The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (Jackson, 2013) — The Reviews Thread
 

Please continue pre-release discussion here.

Movie:
"The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug" (Starring: people from the first movie and the original trilogy)

Release Date:
12/13/2013

Rating:
PG-13 (for similar emotions and mores as the original trilogy and The Hobbit throughout.)

Running Time:
Long. (2h. 41m.)

Budget:
$200 million (estimated)

IMDb Synopsis:


IMDb Info and Rating:
8.5 (64,317 votes as of 12/17/13

Rotten Tomatoes:
Fresh:127 Rotten:43 (75% as of 12/17/13)

Metacritic:
66 metascore ('Generally favorable reviews' as of 12/17/13)

Trailer:
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Poster Art:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...f-smaug-CD.jpg

Re: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (Jackson, 2013) — The Reviews Thread
 

bump for tonight's release...
Updated #'s later.

Re: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (Jackson, 2013) — The Reviews Thread
 

Just got back from an early screening. I won't get into too much detail, but it has it's positives and negatives like Part 1, and overall is a bit better.

Obviously the meat of the story is much more dramatic and interesting now, however the tone and cohesion of the film is all over the place, the weakest of all the films. For example there is no attempt to even wrap up the film as they've done before with a narration and theme of the movie being emphasized. But as before, what's on screen is beautiful, all the new characters/actors are great....and Smaug absolutely delivers. Great opening scene too...

Re: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (Jackson, 2013) — The Reviews Thread
 

How can it be " overall is a bit better" than the last film but also "the weakest of all the films"? :hscratch:

Re: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (Jackson, 2013) — The Reviews Thread
 

It's an almost 3 hour movie that he watched late at night.

The man's a bit delirious...


I enjoyed it. Though it still suffers from the fact that you probably only care about 1/3rd of the dwarfs... and that's if you even remember their names. I thought that with the added padded time to the story, they'd at least give us more reason to care or get to know this rag tag group of vertically challenged folk.

Re: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (Jackson, 2013) — The Reviews Thread
 

I'm seeing this tonight.

Re: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (Jackson, 2013) — The Reviews Thread
 

eh... it had it's moments, but on the whole I thought so much of the added story elements were perfunctory. The action bits were great - the chase/fight sequence in the barrels and the last thirty minutes with Smaug, but when it ever stopped for dramatic bits: [*snore*]

I keep hoping that the bloat will pay off when Jackson turns his cards over in the final installment and we'll see how all of this mattered all along. But I don't have high hopes :p.

Re: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (Jackson, 2013) — The Reviews Thread
 

I guess it was partially my fault for expecting the Smaug storyline to be wrapped up in this film and for the next one to be focused on the battle of the five armies. So when the movie cut to black... seriously?

Re: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (Jackson, 2013) — The Reviews Thread
 

So if i hate 120hz/film mode on tvs will i hate the 48fps version of this?

Re: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (Jackson, 2013) — The Reviews Thread
 

Probably. It's pretty distracting at first, but I got used to it after awhile.

My local AMC ran the HFR last time, I'm surprised they aren't this time. I'm only seeing it in 2-D, so it's academic to me, but I am surprised. This'll have their IMAX locked for the next few weeks.

Re: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (Jackson, 2013) — The Reviews Thread
 

Much better than part I. Much better. Moves along at a brisk pace until they meet up with the elves. If you are familiar with the book you know how many little things are left out and cut short, and it makes sense because they needed to keep the pace tight. Really enjoyed all the action scenes, especially the barrel-riding scene and Smaug was freaking AMAZING. Liked the Tauriel character and Bard. I know Bard has a big part coming in the next film and I think Luke Evans will nail it. The Master of Laketown and his little weasel of an assistant were well acted as well.

I was afraid going in that there would be too much slapstick humor like part I, but there really wasn't. The comic relief was minimal. Much darker, more intensity in this one. Heightened sense of danger. Personally, I thought the whole Goblin escape of part I was ruined by comic relief and slapstick.

Can't wait to see the extended cut. Would like to see more of Beorn and some other parts that were seemingly cut short.

Brilliantly crafted film that I think fans will immensely enjoy. Saw it at midnight this morning and didn't have any trouble staying awake. Already want to see it again. Didn't feel that for part I.

Re: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (Jackson, 2013) — The Reviews Thread
 

It was very enjoyable... and loved the fight scenes. Smaug did not disappoint, very impress with his look. But damn, that mountain is hella large. lol

Can't wait till the 3rd one. Tauriel's character was kick ass.

Re: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (Jackson, 2013) — The Reviews Thread
 

worse edit ever.

Re: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (Jackson, 2013) — The Reviews Thread
 

Disagree. I thought it was a good cut. Will make for a great beginning to part III. At least we only have 6 months to wait this time.

