Jump to content


Photo

Hobbit Spoiler Topic


  • Please log in to reply
221 replies to this topic

#181 m@tt

m@tt

    #######

  • Project Team
  • 4,056 posts
  • Location:England
  • Projects:The Dwarf Holds
  •  T3A Chamber Member

Posted 15 December 2014 - 07:48 PM

Saw it yesterday. My thoughts...

 

I watched in 3D due to the lack of 2D showings at the moment. Still don't like 3D. Everything in the foreground is ever so slightly blurred, but it's noticeable. 3D just doesn't add anything. 

 

As an experience, I really enjoyed it. The film didn't feel overly long, yet was packed with content. Lots of what you expect from Jackson's Middle-earth. The camera work was less nauseous than the previous films! 

 

If I was being critical, without putting my geek hat on, the Smaug and Dol Goldor scenes seemed to finish quickly. Areas of the Battle seemed a bit drawn out. The "hero" fights, whilst entertaining, felt a bit like a video game in that they just kept on going. The Legolas matrix effect stunt was stupid. There is no Saruman vs Sauron encounter - whilst this in itself isn't necessarily disappointing, I felt the trailer was misleading as it suggested there would be. I enjoyed the comic relief of Alfred, though he could have done with someone else to share the load.

 

Geek hat on... 

 

Dain - was excited to see him, as he wasn't shown at all prior to the release. Although the design was great, it was very CGI-y. Also, rather than be voiced by Billy Connelly, he simply was Billy Connelly. A dwarf shouting "bastard" and "bugger" just didn't fit. And after the battle he is nowhere to be seen. 

 

Beorn - blink and you miss him. Again. Could have been a great character. 

 

Dol Goldor - Galadriel, although she does drive out Sauron, and Gandalf are almost weak in their portrayal. Little aftermath.

 

Gundabad - the addition of them made it confusing to follow the battle. Battle of the 6 Armies? And was there even a goblin army?

 

Kili/Fili/Thorin deaths - not as written, though I'm not fussed really. Though it did feel a bit isolated from the rest of battle. The Kili/Tauriel thing was over played again, though I don't have a problem with the general concept of them. 

 

Aftermath - there are loose ends. No burials. What happens to the Arkenstone (see previous sentence!). No new king. What of Bard? And Thranduil?

 

Aragorn mention - whilst I liked how they mentioned it at the time, looking back it did feel a bit out of place and forced (though not as forced as other LOTR references). It highlights a recurring issue of the films that they sometimes try too hard to look back/forward to the LOTR, yet at other times it is inconsistent - for instance all of the Black speech when it was rarely used in LOTR. 

 

Sometimes it felt like a sequel rather a prequel. By this I mean that the enemies are bigger and badder (Azog, Bolg and the Trollaputs in this versus orc rabble throughout LOTR), the effects bigger, the heroes more invincible. The Star Wars films suffered in the same way, albeit to a much, much greater/worse extent!

 

~

 

When I saw LOTR, I was 12, I think, and had no idea what it was beforehand - it was only later that I really got into everything else (primarily through BFME and the T3A/RA/TDH involvement), and therefore I'm seeing the Hobbit films from a very different perspective. I didn't know what would happen inside of Mount Doom (I was hoping Sauron would return and be killed again!). I knew Thorin dies. I didn't know elves didn't actually go to Helm's Deep. I knew Tauriel was made up. So I don't want to jump over the details over what is still a very enjoyable trilogy, it was never going to match LOTR for many reasons so it feels unnecessary to say that it falls short of the original trilogy. Also, in a weird way I feel like I need to be extra critical to prove my geekiness on these forums - not sure why I'd need to, I only seem to post a few times a year now.

 

Like the first two Hobbit films. I felt that a few tweaks here and a little bit of reigning in there could have made all the difference. It has the potential of an excellent set of films. It's just that in various places it feels rushed, drawn out, messy, over the top.

 

In short, if you want to enjoy it - then you'll love it, despite some things which will nag at you. If you want to pick hole rather than enjoy it, there are plenty!


