Viewer's Comments - Spoilers Welcome, be Warned

Where it's not Ranger related. Rankin Bass, Bakshi, PJ, or independent. If it's not specifically ranger related, let's talk movies (or TV)!

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appalachianranger
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Re: Viewer's Comments - Spoilers Welcome, be Warned

Post by appalachianranger »

P.S. Thorin, surrounded by flames, Orcrist in one hand, oaken-shield in the other, with a look of dead-set determination on his face as he charged his far-stronger enemy was freakin' BADASS. Of course, the fact that he then immediately gets his dwarven posterior handed to him was a bit disappointing, and where did the oak-branch shield come from at that point, anyway? I didn't see him carrying it the rest of the journey until thin, so I didn't get how he suddenly had it, as if he had been carrying it since the first time he used it against Azog. Oh well, I digress. That was still a wicked cool moment.[/quote]


I agree, and I have to say that I like how Bilbo's relationship with Thorin changed in this film as well. Having grown up with only the Rankin/Bass Hobbit to go on, I was always annoyed at what a whining brat Bilbo was in that production. Seeing him run up and stand over the broken body of his dwarven leader, defying one of the strongest orcs alive was incredible!

...That having been said, how in the world did Thorin survive said encounter?!
Our dear friend Peter was kind enough to give us the sound of his bones cracking as the white warg used him as a bearded chew toy, but all it takes is Gandalf doing jazz hands over him and he's revived?!
I am thoroughly confused over this... But then again, I'm not sure I understand the rivalry between Thorin and Azog either. They never met in the books, as far as we know, so why are they archenemies here? I am concerned that this plot point may serve to downplay the role of Smaug the Golden, to whom the title of arch villain truly belongs in this story.
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caedmon
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Re: Viewer's Comments - Spoilers Welcome, be Warned

Post by caedmon »

appalachianranger wrote:I am thoroughly confused over this... But then again, I'm not sure I understand the rivalry between Thorin and Azog either. They never met in the books, as far as we know, so why are they archenemies here?
We they were both at Azanulbizar, but they changed the roles. It was Dain who dealt the deathblow to Azog, not Thorin, and Azog was beheaded not behanded. I didn't nearly have the same trouble with this as I expected.
-Jack Horner

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Fallsofdragon
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Re: Viewer's Comments - Spoilers Welcome, be Warned

Post by Fallsofdragon »

Loved The Movie ... hated the 20 minutes of previews of junk movies before
the kitty roared ... LOL ... the lion was mgm (meow-grunt-meow) ... don't scare the kiddies :P
Image The Queen of Light took her bow and then she turned to go
The Prince of Peace embraced the gloom and walked the night alone
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Peter Remling
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Re: Viewer's Comments - Spoilers Welcome, be Warned

Post by Peter Remling »

Just saw the movie today. Good, bad and some serious digression, all in all not bad. I do hate when then do some reverse imaging. One scene showed Gandalf with the sword belted on his right side. Did the same thing in TT twice, once with Aragorn and Legolas outside Fangorn and again with two Gondorian Rangers flanking (guarding) Frodo.


Yeah I count bullets too !! :)
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Eric C
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Re: Viewer's Comments - Spoilers Welcome, be Warned

Post by Eric C »

Peter Remling wrote:Yeah I count bullets too !! :)
What? You don't like 20 shot six-shooters? :P :lol:
Ichthean Forge (pronounced Ick thee an). Maker of knives, and primitive camping gear.
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appalachianranger
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Re: Viewer's Comments - Spoilers Welcome, be Warned

Post by appalachianranger »

Is it just me, or do the dwarven bards have a lot of editing to do?
I mean, the battle at the east gate of Moria is starting to sound like a Monty Python scene!
Bard: DAIN SLAYED AZOG, RALLYING THE DWARVES TO WIN THE BATTLE!! :mrgreen:
PJ: No, actually it was Thorin...
Bard: REALLY? :o OKAY; THORIN SLAYED AZOG AND RALLIED THE DWARVES TO WIN THE BATTLE!!! :D
PJ: No, actually he just wounded him...
Bard: UMM...OK. THORIN MORTALLY WOUNDED AZOG AND RALLIED THE DWARVES TO WIN THE BATTLE!
PJ: Actually, Azog got better...
Bard: ...YOU'RE SERIOUS? :?
PJ: Yeah, and he goes on to hunt them across Middle Earth!
Bard: ...OK,THORIN TEMPORARILY INCONVENIENCED AZOG AND RALLIED THE DWARVES TO- :oops:

See what I mean? It just doesn't add up quite the same way...
caedmon wrote:
appalachianranger wrote:I am thoroughly confused over this... But then again, I'm not sure I understand the rivalry between Thorin and Azog either. They never met in the books, as far as we know, so why are they archenemies here?
We they were both at Azanulbizar, but they changed the roles. It was Dain who dealt the deathblow to Azog, not Thorin, and Azog was beheaded not behanded. I didn't nearly have the same trouble with this as I expected.
"As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend." -King Solomon
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Re: Viewer's Comments - Spoilers Welcome, be Warned

Post by Jon »

Saw it yesterday, and yea... good, bad.

