Escape to the Movies: The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies - There and Back Again

MovieBob

New member
Dec 31, 2008
11,495
0
0
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies - There and Back Again

Well the Hobbit trilogy is finally complete, but was it worth stretching into three films?

Watch Video
 

Evonisia

Your sinner, in secret
Jun 24, 2013
3,257
0
0
It might have been awesome to have that Godzilla fight at the beginning, but it still crippled the second film's ending and made it feel even more bloated than it already was.

But since I've finally watched the other two, I will probably see this if only to see how it all turned out.

Edit: I have seen it now. It's easily the best one of the three (on it's own merits), and I love how obvious it is with trying to "fix" the issues of the LotR films as well as Desolation of Smaug.
 

CrazyBlaze

New member
Jul 12, 2011
945
0
0
Well I haven't seen the last one yet I will say that I think the first two could have benefited from a trimming of 20-30 worth of stuff. They were just so damn long and some of the things felt like they were there just to push the movies towards three hours. The second one especially dragged with the both the barrel set and the final Smaug set being far too long (not to mention the total lack of pay off with the Smaug set).
 

Erttheking

Member
Legacy
Oct 5, 2011
10,845
1
3
Country
United States
I feel weird. I like the Hobbit movies, yet I feel like the fact that I like them is making Tolken roll in his grave. And unlike Lord of the Rings, I actually read the Hobbit in middle school. More times than I could count. I loved the shit out of it. I like the Hobbit movies but...it should've been one movie, two short movies tops, and I feel like maybe we could've benefited from a bit of a lighter tone. Don't get me wrong, some changes I like. The Dwarves actually having a plan to kill Smough as opposed to them realizing when they get there that they took thirteen dwarves and a Hobbit to fight a Dragon that burned two kingdoms to the ground when he was a teenager without a god damn clue of what they were doing. I get that Tolken might be pointing out that people do stupid things when it comes to money, but considering that everyone still got money in the end, even Bilbo a little, it rings a wee bit hollow. Also Gandalf leaving the party because HOLY SHIT NAZGUAL and actually trying to meet up with the Dwarves as opposed to "here's Mirkwood, have fun jackasses." And fleshing out the Dwarves? Perfectly fine with that. In the book the only one I remember getting any character besides Thorin was Bombur. And his character was basically "the fat guy."

Some changes felt unnecessary though. Like the Orcs. Azog was kind of cool, but I feel like it would've been cooler if he was on his own or leading a small pack of dedicated followers as opposed to trying to tie everything to the Lord of the Rings and making him a vanguard of Sauron. Not to mention Sauron is so OBVIOUSLY coming back with all the orcs running around here that you think everyone would've been running around in a panic in the Lord of the Rings Action scenes were a little too much too, after awhile the Orcs just stop feeling like a threat. It's one thing with the tiny goblins who clearly would have to rely on numbers, but the Orcs of Mordor? Or wherever it is they're from? Get out of here.

So...really complicated feelings.
 

Gizmo1990

Insert funny title here
Oct 19, 2010
1,900
0
0
I liked it. It was much better than the 2nd one. Plus I also don't care how much fan service or unnecessary it was:

Seeing Saruman and Elrond kick the shit out of the Nazgul while Galadriel made Saruon her ***** was epic
 

bobdole1979

New member
Mar 25, 2009
63
0
0
i'm happy with the bloat its a well made world with nice production values and im more then happy to sit and watch it.

Lets be honest if they did this in 1 or even 2 movies then this winter would really suck.

I'll happily take a bloated Hobbit movie over nothing

the one thing i didn't like was Legolas dad telling him to go north at the end of the movie and why.
 

KazeAizen

New member
Jul 17, 2013
1,129
0
0
You know if you have fun with the movie I think that's ok. That's what these were supposed to be I think. I mean a bedtime story for kids usually is supposed to be light hearted or fun. These were never going to meet the grandeur of Lord of the Rings. Ever. So the fact that these turned out good and fun I think is about as much as we could've hoped for. Honestly though about a year from now I'll finally own all the films because you know there is going to be a 6 film collectors edition with all the extended editions of both the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings movies.
 

Absimilliard

Only you can read this.
Nov 4, 2009
400
0
0
I'm not going to pretend that I won't see it, I did not feel it worth the effort to see the midnight premiere like I did with all the Lord of the Rings films and the two previous instalments of The Hobbit. The last one was just too disappointing. I don't mind fun action scenes, but when they come at the cost of the heart of Tolkien's works, I inevitably get disappointed, thus I have far less fun. (Though I'm far from surprised, we all saw it coming when it was announced that it would be another trilogy.) And I frankly think it's irrelevant how well the actors in it perform: the additional lame, unoriginal and unnecessary side plots are still lame, unoriginal and unnecessary.

Gizmo1990 said:
I liked it. It was much better than the 2nd one. Plus I also don't care how much fan service or unnecessary it was:

Seeing Saruman and Elrond kick the shit out of the Nazgul while Galadriel made Saruon her ***** was epic
Ok, *that* I look forward to seeing...
 

Ulquiorra4sama

Saviour In the Clockwork
Feb 2, 2010
1,786
0
0
bobdole1979 said:
i'm happy with the bloat its a well made world with nice production values and im more then happy to sit and watch it.

Lets be honest if they did this in 1 or even 2 movies then this winter would really suck.

