Re: The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies (2014)
 

There's more depth to the Eagles in LOTR and Hobbit books. The Eagles are just downright apathetic. They don't concern themselves with the affairs of men, because they don't caere unless it affects them directly. It's weird. They help Gandalf, because he's helped them before.

They'll be part of the 5 armies, though.

Re: The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies (2014)
 

It makes me sad of unexcited I am for this. :(

Re: The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies (2014)
 

I just sort of want to get it over with. The first two were really *meh* for me.

Like I said, there isn't any way around how disappointing these movies have been, but there are also good things about them, and damned if I won't miss Middle Earth.

Re: The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies (2014)
 

Sigh, I wish that wasn't how I felt about it as well, but that's spot on...

Re: The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies (2014)
 

I've seen all other five movies in the theater and this one looks like it will have some great visuals if nothing else. Why stop now?

Condensed as the Rankin-Bass animated specials were in their time, they did take time to explain Gandalf's connection to Gwaihir and the eagles.

Re: The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies (2014)
 

Early reviews are starting to come in on this, they seem positive.

I'm Tolkeined out at this point. Regardless completing these six films is a major achievement for Jackson. The films have never been masterpieces, but they are consistantly entertaining, thematically a cut above most other blockbusters and feature several moments of pure brilliance per film. The films deliver as popcorn entertainment while also appeasing hard core Tolkien fans, that's hard to do.

Also, the logistical complexity and momumental amount of work that has gone into these films is historic. The making of this films has been so colossal that it's had a large impact on an entire (first world) country's economy. Thousands of top quality production staffers, major Hollywood talent, tons of skilled craftsmen and ships full of extremely expensive equipment needed to be moved tens of tousands of miles to one of the most remote parts of the world for at least a decade. As a result of these films, a fairly major new studio (Wingnut), a major new special effects company (Weta) and a new set of film production facilities (Stone Street, Park Road etc) that rival anything else in the world have all been built are are now firmly established industry players. Jackson's own personal wealth is now in the upper strata of anyone in the history of Hollywood.

The fact that this all started with an obscure New Zealand based splatter film maker is remarkable.

Re: The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies (2014)
 

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Re: The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies (2014)
 

Actually, it all started with a British guy writing some great books.

Re: The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies (2014)
 

Re: The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies (2014)
 

At least his resolution improved thanks to the stretching.

Re: The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies (2014)
 

And simply "In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit."

He's lucky George Lucas wasn't involved, or his resolution and stretching would be changing constantly. I'd make some joke about Super 35 and 5K, but I'm too tired, and it'd be dumb even if I wasn't ;).

Re: The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies (2014)
 

Saw it last night (Canadian Premiere with Jackson and Pace in attendance). It is action packed, moves very quickly but did feel uneven and a bit all over the place. It has some good emotional moments, awesome action sequences (cg heavy but fun) and I really liked the small LOTR breadcrumbs they sprinkled throughout - I feel like if you haven't been thrilled with the Hobbit movies so far, this one isn't going to win you over - it feels very much like more of the same. I love the others so I was happy (mostly, I can't help but feel a little more breathing room will add to the experience - for sake of pace it really jumps around in an almost jarring fashion - the Extended edition will be superior for sure).

Re: The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies (2014)
 

A nice review from Forbes, (non-spoilery):

http://www.forbes.com/sites/markhugh...mythic-marvel/

Re: The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies (2014)
 

How'd they feel about the other 2?