Edited by m@tt, 15 December 2014 - 07:50 PM.

Posted Image

#182 Stokstaartje95

Stokstaartje95
  • Members
  • 109 posts

Posted 15 December 2014 - 08:29 PM

I love your review, m@tt. I feel the same about most thing. Whining about everything doesn't help and it is not just, as the movies are still great. I mean we see the last pieces of the puzzle, like Thranduil and Dain and we get a shit load of new stuff for the BFME community; I wouldn't complain. ;) 



#183 Mathijs

Mathijs

    Post-modern Shaman

  • Network Leaders
  • 13,756 posts
  • Projects:Age of the Ring
  • Division:Revora
  • Job:Leader

Posted 15 December 2014 - 08:31 PM

What exactly do we get for the BFME community?


No fuel left for the pilgrims


#184 GhostOfDurin

GhostOfDurin
  • Members
  • 80 posts

Posted 15 December 2014 - 10:00 PM

What exactly do we get for the BFME community?

I think he meant as heroes in mods and such.



#185 Lauri

Lauri

    Old man Lauri

  • Hosted
  • 10,436 posts
  • Location:Norway
  • Projects:The 4th Age
  •  The very worst T3A Team Chamber Member

Posted 15 December 2014 - 11:30 PM

Heroes and concepts were always there, the thing these films provided for us was a new look for them, and new ideas to use. Personally, I think the orcs are a bit "meh". I didn't really realize that the wargs in LotR looked silly until I saw them in The Hobbit, so that's a great improvement. The orcs are a step down though. Goblins are hard, as I kinda like the old ones and the new just as much. I don't know if they've given an explanation for that, but a lit-up Goblin Town is different from the dark abyss of Moria. The new ones do look a tad to sickly though, and they barely have any armour at all. Could have a logical explanation, sure. The Great Goblin looked good aswell. Azog, and probably to an even greater extent Bolg, were dissapointing. Azog actually got a bit better in BotFA though, which is nice.

 

Bilbo is fantastic. I generally love the dwarven heroes, and their diversity. Thorin's beard is still up for debate, but I think it's alright, along with Kili's lack of it. Nori would be the one I like the least, because of his hair. It doesn't bother me as much as it did though, and the ironic thing is that when it's wet it looks awesome! Oh, Bombur kinda bothers me with his hair-necklace too. I much prefer the original dwarves of Games-Workshop to the trilogy's uniform ones, but they do look okay. Bard looks awesome, aswell as Thranduil.


T4A_Logo_-_article.png

The 4th Age version 0.8 has been released: Link


#186 Stokstaartje95

Stokstaartje95
  • Members
  • 109 posts

Posted 16 December 2014 - 07:12 AM

@Lauri: I don't think they are just 'ideas'. Look at all the LOTR related games. For 10 years they mostly kept to the 'Peter-Jackson-canon', which is fine in some sense, especially BFME (1). BFME II was a bit more complicated as some unit, heroes and realms were not yet shown in the movies. Now the Hobbit is there, the BFME 2 dwarven units and king Dain/Gloin should be altered, just like most elven units. Thranduil might be the biggest difference of all. Where Dain en Gloin are still the warhammer guys, Thranduil chanced from the best archer in the game into a swordfighter on an elk. For the goblin part, the units are still fine as they appear in the LOTR movies. The only part there is the heroes. Gorkil is somehow a bit too small for a leader anyway and Drogoth could easily be changed to Smaug, as Drogoth is the essence of nonsense in the game. He was only made to make the Goblins/Wild faction a little more acceptable.

 

I still hope to see the Iron Hills, however I think we won't see that place.



#187 MattTheLegoman

MattTheLegoman

    LEGO Knight of Minas Ithil

  • T3A Staff
  • 3,669 posts
  • Location:Tomorrow, when the War began
  • Projects:Mapping this Middle-earth
  •  Mapper
  • Division:BFME
  • Job:T3A Staff

Posted 16 December 2014 - 08:26 AM

Technically Drogoth was there because BfME II did not have rights to The Hobbit. Did you notice he did not appear in the Erebor evil map? The developers commented in the campaign files that a dragon at Erebor might get them in trouble for copyright.

