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The Hobbit Film Discussion.

Discussion in 'Tilted Entertainment' started by Clockwork Gigolo, Aug 1, 2011.

Page 7 of 8
  1. grumpyolddude

    grumpyolddude Very Tilted

    Location:
    Metro Detroit, Michigan, USA
    I was entertained.
     
    grumpyolddude, Dec 14, 2013
    #121
  2. hamsterball

    hamsterball Seeking New Outlets

    Location:
    Coming soon to a galaxy near you
    I'm looking forward to seeing this!
     
    hamsterball, Dec 14, 2013
    #122
  3. ALISTAIR

    Alistair Eurotrash

    Location:
    Reading, UK
    Saw it this evening.

    Nicely filmed.

    I don't remember the book dragging like this. I'm pretty sure the entire book could be done in one movie instead of 3 (and three looooong ones, at that!).

    Tolkien junkies will probably like it.
     
    Alistair, Dec 15, 2013
    #123
    • Like Like x 1
  4. PlaysWithPixels

    PlaysWithPixels Getting Tilted

    Saw it. Loved it. Qualify as a Tolkien junky.

    One of the people I went with said they included things from LOTR appendices to get it out to 3 movies. I'd say they could have done it in 2 at least, but the money wouldn't be as good.
     
    PlaysWithPixels, Dec 16, 2013
    #124
  5. rogue49

    rogue49 Tech Kung Fu Artist Staff Member

    Location:
    Baltimore/DC
    I liked it.

    Actually, I don't think dividing it into 3 movies is a money grab.
    Because, it allows all the portions to be shown...that might get truncated in a film. (like they didn't skip the trolls or the werebear...as previously films)
    Or visuals and mood to be set...with some transition.
    And finally, I liked that the fleshed out the tale of the Necromancer...it allows more of a backstory with the Lord of the Rings.

    Although, I do believe there is lighter gravity in Middle Earth,
    because people can fall quite far without getting hurt. :rolleyes:
     
    rogue49, Dec 18, 2013
    #125
  6. spindles

    spindles Very Tilted

    Location:
    Sydney, Australia
    Doesn't open here until boxing day. One of the reasons not to live in Oz!
     
    spindles, Dec 19, 2013
    #126
  7. spindles

    spindles Very Tilted

    Location:
    Sydney, Australia
    I enjoyed it but it does bear little resemblance to the book.
     
    spindles, Dec 28, 2013
    #127
  8. Speed_Gibson

    Speed_Gibson Hacking the Gibson

    Location:
    Wolf 359
    At this point waiting for all three films to hit Blu-ray is becoming an easier call for me to make.I did see something on the "Return of the Five(ish) Doctors" special that showed Sylvester McCoy with some type of role in the first film. That perks up my interest considerably more.
     
    Speed_Gibson, Dec 28, 2013
    #128
  9. ASU2003

    ASU2003 Very Tilted

    Location:
    Where ever I roam
    I will probably have to watch them all back to back too. And I would say that if you haven't seen the first two, wait until next year, since the ending of this last one makes you want to know what will happen next.

    It was a good movie, and it has been too many years for me to remember what happened in the book. A book which I read part of in The Shire in New Zealand...
     
    ASU2003, Dec 28, 2013
    #129
  10. Daniel_

    Daniel_ The devil made me do it...

    Location:
    The United Kingdom, naturally
    Took the family (me, wife, and daughter of 13) to see it the other day. As a film it was excellent. As a film of the book it missed the mark, and cut one of my favourite scenes ( the arrival in instalments at Beorn's house).

    As with the first part, I think about 50% of the film came directly from JRRT, and about 75% of the JRRT stuff made it to the screen.

    Most of the editorial I think relates to making the film dark enough to lead in to where we are headed.

    We all liked it a lot.
     
    Daniel_, Dec 29, 2013
    #130
  11. Speed_Gibson

    Speed_Gibson Hacking the Gibson

    Location:
    Wolf 359

    Just watched this and was amused.
     
    Speed_Gibson, Jan 14, 2014
    #131
  12. CinnamonGirl

    CinnamonGirl The Cheat is GROUNDED!

    Location:
    Central Republic of Where-In-The-Hell
    Finally saw the Desolation of Smaug this weekend. I did like it, but I didn't enjoy it as much as the first one. When the Unexpected Journey ended, I was surprised...it didn't feel like two and a half hours had passed. With Smaug, I found myself checking my watch for the last 45 minutes or so.

