Don't do it! This is just like "Star Wars:" first three are good (second is the best, third is the worst), prequels are awful, doing everything the other three did right only wrong.
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 13 December 2013 18:45 (ten years ago) link
xp i think as a metal fan you'd like 'the two towers', it's str8 doom
― christmas candy bar (al leong), Friday, 13 December 2013 18:45 (ten years ago) link
i think what i took away from the first hobbit was that it looks great, ian mckellen is A+ once again, martin freeman is great, but i forget everything else about it.
― christmas candy bar (al leong), Friday, 13 December 2013 18:46 (ten years ago) link
Oh come now, Unexpected Journey is fucking leagues better than Phantom Menace.
― I wish to incorporate disco into my small business (chap), Friday, 13 December 2013 18:47 (ten years ago) link
If by that you mean leagues longer ...
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 13 December 2013 18:48 (ten years ago) link
All I know is that I never want to see either ever again.
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 13 December 2013 18:49 (ten years ago) link
Well I'm a bit of a UJ apologist, for reasons I'm sure I've gone into on this thread.
― I wish to incorporate disco into my small business (chap), Friday, 13 December 2013 18:50 (ten years ago) link
i think as a metal fan you'd like 'the two towers', it's str8 doom
it was always my favorite book of the series, which was why there was no way I was going to see it - I have no desire at all to see Gollum realized as a CGI character, he was a super-important figure in my imagination as a child
― combination hair (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Friday, 13 December 2013 18:50 (ten years ago) link
The first LOTR movie gets everything right, particularly the sense of exploration, of seeing sights like the Argonath for the first time. It also perfectly captures my favourite section of the book, the cat-and-mouse game with the Nazgul on the outskirts of the Shire, when the Nazgul are still scary.
― jmm, Friday, 13 December 2013 19:00 (ten years ago) link
Was going to say (and maybe have said?), a couple of years ago I rewatched the LOTR films, and as I commented to a friend, wow, fans really dodged a bullet. They could have been utterly terrible, but instead the acting, effects, direction - everything was absolutely just right. Didn't even need to impose any caveats. "The Hobbit" - everything was terrible, most mysteriously the effects and sets, which you'd think would have been the only thing to improve in the interim, but no, somehow even those aspects were shittier. Same with "Star Wars," once again. Sort of perfected the approach and effects in the first one, but now, years later, we finally have the technology to do it worse, the way we always envisioned it!
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 13 December 2013 19:04 (ten years ago) link
i think in 'the hobbit' what i noticed was the action scenes were slicker but also a bit too close to 'yoda bouncing off the walls with a lightsaber' for me.
― christmas candy bar (al leong), Friday, 13 December 2013 19:08 (ten years ago) link
plus as much as LOTR is an outsized epic, operating on a canvas 10x larger than 'the hobbit', it also has what seems to be a smaller core of characters we're following. we meet a few more along the way and there are background characters we get to know just a bit but not as many as 'the hobbit'. i mean there's what, like 15 dwarves and a wizard and a hobbit and another two wizards and a "necromancer" and elves and shit plus more.
― christmas candy bar (al leong), Friday, 13 December 2013 19:12 (ten years ago) link
Much as I enjoyed the film I have to admit the goblin chase scene was pretty much irredeemable.
― I wish to incorporate disco into my small business (chap), Friday, 13 December 2013 19:25 (ten years ago) link
The fights in Return of the King were over-slick at times too, e.g. Legolas taking down the olyphaunt and the undead army coming in to effortlessly mop up with no suffering or sacrifice.
The action scenes in Fellowship were tense by comparison, with the physical layout of the terrain and the characters' locations being actually important.
― jmm, Friday, 13 December 2013 19:34 (ten years ago) link
Fellowship is my favourite. The Moria sequence is the most exciting part of all three films.
Gotta say I really enjoyed Bloomps taking down the elephant hardcore though.
― I wish to incorporate disco into my small business (chap), Friday, 13 December 2013 19:41 (ten years ago) link
Saw this last night. Better than the first Hobbit, but still very long and bloated. Smaug was pretty cool.
― it's going to be a http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1D5PtyrewSs (latebloomer), Friday, 13 December 2013 19:43 (ten years ago) link
"Return of the King," on rewatching, was such a clear precursor of "The Hobbit." Silly focus on head orc villain, inferior action sequences to what came in the other movies, refusal to trim extraneous stuff ...
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 13 December 2013 19:45 (ten years ago) link
i think w/ROTK the source material was dope enough so that it didn't get bogged down w/jacksonisms, unlike this trilogy where he's making shit up right? and therefore we're kinda more trapped in his NZ hobbit mind.
― christmas candy bar (al leong), Friday, 13 December 2013 19:48 (ten years ago) link
Yeah^ there's so much goddamn padding in these movies it's ridiculous
― it's going to be a http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1D5PtyrewSs (latebloomer), Friday, 13 December 2013 19:49 (ten years ago) link
blowing this out into 3 epic movies was never a good idea. I haven't seen the new one yet but I'm still puzzling over what the heck is going to happen in the final installment.
― Ornate Coleman (Moodles), Friday, 13 December 2013 19:52 (ten years ago) link
battle of five armies will turn into the war of five armies
― christmas candy bar (al leong), Friday, 13 December 2013 19:52 (ten years ago) link
Intrigued that the most made up thing in this one, the female elf warrior, is apparently one of the stronger aspects of the film, though the Times review complained she was wasted in a by the books (if not by *the* book) love story.
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 13 December 2013 19:53 (ten years ago) link
LOTR has become my go-to pre-Thanksgsiving or pre-noche buena dinner for ears.
― the objections to Drake from non-REAL HIPHOP people (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 13 December 2013 19:57 (ten years ago) link
I didn't really get what the point of her character was, other than to break up Tolkien's unrelenting sausage fest
― it's going to be a http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1D5PtyrewSs (latebloomer), Friday, 13 December 2013 19:58 (ten years ago) link
These films are all about "what's the point?"
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 13 December 2013 20:01 (ten years ago) link
True, true
― it's going to be a http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1D5PtyrewSs (latebloomer), Friday, 13 December 2013 20:03 (ten years ago) link
I'll admit that Smaug was kind of worth it. He looked great.
― it's going to be a http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1D5PtyrewSs (latebloomer), Friday, 13 December 2013 20:05 (ten years ago) link
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, December 13, 2013 2:53 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
u do know this whole thing is made up right
― lollercoaster of rove (s.clover), Friday, 13 December 2013 22:12 (ten years ago) link
I thought it was all based on that Zeppelin song, which I thought was itself ripped off from a 200 year old folk tale?
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 13 December 2013 22:31 (ten years ago) link
Tolkien listened to nothing but Zeppelin while writing the Hobbit back in the 30's
― it's going to be a http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1D5PtyrewSs (latebloomer), Friday, 13 December 2013 22:41 (ten years ago) link
the action scenes were slicker but also a bit too close to 'yoda bouncing off the walls with a lightsaber' for me
There's more of this kind of thing in Smaug, like the barrel chase scene which is filled with impossible movement by the characters. I enjoyed wallowing in it though, and, to me, this one looked a lot better than UJ did. Martin Freeman's really good, but not enough of the focus is on him - too many characters, dammit.
― DavidM, Saturday, 14 December 2013 00:33 (ten years ago) link
I rewatched the LOTR films, and as I commented to a friend, wow, fans really dodged a bullet. They could have been utterly terrible, but instead the acting, effects, direction - everything was absolutely just right. Didn't even need to impose any caveats
Most of the acting is about school-play standard. Bloom, elrond, galadriel appallingly cast/performed, everything after rohan a butchered mess that misses any grace or gravitas from the book but hey! adds werewolves! paths of the dead a disney ride intro. Elves all just camp chancers afaict. Any alteration from story/script from jackson and mrs clangs across the ears and the flow.
And he got it far, far more right than he has even tried to do here.