 

I love that there are didgeridoos in the soundtrack. =D I've been listening to the special edition disks, they come with a booklet explaining the music too. What do people think of the music in the film?


Remember that all worlds draw to an end and that noble death is a treasure which no one is too poor to buy. - C.S. Lewis

There will come a time when you believe everything is finished. That will be the beginning. - Louis L'Amour

What will matter then will be people. If relationships will matter most then, shouldn't they matter most now? - Max Lucado


#188 Lauri

Lauri

    Old man Lauri

  • Hosted
  • 10,436 posts
  • Location:Norway
  • Projects:The 4th Age
  •  The very worst T3A Team Chamber Member

Posted 16 December 2014 - 11:37 AM

The music in the Hobbit is inferior to LotR, but generally okay. A few of the recurring themes were out of place (like the Nazgul theme), while a few are lovely, like the Shire theme. For the new music, I quite enjoy the dwarven themes (Over Hill, My Armour is Iron, Sons of Durin) and Tauriel theme (Feast of Starlight, Beyond the Forest). The theme of Lake Town is nice too (Thrice Welcome). The songs sung in the films are good too, especially the "Down, down, down, in Goblin Town" from AUJ EE. Too bad it's not on the soundtrack..

 

Edit: And of course my favorite, The Last Goodbye, by Billy Boyd. It's only a credits song, and wouldn't fit in anywhere in the film, but it's still probably the best one.


Edited by Lauri, 16 December 2014 - 11:39 AM.

T4A_Logo_-_article.png

The 4th Age version 0.8 has been released: Link


#189 GhostOfDurin

GhostOfDurin
  • Members
  • 80 posts

Posted 16 December 2014 - 09:56 PM

Good news.

The Funeral of Thorin, Fili, and Kili will be in the Extended Edition. There's a leaked image I found floating around.

tumblr_ngn9k05WAA1rgdzjjo1_1280.jpg



#190 Bofur

Bofur

    The Bolicious One

  • Hosted
  • 1,766 posts
  • Location:England
  • Projects:Age of the Firstborn
  •  The Bolicious T3A Team Chamber Member

Posted 16 December 2014 - 10:27 PM

Oh, and the five armies are Dain's Dwarves, Thrandy's Elves, Bard's Angry Fishermen, Azog's Dol Guldur orcs, and Bolg's Gundabad forces. Not sure what you meant, M@tt, when you said 6?

left64_by_obsidianlake-d5ruayp.pngAotF.pngright64_by_obsidianlake-d5ruf44.png


#191 m@tt

m@tt

    #######

  • Project Team
  • 4,056 posts
  • Location:England
  • Projects:The Dwarf Holds
  •  T3A Chamber Member

Posted 16 December 2014 - 10:47 PM

Oh, and the five armies are Dain's Dwarves, Thrandy's Elves, Bard's Angry Fishermen, Azog's Dol Guldur orcs, and Bolg's Gundabad forces. Not sure what you meant, M@tt, when you said 6?

I couldn't remember who the five were. Wiki says the eagles were sparate and the goblins were all one. My point was that I found the two goblin/orc armies a bit difficult to follow in terms of who was who and who was where.
Posted Image

#192 Mathijs

Mathijs

    Post-modern Shaman

  • Network Leaders
  • 13,756 posts
  • Projects:Age of the Ring
  • Division:Revora
  • Job:Leader

Posted 16 December 2014 - 10:52 PM

Good news.

The Funeral of Thorin, Fili, and Kili will be in the Extended Edition. There's a leaked image I found floating around.

 

Not necessarily; this is from the new Chronicles book, meaning it's probably concept art. So don't get your hopes up just yet.


