The Hobbit : Battle of the five armies (December 2014)

Baggy Trousers

I saw this yesterday. It was very average in my opinion.
I lost interest half way through the battle which is odd.
The cinema wasn't very full at all.

madds

After reading some of the reviews here over the weekend I wasn't in a hurry to see this but my 11 y/o was so looking fwd to it off we went. My expectations were low - I made the mistake of comparing I and II with LOTR and was extremely disappointed. On its own it's not a bad film but it doesn't blow the socks off you either - a missed opportunity by PJ. Some of the CGI was shockingly poor.

Missed Gollum not being in it

[Note: saw this in Vue Liffey Valley. Beware if you are booking tickets online and try to change seats. I reserved 2 seats in the back row but the original seats offered to us were the ones we got. Had to have a chat with the manager afterwards. My wife brought the 2 younger kids to Padington and had the same issue. After much persuasion he gave us 2 complementary tickets.)

the_monkey

Pretty bad this one, as said the CGI was pretty poor in places

- and why

was Billy Connolly 100% CGI ???? he looked AWFUL ... eyes and teeth still are way to much of a giveaway for CGI ...

The 1st 2 Hobbit films were really surprising to me and I thought they were really good - but this just underwhelmed from the start.

And no more about Saruman and Sauron ?? They had 3 long films for a flimsy book and couldn't put more of that in it ???

And those Tremor like creatures ??? wtf ????? ridiculous even for these films - and Legolas running up crumbling stairs - Horseshíte ...
Bolg or Azog (whoever the main baddie was - was terrible - not scary at all, not like the other lad in LOTR III .... and ending it where the LOTR I started ???? why ???? Gandalf says next "you haven't aged a day"
Well he HAS !!!! - Why bring back Ian Holm for this scene ????

5/10.

Alfred Borden

Brilliant imo. Last 15 minutes could have been chopped but was really happy with the rest of it.

Falthyron

Will probably get slaughtered for suggesting this, but I felt it could have been longer... Seriously. I could see where the Extended Edition will take us: more on Saruman and Sauron, more on Thorin's dragon sickness, more on Dain, more on Legolas and Tauriel, more on the Dwarves after they bury Thorin and probably more on Bard. There were some cuts that changed the pace (as someone here mentioned) and I reckon the extended edition will fix the pacing with expanded scenes for better transition.

I really enjoyed it and I felt the end (knock on the door) was done perfectly. Looking forward to the extended edition.

Heroditas

The last thing I'd want is more on Thorin's sickness.
I'd like to see more of Beorn though. He was a hugely integral part of the concclusion of the Hobbit yet he barely gets a mention in the BOTFA

Baggy Trousers

Heroditas wrote: »

The last thing I'd want is more on Thorin's sickness.

Oh stop, I was getting his sickness myself...sick of hearing about it!

charlietheminxx

I absolutely hated the visuals. It felt all wrong, actually thought there was something wrong with the speed when I saw it at first.

I was entertained but the plot was still poor.

david75

Got the extended editions of Desolation of Smaug for a present. Watching the extras yesterday and its crystal clear the whole focus went on GGI. theres at least two sections where they go to an actual location with stunning mountainous just behind them, but massive green screens are put up to block them mountains out so others can be GGI'd in later..and three or four crew guys on camera, baffled that they are doing it this way..

Jackson spends a lot of time in the extras championing the CGI or going 'we'll just do it with CGI'.
Clearly the move away from the Practical effects that are actually built like in LOTR has something to do with their new backers (MGM/Warner).


Does anyone know does the HFR thing apply to the dvds or blurays of these films? it does look kind of different..(i got the dvds)

Dan_Solo

david75 wrote: »

Jackson spends a lot of time in the extras championing the CGI or going 'we'll just do it with CGI'.
Clearly the move away from the Practical effects that are actually built like in LOTR has something to do with their new backers (MGM/Warner).

Do you think anybody has the balls to say to Jackson "you know what Pete, trolls and dragons you have no choice with, but CGI humans look really really really fake"?

david75

funny you ask...

theres footage of a heads of production meeting where Jackson says he wants Radagast to have a sled pulled by rabbits..he elaborates a little..and theres nothing but horror and shock on all the unit heads faces....yet nobody objects...

this is the same fear of the boss lead to the ruin of the Star wars prequels...

if only anyone had spoken up calling it a terrible idea..

pljudge321

david75 wrote: »

funny you ask...

theres footage of a heads of production meeting where Jackson says he wants Radagast to have a sled pulled by rabbits..he elaborates a little..and theres nothing but horror and shock on all the unit heads faces....yet nobody objects...

this is the same fear of the boss lead to the ruin of the Star wars prequels...

if only anyone had spoken up calling it a terrible idea..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PL4tsezZwTw

Heres the clip

Roar

^^ Pete really was Skinny Pete during pre production wasn't he?

david75

they all think hes joking!!

david75

Roar wrote: »

^^ Pete really was Skinny Pete during pre production wasn't he?

Hes got some severe health issue(wanna say Crohns disease?) if its that, its a miracle he managed all of this, on a personal level..that makes life impossible for anyone unlucky enough to have it

titan18

Just back from seeing it. As bad as I thought it'd be, but it's still somehow better than the first two (being a bit shorter definitely helped).

These films are just going to be regarded as similar to the Star Wars prequels. I'd nearly say they're worse but that's probably doing a disservice to them and how bad The Phantom Menace was. Although, since others have mentioned the score, cinema was playing "Duel of the Fates" before the film started. At least Phantom Menace had that fight and track to redeem it somewhat.

