I know there are a major topic on all the Hobbit movies in the Prancing Pony section of T3A. But it's +40 pages... so, I wanted my own, since I really have to vent myself after seeing BotFA for the first time (yeah I know, chocker...) I'm sure I have forgotten many things, but here's (in no particular order) some of my reflections, even though I might get a better overall conclusion after the upcoming Extended Edition - I hope.
- I wonder which armies are meant to represent the five armies here. AFAIK Tolkien meant that the five armies consisted of Dwarves, Elves, Men, Orc/Goblins and Wargs, no? There are no wargs what so ever in this movie, except the two ridden by Azog and Bolg. So which are the five armies? Dwarves obviously as well as elves and orcs/goblins. But the final two, are what? Humans? Eagles? Bats?
- What's with all them new orc races that we have never seen before? What are they supposed to be? Hobgoblins? Half Trolls? Or some sort of small trolls och crossbreeds of some sort? PJ really went crazy here.
- The orc army led by Azog, that we see leave Dol Guldur in DoS look different from the second orc army led by Bolg, that is amassed from in Gundabad. Why is that? Shouldn't they logically be of the same origin - as in Gundabad, and thus wear the same type of armor? Azog's army is wearing non uniform armor while Bolg's army seems to be as uniform as the Uruk-hai of Saruman in TTT?
- Why are the trolls like twice the size of trolls in Lord of the Rings (like Cave Trolls, Mountain Trolls and Attack Trolls) as well as Desolation of Smaug's Tom, Bert & William? Some are even bigger than that, like the "siege trolls" that seem to be like some sort of troll giants? The one that head butt the wall makes Grond look like a tooth pick for Pete's sake?
- The White Council... In DoS, Gandalf is faced with Sauron, defeated and imprisoned in a cage. That scene in DoS was a somewhat weird scene as well... "Saaaauuurrrroooooonnnnnnnnn....", as gandalf moaned like a baby who just crapped himself, despite being a Maiar himself. Anyways, why all the hassle just to have Galadriel walk barefoot into Dol Guldur and *poff* him free, after killing an orc that looks like Bolg's brother (since it's the scrapped actor-based Bolg who got 1,5 seconds of screen time this way). And then, we get to see all the nine nazgûls in a COMPLETELY different shape than before. I know we have only seen them in the twilight world, and this time they showed themselves outside the twilight, and without the capes. But still... transparent armored figures that looks quite cartoony didn't do it for me - and being a nazgûl at heart, I'm offended Finally the battle between the nine and the council... I think Saruman looked as cool as ever (Lee rocks), and Elrond was ok even though I find the concept of fighting wraiths/ghouls/ghosts with physical swords rather strange. But the way they made Galadriel look like a space zombie when going into "evil mode", was disappointing. She looked more convincing in LotR. And during this battle, why was Sauron not present until afterwards?
- What lame jackass came up with the scene where Thorin hallucinates about drowning in molten gold? I thought the molten gold scene in DoS where they tried to drown Smaug was the pinnacle of lame scenes, but this is right up there along side it.
- The huge Whyrms that pop up in the beginning of the battle... what happens to them? They are suddenly just, gone? Who or what killed them, and how?
- The elves are seen at first with what looks like tens of thousands, if not even 100 000 men. As the battle progress to the end, there are hardly any seen other than Thranduil and his small possé. Did that enormous elven army really perish down to the last man? And why did Thranduil bring 100 000 men to what was supposed to be a battle with 13 dwarves?
- At first, when Dain arrives with the iron Hills dwarves, that army also looks huge. But when attacking the orcs, they suddenly look like a third of what they were a second ago? And who gave the OK to that pig Dain's ridning? Weta did nice concepts of large boars, but no, let's go with a fat pig?
- Where is the ram riding dwarven cavalry? In Extended Edition I guess...
- Where is the dwarven battle wagons? In Extended Edition I guess...
- Why is Beorn only seen in a couple of seconds in the final stages of the battle, after having a fair amount of screen time in DoS, that in turn was perceived as a buildup for BotFA. I really thought we were going to see him participate in the battle much earlier.
- If this is PG11 (or is it 13?), how come they made the executions of Fili and Kili so elaborate while they seem to have avoided showing ANY deaths of random people in Lake Town as Smaug turns the town into a barbecue, as well as sparing all the other members of Thorin's compary that fell in the book? Regardless, all of DoS seems pretty dark and sinister compared to the other two.
- Bilbo's journey home with Gandalf is like... wtf happened? Did they have teleportation in Middle Earth? They struggled for what seems like weeks to reach Erebor though three movies. But after the battle, it's like the Shire was just around the corner - despite being on the other side of the friggin Misty Mountains? I'm really impressed with how they made new shots with Ian portraying old Bilbo and still make him look like he did in LotR, but other than that I feel like the end was a bit... cut off.
Edited by Nazgûl, 21 April 2015 - 01:15 AM.