    Aaaaand, I know she was totally made up and not in the books, but Tauriel kicked all kinds of ass, and I kinda fell in love with her a little bit.
     
    CinnamonGirl, Jan 14, 2014
    #132
    • Like Like x 2
  13. rogue49

    rogue49 Tech Kung Fu Artist Staff Member

    Location:
    Baltimore/DC
    Yep, always wondered about why the eagles couldn't have flown just a bit more... :rolleyes:

    Hell, they could have done it from start to finish even...but I guess then there wouldn't have been a story.
    And Sauron would win, because you wouldn't have found the ring.
     
    rogue49, Jan 14, 2014
    #133
  14. Baraka_Guru

    Baraka_Guru Möderätor Staff Member

    Location:
    Toronto
    I tend not to view them as separate entities but as parts of a whole. I found the way the films were divided to be a bit abrupt/forced. I imagine that taking them in their entirety makes much more sense. (Especially considering it's all one tale, like the Lord of the Rings.)

    I tend not to find most she-elves sexually attractive, but maverick warrior she-elf? Hawt.

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Jan 14, 2014
    Baraka_Guru, Jan 14, 2014
    #134
    • Like Like x 2
  15. Speed_Gibson

    Speed_Gibson Hacking the Gibson

    Location:
    Wolf 359
    Admittedly I have no idea what they did in the films, but taking a short book like The Hobbit and turning it into what will probably be a 9 hour film sounds like a bit of a stretch.
     
    Speed_Gibson, Jul 30, 2014
    #135
  16. Baraka_Guru

    Baraka_Guru Möderätor Staff Member

    Location:
    Toronto
    I don't know. You seem to be stuck in the old film and television paradigm, which was constrained by undeveloped technology, small budgets, and uninterested audiences. Things have changed.

    The Hobbit is 95,356 words, which is about twice as long as The Great Gatsby. Now, you may recall a recent film adaptation of that latter book. That film ran 142 minutes. It's not the first adaptation. There are several others, with running times ranging between 80 and 146 minutes. This, for a book weighing in at around 50,000 words.

    So with some quick math based on longstanding adaptation standards, this would allow at least 160 minutes and up to nearly 300 minutes if we do a simple "The Hobbit is twice as long as The Great Gatsby so let's allow for a film adaptation twice as long." So even with that, we're looking at as much as 5 hours of film. Now consider that The Hobbit audiobooks can run 11 hours.

    Is it so farfetched to consider a film adaptation of a 95,000-word book running more than 5 hours? The first two instalments of Peter Jackson's Hobbit series were 169 minutes and 161 minutes, respectively. Let's say the last one will be 170 minutes. We're looking at 500 minutes, or just over 8 hours of film. Comparatively, the audiobook would be over a third longer (and there aren't even any pictures!).

    Now consider Game of Thrones. That show has 10 episodes a season, with each episode being over 50 minutes each. This puts the seasons between 500 and 600 minutes each. The show is based on the Song of Ice and Fire fantasy series by George R. R. Martin, which is supposed to be seven books long when it's done. The show's producers want to have eight seasons. Mind you, these books are big, but even if the seven books weigh in at 8,000 pages, we're probably looking at around 2 million words. If the show runs eight seasons (and range between 500 and 600 minutes each), we're probably looking at over 4,200 minutes of television, or nearly 70 hours. That's about 28,600 words for each hour.

    Let's compare:
    • The Hobbit: 11,919 words per hour
    • The Great Gatsby: between 20,576 and 37,500 words per hour
    • Game of Thrones: 28,600 words per hour
    So, yes, The Hobbit does have a low word-to-hour "efficiency," but consider these three points:
    1. The Great Gatsby is mimetic fiction, not epic fantasy. The former type of fiction tends not to put nearly as much emphasis on setting, action, description, etc., usually opting for nuances of character and meaning, which can be difficult to film, especially at length.
    2. Game of Thrones, compared to the novels in the Song of Ice and Fire series, is highly abridged/condensed. Without reading the books, one would have no idea what has been left out of the show. Compared to the book, the show is often bordering on frenetic in pacing. Some of the same happened with Peter Jackson's adaptation of The Lord of the Rings.
    3. The Hobbit film series goes beyond the "novel proper," expanding into such aspects as "Gandalf's investigation at Dol Guldur, and the pursuit of Azog and Bolg, who seek vengeance against Thorin and his ancestors." (Not to mention the stuff that appears in the film that was created anew.)
    So, in summary, I suggest that The Hobbit is not, in fact, "too long for its own good." Rather, it may be too long for audiences who aren't used to this format of feature films. If you ask me, the film lengths for The Hobbit are highly welcome, as I am a fantasy geek who'd like to see a longer adventure unfold than what would normally be permissible in a film.