I'm not sure anything in The Hobbit trilogy could be considered a redeeming feature.

Roar

david75 wrote: »

Hes got some severe health issue(wanna say Crohns disease?) if its that, its a miracle he managed all of this, on a personal level..that makes life impossible for anyone unlucky enough to have it

Shooting was delayed at the start of production as he had a perforated ulcer I believe.

eviltimeban

titan18 wrote: »

Just back from seeing it. As bad as I thought it'd be, but it's still somehow better than the first two (being a bit shorter definitely helped).

These films are just going to be regarded as similar to the Star Wars prequels. I'd nearly say they're worse but that's probably doing a disservice to them and how bad The Phantom Menace was. Although, since others have mentioned the score, cinema was playing "Duel of the Fates" before the film started. At least Phantom Menace had that fight and track to redeem it somewhat.

I'm not sure anything in The Hobbit trilogy could be considered a redeeming feature.

Off topic, but TPM isn't as bad as people make out. I much prefer it to the two that followed, mostly because I didn't have to endure Hayden Christiansen and Natalie Portman's awful acting and dialogue, but also because TFM was shot on film and therefore had less green screen / digital effects in it, which the second two were just FULL off.

Plus it had the duel with Darth Maul. That was cool, let's face it.

And Liam Neeson was in it. What's wrong with that?! He was the saving grace of that movie. It at least FELT like a Star Wars movie, unlike II and III which didn't feel like anything.

eddhorse

So saw this last night.

A bit meh. Not sure why the second film was called "Desolation of Smaug" he wasnt desolated completely until the third film. Depends if they mean destruction or loneliness i guess.

The main issue i have with this trilogy is that the Middle Earth world seems small.
Takes no time to catch up with the action ie Gandalf or the Elves just appearing overnight.
In the LOTR trilogy it took us 3 films to get to Mordor.
Was it just conincidental that everything happened nearby.
Also the dramatic music didnt really wow you in the Hobbit trilogy.
Still maybe a 6.5/10 for me for BOTFA.
That might be high for a lot of people but ive watched 85 new films i havent seen before this year and have graded each one. So comparitively it might be higher than most might give it.

Saipanne

eddhorse wrote: »

Not sure why the second film was called "Desolation of Smaug" he wasnt desolated completely until the third film.

What?

Baggy Trousers

Desolation doesn't mean death.

Desolation means a state of complete emptiness or destruction, great unhappiness or loneliness.

The Black Oil

Beginning with general peril, we're thrown into the chaoas right rom the off. To borrow from Shakespeare, all the world's ablaze. This marks the entrance of our hero and Smaug who delivers some levity. This is perhaps the least labourious of the three, if still a bit too long. There are familiar themes, though the dwarf banter is very much cast aside for this outing. The outlook of Richard Armitage's Thorin - possible contender for biggest on screen eyebrows - is clouded. He's drunk on power and riches. There are some nice nods to LOTR and sacrifices that are impactful. Elements of the battles do feel a bit weighed down by the CGI and I've honestly no idea what was going on with Billy Connolly's face. As someone else noted, fairly dull soundtrack, too.

Also,

Mr Anderson...

expectationlost

doesn't the end of this film re-inforce the

eagle

theory!

Dan_Solo

eddhorse wrote: »

A bit meh. Not sure why the second film was called "Desolation of Smaug" he wasnt desolated completely until the third film. Depends if they mean destruction or loneliness i guess.

Those Killing Fields never killed anyone either. :P

eddhorse

Dan_Solo wrote: »

Those Killing Fields never killed anyone either. :P

Touché to you Sir.

OldeCinemaSoz

I liked the BRAVEHEART assembling the troops bit. That MAD YOKE was OUT OF HIS GOOTER.

A nice end to a trilogy.

Frankie5Angels

eddhorse wrote: »

Not sure why the second film was called "Desolation of Smaug" he wasnt desolated completely until the third film.

I think it's in the second film, in the extended version, where they refer to the destruction of Dale (or its ruins) as the 'desolation of Smaug'? One of the dwarves refers to it as such.

I watched this again tonight. Really, really poor. Someone mentioned Star Wars above and I'd have to agree in terms of some of the script writing. Jesus, some of the lines in it were abysmal

"you should have stayed dead".....and when thorin is running up the mountain with the lads, Gandalf reveals "he's taking his best warriors with him", the bit at the between Tauriel and Thranduil

. A lot of the action scenes (Legolas v Bolg especially) were just ridiculous. Tauriel was a waste of time (though I'm a big fan of Evangeline Lily, would choose her over Arwen :pac:) and the love story was pure puke!

A lot of pause for effect in the script too, not just for this film. The one that sticks out for me is Balin in DoS: "That, my lad.................................................................................was a dragon". Gandalf does this a huge amount too, he's completely different to the LOTR Gandalf, not sure what it is.

Baggy Trousers

Baggy Trousers wrote: »

Desolation doesn't mean death.

Desolation means a state of complete emptiness or destruction, great unhappiness or loneliness.

He wasnt destructed, didnt seem empty,unhappy or Lonely

Lets be honest he was quite content but was a little pissed off at the end.

I have not read the books, but one of the main themes in the first movie when they were about to be eaten by trolls was the fact they turn to stone in the sun.

Then in the third movie, they are running around in the sun with not issues what so ever.

Were they trolls ??

Zubeneschamali

The Desolation of Smaug is a place: