky" acting style and liked LOTR Gandalf better.
4. Moments he liked -- Thranduil's very Elven look, the contrast between the lighthearted foodfest and the dwarves singing the Misty Mountains song in Bag End, Elrond telling the history of the swords, Gandalf revealing the Witch King's sword in the White Council scene. Basically all the scenes that felt more like LOTR to him.
5. Seemed like LOTR-light -- another avalanche scene, another inside the mountain fight with goblins, Thorin seemed like another version of Aragorn, another Eagles rescue -- but all of these were done better in LOTR.
6. Did not buy that any of the guys who played the dwarves were dwarves -- except for Balin. Everyone else looked like regular guys to him.
7. No one died! They could survive everything and not be hurt, which took away from the credibility of the story for him.
8. Goblin king and Radagast were way too comical for his tastes.
9. Did not care about any of the characters, could not tell the dwarves apart, and felt they had no character development.
10. Thought Bilbo should not have been as clueless as he was at the end of the film.
11. Did not like the Riddles in the Dark scene at all -- went on too long, and he could not understand half of Gollum's dialogue.
In all, he said he liked LOTR because it was a real world, with fantasy elements in it. The Hobbit was all fantasy, with a few touches of reality, and that did not work for him as well.
Now, he admitted to me that he did try reading The Hobbit long ago, and hated it, so some of what he didn't like on screen he probably would not have liked no matter who filmed it. And I think he also, as a non-fantasy lover, had a hard time with a film that did not have any human characters in it he could relate to. He missed the world of men, and without that to ground his experience, he was a bit lost.
So, if you boil it all down, I think that the film was just too "fantastic" for his tastes. I have told him that I think he'll like the next two movies more, as we get into more of the moral choices Bilbo has to make, some more serious scenes, political maneuvering, and the world of men. So he's willing to reserve judgement for now, but where the LOTR films were able to win him over to Tolkien, The Hobbit AUJ had the opposite effect.
Based on the above, here are a few discussion questions for you...
1. Are you a non-book reader, or do you know a non-book reader who saw AUJ? How do my husband's reactions compare with yours or someone you know who also did not read the book?
2. A lot of LOTR follows the same path laid out in the Hobbit, in terms of elements like the journey through the mountain and the Eagles showing up in the nick of time. Did Jackson do enough to differentiate these things for the non-fan? Should he have taken more liberties with the plot to avoid the sense of repetition?
3. Do you think that the kind of objections my non-reader husband, or others, had to the tone of the Hobbit films will lessen over the next two films, as the characters develop more, and the story becomes more serious?
4. Jackson made The Hobbit films "look" like LOTR, but they feel like something quite different -- was he right to honor the lighter and more comic tone of the Hobbit, or should he have kept it darker and more in line with the LOTR films?
5. Any other thoughts along the line of reader/non-reader perceptions of AUJ?
Thanks in advance for any and all replies and lurkings!
Weaver
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Subject
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User
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Time
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A fan and a non-book-reader walk into a movie...
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weaver
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Jan 21, 7:14am
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Totally fell for the post title
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Starling
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Jan 21, 7:40am
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and one more thing...
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swordwhale
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Jan 21, 8:14am
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Hobbit
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swordwhale
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Jan 21, 8:09am
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my partner hasn't read the books and she loved it
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lurtz2010
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Jan 21, 10:11am
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I went...
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The Mitch King
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Jan 21, 10:16am
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Went with my gf first time then friend second time
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imin
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Jan 21, 12:01pm
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My second viewing
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Rosie-with-the-ribbons
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Jan 21, 12:52pm
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Reason for quest
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arithmancer
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Jan 21, 3:02pm
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Probably coming from the friend
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Rosie-with-the-ribbons
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Jan 21, 3:33pm
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Non-book reader reaction
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arithmancer
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Jan 21, 2:50pm
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The non-readers had a different experience
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Gelir
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Jan 21, 2:57pm
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I have the exact same experience
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Elenorflower
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Jan 21, 3:25pm
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The problem is:
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macfalk
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Jan 21, 3:29pm
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I dont think its because LOTR came first
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Elenorflower
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Jan 21, 3:56pm
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Agree with you
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sevilodorf
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Jan 21, 4:33pm
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This is why we can't have nice things
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Rane
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Jan 21, 6:45pm
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I disagree
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LordMaximus
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Jan 21, 8:20pm
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I saw the movie with a friend the other day...
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bborchar
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Jan 21, 3:38pm
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Very interesting!
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Súlimë
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Jan 21, 3:41pm
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Let me have a go...
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BoromirOfWinterfell
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Jan 21, 4:20pm
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Interesting
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Old Toby
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Jan 21, 6:39pm
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Interesting comparisons.
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Roheryn
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Jan 21, 7:15pm
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First of all...
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Arannir
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Jan 21, 7:59pm
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Oh dear.
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Ataahua
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Jan 21, 8:14pm
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She already said there are too many of them to have them all survive :)))
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Arannir
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Jan 21, 8:31pm
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Here's my take
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Rostron2
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Jan 21, 8:32pm
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About Freeman
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Jax_Teller
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Jan 21, 9:38pm
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i agree with your hubby on almost every account
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Arthael
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Jan 21, 10:58pm
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