RocShemp

Blame that on Tolkien. In fact, whilst reading The Children of Húrin, I'm certain the events that transpired in that book would have turned out differently had the eagles appeared at a more critical juncture in the story.

Dr. DVD

Tolkien used eagles way too often in his stories, except where it would have made sense to have them fly the ring over Mt. Doom and let Frodo drop in the ring.

johnnysd

Or just have Elrond take it. I think the eagles are a cool deus ex machina, but Tolkien uses them everytime he paints himself into a tight corner. Not as bad in the books, but it seems really one note in the movies.

Smaug from the previews looks to be a better pic though from the previews.

Shannon Nutt

Is it just me, or has the excitement for these films totally waned? I'm planning on seeing it, but it doesn't feel like the 'must-see' movie of the holdiay season, like the first three LOTR movies were. Maybe that's because the first trilogy felt like a trilogy, and this trilogy just feels like a money grab.

Maybe when all six movies are finally out, we'll be comparing the Hobbit trilogy to the Star Wars prequels, and the LOTR trilogy to the original Star Wars trilogy - they feel very much in the same vein.

Jay G.

I see what you're getting at, but the first Hobbit film is way better than Star Wars Episode 1. Some people may end up viewing The Hobbit trilogy as inessential, bloated, and/or not as good at the LOTR trilogy, but Ep1 is actively offensive in how bad it is.

For myself, I don't find myself waiting on edge for the next Hobbit film to come out, but I do plan on seeing it in theaters, something I can't say for Ep2 or Ep3 of Star Wars.

Why So Blu?

And we'll be getting the Extended Cut in a couple of weeks, so the buzz is there.

Draven

My only issue is that I have more familiarity with LOTR than The Hobbit in general and the new movies aren't as focused on the huge medieval battles that I loved in the first trilogy. But I'm more excited for this one than the last one, since Smaug is my favorite part of The Hobbit story.

superdeluxe

Hobbit trilogy > Star Wars prequels.

Why So Blu?

The Battle of the Five Armies will change all that next year. They'll be wrapping up Smaug and saving the battles for the finale, which will have the feel of the LOTR all over it.

Draven

Sounds good to me - while I enjoy it all, the hobbit stuff is my least favorite stuff in the first trilogy. An Unexpected Journey felt like a movie of nothing BUT hobbit stuff, when I really just want to see elves and dwarfs killing orcs.

Dr. DVD

Like others have said, this is nowhere near the level of offense of the SW PT. While not perfect, you care about the characters and the performances don't seem wooden and stunted.

I will admit that my interest in these is nowhere near the level I had for LOTR, but that was because LOTR was the first live-action look we ever got at the world of Middle-Earth. I also think that some of the waning interest, at least in the U.S., is due to a lot of the younger people who made the first trilogy a hit no longer having the same kind of subjects of interest now that they're older.

redrum

duh

Shannon Nutt

No argument there...so far - still two films to go.

Josh-da-man

The Hobbit, both the original novel and the movie, doesn't have the same epic scope that Lord of the Rings does. It's a much smaller, lighter tale.

hanshotfirst1138

Doesn't surprise me, sadly.


Unbe-fucking-leavable. So he could've restored them before applying the SE changes and didn't bother? Why am I not surprised?

So did they do the DI for FOTR for the EE or the BR?

Still kind of annoying and shouldn't have happened.

I think it's sort of like how when the warp core breaks down, you just kind of have to accept that what's necessary to fix the mechanism of an entire starship is something that a person can access with his hands. Does it make any sense? No. But you just kind of have to go with it.

These do feel like a cash-grab which has extended what should've been one movie into three, but when all is said and done, they probably won't be looked upon quite as negatively. A the very least, there's a sense of cohesion that the SW trilogy never had because of three different directors and its tonal shifts even prior to the PT. But yeah, I don't think The Hobbit trilogy will be remembered as fondly as LOTR. Although the fact that the the same team handled all six films and they cast ties everything together is kind of cool.

True, but so is a stick in the eye .

This pretty much sums it up.

I'll see them in theaters, and since I don't have LOTR on BR yet, I'm debate whether to just wait out the whole thing and get the mega-ultra set that'll inevitable come down the pipe in a few years with all six films.

I forget how much of the book takes place after Smaug. I know that there's been a lot of talk about it and it's questionable how well all of it will work, but it will be interesting to see when Jackson takes all of the plot threads he's added to these films.

They actually did add a significant amount of backstory regardign Thorin and the elves and dwarves and their battles with Azog and the orcs, etc. We'll see where it all goes.

Which is sort of part of the problem in the first place. The Hobbit probably would've worked much better as one swashbuckling movie that was about three hours rather than this bloated trilogy, even if they are lifting from elsewhere in Tolkien for it. You lose the dynamism and sense and lightness that the novel had. It's the only Tolkien book I've read all the way though, and several times at that, I love it. And it does have a lot less of the "Kind Humina-Hockina from the land of Hoodle-Floodle slayed the dragon Humpty-Flupty with the sword Slinga-Slanga in the year of 85 of King Knackersmacker" linguistic kind of stuff .

Groucho

Yeah, let's not set that bar too high.

Why So Blu?

It's not as long or intense in the book as the film will be. I'm assuming that Smaug's storyline is wrapped up in Desolation and then Five Armies will wrap up in part 3 along with the bridging into the LOTR world. That's also not counting the Extended Editions.

Sub-Zero

Final poster:

Dr. DVD

Initially I was confused as to why Smaug wasn't on the poster, then I looked a little bit closer. Clever.

RocShemp

Awesome poster. Looking forward to people asking why Orlando bloom is featured twice.

Why So Blu?

Lee Pace looks badass in that poster.

Sub-Zero

New "Sneak Peek" trailer:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/lfflhfn1W-o" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Supermallet

I don't know why you would cast someone who looks so similar to one of your main stars.

TheMovieman

Wasn't a big fan of An Unexpected Journey but I have hopes this one will be better. And I agree, that is a cool poster.

Why So Blu?

I am excited!