I was never in love with either version myself. They were just entertaining, well made films so I was willing to forgive shit like Legolas, Slayer of Elephants because those moments were few and very far between and you got shit like You Shall Not Pass to balance it out. I liked them and still do but except for a couple scenes in each film they were well executed but only above average films. Watching the fellowship run across sweeping vistas in a five minute montage isn't my favorite thing in the world but it made sense and had to be done. Running in an apparent circle around a rock while a deranged man covered in bird shit plows around the countryside in his jackalope sled is well...
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014)
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Muligan
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I will agree with this to a point... I thought the movies were epic but once EE came out I didn't know how epic they could be thus leaving me to never watch any other edition again. In other words, I regardless of what you think of these... it if is a 5/10, 6/10 etc, it is safe to say the EE should move it up 1 point on the scale at least.
Right now if LotR have the following ratings (my opinion), FotR: 8.5/10 TTT: 9.8/10 and RotK: 9.5/10 then the Hobbit series is UJ: 7.0/10 DoS: 8.0/10 Bot5A: ??
I guess it depends what you're asking here, but I've generally believed that these movies are big enough in scale to warrant a "you've got to see this in the theater". Smaug, for instance, was fantastic in an IMAX 3D (never seen the HFR versions, though).
I'll be going tomorrow night and I've generally liked the first two, flaws aside. I also agree with the EE discussion, they were great additions to LOTR. And, because of the heavy-handed editing, they add a lot more to the The Hobbit movies.
I believe the first added 20 minutes and the second added 25. Some more exposition in the first but I'd almost consider the second theatrical and EEs completely different movies. More exposition, but the entire Dol Goldur sequence was completely different (it includes Thrain). It (DoS EE) also has scenes that the book lovers mentioned in absence -- the enchanted river in Mirkwood, Beorn's introduction to the dwarves. They're still slightly different from the book, but they work.
Did they actually get progressively worse? Considering how bad the first one was, that's quite a statement.
I didn't even finish the second one. Doesn't surprise the 3rd one is the worst.
Nah, this was definitely better than DoS. It's really different from the first film, so it's tougher to compare. It's too short rather than too long. It's definitely the most character-driven of the three, and that's a good thing. There's still plenty of stupid shit to bitch about, but this time I'm much more disappointed by what was cut rather than what made it in. If you didn't like the others, this won't change your opinion on Jackson's take on The Hobbit, but if you enjoyed them, it's certainly no worse and definitely worth seeing.
Runnen
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I really liked the first two, I thought this one was terrible. I'm hoping the EE will redeem it some, because it sure felt like a LOT of shit was left on the cutting room floor.
I'm guessing that Peter Jackson took to heart the criticism about ROTK's infinite endings and that bothered him, but this movie felt like it seriously lacked closure. In fact, someone that did not read the book has no idea what happens to several main characters and the entire treasure because it's completely forgotten about once they rush to the ending...
But to be honest, even if the EE solves some of that, that won't change the bad taste that some of the baffling directorial decisions left in my mouth. Some of the stuff is this movie is on Jar Jar Binks level.
I'm guessing that Peter Jackson took to heart the criticism about ROTK's infinite endings and that bothered him, but this movie felt like it seriously lacked closure. In fact, someone that did not read the book has no idea what happens to several main characters and the entire treasure because it's completely forgotten about once they rush to the ending...
But to be honest, even if the EE solves some of that, that won't change the bad taste that some of the baffling directorial decisions left in my mouth. Some of the stuff is this movie is on Jar Jar Binks level.
I really enjoyed it -- easily the best of the three for me.
The thing that was different about this that struck me the most was that the scale seemed bigger. Reminded me very much of ROTK/Fields of Pelennor/Gondor with the shots of Erebor from the various vantage points.
I agree with the length, but I did not feel the movie was rushed. I don't get the Jar Jar Binks comment, to be honest. Some of the trolls/monsters didn't seem as polished as they did in ROTK or the other movies in general, but nothing obnoxious. I think people are going to stand with this one wherever they were the first two, for the most part.
I can't wait for the EE and this time that's not a knock against the movie as it would have been for the first two.
I saw it in IMAX 3D (24FPS), for what it's worth.
I agree, and it's not even close. The fellowship was by far the best of all of the LOTR movies and Hobbit movies. Changing the ending of "The Two Towers" kinda soured that movie for me. Shelob belongs in TTT, not sandwiched into ROTK. And as much as I liked ROTK, it had a lot of cheese in it as well.
Royal
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+1
I've watchedFellowshipprobably 20 times. It was, for me, the best of the books and probably the hardest to translate into a equally good movie but PJ pulled it off in spades. It went a long ways towards cementing my faith in him asthedirector to bring Tolkien to film. Since then however, that faith has evaporated. I rewatched the rest of the LoTR trilogy a few times each, but they just don't stand up toFellowship. I've seenThe Hobbitmovies once each out of loyalty to the material, but I'll not see any of them again by choice.
Pharazon
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Saw 5 Armies yesterday... it was pretty meh. I think I was less entertained on this one than on the previous two. Part of it is that you knew exactly what was going to happen, but the feel of it just wasn't there either. The 48 fps tech is still offsetting to me - it makes me feel like I'm watching a play with actors, not like I have a window into another world. It didn't help that I saw it on a smaller screen (though it was 3D). I wish I'd seen it in IMAX.
On the plus, the life of the battle was sort of interesting to watch and some of the individual fight scenes were cool. Galadriel going ballistic was awesome. Which reminds me - now that the Hobbit is finally done, Silmarilion next pls.
On the plus, the life of the battle was sort of interesting to watch and some of the individual fight scenes were cool. Galadriel going ballistic was awesome. Which reminds me - now that the Hobbit is finally done, Silmarilion next pls.
Royal
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Pretty sure they'd have to pry the movie rights from the cold, dead hands of Christopher Tolkein for that to happen. Hopefully someone other than the combination of New Line/Peter Jackson gets the opportunity.