Imagine if lucas hadnt prequelled his own work, but idk say blade runner or w/e. Jackson is a fraud who should prob be up on charges of some sort.
― #YOLTMB (darraghmac), Saturday, 14 December 2013 01:01 (ten years ago) link
nah I disagree, and not because Ian McKellen understands how to treat the material. Legolas is a boring role and so is Aragorn; the difference is that Viggo Mortensen makes Aragorn into the only watchable boring superhero in franchise film.
― the objections to Drake from non-REAL HIPHOP people (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 14 December 2013 01:05 (ten years ago) link
whether you agree with any of it or not, john dolan's epic slam of jackson's LOTR is a pretty entertaining read:
http://www.exile.ru/articles/detail.php?ARTICLE_ID=7168
― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Saturday, 14 December 2013 01:08 (ten years ago) link
the real dodged bullet was stuart townsend.
― christmas candy bar (al leong), Saturday, 14 December 2013 01:08 (ten years ago) link
McKellen, Lee predictably great. Frodo, aragorn, sam, theoden all good. Gollum well negotiated. Oy vey the rest.
― #YOLTMB (darraghmac), Saturday, 14 December 2013 01:12 (ten years ago) link
reading that dolan article is a blast, for sure, but agreeing with his perspective really requires seeing those books as sacrosanct. no way in hell was Lee bad casting for Saruman.
― papa smango (fadanuf4erybody), Saturday, 14 December 2013 01:21 (ten years ago) link
Gollum's definitely gonna show up in the next movie, right? Vengefully emerging from a cave or something. He's too important as a face of the franchise.
― jmm, Saturday, 14 December 2013 01:23 (ten years ago) link
Cheers jd that was a v satisfying read (tho yeah i didnt agree with all of it by any means)- the rage/offence taken is about right tho.
― #YOLTMB (darraghmac), Saturday, 14 December 2013 01:30 (ten years ago) link
i believe gollum narrates the second film to baby frodo (now his godson) and the third one is just three hours of merry and pippin dancing
― my whole family is catholic so look at the pickle i'm in (zachlyon), Saturday, 14 December 2013 01:40 (ten years ago) link
Gollum leaves the caves, changes his walk, starts talking normally, is faramir, crowds minds blown, gandalf drops pitcher of ale on floor, everyone from new zealand in one last crane shot, fin
― #YOLTMB (darraghmac), Saturday, 14 December 2013 01:45 (ten years ago) link
― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Friday, December 13, 2013 8:08 PM (12 minutes ago) Bookmark
dolan's cool
― Hungry4Ass, Saturday, 14 December 2013 01:45 (ten years ago) link
Tolkien's generation was so far superior to us that even now we feel it, and hate them for it.
<3
― jmm, Saturday, 14 December 2013 02:08 (ten years ago) link
He might be the only person ever to openly, gleefully diss Christopher Lee.
― Simon H., Saturday, 14 December 2013 02:47 (ten years ago) link
Only to praise "fine actor" Sean Bean a few graphs later.
― Simon H., Saturday, 14 December 2013 02:48 (ten years ago) link
yo that guy hates on Christopher Lee so fuck him forever
― combination hair (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Saturday, 14 December 2013 03:07 (ten years ago) link
Real talk
― Ayn Rand Akbar (Shakey Mo Collier), Saturday, 14 December 2013 03:30 (ten years ago) link
Truth but cmon guys focus PETER JACKSON
― #YOLTMB (darraghmac), Saturday, 14 December 2013 12:08 (ten years ago) link
holy shit this might be the on the moniest thing i ever read
― wee knights of the round table (Noodle Vague), Saturday, 14 December 2013 12:39 (ten years ago) link
At the focal point of all this kitsch is the actor Jackson offers us as Frodo: an epicene waif who looks creepily like Winona Ryder in Little Women. His one schtick is looking troubled, opening his huge, empty eyes to an extent seen only in the heroines of Japanese animation.
laughed so hard my neighbor upstairs pounded on floor
― the objections to Drake from non-REAL HIPHOP people (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 14 December 2013 12:43 (ten years ago) link