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Noria
Gondor
Feb 10 2014, 3:06pm
Post #1 of 11
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A few observations about DoS.
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One of the many things that I love about Martin Freeman’s Bilbo are his “What now”,“Come on”, “You've got to be kidding me” moments.
For instance, in Mirkwood as Bilbo is climbing down from the treetop and his feet catch in spider web so that he trips and falls out of the tree, he literally mutters “Come on!” as he tumbles.
There are at least a couple of other non-verbal moments like this. One is when Bilbo first sees Beorn in bear form while scouting. Then in Erebor when Bilbo is still on the stone platform after releasing the water and Smaug bashes into it, Bilbo has another of those “Oh crap!” expressions on his face as the platform starts to fall. Priceless!
Something completely different: Nine dwarves and Bilbo do pretty well against Smaug. If they had been able to use the same amount of water as gold, they might even have drowned him. Or not. The point is that I can imagine scenarios where, if they had been forewarned and had a plan using their technology as well as weapons, the dwarves of Erebor might have been able to hold Smaug off or even destroy him when he attacked. Gandalf’s ultimate plan to rally all the armies of the dwarves to drive Smaug out of Erebor doesn't seem quite as much an impossible dream.
And lastly: Bard is really a king in waiting. Although he’s not above breaking the law in the struggle for survival, he is brave, intelligent, proactive and compassionate. I think that the character is well written and well acted.
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Ham_Sammy
Tol Eressea
Feb 10 2014, 3:42pm
Post #2 of 11
(465 views)
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Freeman is the master of facial and non verbal expressions. Watch his other movies and/or Sherlock if you haven't. He is really a terrific actor and very good at the little nuance when it comes to acting. He displays so much with just a voice inflection.
I actually would have preferred they had used water instead of the molten gold. If there has been a scenario by which they had done that instead I think the scene for me would have been a bit more palatable than what was there. I loved the movie, the molten gold thing though sort of took me out of it. They of course couldn't drown the dragon otherwise we wouldn't have the laketown scene but I do think trying to use water instead of gold would have been better and Thorin boogie boarding on it would have made more sense, even though I really didn't like that at all.
I really like Luke Evans' bard and I think he is well written and acted I agree. Totally cool too they let him have his Welsh accent. He comes across as a very strong yet compassionate man and we see that throughout the Laketown scenes. I love the part where he says he's had enough of dwarves but relents and lets them bring Kili into this house because he's so gravely wounded.
Thank you for your questions, now go sod off and do something useful - Martin Freeman Twitter chat 3/1/13
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Noria
Gondor
Feb 10 2014, 5:27pm
Post #3 of 11
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I'm a long time fan of Martin Freeman's
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And also a big fan of Sherlock. Though Martin Freeman is not as well known here as he is in Britain, I have seen some of his movies as well as Ricky Gervais’ The Office. The moment he was mentioned as a possibility for Bilbo, I knew he would be perfect. I find those “Really? This?” moments of his as something dire occurs particularly funny.
As for the gold and water, I imagine that the channels are supposed to have been specifically constructed to move the gold to the statue mould and were just waiting for the gold to be melted. I wonder if it would even have been possible to redirect the water. They would need a huge spate to knock Smaug down and under the water.
But I love the whole gold thing as it is, with the dragonfire lighting the forges, the symbolism of the statue and Smaug’s reaction to it. And I've said mainly times that the image of Smaug rising into the sky and shaking off the gold is one of my favourites.
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Riven Delve
Tol Eressea
Feb 10 2014, 5:53pm
Post #4 of 11
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A couple of my favorite nonverbals
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from MF are the "shushing" of the sliding gold coins in Smaug's lair, and the way he tosses aside that huge diamond (imagine Nori in his place!  ). I love how he infuses his voice with fear when facing Smaug (all his nonverbals in that regard are great), and I also really enjoy the way he reacts when he realizes what the ring has done to him, although of course that's not comic.
Something completely different: Nine dwarves and Bilbo do pretty well against Smaug. If they had been able to use the same amount of water as gold, they might even have drowned him. Or not. The point is that I can imagine scenarios where, if they had been forewarned and had a plan using their technology as well as weapons, the dwarves of Erebor might have been able to hold Smaug off or even destroy him when he attacked. Gandalf’s ultimate plan to rally all the armies of the dwarves to drive Smaug out of Erebor doesn't seem quite as much an impossible dream.
Good point about whether the Dwarves could have held Smaug off if given a fair warning. I wonder if they thought they had dragon-proofed Erebor, only no one quite knew how. Note to Thror and future kings of Erebor: Maybe it might have been a good thing to keep on good terms with your Elven neighbors, who knew a thing or two about dragons, and even (according to Thranduil in DOS) did in fact warn you...
But anyway, as to the water idea, I am all about the symbolism of the gold "sacrificed" to use as a "weapon" here, and the gold-encrusted Smaug was not only a tip of the hat to "Smaug the Golden," but was visually quite beautiful!
