Re: The Hobbit
 

^ Are you saying that as a casual fan or a Tolkienite? I am the latter myself, but I just don't see this one going over with the general public as well as LOTR.

You did help me decide on HFR.

Re: The Hobbit
 

And it's a much better flick.

Re: The Hobbit
 

I think people are missing my point....

Re: The Hobbit
 

While I also believe the tone it was meant to have along w/ it's original intention as a film is superior to the TC. I wouldn't have minded having both cuts on the BD we got here. I'm not going to bitch about not having it on the current BD. Though considering it's production history, I would've wanted on there just for the hell of it. It's a very nice looking film that TC. I still think the DC is superior though, classic feel.

Re: The Hobbit
 

My theater is doing a tech run of The Hobbit in 48fps right now and I caught a few minutes of it. I can see why people are complaining. It is a big adjustment and it doesn't look like what we think of as film. It looks like video.

That being said, the 3D was much better as a result of it and the action sequences were very easy to follow, despite being quite hectic. I think, if people let their brains adjust to it, HFR could really take off. I'll be watching it in IMAX 70mm tonight so we'll see how that looks.

Re: The Hobbit
 

expect slight grain ... ;)

Re: The Hobbit
 

Woke up at 6am today and now I'm going to a 12:15 showing. Hope I can stay awake.

Re: The Hobbit
 

I won't be able to see in 48fps (the IMAX I'll be seeing it isn't on the list). Though I am curious about the 48fps; I wonder if it's like the vinyl vs. CD, where people claim that the 48fps lacks the "warmth" and "richness" of the traditional framerate.

I am one of those who prefers the sound of vinyl to CD...

Re: The Hobbit
 

I prefer vinyl to CD as well, but I think this is more a case of people's brains being trained from birth to view things at a certain framerate, and now being asked to change that.

Re: The Hobbit
 

I saw it at your theater last night. We did the adjusting shots and then went through the trailer. By a few minutes in I was used to it and the 3D really worked amazingly well with it.

As for my fandom, I've read all the books years ago and while I know a lot of the mythos, I wouldn't call myself a Tolkienite. If anything, the changes and additions may piss off a few people. Then again I'm amazed at how LOTR got away with their changes....

Can you believe it? They actually had ARWEN rescuing Frodo from Weathertop and not Glorfindel. Boy I hope somebody got fired for *that* blunder!

But I think that the causal viewer will enjoy it if they liked LOTR. It follows the standard Fellowship arc. Remember, Fellowship had very little character development for a lot of the characters. This has just as much action as that and the characters in it feel a lot more genuine.

Going in to see it for the second time in a few hours.

Re: The Hobbit
 

Yeah, I was running Skyfall while you were watching it. Grr.

Re: The Hobbit
 

Definitely a step down, but a solid B I thought. I didn't mind any of the narrative decisions - the first 20min was exactly what I hoped it would be - same title style, prologue, etc. - awesome stuff. It's unfortunate that Ian Holm looks so different (understandably) from 11+ yrs ago... I would've cut it for that reason alone, but I still enjoyed the opening.

I wasn't expecting the additional orc hunt storyline....it works narratively, I just wish they would've used more real actors vs CG.

Thorin exceeded my expectations - he's really the Aragorn of this story....great stuff from him.

Unfortunately what really undermines a lot of the scenes is the forced humor and elaborate shots that are just taken well past where they should've been. This worried me seeing the last production video which showed this 'process'. My coworker(s) described it as 'looney tunes' shots... and I'd say that's pretty accurate. This is definitely LOTR 'light', it isn't necessarily bad.... but we won't be getting another LOTR trilogy I'm afraid. Adjust expectations accordingly.

Got tired of the sunrise/sunset lighting every other scene.... I wish he'd keep some of the lighting more neutral.(look at the Galadriel shot in the first trailer vs what they went with in the final film) It's a very heavily filtered film....maybe that was to benefit the aging actors, I don't know. That's partially why Fellowship will remain the best for me, it struck the perfect balance between the rough, earthy look with the more stylized type of scenes every now and then.