Re: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (Jackson, 2013) — The Reviews Thread
 

It was pushed to next December. :)

It will be bittersweet next year...the last journey back to Middle Earth most likely... but we'll have Star Wars and Avatar movies to look forward to in Decembers to come.

Re: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (Jackson, 2013) — The Reviews Thread
 

If only Christopher Tolkien would allow them to adapt The Children of Húrin. Though I wonder if the studio would try to make them change the incredibly downer ending.

Re: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (Jackson, 2013) — The Reviews Thread
 

Christopher Tolkien damn sure doesn't sound like he'd be willing to sell anything else of his father's. Shame too, if they'd wanted to pad out The Hobbit, it sounds like some of the material Jackson couldn't use would have been interesting.

Joy, more Star Wars stuff to remind me of how the movies I once so loved were butchered :p.

Re: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (Jackson, 2013) — The Reviews Thread
 

Oh in 15 or 20 years maybe sooner they will redo LOTR, If superhero movies have shown anything is that you can reboot movies and be really successful.

I thought Smaug was better than the first one, but there is no real feeling of danger for the dwarves, and that is why they are so inferior to the first movies. Jackson should have realized he was not really making The Hobbit but prequels to the LOTR and kept the tone the same.

I was surprised at how much I liked Tauriel in this. Book purists probably pull their hair out over her, but I really like her arc even as predictable as it was.

Smaug was awesome, but the whole forge thing was ridiculous. Thought Gandalfs scene in the "ruins" was awesome, and the Sauron image was inspired.

I actually liked the way it ended, should make the first half hour of the third movie pretty awesome.

Re: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (Jackson, 2013) — The Reviews Thread
 

If? Are we seeing the same movies?

Re: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (Jackson, 2013) — The Reviews Thread
 

Saw it in HFR. Technically speaking, they did solve a lot of the annoying issues the first one experienced. While everything still seemed fast, it didn't make things look comical or haphazard this time.

Movie wise it was better than the first, especially in the action department. Smaug looked bad ass and Cumberbatch rocked the roll like I knew would. However, someone REALLY needs to get Jackson a book on story editing. He seems to want to take everything and expand it into something major. The Laketown bit seemed to serve little purpose. A love triangle? Seriously? Didn't mind the extra stuff to tie in to LOTR as much this time. I have to admire Jackson and co., for trying to get as much of the Tolkien mythos on screen as possible. Whether it's a good idea is up for debate.

In terms of the ending, Sopranos got nothing on this one. Given the way this one started, I would not be surprised if the next one opens with as flashback of Smaug receiving direction from Sauron to invade the Mountain. I'm guessing that since they all came from Morgoth , all evil creatures are linked in some fashion.

Re: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (Jackson, 2013) — The Reviews Thread
 

OK, let me rephrase: since they did, it's a shame they couldn't have used some of that material, which might have been better than some of the stuff they used. Better :p?

Re: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (Jackson, 2013) — The Reviews Thread
 

Wow, what a great spectacle! Loved the fucking thing! As much as I love the EE version of the first part this theatrical cut of the second buries the first. It was great. Cumberbatch rocked the shit out of Smaug and that has to be the best dragon I've ever fucking seen on film!

The rise of Sauron was legit! Remember in Fellowship of the Ring when Saruman tells Gandalf "You know of what I speak" when he speaks of the "Eye." That's cuz Sauron beat the shit out of Gandalf in this Hobbit chapter. I love how THIS LOTR world is coming full circle.

What a cliff hanger ending. Considering this was under 3 hours next year's magnus opus will be over 3 hours for sure. Oh, and how hot was Tauriel? Bloody hell, ey. A ginger elf, too!

I will be back to see the flick in the HFR this weekend. Saw it in 2-D tonight.

"I AM DEATH!"


Gave me chills.

Re: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (Jackson, 2013) — The Reviews Thread
 

I ended up seeing this in 3D, non-HFR, and it took about 20 minutes from being conscious of the 3D until my eyes adapted, and I was able to take in the film from a more immersive standpoint. I saw the first installment in HFR 3D, and that was enough to swear off of it. heh.

The film itself is just too undercooked, characterization-wise, and bloated with the various segments of peril our merry crew of dwarves find themselves into. What's bad about this being a prequel is that it undercuts a lot of the dramatic tension in the action scenes, so it just a lot of close calls and amazing looking CGI-laden action scenes, especially in the final act.

I didn't mind Tauriel's presence in the film. I think they went overboard with all the Legolas as a bad-ass scenes, but I guess he's got his fans, so they'll be cool with it.

Smaug was pretty well-done, didn't disappoint from an effects or voice-acting standpoint.

It is a shame they decided to stretch out The Hobbit into 3 films, instead of delivering a more compact 2-film adaptation, a lot of people groaned at the end of this one (like they did in "Catching Fire"), it's a frikkin' cinematic epidemic with these "to be continued" middle installments. Haha.

I give it 3 stars, or a grade of B.