The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)

[Dak Drexl]

The trailer came out today (though I can't find a really good link) and I am psyched! It looks really great and I have confidence in Peter Jackson to pull this off right. I was always a big LotR fan but The Hobbit is my all-time favorite.

I am a little upset about the 3D (hate the thing) but I feel like Jackson will handle it well.

I'm also upset that the game is going to be Lego... ick. Oh well.

What are your thoughts?

[LordOfTheFish]

Just saw it a few minutes ago. I have to say I'm far from impressed. Some of the scenes did not look good and were obviously filmed for 3D with no consideration for those of us who don't like it.

I felt like I was watching a trailer for one of those meant-to-be-serious kids movies...

[Dak Drexl]

Well The Hobbit was intended to be a children's book. If you weren't a fan of the book then maybe the movie isn't for you. Can't blame you for thinking it looks silly. I do agree with you on some points though, like how the dwarves just look ridiculous. They were depicted as kind of oafs anyway so I can see where it could come from.

[LordOfTheFish]

Originally Posted by Dak Drexl

Well The Hobbit was intended to be a children's book. If you weren't a fan of the book then maybe the movie isn't for you. Can't blame you for thinking it looks silly. I do agree with you on some points though, like how the dwarves just look ridiculous. They were depicted as kind of oafs anyway so I can see where it could come from.

I see what your saying. I just feel like they took a more 'Chronicles of Narnia' approach. I may be prejudging anyway but I just hope it's very similar to the LotR movies.

[M@RS]

Jackson did a great job with LotR, and I'm excited about The Hobbit. However, a couple of the dwarfs didn't seem convincing and I'm hoping they don't resort to slap-stick with Bombur.

[igyman]

Found a good youtube link, for those who haven't seen it yet:

YouTube Video

Looks good to me. I'm not really noticing the 3D thing, unless you count those couple of seconds with action sequences near the end.

[Alexrd]

Here's the official link:

YouTube Video

[Pho3nix]

I have faith in Peter, I'm sure I'll love it.

[Prime]

How many more sleeps!!??!?!

[Astor]

Holy Hell that looks amazing. Shame the wait is so long.

[ChAiNz.2da]

Just hope they do Smaug justice in the film(s?) rather than a last-ten-minutes-of-the-movie "battle".

Still kinda disappointed with the Witch King's involvement (or lack of rather) in the LotR trilogy. He was a major character in the books but was limited to a few action-shot cutscenes and his death-knell for the movies.

I pity anyone who watched the movies but didn't read the books. They wouldn't have been as satisfied when Eowyn stabs his face if they didn't know just how big of a bastard the Witch King was

[Dak Drexl]

Originally Posted by ChAiNz.2da

Just hope they do Smaug justice in the film(s?) rather than a last-ten-minutes-of-the-movie "battle".

Still kinda disappointed with the Witch King's involvement (or lack of rather) of the LotR trilogy. He was a major character in the books but was limited to a few action-shot cutscenes and his death-knell for the movies.

I pity anyone who watched the movies but didn't read the books. They wouldn't have been as satisfied when Eowyn stabs his face if they didn't know just how big of a bastard the Witch King was

Agreed! While it's normal that they would leave out some stuff, I was disappointed with the lack of exploration of some other major characters and scenes. Doesn't mean that the LotR films weren't incredible

I think that this one will get it's fill mostly due to the fact that it's in two parts.

[Quanon]

Originally Posted by ChAiNz.2da

Just hope they do Smaug justice in the film(s?) rather than a last-ten-minutes-of-the-movie "battle".

I also hope the dialogue Bilbo has with the dragon comes out OK. I've no fear that the battle of 5 armies will look ace. Though, I've got a fear that might be the big focus of the second part... Not sure if I like that. Two Towers wasn't really my favourite of the Lotr trilogy, they messed around with the book a bit to much to my liking. So that the battle at helms deep was very the big focus of the film. While in the book it takes what? One chapter for preperations, one chapter for the actuall battle. Just feel in the film they stretched it to long.

Anyway, Mr. PJ did a very nice job on Lotr; WETA did some awesome work aswell. Can't wait till this thing is out in the theaters.

[M@RS]

Originally Posted by Quanon

So that the battle at helms deep was very the big focus of the film.

Well the reason for that was to have the "climax" battle at the end of each film. It was a matter of organizing the films to better capture the audience.

[beanlord56]

I'm less concerned about how well the Battle of Five Armies or Smaug will turn out and more about what appears to be Gandalf and Galadriel having a tender moment.

[Arannor]

Very good trailer! I'm excited to see this movie.

[Q]

Originally Posted by Pho3nix

I have faith in Peter, I'm sure I'll love it.

Yeah, this.

Originally Posted by ChAiNz.2da

Just hope they do Smaug justice in the film(s?) rather than a last-ten-minutes-of-the-movie "battle".

Still kinda disappointed with the Witch King's involvement (or lack of rather) in the LotR trilogy. He was a major character in the books but was limited to a few action-shot cutscenes and his death-knell for the movies.

I pity anyone who watched the movies but didn't read the books. They wouldn't have been as satisfied when Eowyn stabs his face if they didn't know just how big of a bastard the Witch King was

Yeah, the Witch-King is definitely interesting; kind of the anti-Dúnedain, I guess. Nasty, powerful, undead guy.

