Movie: The Hobbit - Battle of the Five Armies

[GoktimusPrime]

This review sums up my thoughts about this movie pretty well; both the pros and cons with Jackson's changes from the original source material. Overall I found it to be a thoroughly enjoyable film, and despite the changes that Jackson has made, it's still an INFINITELY better film adaptation of its original source than Transformers!

[Gutsman Heavy]

First off, I haven't read any of the books. I have enjoyed all 3 hobbit movies and found them more enjoyable than the LoTR trilogy.

I'm not angry, just disapointed.

[Verno]

What a thoroughly disappointing film and trilogy.

[5FDP]

I saw it last weekend. Definitely more action-packed than the last 2 movies and a bit drawn-out with the action / battle scenes. There was hardly any story at all, and that's saying something for a 3 hour movie. They could have easily packed it all into 2 movies. While I didn't hate it as such, the original LOTR trilogy is so much better.

[Gutsman Heavy]

I'm really looking forward to the edited down versions people are working on

[GoktimusPrime]

I saw it last weekend. Definitely more action-packed than the last 2 movies and a bit drawn-out with the action / battle scenes. There was hardly any story at all, and that's saying something for a 3 hour movie. They could have easily packed it all into 2 movies. While I didn't hate it as such, the original LOTR trilogy is so much better.

They could've packed it into one movie really. IMO the LotR trilogy was better because it was relatively more faithful to the original books (and thus the original quest). The Hobbit trilogy had a lot of "filler" stuff (to pad the story out, because the entire Hobbit book is smaller than any of the LotR books); like the whole Necromancer thing, Gandalf's side-quest, the inclusion of Legolas and invention of Tauriel* -- a lot of stuff that, sure, helps tie the Hobbit in with LotR (e.g. showcasing the strategic importance of Erebor in relation to Mordor); but ultimately unnecessary. The original LotR trilogy cut out a lot of stuff from the books (otherwise the movies would've been even longer!) ... okay, we could argue that some parts that were cut could've been left in (e.g. scouring of the Shire), and other parts that were added by Jackson could've been omitted (e.g. Arwen's lament, Elven reinforcements at Helm's Deep (that bugs me from a continuity POV) etc.), but for the most part, the LotR trilogy kept to the core events of the three books. Although I'm personally glad that Jackson left out Tom Bombadil... can't stand that guy (I know I'm probably the only one who thinks this ).

Also, the LotR books are cooler stories that The Hobbit. Tolkien wrote the Hobbit for a younger audience (primary school age), whereas LotR was written for an older audience (adolescents).

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*Legolas and Tauriel exist for little other reason than eye candy and to indulge Jackson's whim. You could entirely remove them from the story and nothing much would change, and of course, it's because they were never in the original story! I can understand Jackson wanting to add a female character, but you could just swap an existing male character with a female one! He did that in Lord of the Rings (by substituting Glorfindel with Arwen).

[Sam]

My wife and I saw this today. We loved it!

Okay, so it was really quite thin plot-wise, but we expected this from the film title.

Personally I think some scenes could have been expanded upon, so I eagerly await the extended edition for home media.

The films make me want to read the books again!

[GoktimusPrime]

The films make me want to read the books again!

Fixed. Unless you were including LotR and other books from Middle Earth.

[Sam]

Fixed. Unless you were including LotR and other books from Middle Earth.

Yes, I enjoy reading LotR more than The Hobbit. I also want to re-read the Silmarillion.

[GoktimusPrime]

I also enjoy LOTR more (although Fellowship can be a laborious read*), but of course, The Hobbit was written for a younger audience. It's kinda like watching TF Prime and reading the IDW comics -- I enjoy IDW more, but I like TFP too and recognise that it is aiming at a younger audience than IDW. I've never read Silmarillion.

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*So much singing! It could be a freakin' musical!