The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies Grade/Discuss (Spoilers)

After fifteen years in the making, six films and two epic journeys across Middle Earth, the Hobbit Trilogy comes to an end next week.

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So yes, anyway, I'm seeing it next Friday at a 2D showing and must admit, although DoS was good and I lost a bit of interest in this, I can't actually wait to see this in the cinema now.

 

Re: The Hobbit: The Battle of Five The Armies Grade/Discuss (Spoliers)

Thread title needs fixing...

 

Cheers. What was the second one?

 

I absolutely loved this movie! What a fitting, beautiful, and thrilling end to a wonderful six film saga. I can't wait for the Extended Edition!

(note: I have not actually seen it yet... but I already have my opinion set!)

 

The Brussels main theater is doing a trilogy marathon on Tuesday night leading up to the midnight premiere of The Battle of the Five Armies. My lack of disappointment in not going to it (because I would have have work three hours after the final film ended) is a sad sign of my waning enthusiasm for trilogy. When The Two Towers came out, I saw the midnight showing, flew home from college and saw it again in my hometown. Yet, this time around...*shrug*

I'll certainly see it and probably twice, but my excitement just isn't the same.

 

I'm upto my eyeballs in assignment work right now and would have watched the first two films before Friday but doubt I'll have the time.

I did download the soundtrack earlier and it's rather good (as usual) and the song for the closing credits is exceptionally good. It's very apt for ending not just the trilogy but the whole Middle Earth Saga.

 

Just got back from the midnight screening.

Regrettably, this is filled with just as much extraneous material as the other two. I checked out about the time Thorin and his troupe made an assault atop their mountain goats. The battle just kept going and I just stopped caring. Nor did I care a jot for that insufferable Alfred character. Why is this character on screen sucking up screen time?

No deaths resonated with me. The entire movie has the vibe of an extended video game cut-scene, what with the irking 48fps.

So, yes, more of the same... good enough eye candy but little vested interest in the characters. The biggest highlight for me was the confrontation with Sauron.

This final film proves - beyond a shadow of a doubt - that a pair of movies telling the story of The Hobbit would have been a far superior product.

** out of ****

 

You're joking, right? Did you actually see it somewhere?

 

It did open today in Finland, probably in other countries too.

Just came back from seeing it couple of hours ago. (so keep away from this thread if you cant see it yet )

Pretty much same quality as earlier parts of the Hobbit. Enjoyable, but doesnt really rise up to the LOTR level. Maybe little bit less padding than in earlier movies, which is good. But too many "jokes". Alfrid should have drowned with the Master..

And I agree that two films would have been enough.

Will still give it A+.

 

Saw it via a special preview today, 3D but thankfully not that awful 48FPS, which so marred the previous film (IMHO).

Big improvement on TDOS. Still overlong and in need of an edit but seemed to be a lot shorter and less padded than its predecessors. The action was more reminiscent of the sequences in LOTR as oppose to the video-game-style sequences of Smaug (I hated the barrel chase on the river). It definitely had a lot more emotion than the last 2 movies and was surprisingly sad in times. Luke Evans and Richard Armitage justified their existence a lot more in this than in Smaug and Martin Freeman was as great as ever.

I voted A- but none of this trilogy matched any of LOTR for me. Still, it was great to get one last trip to Middle Earth.

 

Christchurch, New Zealand.

 

Hi, Starman. You'd love Children Of Hurin. There's incest!

 

Just leaving now to see it!

 

As I expected, the film is very excessive with battle sequences. Not so much armies versus armies, but rather a lot of one-on-one combats such as Thorin versus Azog, Tauriel versus Bolg, Legalos versus Bolg, etc. What's really disappointing is that, despite the disproportionate amount of fighting, Beorn only gets about 10 seconds of screen time, just enough time to jump off the back of an eagle, metamorphose into a bear, and tear into the battle.

This isn't the only thing that drags down the film, unfortunately. The tacked-on Tauriel/Kili romance, the tacked-on Thorin/Azog conflict, the made-up dragon sickness (which, I suppose does happen in the book, but not as overtly or named as such), and especially the unnecessary and whiny shenanigans of Alfrid (was Stephen Fry not available and that's why they killed of the Master so early?). All of these things could've been tossed out and fold in the necessary battle sequences into the previous film.

One thing that really stood out in this film, however, was the siege of Dol Guldur. Nostalgia aside, it was a lot of fun to see Saruman, Elrond, and Galadriel teaming up to kick Ringwraith and Sauron ass. My only disappointment about this sequence is that Gandalf and Radagast didn't have a more active role, but it's a small complaint. I would've also like to have seen one shot with the entire White Council standing together.

Another highlight, at the other end of the film, is Bilbo and Thorin's final scene. Martin Freeman and Richard Armitage acted their hearts out to give Thorin's death and the rough friendship between Bilbo and Thorin much gravitas and sorrow.

Even though I knew his role would be tiny, it was still a lot of fun to see Smaug again on the big screen (especially after watching his hilarious interview with Stephen Colbert yesterday) and I quite enjoyed his verbal showdown with Bard even if it wasn't in the book.

I suppose it couldn't be a film with Legalos without Legalos somehow outbadassing himself, and in this case, running across the crumbling makeshift stone bridge. A moment of pure

Lastly, in stark contrast to The Return of the King, the film ends rather abruptly. No funeral for Thorin, no resolution over Thranduil's and Laketown's claims, no resolution over the future of citizens of Laketown. Normally I wouldn't care much about any of those (except Thorin's funeral), but the previous films made such a huge deal over these items that the lack of resolution felt jarring. Instead, it was quick dash back to Bag End for Bilbo and Gandalf, followed by a lovely lead into The Fellowship of the Ring.

Billy Boyd's "The Last Goodbye" is a wonderful song, but it's not quite as beautiful as "Into the West" or even "Gollum's Song," but it was still great to hear Boyd singing again, this time over The Hobbit's own parchment drawing closing credits.

C+

For comparison (all based on the extended editions):

Fellowship of the Ring: A+
The Two Towers: A-
Return of the King: A
An Unexpected Journey: B+
The Desolation of Smaug: B
The Battle of Five Armies: C+

 

Smaug dropped by the Colbert show last night
[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQEs4j9TtMw[/yt]

 

Saw the movie today and pretty much got what I expected. It's the best of fairly uninterested trilogy which should never have been a trilogy. I agree too about the deaths. None of them resonated with me. I didn't care about these characters and with so much CGI flying around why the hell would you. Smaug had the best death. That was an excellent opening.

 

Saw it today in 3D, great movie and loved pretty much all of it.

So many good moments but really:

Spoiler: Spoilery

That Sauron's relocation from Mirkwood to Mordor was not exactly voluntary, damn.

Billy Connolly's cameo, perfect.

 

Saw this today as part of a Hobbit marathon. Seeing all three films back-to-back-to-back really made me appreciate them that much more.

Yes, they do have their flaws. But I genuinely enjoyed every minute I spent in Middle Earth in each movie. And this one was no exception. Lots of spectacle, and even some very poignant moments tucked into it.

It was definitely worth seeing on the big screen. I'll definitely be seeing it again soon.

 

So at this point in the time of Middle Earth how long has Gandalf been around?