Long as they were, though there was only so much that PJ could cram into 3 films, So the Witch-King got very little screen time.

[KeselvonTresel]

I'm really looking forward to both parts. One thing I'm wondering is how Richard Armatige, who is over 6 ft tall, is going to play a dwarf?

[Achilles]

The same way that John Rhys-Davies (who is 6'1") did when he played Gimli. The actors who played Hobbits are also taller than their characters.

Movie magic = smoke, mirrors, and (in the last 15-20 years) CGI.

[KeselvonTresel]

True, but it'll still seem a bit weird.

[Pho3nix]

They use a lot of optic illusions, for example when Frodo is sitting next to Gandalf at the start of The Fellowship of the Ring (in the carriage) the chair itself was divided into two parts, Frodo being seated further back than Gandalf giving the illusion that he was smaller next to him.

They will probably make use of little people as "stunt" doubles for most of the dwarfs in wider shots as they did with the Hobbits in Lord of the Rings as well. You can't tell the difference when they have proper make-up on and everything.

[Dak Drexl]

It'll all work out. For example in the first LotR movie the scene where Gandalf enters Bilbo's home. Gandalf towered over Bilbo but in real life there is not such a difference between the actors. Well, they shot Bilbo's part in the home separately from Gandalf's. Then, Gandalf's scene was actually shot in front of a blue screen. Then they were able to just scale him up.

Stuff like that really makes the difference.

Also, reading the book again, I'm guessing that part 1 will end after they leave Beorn's house and venture into Mirkwood. Just a guess I am really curious how they'll do Beorn though.

[Prime]

I don't know about you guys, but the trailer totally has the LotR feel to me...

[JediExile]

The trailer looks amazing. I can't wait to see it. It's the first movie in a LONG time that I actually want to see in theaters.

Also, love the actor that plays Bilbo -- Martin Freeman. He played Tim in The Office UK.

[JesusIsGonnaOwnSatan]

That song... is flipping awesome.

[Darth InSidious]

Originally Posted by Achilles

Movie magic = smoke, mirrors, and (in the last 15-20 years) CGI.

And increasingly, done without the smoke, mirrors, or magic.

[Scorge]

Looks interesting.....

[Bob Lion54]

My only issue with the trailer is that Thorin doesn't look like a Dwarf. He looks way too human for The King Under the Mountain.

[Red Hessian]

The Hobbit movies become a trilogy.

I'm a bit skeptical about this. To make such a short book into three movies means either we're going to get a lot of scenes where the characters are doing absolutely nothing, or they're going to add a lot of stuff that wasn't in the book.

[Dak Drexl]

Gotta start posting on my own thread again!

For those that don't know, they are including things from the appendices from the Return of the King in the movies, which will be what primarily fills the new space opened up since deciding to to three movies.

That means we get to see Gandalf's unknown adventures unfold, which will be so awesome. Gandalf the Grey was always my favorite Hobbit/LotR character, so more screen time for Sir Ian sounds good to me.

[mattig89ch]

personally, I'm really looking for this. I don't really think that 3d would ruin this movie, don't think it would help it much either.

It comes out this december, right?

[Prime]

Yeah I'm totally psyched for this.

But I loves me all things LotR.

[Dak Drexl]

Originally Posted by mattig89ch

It comes out this december, right?

Yup, the 14th in the US.

Originally Posted by Prime

Yeah I'm totally psyched for this.

But I loves me all things LotR.

Me too, but I did always like The Hobbit better than the LotR books. That's not to say I don't love them, just not as much as The Hobbit...

But the movie trilogy is easily at the top of my favorites, so I'm literally too excited for this one.

[Red Hessian]

Anybody went to see it yet? I'm thinking of going next week.

[Alexrd]

I did. Good performances, great flaskback sequences, but it's not a movie that I'll be watching many times in the future.

7/10

P.S: Loved to see Christopher Lee as Saruman again.

[Miltiades]

Yup, went on friday. Hadn't read the book as opposed to LotR, which I had read before watching the movies, so wasn't really sure what to expect. I'd read not to expect an adventure on the epic scale of LotR, so I didn't. Still, I was a bit underwhelmed by it all. There's a very long intro that is, in my opinion, unnecessary and you do feel as if the story's a bit stretched at times (probably because the story got split in three movies?). But it's an enjoyable movie nonetheless and getting back to Middle-Earth is joyous. Loved Freeman's performance and the dwarves were fun.

[JesusIsGonnaOwnSatan]

Saw it in 3d. Pretty great, imo. I haven't read any of the books, so i can't comment on that front, but in terms of cinema, it's feels just like LotR.

IMO one of the best things about the movie is the amazing scenery and landscape. Makes me think I should get out more, as all this is right at my doorstep.

Loved the music, as is to be expected. The score was written by Howard Shore and performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, both of whom did the music for the original trilogy.

I can't wait for the next parts to the series. Thankfully, it looks like it'll only be a year between them.

[Lynk Former]

Originally Posted by JesusIsGonnaOwnSatan

Saw it in 3d.

Why?

[JesusIsGonnaOwnSatan]

Originally Posted by Lynk Former

Why?

Because the option was there.

[Bob Saget]

Originally Posted by Lynk Former

Why?

why not?