And lastly: Bard is really a king in waiting. Although he’s not above breaking the law in the struggle for survival, he is brave, intelligent, proactive and compassionate. I think that the character is well written and well acted.
I was impressed with Bard too, although I admit I had never given his character much thought before the movie came out (other than he was grumpy in the book--like most of the other characters!). He is a little short-sighted, in that sleeping dragons do not sleep forever, but given Laketown's lack of resources to deal with a dragon, I can't really blame his logic. But he seems to understand the what good leadership looks like and is not afraid to step in when necessary. I really felt his character was part of Middle-earth, which is half the battle of acting in my book!
"I did shatter his lantern, and that would have been pretty fair shooting, I can tell you, if I had been aiming at it!"
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Elarie
Grey Havens
Feb 10 2014, 6:17pm
Post #5 of 11
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I agree, Martin Freeman's expressions are priceless
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and one of my favorite things about both DOS and AUJ from the very beginning has been the wonderful way the characters, especially Bilbo and the dwarves, can express their personalities without words, using just their faces. Bilbo's expression when he saw Smaug's tail rising up out of the gold on the other side of the room was wonderful, and Ori's face when he looked up and saw Bard pointing an arrow at him was so great - one of my favorites so far.
Someone posted awhile back that the dwarves had no personality because they didn't have any dialogue; I think just the opposite - this entire cast is so talented I think they could mime the Hobbit and keep the audience riveted. 
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Riven Delve
Tol Eressea
Feb 10 2014, 10:34pm
Post #7 of 11
(273 views)
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"I did shatter his lantern, and that would have been pretty fair shooting, I can tell you, if I had been aiming at it!"
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Avandel
Half-elven
Feb 11 2014, 2:04am
Post #8 of 11
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"Someone posted awhile back that the dwarves had no personality because they didn't have any dialogue; I think just the opposite - this entire cast is so talented I think they could mime the Hobbit and keep the audience riveted. "
Just watching the dwarf section of the appendices - especially the auditions w. the "general" script they used - all I can say is these guys are GOOD. Not sure there is a better Gloin than Peter Hambleton, a better Oin, etc. and I'd like to give James Nesbitt's Bofur a big shout-out - love the expression on his face when Bilbo is telling him how he doesn't belong in AUJ. I loved his song at Rivendell and wish they hadn't cut that in the first place. Graham McTavish? One badass and believeable Dwalin. And for me one of the best things in DOS is Bombur's hysterical river ride - the audiences I was with loved that and Bobur did so much without saying a word - love his expression when he jumps back in the barrel in the water.
Richard Armitage, Ken Stott, Martin Freeman - I don't even know enough superlatives. It's a small thing in DOS but I notice Martin Freeman's face change from happy to very worried at the hidden door as the sun goes down, and after that every nuance is perfection. I just love where Bilbo is just walking about, all by himself, puzzling over "the last light" - it just seems like such a book-loving hobbit thing to do. Martin Freeman is unbelievable.
*sigh* just another Bilbo/dwarf scene that went missing - guess this is Laketown? Wonder what this was about - and everyone looks pretty expressive here!!!
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Ataahua
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
Feb 11 2014, 9:28pm
Post #9 of 11
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Two of my favourite Freeman moments are when Bilbo's in a lot of danger.
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The first is in AUJ during the Trollshaws scene, when he's creeping forward to get the large knife and he has stop, absolutely still, to not be noticed. His expression is priceless.
Then in DOS, when Smaug is starting to rise and Freeman sits down with an expression of, "I'm not here, you can't see me". Love it, love it, love it.
Celebrimbor: "Pretty rings..."
Dwarves: "Pretty rings..."
Men: "Pretty rings..."
Sauron: "Mine's better."
"Ah, how ironic, the addictive qualities of Sauron’s master weapon led to its own destruction. Which just goes to show, kids - if you want two small and noble souls to succeed on a mission of dire importance... send an evil-minded beggar with them too." - Gandalf's Diaries, final par, by Ufthak.
Ataahua's stories
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macfalk
Valinor
Feb 11 2014, 11:32pm
Post #10 of 11
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If there is one thing The Hobbit has over the LOTR movies, it's a better protagonist. Martin Freeman is head and shoulders above Elijah Wood (Wood is alright, but Freeman's just a lot better). Too bad we didn't get nearly enough Bilbo moments in DOS!
The greatest adventure is what lies ahead.
(This post was edited by macfalk on Feb 11 2014, 11:33pm)
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Noria
Gondor
Feb 12 2014, 1:47pm
Post #11 of 11
(110 views)
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I agree that Martin Freeman is excellent.
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But since most of Bilbo's story from the book does appear on the screen, it would be difficult to show many more without making them up, and that would never do! They could have shown his Laketown cold instead of the little homage paid to it, but personally I have seen enough snot in this trilogy.
In truth I think that Bilbo's story is well served in DoS as it was in AUJ, but it has to share the stage with Thorin's story and the Dol Guldur/White council subplot.
Ataahua, those Bilbo moments are two of my favourites as well. They remind me of Tolkien's description of Hobbits as hard to see and adept at keeping out of sight.
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