From a film-maker's point of view, I understand the need for a substantial villain for that first film. There are changes they had to make to make the story work, just as they did with the Lord of The Rings. I think they'll just take some getting used to.

Otherwise, loved Riddles in the Dark, and Martin Freeman as Bilbo worked splendidly. I would have liked to see more of Rivendell and their time there, but it would have slowed down the film a lot. I really wasn't a big fan of the warg/orc chase just before Rivendell either, but hey.

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Post by Manveruon »

I just saw it for the third time last night. Everyone else in Denver was watching the Broncos lose to the Ravens, so I feel my night's activity was far better spent, haha. This is, however, the first time I've seen a movie 3 times in theaters in a very loooooong time. Still, just shows how much I loved it.

Thing is, it did have some problems, but overall they didn't bother me that much I suppose. I think looking back that my main problems are still the character of Azog in general, and the over-the-top portrayal of Radagast. If they had just toned Radagast the heck down a little (and taken the bird-poo out of his hair) I would have been fairly happy with his role, despite it being a departure from the source material. And as for Azog... well, he was just kind of the weak point of the whole film for me. Stepping back and looking at it, his character just doesn't work for me. What they could have done? They could have had Azog beheaded by Dain just like he should have been, and then had his son, Bolg, pursuing the dwarves. He would have had plenty of motive to hate dwarves, they having killed his father - and they even could have had Thorin be the one to behead him instead of Dain, if they really needed his grudge to be personal. This would have given them the sustained villain they were looking for, and it also would have fit a lot better with Tolkien's chronology. Plus, it might have saved us from the stupid symmetrically-scarred, weirdly-prosthetic-ed, bad CGI Prometheus alien we got. But then again, maybe not.

Of course, I have about a million smaller gripes (like the fact that Goblins and Orcs are supposed to be the same bloody thing, and I have no idea why Thorin's face wasn't completely caved in my Azog's final mace-blow), but I can let them slide. The thing is, I had tons of gripes like these with the Lord of the Rings trilogy too, but I still absolutely loved those films. My least favorite of the three was probably Return of the King, since I think there were more screw-ups in that than the other two. And in the end, I have to say, I have fewer complaints about the Hobbit than I did with RotK, so once again, I'm very pleased. I freaking love this movie.
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Re: Viewer's Comments - Spoilers Welcome, be Warned

Post by caedmon »

Manveruon wrote: They could have had Azog beheaded by Dain just like he should have been, and then had his son, Bolg, pursuing the dwarves. He would have had plenty of motive to hate dwarves, they having killed his father - and they even could have had Thorin be the one to behead him instead of Dain, if they really needed his grudge to be personal. This would have given them the sustained villain they were looking for, and it also would have fit a lot better with Tolkien's chronology. Plus, it might have saved us from the stupid symmetrically-scarred, weirdly-prosthetic-ed, bad CGI Prometheus alien we got. But then again, maybe not.
No, because this keeps us from having the big... "The Necomancer brought Azog back to life!" Reveal that we'll get in the end of Ep. 2 or beginning of Ep. 3.
-Jack Horner

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Yavion
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Re: Viewer's Comments - Spoilers Welcome, be Warned

Post by Yavion »

I had low expectations and was still disappointed.

It seemed that, every time I really started to get into the story, they did something to break the pace and pull me out of it.

My main complaints are that Freeman was tinted green the whole way though. The way that all the people in the show Sanctuary are. I blame green-screen and poor post color correction.
The lack of singing.
The weird things they chose to change.
The fact that PJ Needs an editor that can stand up to him. This movie did not need to be as long as it was and still have all the important bits in it.
I suspect that the special addition will be 4 hours long. :Tongue:
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Re: Viewer's Comments - Spoilers Welcome, be Warned

Post by armchair »

I finally got around to seeing it. I liked it, but I disliked the way Jackson changed the storyline (Radagast, Azog, Thorin hates elves, the undwarvish dwarves), and of course, the abrupt stop at the end. One change that I did like was the dwarves being armed. It bothered me, even as a kid, that Tolkien had the party depart unarmed into known danger; I mean, most of these were veterans of the Dwarf and Orc War.

I liked the oaken shield itself. I'd always had a different mental image of that, but Jackson shows Thorin holding it rather like a tonfa. I found myself hoping to see some tonfa-like flips of the oaken shield. What can I say, I like tonfa.

In alll, I liked more of it than not, and I'll watch the next one when it comes out, and complain about the same things.
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