    The bottom line is this: Who is the audience, and what do they want?

    For The Hobbit, I, for example, belong to the audience, and I want my 8 hours' worth, damn it!

    /overthinkingit
    /decompressingafteralongday
    /howismymath?
     
    Last edited: Jul 31, 2014
    Baraka_Guru, Jul 30, 2014
    #136
    • Like Like x 3
  17. Fangirl

    Fangirl Very Tilted

    Location:
    Arizona
    Baraka_Guru...your words are deliciously enchanting. <sigh>
     
    Fangirl, Jul 31, 2014
    #137
    • Like Like x 1
  18. Speed_Gibson

    Speed_Gibson Hacking the Gibson

    Location:
    Wolf 359
    On that note, I would have preferred more screen time for the Lord of the Rings if they had included Tom Bombadil and the sacking of the Shire properly shown. Portraying it as just "this could happen" irritated me much like Data's memories conveniently downloaded and relocated to B4 rather than him dying a hero's death and just being gone. I have nothing against him taking the Captain's seat for the Enterprise E (per the recent novels), but it did cheapen that more than a bit.

    I shall take your word for the Game of Throne thing. My knowledge is limited to the fact that the author writes them on DOS system using a word processor not far beyond a typewriter, everyone and anyone is expendable, and there are more siblings/blood relatives getting it on than at a hillbilly family reunion in "stereotype junction", West Virginia. That and from what I saw in the first tv episode the market for women's underclothes looks to be non-exsistent at best.

    The Great Gatsby lost me instantly when I saw that Leonardo fellow on the movie poster. His two best roles were when he died in the water in Titanic (at least an hour later than he should have) and a tossup between Shutter Island or Catch Me If You Can.

    I cannot weigh in on either side of that one until I have seen at least one of the films, preferably all three. I suspect that will be when they all hit Netflix streaming.
     
    Last edited: Jul 31, 2014
    Speed_Gibson, Jul 31, 2014
    #138
    • Like Like x 1
  19. rogue49

    rogue49 Tech Kung Fu Artist Staff Member

    Location:
    Baltimore/DC
    Saw a preview for Hobbit 3 - Battle of the Five Armies.

    Looked cool.

    It will definitely be a rousing battle.
    Likely one not seen on screen before.

    Come on FIVE armies...one of which being Orcs, Trolls & Goblins...totally evil and fun to chop up. (...because they want to chop us up and put us in a soup.)
    Better than battling droids.
     
    rogue49, Aug 7, 2014
    #139
  20. Speed_Gibson

    Speed_Gibson Hacking the Gibson

    Location:
    Wolf 359
    Saw a blurb about the final movie and I have to wonder - How do you get an epic five army battle out of a book where a small group of travelers goes to a remote town and battles one dragon with minimal outside help?
    When this final one hits Blu-Ray (and then probably longer after that) I am going to have to see these films to find out how they are filling out the storyline. Peter Jackson did have access to everything Tolkien wrote after this book to work with, but I still have a hard time picturing a massive battle scene or how that possibly develops in what is a relatively peaceful era in Middle Earth.
    --- merged: Dec 2, 2014 at 5:05 PM ---
    My favourite internet image with the Ring is where the 11th doctor takes the ring in the T.A.R.D.I.S., flies to the mountain, and just drops it in. Sounds very much like The Doctor, and yes it would make a terrible movie or TV show with a completely unsatisfying ending.
    --- merged: Dec 2, 2014 at 5:12 PM ---
    This looks promising. Casting the curent Dr. Watson as Bilbo was a good move just from what I have seen of his acting elsewhere.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 9, 2014
    Speed_Gibson, Dec 2, 2014
    #140
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