The Hobbit

[cowboy]

is this film going to have loads of gollum in it? i hated the parts of the LOTR trilogy that had gollum in it, with a passion

[The OP]

is this film going to have loads of gollum in it? i hated the parts of the LOTR trilogy that had gollum in it, with a passion

I think he's in no more than a chapter (or two at the absolute most) of The Hobbit. They'll probably beef up his part though.

I didn't think Gollum was all that well done in the film tbh. There's a BBC Radio 4 adaptation of LOTR (probably floating around youtube) in 13 1 hour episodes, and their version of Gollum seems so much better, played by Peter Woodthorpe (who you might have seen as Del Boy's Dad in OFAH).

[deadasdillinger]

I thought Gollum was absolutely fantastic in the previous films.

Booked to see this in 3D, can't wait. After reading about the cameras and frame rates etc they've filmed this in I'm keen to see how it looks. Hopefully be every bit as impressive as seeing Avatar in the Imax

[DA Baracus]

Heard quite a lot of bad things about this. Seemingly the CGI scenes look like something out of a computer game and the HRF is very problematic for a lot of folk. Also they've really dragged it out to make three films from the book.

Still, I'm quite excited about seeing it and will do so sometime next week. But in regular 2D without any other pish.

[Savage Henry]

Heard a couple of people mention the appendices. Would love to see some of them on film. Beren and Luthien would be interesting and the Children Of Hurin could easily stand alone. Don't know about the silmarillion though.

I would imagine all that crap about the pipeweed growing would be mildly entertaining. The ancient family history bit would be dull as hell.

The Silmarillion will never be made into a film, rightfully so

Indeed. And if they even dare The Adventures of Tom Bobadil, I will be furious. Literally furious. He's a c**t.

[Quentin Taranbino]

Saw The Hobbit this morning in 3D HFR

Regarding the effects - I thought the 3D was brilliant (and I'm an anti-3D guy) as the film has so much stunning landscapes and caves and chasms etc, the 3D adds real depth to the scenes rather than the gimmicky 3D. The glasses are obv a pain in the ass but I felt the 3D was fine without ever feeling over the top.

The HFR - some people are going to really fcuking hate this! Personally, I found it quite odd at the start and then by the end of the 3 hrs I was used to it and probably quite liked it, but I would need to see the film in normal 2D now to see exactly how much it added. Some of the faster more hectic scenes are harder to get used to on the eyes at first but found the 'normal' scenes visually excellent. I can see why some people might find them the effects 'fake' looking though but for me it wasn't an issue once I got settled into the film.

In summary, its quite clear some people will love it and some will hate it. My advice would be to try it and see for yourself.

Oh and the film itself was excellent I thought I'm a massive fan of the books and the films and it satisfied me for a first installment and I believe thats how it should be looked upon, as the first part of a trilogy and I think it set up the storyline and characters very well.

On to spoilery stuff

The next two films are clearly going to have side stories, most notably The White Council kicking ass out of the Necromancer, I liked the way that this film suitably set up the stories for the next couple of films.

I thought they got Thorin spot on, he was exactly as I imagined from the book and I'm glad they only really focused on a few of the other dwarves as it would have gotten hard to follow had they tried to give equal time to all the other dwarves.Thought Martin Freeman was great as Bilbo and his whole scene in the cave with Gollum was probably the best few scenes of this film I thought. I love Gollum

Wasn't too hot on the extended Radagast stuff, I think he gets a total of about 1 page in the book - I get that he is an odd character and all that, just wasn't keen on him at all, especially when him and his rabbits were getting chased by the Orcs etc. I hope we have seen the last of him now however I think he may yet feature in the next two films.

The big thunder rock throwing guys were not what I remember or imagined from the book at all and caught me a bit off guard, I'm not really sure what I expected, but it wasn't that

I liked the small nods to the LOTR films (there were quite a few)On the whole, I'm finding the film itself to be difficult to criticise, some people will find it long and slow but I think as part one of a trilogy it works fine and just as sufficient as Fellowship did.

Knowing what happens in the book, I am confident of the way the next 2 films will be handled (barring the yet to be seen really dragon).

All in all - very happy. They didn't fcuk it up

[The Troll]

Indeed. And if they even dare The Adventures of Tom Bobadil, I will be furious. Literally furious. He's a c**t.

I quite like Bombadil as a character. Some people think he's a "God" like character as he's always referred too as the eldest and the first, which is obviously just a reference to the fact he was the first character Tolkien thought up. If they made a film about him I'd murder the planet though, only so much ryhming I can take

[saint dave]

I would imagine all that crap about the pipeweed growing would be mildly entertaining. The ancient family history bit would be dull as hell.

Indeed. And if they even dare The Adventures of Tom Bobadil, I will be furious. Literally furious. He's a c**t.

Sorry , I meant the LOTR appendices. Aragorn fighting in Rohan and Gondor under his alias etc.

[forehead7]

Christ this thread is quiet! Perhaps because of the Thursday release.

I saw it earlier, I really enjoyed it. As someone mentioned based on the trailer, it's got a load of light-hearted, comic relief throughout it. I didn't mind it, tbh, I think it works since it's a group of dwarves and hobbits and they've always been made out to be more jovial than the likes of men and elves (at least in the films when you think of Gimli, Aragorn and Legolas et al).

I'm not sure it's as good as any of the Lord of the Rings films but it's got a much different feel to it. There's no big epic battles like those first three had and as mentioned, there's a lot of funniness added in.