I'll happily take a bloated Hobbit movie over nothing

the one thing i didn't like was Legolas dad telling him to go north at the end of the movie and why.
Yeah, about that. I haven't read the books or anything, but i was under the impression that the Hobbit took place 50 or 60 years before Lord of the Rings. Yet they phrased that last scene with Legolas in such a way that it seemed as if
Aragorn
was already born. Like i said, i didn't read the books, but i'm pretty sure he wasn't supposed to be in his 60's in LotR.
 

GamerLuck

Questionably Opinionated
Jul 13, 2009
306
0
0
What I'd really love to see is Bob do an episode (maybe on big picture instead of escape to the movies) covering what he thinks of the extended edition once they are all out. I just saw the extended of Desolation a couple days ago, and let me tell you, it elevated that movie from probably a solid 7/10 to full on 10/10. All the pieces of the adaptation that I had WANTED to be in the theatrical movie were right where they were supposed to be, and certain parts of the plot (including WHOLE CHARACTERS COMPLETELY ERASED FROM SCENES) were right where I had wanted them to be. I am holding off on seeing the one for Journey until they release all three together in a box set, but I expect that the films are much better when everything that was left on the cutting room floor is put back where it belongs..
 

GamerLuck

Questionably Opinionated
Jul 13, 2009
306
0
0
Ulquiorra4sama said:
bobdole1979 said:
i'm happy with the bloat its a well made world with nice production values and im more then happy to sit and watch it.

Lets be honest if they did this in 1 or even 2 movies then this winter would really suck.

I'll happily take a bloated Hobbit movie over nothing

the one thing i didn't like was Legolas dad telling him to go north at the end of the movie and why.
Yeah, about that. I haven't read the books or anything, but i was under the impression that the Hobbit took place 50 or 60 years before Lord of the Rings. Yet they phrased that last scene with Legolas in such a way that it seemed as if
Aragorn
was already born. Like i said, i didn't read the books, but i'm pretty sure he wasn't supposed to be in his 60's in LotR.
Hes actually well into his 80's as of LOTR... The Dunedain are Men who are far longer lived. If I remember correctly he lives to be 400 or so.
 

Ulquiorra4sama

Saviour In the Clockwork
Feb 2, 2010
1,786
0
0
GamerLuck said:
Ulquiorra4sama said:
bobdole1979 said:
i'm happy with the bloat its a well made world with nice production values and im more then happy to sit and watch it.

Lets be honest if they did this in 1 or even 2 movies then this winter would really suck.

I'll happily take a bloated Hobbit movie over nothing

the one thing i didn't like was Legolas dad telling him to go north at the end of the movie and why.
Yeah, about that. I haven't read the books or anything, but i was under the impression that the Hobbit took place 50 or 60 years before Lord of the Rings. Yet they phrased that last scene with Legolas in such a way that it seemed as if
Aragorn
was already born. Like i said, i didn't read the books, but i'm pretty sure he wasn't supposed to be in his 60's in LotR.
Hes actually well into his 80's as of LOTR... The Dunedain are Men who are far longer lived. If I remember correctly he lives to be 400 or so.
Interesting. I was not aware of that. Perhaps its time i got my lazy ass back in that couch and did some reading. Guess it all checks out then. Thank you for clearing that up for me!
 

Darth_Payn

New member
Aug 5, 2009
2,868
0
0
While I'm one of the people who think The Hobbit shouldn't have been a trilogy, It's good to hear it goes out with a bang in this installment. Just imagine how all the actors feel about this whole thing being over.
 

PunkRex

New member
Feb 19, 2010
2,533
0
0
If this is the new standard of bad in Hollywood then we're in for a glorious future.

Butt cereal, I understand peoples complaints but the movies have so much effort and fun I can't bring myself to not love the crap out of them. The Smaug stuff should have concluded in the last film but I enjoyed it regardless.
 

Elijah Newton

New member
Sep 17, 2008
456
0
0
Honestly, I'm still so pleasantly gobsmacked by the LotR trilogy that I'm good with giving Jackson et al a victory lap, full stop.

That being said, I would've really liked to have seen him take the Hobbit and, using the same setting / look and feel, use his Super Awesome Directorial Skills to retain the kid-friendly simplicity of the books. And to cover it in a single movie.

It's not that what I've seen so far (first two of the Hobbit) has been bad. It just seems so crazy easy to have done on almost every level it comes off as a gratuitious victory lap. But, eh, back to my opening comment.
 

Sniper Team 4

New member
Apr 28, 2010
5,433
0
0
Gizmo1990 said:
I liked it. It was much better than the 2nd one. Plus I also don't care how much fan service or unnecessary it was:

Seeing Saruman and Elrond kick the shit out of the Nazgul while Galadriel made Saruon her ***** was epic
"You should have stayed dead." Best. Line. Ever.

I enjoyed this movie a lot. I loved the battles in the Lord of the Rings movies, and this movie is literally just that. While I do admit that you could tell this movie was bloated, stretched, and cutting the whole thing into three movies instead of two wasn't the greatest idea, I'm in the same camp as Bob. The movies were fun, and this was a nice little trip back to Middle-earth.

Question! I was the only person in my theater to laugh at the end of the movie when a joke was made about relation of Bilbo's. Did anyone else here get the joke, or am I alone here?