No fuel left for the pilgrims


#193 GhostOfDurin

GhostOfDurin
  • Members
  • 80 posts

Posted 16 December 2014 - 11:11 PM

 

Good news.

The Funeral of Thorin, Fili, and Kili will be in the Extended Edition. There's a leaked image I found floating around.

 

Not necessarily; this is from the new Chronicles book, meaning it's probably concept art. So don't get your hopes up just yet.

 

Oh. I don't have the book so thanks for letting me know.



#194 Lauri

Lauri

    Old man Lauri

  • Hosted
  • 10,436 posts
  • Location:Norway
  • Projects:The 4th Age
  •  The very worst T3A Team Chamber Member

Posted 17 December 2014 - 12:03 AM

 

Oh, and the five armies are Dain's Dwarves, Thrandy's Elves, Bard's Angry Fishermen, Azog's Dol Guldur orcs, and Bolg's Gundabad forces. Not sure what you meant, M@tt, when you said 6?

I couldn't remember who the five were. Wiki says the eagles were sparate and the goblins were all one. My point was that I found the two goblin/orc armies a bit difficult to follow in terms of who was who and who was where.

 

Dwarves, Elves, Lake-Town, Goblins (it was only one army) and Eagles I believe it was, so you should be correct. Beorn doesn't count as one army.

A bit lame that when Bolg showed up with his army, he, and a few others, got there early, while the rest just got the sack when the eagles arrived. What the point to emulate the mumaks in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields? "We almost had them! Shit just got real!"

I do believe I'll get my hopes up for the EE making it quite a bit better.


T4A_Logo_-_article.png

The 4th Age version 0.8 has been released: Link


#195 Mathijs

Mathijs

    Post-modern Shaman

  • Network Leaders
  • 13,756 posts
  • Projects:Age of the Ring
  • Division:Revora
  • Job:Leader

Posted 17 December 2014 - 12:05 AM

Yeah that second army got about 20 seconds of actual screen time in the battle. Felt entirely pointless. 


No fuel left for the pilgrims


#196 GhostOfDurin

GhostOfDurin
  • Members
  • 80 posts

Posted 17 December 2014 - 01:11 AM

They added what the fans wanted from DoS into the EE so we can assume they will do the same for BotFA.


Edited by GhostOfDurin, 17 December 2014 - 01:12 AM.


#197 Mathijs

Mathijs

    Post-modern Shaman

  • Network Leaders
  • 13,756 posts
  • Projects:Age of the Ring
  • Division:Revora
  • Job:Leader

Posted 17 December 2014 - 01:19 AM

We can't, really. Who's to say they added what the fans wanted? Lots of fans wanted more Thranduil, and we got none (even though some great scenes were filmed but not processed in post).


No fuel left for the pilgrims


#198 Lauri

Lauri

    Old man Lauri

  • Hosted
  • 10,436 posts
  • Location:Norway
  • Projects:The 4th Age
  •  The very worst T3A Team Chamber Member

Posted 17 December 2014 - 11:43 AM

Yeah that second army got about 20 seconds of actual screen time in the battle. Felt entirely pointless. 

Where's the scathing review?


T4A_Logo_-_article.png

The 4th Age version 0.8 has been released: Link


#199 Stokstaartje95

Stokstaartje95
  • Members
  • 109 posts

Posted 17 December 2014 - 01:53 PM

 

Yeah that second army got about 20 seconds of actual screen time in the battle. Felt entirely pointless. 

Where's the scathing review?

 

Indeed, in these topics you really become GrumpyMathijs.  :evgr:



#200 Bashkuga

Bashkuga

    Because good guys are too mainstream

  • Project Team
  • 2,039 posts
  • Location:On my way to besiege Minas Tirith
  • Projects:Age of the Ring Betatester and Mapper, Edain Mod Betatester
  •  Out of the frying pan, and into the fire..

Posted 17 December 2014 - 02:48 PM

He is still trying to write it, words cannot express the rage he feels towards PJ.




0 user(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 0 guests, 0 anonymous users