The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

[simnettpratt]

You can stand to watch the movies only if you accept the fact that they're movies, and they change a bunch of stuff just to be different than the books. That said, some things they nail. Gandalf is nailed. Moria is nailed. Boromir is nailed. Aerosmith's little daughter is super hot. I didn't like Legolas at first but had warmed to him by the end. Just accept the fact that they make reference to the books, but they are standalone movies.
Tolkein is one of the best, most beautiful, and most powerful authors ever, and his books deserve a place beside the classics. And yes, he smoked pipes.

 

[brian64]

While it is true that some liberties were taken with the text in making the LOTR films, some of the material was gleaned from the appendices at the end of The Return of the King, where Tolkien established some of the back history. When this is taken into account, I think you'll find the films did not stray from the text as much as one might think.
One episode from the books that I do wish they had included in the films was Tom Bombadil's story, which is actually much more significant than the casual fan/reader may realize, and should not have been left out imo.

 

[megaguitarlama]

The film is great I saw it on Thursday, it's wonderful! Great Vauen pipes again in it and references to the Old Toby Pipe Weed which you can get at Just For Him

 

[mrgunnar177]

I didn't like the movie. I guess I had too high expectations.

 

[bentmike]

I liked the movie. Of course a movie made from a book is never as good but it did its job providing a fun family night out. My problem is I have preconceived notion of what the characters look like so it's always hard to watch the story unfold on the big screen.
As noted above Gandalf was spot on and I thought the Smeagol character was very well done and his lair in the bowels of the moutain.

 

[phred]

It took me a while to realize that storytelling works differently in movies than it does in books - so the experience is always going to be different, no matter how closely the director follows the source material, or how closely the author follows the screenplay.
Now if I could just do something about all the people who think that they're in their living rooms, or that MST3K style commenting is hysterical no matter what... :roll:
I'm definitely looking forward to seeing The Hobbit this weekend - my churchwarden should arrive just in time. I've still got the boxed set of novels that my parents gave me as a kid, I've seen the Rankin-Bass version of "The Hobbit" multiple times, the Ralph Bakshi "Lord of the Rings" ditto, and I own the extended cut of all three Peter Jackson LOTR movies. Yeah, I'm that guy...

 

[juvat270]

I saw it monday night in IMAX 3D with the high frame rate. I thought it was great! The high framerate combined with the 3D really is something to see, the clarity of the picture was amazing. The movie itself was great, its been years since I've read the book, but even if you have never read it, the movie gives you a nice introduction to the story as far as who and what is happening and why. The movie was 3 hours long and it went by in the blink of an eye (a sign of good movie imho).
I can't wait for the next two!

 

[phred]

It took me a while to realize that storytelling works differently in movies than it does in books - so the experience is always going to be different, no matter how closely the director follows the source material, or how closely the author follows the screenplay.
Now if I could just do something about all the people who think that they're in their living rooms, or that MST3K style commenting is hysterical no matter what... :roll:
I'm definitely looking forward to seeing The Hobbit this weekend - my churchwarden should arrive just in time. I've still got the boxed set of novels that my parents gave me as a kid, I've seen the Rankin-Bass version of "The Hobbit" multiple times, the Ralph Bakshi "Lord of the Rings" ditto, and I own the extended cut of all three Peter Jackson LOTR movies. Yeah, I'm that guy...

 

[dpkrause]

I really enjoyed this movie, and I admit I really want a churchwarden pipe now. Who makes a good quality churchwarden?

 

[alancairns]

Good grief! I saw the movie on Saturday. 3 hours and Bilbo hasn't even met Beorn, let alone come to Mirkwood or the Lonely Mountain! There were numerous scenes which aren't in the book, but I suppose you need to do that if you're spinning a 200 page book out to a trilogy.
Alan

 

[juvat270]

There were numerous scenes which aren't in the book, but I suppose you need to do that if you're spinning a 200 page book out to a trilogy.

He took a lot of material from the appendices that Tolkien wrote which expanded his original story. It was originally supposed to be one film. But, it was decided that with the wealth of material available that added to the original story,he wanted to include that stuff as well so it became three.

 

[mluyckx]

I took a bunch of 13 year old boys to go see it last weekend. As a huge Tolkien fan I have to say it was really well made. Yes, there's a lot of stuff that's not in the book, but it does help shed some more light on the background of the Ring, the Nazghul, Sauron, etc... which can be really helpful for those who have never read the Silmarillion.
In the words of the 13 year old grandson "It was way cool, less boring and better than the last Lord of the Rings".
The fact that is has way more pipesmoking in it than any of the LoTR's is just a nice bonus for us. There was one pipe in particular that caught my eye multiple times. I'll hunt down a picture of it.
I highly recommend it
PS: If you've been watching the many trailers out there, I think some of them were made before Jackson decided to cut the movie in three parts because I've seen some scenes in the trailers that are not in this movie (yet). Just so you're aware.

 

[lankfordjl]

@ alancairns and juvat270
Exactly! I thought the movie was great, even though I think it would have been better as two movies than three. But, I'm a Tolkien fan, so the more the merrier.

 

[brian64]

Glad to hear all the interesting feedback. I haven't had the chance to see it yet, but plan to. I almost never go to the theater anymore, but this will be one of the rare exceptions.

 

[juvat270]

PS: If you've been watching the many trailers out there, I think some of them were made before Jackson decided to cut the movie in three parts because I've seen some scenes in the trailers that are not in this movie (yet). Just so you're aware.

Thats actually pretty normal for a lot of movies (still annoying though). Sometimes they are scenes that were cut and sometimes they are scenes filmed specifically for the trailer and never intended to be used on the movie. I really wish they would stop doing that though. It's annoying to see a really cool clip in a trailer and then find that its not in the film.
Having said that, you might be right concerning the three parts. I read that the first and second film wrapped on the same day, so they may have included scenes that will appear in the second movie in the first movies trailer.

 

[bigboi]

I really enjoyed the movie....I like the back story that was given from the Silmarillion. Also, did you fellows know that JRRT was a great friend of CS Lewis, they were such great friends that Treebeard from the books was actually written to take after CS Lewis..He too was an avid Pipe Smoker!

 

[pipeinhand]

We all went and saw it in iMAX. Loved it, as I am a huge Tolkien fan from way back.

 

[rondyr]

Took the kiddo to see it last night, and she loved it! I enjoyed it as well. I'm still not sold on the guy playing Bilbo, but the Dwarves were awesome. And there was hardly a scene in the movie where one of the characters was not smoking a pipe.
And if you're anything like my daughter, you're not too happy about not seeing part 2 until 13 December 2013 and part 3 in July 2014. She's going to be 14 years old before she finally watches the final part. That's crazy.
I like the joke going around about it: LoTR - 3 books, 3 movies. The Hobbit: 200 pages, 3 movies. Why? MONEY! (often shown with a picture of a grinning Peter Jackson)
Also, I could have done without the piles and streams of bird sh*t on Radagast's head and face.

 

[lordofthepiperings]

I plan on seeing it this weekend. Last weekend was too busy with getting ready for Christmas. Surprised some are saying they're not sold on the actor playing Bilbo. Martin Freeman has done wonderful acting as Watson in the BBC series Sherlock and has been in a few other movies as well. His acting is what I'm most excited to see actually. I hope the character developement is as good as it was in the LOTR triology. That's what made that movie series. How much those characters learned and grew and changed.

 

[vespertillio]

Saw this last night. Regular 2D w/o the high frame rate. Gotta say it was much better than I expected. It didn't seem to drag at all. Some of the escapes were a little far fetched but it was still fun. I went with my son and he loved it as well. Bring on the next two.