Our Sponsor Sideshow Send us News
Lord of the Rings Tolkien
Search Tolkien
Lord of The RingsTheOneRing.net - Forged By And For Fans Of JRR Tolkien
Lord of The Rings Serving Middle-Earth Since The First Age

Lord of the Rings Movie News - J.R.R. Tolkien

  Main Index   Search Posts   Who's Online   Log in
The One Ring Forums: Tolkien Topics: Movie Discussion: The Hobbit:
Question about BOTFA...

ecthelionsbeard
Lorien

Dec 20 2014, 9:31pm

Post #1 of 7 (577 views)
Shortcut
Question about BOTFA... Can't Post

So, we have the plot thread involving Legolas and Tauriel investigating Gundabad, where they discover a second orc army on the march. Naturally, they head back to Dale and warn the others. However, earlier we see Gandalf alert Radagast to the first orc army led be Azog and that he will need his assistance with the help of the eagles. Fast forward… the eagles show up, as per Gandalf's warning, and wipe out the second army Legolas and Tauriel warned them about. As such, it seems to me that renders Legolas and Tauriel's plot thread moot.. or am I missing something?? Thoughts?


Aragorn the Elfstone
Tol Eressea


Dec 20 2014, 9:41pm

Post #2 of 7 (373 views)
Shortcut
It lets the audience know... [In reply to] Can't Post

...about (and see) the army from Gundabad, which then creates tension as Bilbo then goes off to warn Thorin and Co. about oncoming force (and thus Azog's trap). Plus, nobody knows when Radagast will show up, or if he will even be in time.

"The danger with any movie that does as well as this one does is that the amount of money it's making and the number of awards that it's got becomes almost more important than the movie itself in people's minds. I look at that as, in a sense, being very much like the Ring, and its effect on people. You know, you can kind of forget what we were doing, if you get too wrapped up in that."
- Viggo Mortensen

(This post was edited by Aragorn the Elfstone on Dec 20 2014, 9:43pm)


Spriggan
Tol Eressea

Dec 20 2014, 9:44pm

Post #3 of 7 (342 views)
Shortcut
Well it is to deliver that warning that [In reply to] Can't Post

Bilbo goes to Ravenhill, and so is present for the events there, but yes there is no opportunity to come up with a response to the second army with the troops already engaged with Azog's army by the time they get there.


Cirashala
Valinor


Dec 20 2014, 10:15pm

Post #4 of 7 (332 views)
Shortcut
they are eagles [In reply to] Can't Post

There's a phenomena called "eagle's eye" for a reason Wink

Radagast and the eagles and Beorn probably saw the Gundabad army when they showed up, and just swooped in to take care of it. Eagles have incredibly keen eyes, and likely saw them for several minutes before they arrived at the scene- plenty of time to scope out the threat.

They didn't need to know of the Gundabad army in order to take them out.

As far as Legolas and Tauriel's scouting mission- I think it was necessary for a couple reasons.

First off, they had no knowledge of Gandalf's message to Radagast, therefore they wouldn't have known about the eagles showing up. Even if they had, they didn't know when they would and that it would coincide with the Gundabad army's arrival.

Secondly, it took them away from the plot for a while to allow things to progress as they should. Had Tauriel been there during the Thranduil/Thorin/arrows showdown, don't you think she would have interfered then at a very crucial point in the political drama?

Thirdly, if she had been there during the political standoff, Kili would have reacted far differently to Thorin's threats, I think, if he was directly threatening her (by virtue of her being down there). It's one thing to be pissed off about his family's heritage/legacy being stolen, but it's another thing altogether if the woman he loved was down there too. In a sense, would Kili have been so eager to fight if he'd been aware that he would have had to fight her? I think his opposition to Thorin would have been greater, and she would have unfortunately intruded on a crucial part of the book's events.

And fourthly, the only reference we have to the Gundabad army at that point was Azog telling Bolg to get them. As the audience, we would have likely thought that the hordes of orcs that come out of the were-worm tunnels were a combined force of both armies, thus rendering it the battle of FOUR armies, not five. Having Legolas and Tauriel scout out Gundabad helps make it very clear to the audience that there is in fact two separate orc armies that arrive at different times in the battle, rather than the Gundabad army simply having moved around to cut them off.

So from a story POV, their scouting mission provides crucial battle information to those still in Dale (who, except Gandalf, do not know about the eagles and even Gandalf may doubt their timing) about this threat.

And from a cinematic perspective, it got Legolas and Tauriel away from crucial book events that would have ended far differently had they remained behind in Dale during said events.



Ham_Sammy
Tol Eressea

Dec 21 2014, 12:17am

Post #5 of 7 (237 views)
Shortcut
Plus [In reply to] Can't Post

We had to see the bats fly out so it made sense later on when Legolas grabs one. I agree we needed the visualization of that scene to fully get the whole picture.

Thank you for your questions, now go sod off and do something useful - Martin Freeman Twitter chat 3/1/13


mae govannen
Tol Eressea


Dec 21 2014, 5:16am

Post #6 of 7 (191 views)
Shortcut
All points very true...// [In reply to] Can't Post

 

'Is everything sad going to come untrue?'
(Sam, 'The Field of Cormallen', in 'The Return of the King'.)


Bumblingidiot
Rohan

Dec 21 2014, 2:15pm

Post #7 of 7 (175 views)
Shortcut
I liked the messiness of the battle. [In reply to] Can't Post

That's what happens in battles - things don't go to plan. Perhaps the trip to Gundabad wasn't useful for the outcome of the battle - so what? Neat resolution in battles always looks fake. There is likely to be some of it in any film/story - Thorin managing to fight his nemesis, for example, where in a real battle they'd probably not have managed to get anywhere near each other. But a bit of poetic licence and a lot of flair (as in this film) can win me over on that. But it's important that the main battle elements do look chaotic and messy - otherwise I just won't believe it or be engaged in it.

"Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear."

 
 

Search for (options) Powered by Gossamer Forum v.1.2.3

home | advertising | contact us | back to top | search news | join list | Content Rating

This site is maintained and updated by fans of The Lord of the Rings, and is in no way affiliated with Tolkien Enterprises or the Tolkien Estate. We in no way claim the artwork displayed to be our own. Copyrights and trademarks for the books, films, articles, and other promotional materials are held by their respective owners and their use is allowed under the fair use clause of the Copyright Law. Design and original photography however are copyright © 1999-2012 TheOneRing.net. Binary hosting provided by Nexcess.net

Do not follow this link, or your host will be blocked from this site. This is a spider trap.