Couple things I noticed and I'd need to watch the trilogy again to confirm but

Wasn't Gandalf a bit clueless as to what Bilbo had in the Fellowship? He clearly saw Bilbo put the ring in his pocket near the end of this film and presumably Bilbo has it for another two films with Gandalf appearing. I'm sure Gandalf doesn't know he has it when he used it to escape his birthday party in the Fellowship.

Also in the original films, it shows how Bilbo got the ring from Gollum briefly, I'm sure he looks a lot older in that scene than Freeman does in this one. That's obviously a minor continuity thing because they probably didn't know The Hobbit was going to be created.

Overall, I enjoyed it. It looked fantastic. Didn't really dig the 3D or notice it too much. As with all the films, it looks spectacular. I didn't think the CGI looked poor or video game like. Everything looked great to me.

The cinema fucked up though, apparently there's an addition screen that comes down for 3D films? During the adverts and trailers, it was all out of focus even with the glasses on, someone who worked in Cineworld was in the audience and shouted down to the usher who was working and told her that the screen wasn't down. Not sure how they fixed it but the screen cut out for like a minute for the Django Unchained trailer (raging, first time I've seen the expanded trailer) and we were left with just audio. Didn't affect the film, luckily. Thought they'd changed something and the 3D glasses I had from ages ago had been made redundant or something!

Also;

Those muthafucking eagles again! They're becoming like a deux ex machina!

[deadasdillinger]

Not sure why folk are going on about the frame rate, I thought it looked excellent.

As I feared, they've stretched it a little too thinly, giving stories significance and time that they don't really have in the books. There's no doubt it drags a little but an adaptation of The Hobbit that's split into three films, the first clocking in at just shy of 3 hours, was always, always going to do that.

I love being back in Peter Jackson's Middle Earth though so personally I just enjoyed seeing it all. Spoilers if you haven't read the book (you absolute dick) -

The scenes lifted directly from the book were all fantastic - the dwarf party at Bilbo's, the stuff in Rivendell, the goblins' underground lair, Bilbo meeting Gollum and getting the ring, Smaug's lair etc. They captured it all really, really well.

Frodo being in it was as I expected, no problem at all as it was in scenes set 60 years on. The stuff with Bilbo and the riddles struck me as unusual as I was pretty sure we had already seen an alternate version of how Bilbo got the ring in the LOTR films. The proper geeks will be spitting at that. Also at stuff like Radaghast having a big part in a book he wasn't really in.

Looking forward to the next two. Still baffled as to why it's not been done as one 2 or 3 hour film, but the first has reminded me that in Jackson's hands we should still get a very enjoyable trilogy out of it.

[yoda]

Booked my tickets for next week. 24fps and 2D.

[dorlomin]

I quite like Bombadil as a character. Some people think he's a "God" like character as he's always referred too as the eldest and the first, which is obviously just a reference to the fact he was the first character Tolkien thought up.

No he was a spirit of the Earth.

The servants of the high, God Illuvatar, are the gods of Middle Earth, these are called the Valar. They have angels who help them named the Maia (it is very strongly hinted Gandalf is one). He does not fall into those categories and is more like a Greek Nymph.

/ungeek.

[saint dave]

No he was a spirit of the Earth.

The servants of the high, God Illuvatar, are the gods of Middle Earth, these are called the Valar. They have angels who help them named the Maia (it is very strongly hinted Gandalf is one). He does not fall into those categories and is more like a Greek Nymph.

/ungeek.

Gandalf was a Maia , his name was Olórin.

http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Gandalf

[Musketeer Gripweed]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muD8SHUV3YU

Kermode has spoken.

To Jackson as well.

[The Troll]

No he was a spirit of the Earth.

The servants of the high, God Illuvatar, are the gods of Middle Earth, these are called the Valar. They have angels who help them named the Maia (it is very strongly hinted Gandalf is one). He does not fall into those categories and is more like a Greek Nymph.

/ungeek.

I know, that's why I said "some people" think that.

Learn to read

[Addie]

Just came back from the cinema, and have to say I was pretty disappointed thb. Great special effects but the story line was far too weak for me.

Was really looking forward to it as well.

[Mr. Brightside]

I enjoyed it, I didn't really feel it dragged or was too long, I think it seems like (or maybe I'm hoping too much for this) that the third will be a direct prequel to FotR.

Anyhoo,

it was fantastic when Gollum appeared, loved the riddles bit. Also, when the camera is staring straight into his eyes and you see the desolation at the loss of the ring, it was heartbreaking!

The only one dodgy thing about the CGI was Azog, he looked blatantly fake.

[Gaz]

Saw it last night.

Astonishing. Simply brilliant.

[Nick_BCFC]

I went to see this last night and enjoyed the film. I had some arsehole sat behind me though talking all the way through it.

A few points regarding the film... I enjoyed the bit at the start with Old Bilbo and Frodo just before we got into the story. I thought it was a nice touch with Frodo putting up the sign then going off to meet Gandalf.

Also, I found myself thinking a couple of times in the film 'i'm sure i've seen this before' as it was done pretty much exactly how I imagined it when reading the book (particularly the ending of the film when they were up in the trees).

I thought the dwarves were a bit soft, particularly just before they found the passage to Rivendell when they were being chased by what looked to be about 10 orcs & wargs.

I would quite like to see it again without that guy talking throughout the film I mentioned earlier. All in all, a very good effort.

[Gaz]

Was anyone else surprised to see a literal depiction of the Stone Giants?