Re: The Hobbit
 

Loved it. Was lucky enough to see it in a HFR/Atmos set up and it may have been the most immersive film experience of my life. That first shot of Bilbo walking down his hall really had me worried (looked incredibly sped up/ unnatural ) but once it got through the prologue my eyes adjusted and it totally took me in. Wow.

The actual content of the film? Solid B.

Re: The Hobbit
 

I was able try to catch bits of it during theater checks.
The only complaints we heard was that it looked blurry during motion.

We just asked try them to hang in and let their eyes adjust

No one asked for refund.

This is a brand new theater and imax so we had an imax guy in the Booth watching
So if anything was wrong he would have been right on it.

Re: The Hobbit
 

Just got back from my IMAX 3D showing (non-HFR :(), and it was fantastic. Yes, there were a few changes from the book (even aside from the appendices additions). But overall I can understand why they felt they were necessary. I won't go into details yet on my thoughts on the individual changes - I know there will be plenty of talk about them over the coming weeks/months - but again, overall it was amazing, and I can't believe how fast the running time flew by. And this is coming from a guy with serious ADHD.

Anyone who says this is a slow-moving film has a serious case of MTV-itis (no attention span at all, and needing to have everything fed to them in quick, short bites). The pacing was great, and everyone in my group of 8 people enjoyed it immensely, and left wanting more.

Re: The Hobbit
 

I liked it a lot, but didn't love it. There's no need for this to be three films, even with the appendices stuff cut in. In fact, the appendices stuff added almost nothing. The council sequence, while full of cameos that made the audience applaud, told us nothing and ground the movie to a complete halt. Radagast was flat out ridiculous, and I love Sylvester McCoy normally. But hey, if you want to hear Saruman make a magic mushroom joke, this is the movie for you!

That actually sounds harsher than I intended. The movie IS a lot of fun, but I couldn't help feeling like it could have probably told the whole story from the book in that same runtime. That being said, the entire goblin mountain sequence was exceptional, some of the best work Jackson has ever done. So it is a good time at the movies, just not a great time.

I'll also say this was clearly designed for 48 fps and after seeing a little bit of it that way, it was tough to go back to 24 fps. I'm looking forward to an HFR/Dolby Atmos presentation.

Re: The Hobbit
 

I didn't mind the council since it's clearly laying down the foundation for the necromancer side story. I don't see why they'd need to condense this down to less than three movies and the only justifiable rationale to not doing so that I could think of is so that we wouldn't have to wait three years to see the whole thing.

But they spend a lot of time in Mirkwood. So hey, I'm all for it. If anything, give me another few hours of LOTR. ;)

Saw it in a smaller screen tonight in HFR again. still beautiful but that screen could have been bigger. I'm watching it again tomorrow in 24fps so who knows.

Re: The Hobbit
 

Good reviews popping up on Facebook :up:

Re: The Hobbit
 

The justifiable rationale for telling it in one movie is that the story fits into the length of one movie. The rest is padding.

Re: The Hobbit
 

Is the padding enjoyable though? Does it add to the story?

Re: The Hobbit
 

I heard a review on the radio and saw the DVDtalk one and both said it was good in spite of being overlong. Seems like it will play better to the geek crowd than mainstream audiences though. However, given the selection of this, Les Miserables, or Django Unchained, I see general audiences picking this simply because it might be the most family friendly and accessible of the holiday offerins, unless there is a clamoring for Jack Reacher.

Re: The Hobbit
 

I saw it in HFR IMAX 3D 48fps. I was very impressed with the presentation.

Re: The Hobbit
 

So, idiots like it?

Re: The Hobbit
 

I've got my ticket now for the 2D showing on Sunday. Seeing at 8:30 tonight in 3-D HFR. Stoked! Finished up the book last night, too.

Re: The Hobbit
 

Such a pleasant person you are... -rolleyes-