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Post by Josh on Dec 14, 2012 22:45:44 GMT -8
Justus and I saw the Hobbit tonight.
Before I nitpick, just have to say I loved just about every minute of it-- especially sitting next to my son. Feels like a rite of passage.
More later...
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Post by robin on Dec 15, 2012 8:42:00 GMT -8
Laine and i went to dinner last night, and I thought about going to the Hobbit afterwords but I realized that the running time was 2:45. With the back pain I've been dealing with lately there is no way I could sit for that long. I may have to wait for it to come out on DVD. Cory is currently reading the Hobbit series, so its probably better that I wait until he's finished and watch it with him.
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Post by LadyAjax on Dec 15, 2012 9:16:42 GMT -8
Justus and I saw the Hobbit tonight. Before I nitpick, just have to say I loved just about every minute of it-- especially sitting next to my son. Feels like a rite of passage. More later... Ushering in the next generation... of geeks. I can't wait!  |
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Post by Josh on Dec 15, 2012 9:38:18 GMT -8
yep! |
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Post by Josh on Dec 15, 2012 10:02:37 GMT -8
SPOILER ALERT! Don't proceed if you want a pristine first experience with the Hobbit  Watching the Hobbit for the first time (and I'm going to watch it a few more in theaters hopefully), a few things stand out that remind me of my reactions to Jackson's earlier LOTR film adaptations. Sometimes I think Jackson improves the story. I've commented on this elsewhere in regard to LOTR. As far as the Hobbit, I liked Jackson's decision to have Bilbo make a more definite choice to join the Dwarves (after much hemming and hawing). I like how Jackson bridged the gap between the relative silliness of the Dwarves in the Hobbit and their more austere depiction in the LOTR. Even though compared to LOTR the Hobbit may have dipped into slapstick too much for comfort, that really is a nod to the book the Hobbit. One of the biggest challenges Jackson had was simply that the Hobbit reads like a children's book and the LOTR like adult fiction. The Hobbit film needed to keep some of the childish fairy tale feel but also introduce more sober themes. I'm glad he left in some of the Dwarf and Goblin songs which punctuate the Hobbit, silly and unbelievable as they might seem, simply because they are so part of the book version. The Troll scene worked pretty well, but Jackson made the hero of the scene Bilbo rather than Gandalf, which, again, makes sense for his need to build Bilbo's character, but robs us of a great example of Gandalf's brilliance. I'm not sure what I thought of the innovation of having Azog the Orc tracking them through their journey. I get why that needs to happen to build tension in the film and connect the hodge-podge of events, but it does seem to strain authenticity a bit. It was cool to see a warg battle in Eriador and Elvish cavalry coming to the rescue. Justus liked seeing Elves on horses. Radagast, the dying animals, the sled? The jury is still out for me on all that. I do definitely like his discovering of the Necromancer at Dol Guldur. I also liked the "white council" at Rivendell. The rock giant fight and the battle sequence scenes in Goblintown were just too epic and unbelievable. Of course Justus loved them, but it cheapens the suspense when the Dwarves can dodge hundreds of rock fragments the size of a house while clinging on to a giants leg or repel thousands of goblins with three stooges tricks. The best scene, was of course the Gollum scene. I thought Jackson (and Serkis) nailed it! Amazing! The emphasis on Bilbo's pity for and mercy shown to Gollum was excellent, especially in conjuction with Gandalf's earlier comments about why he chose Bilbo in the first place, which I found particularly poignant in light of this week's tragedies: “Saruman believes it is only great power that can hold evil in check, but that is not what I have found. I found it is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay… small acts of kindness and love. Why Bilbo Baggins? That’s because I am afraid and it gives me courage.” |
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Post by matthew on Dec 22, 2012 22:03:20 GMT -8
Josh, I just read your last post "Spoiler Alert" and couldn't have said it better myself. I took all 3 of my sons to it and they loved it (as did I of coarse!). I thought it a tad explicit (war/fight seens) for my 8 yr old but the redeeming values were outstanding and the Hobbit has always been one of my all time favorite adventure tales. I watched it in 3D and am planning to see it in HD 2D before it's out of the premium theatres. 3D you loose a lot of detail in the action sequences. I'm stoked it's in a triogy too, I could have sat there in awe for 9 hours with a little popcorn and hydration and wish it would never end. Nuff said :-)
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Post by stevekimes on Dec 24, 2012 2:06:36 GMT -8
I just saw the film tonight and I completely loved it. Some things, like the "pale orc" weren't really necessary, like many of the changes in LOTR, but I really appreciated it.
I think the main thing to remember is that Peter Jackson is beginning not another trilogy, but the whole series. I heard an interview where he said, "In the future, people will be picking up a box set of all six films and they won't begin with Fellowship, they will begin with An Unexpected Journey." So if the beginning seems a little slow, or if he's taking time to set up LOTR (even if it wasn't in the Hobbit novel), it's because he's thinking about future generations.
I love the way you can see Gandalf and Bilbo's characters develop over the whole series. Honestly, I think Jackson is in the middle of making an epic that we have never before seen the like of.
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Post by Douglas on Dec 26, 2012 18:25:49 GMT -8
I fully enjoyed the movie and was overjoyed to see the character of Bilbo that I have imagined so many times come to life in film. The part I most disliked was the Azog issue. If I remember right Azog did die in Moria and it was his son Bolg who came in the battle if the five armies. The part that bothered me most about all the Azog additions was that they were out in full daylight, something that northern goblins would never do. Yes I am a nerd and I have fully embraced it.
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Post by Josh on Dec 26, 2012 19:21:15 GMT -8
yeah... what was up with them out in the daylight? *
A friend of mine thinks that they will explain Azog's return as him having been resurrected by the necromancer/ sauron along with the nazgul.
*btw, how does the book explain their presence in the day at the battle of the five armies?
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Post by Douglas on Dec 26, 2012 21:02:17 GMT -8
Storm clouds and bats if memory serves.
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Post by christopher on Dec 26, 2012 23:49:05 GMT -8
We just saw it today and we all loved it. No complaints whatsoever (then again, I never read the book so it may be I'm blissfully ignorant ;D).
When it was over, I couldn't believe over 2 1/2 hours had just passed.
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Post by Josh on Jan 4, 2013 11:46:56 GMT -8
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Post by rbbailey on Jan 15, 2013 21:13:04 GMT -8
So, a few things. First, I have that same Union Jack t-shirt.
Next, I also liked the movie, and I took my 10 year old son to it since we read the Hobbit together a few years back and he proved to me that he still remembered it well enough. His first real, non-made-for-kids movie.
Before you read on, know that I have read the book to myself at least twice, I have taught it as literature, and as such I have read it cover to cover, out-loud, at least eleven times.
I did like the movie, but.... I went away feeling that it could have been so much better! I feel that the book is such a perfect hero story, based on Bilbo, based on the journey, based on pure adventure, that I felt a bit jilted when much of the movie turned into an action flick based on Thorin and his rival -- a back story that is there, but certainly does not come into the book.
I also could not figure out why all the caves were lit up like Christmas Trees?!?! Sure, the torch light of the goblin caves makes sense, but....
...and what happened to the fact that the caves were made by dwarfs, straight and smooth, so that Bilbo had not a worry in walking?
That said, I think the story of the LOTR and the prologue was expertly done. And the scene of the riddles was perfection. (I could quote most of it as the movie played).
I guess what bugged me most though is the idea that the movie had to become a Die Hard for Middle Earth to be "exciting enough". But, all the same, I'm very much looking forward to the next installment!!
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