The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - Grading & Discussion (Spoilers)

[The Mirrorball Man]

Re: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - Grading & Discussion (Spoilers

Hollywood apparently finds it mandatory to "make it personal" but this is very often not the best artistic choice to make.

Really, it's simple: movies are about characters, not about abstract ideas. Hollywood does that because it works and yes, because more often than not, it's the best artistic choice to make.

 

[Mach5]

Re: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - Grading & Discussion (Spoilers

I noticed that, too. If they hadn't added Galadriel, there wouldn't have been a single female speaking role in the movie!

Come on. They made the orcs and goblins white-colored. That wasn't politically correct enough?

In all honesty, Tolkien didn't do "politically correct" very well. The great debate about racist and sexist elements in his works (not to mention subliminal conservative propaganda) has long become legendary.

 

[Aeronef]

Re: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - Grading & Discussion (Spoilers

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Re: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - Grading & Discussion (Spoilers

The reason to build up the Azog character is to have an actual leader of the Orcs in the Battle of Five Armies, rather than some random captain. Just like they built up that yellow deformed Orc captain in ROTK. In a book you can just fight a wave of enemies, but in a visual medium you need a recognizable leader to defeat to signify the victory.

Isn't the Goblin commander at the Battle of the Five Armies Bolg, son of Azog?

Yep. That's why I was kind of confused that they used Azog as the recurring antagonist instead of Bolg. Bolg still could have fulfilled the "death to the line of Durin!" roll that Azog had in AUJ, just have him swear vengeance for the death of his father Azog at the battle depicted in the flashbacks.

I think there are two reasons.

1. Having it a generational thing just makes it look petty. Thorin deserves his revenge, not to kill the guy who happens to be related to the guy who killed his grandfather.

2. Azog the Defiler is a much, much, much cooler name.

Spoiler: Bolg

Bolg will appear, though

 

[1001001]

Re: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - Grading & Discussion (Spoilers

My son and I saw it yesterday in glorious IMAX 3D.

We loved it.

A

 

[Skywalker]

Re: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - Grading & Discussion (Spoilers

Isn't the Goblin commander at the Battle of the Five Armies Bolg, son of Azog?

Yep. That's why I was kind of confused that they used Azog as the recurring antagonist instead of Bolg. Bolg still could have fulfilled the "death to the line of Durin!" roll that Azog had in AUJ, just have him swear vengeance for the death of his father Azog at the battle depicted in the flashbacks.

I think there are two reasons.

1. Having it a generational thing just makes it look petty. Thorin deserves his revenge, not to kill the guy who happens to be related to the guy who killed his grandfather.

2. Azog the Defiler is a much, much, much cooler name.

Good point on the first one. And yeah, that's true enough, Azog is a catchier "villain name" than Bolg.

 

[Ayelbourne]

Re: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - Grading & Discussion (Spoilers

I believe the Eagles are direct servants of god, like the Wizards, and so only help the heroes enough to get them to the next stage of their development.

The eagles actually are Manwe's creatures. Manwe is the head honcho of the Valar.

 

[Mr Light]

Re: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - Grading & Discussion (Spoilers

the Valar being the angels, right? I'm vague on my memory, there's Illuvatar/God and then the big angels, of which Morgoroth and Sauron were ones, and then the smaller angels, like Gandalf and Saruman? Or was Sauron one of the lesser angels as well?

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

Re: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - Grading & Discussion (Spoilers

the Valar being the angels, right? I'm vague on my memory, there's Illuvatar/God and then the big angels, of which Morgoroth and Sauron were ones, and then the smaller angels, like Gandalf and Saruman? Or was Sauron one of the lesser angels as well?

There's Eru/Illuvatar, who is basically the Christian God (although no one seems to worship him), the Valar are basically Greek Gods, and yes, Morgoth was one of them, and the Maiar are the equivalent of angels, and Gandalf, Saruman and Sauron were originally Maiar.

 

[Set Harth]

Re: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - Grading & Discussion (Spoilers

I saw it in glorious digital 2D.

Right as the world was supposed to be ending.

 

[marillion]

Re: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - Grading & Discussion (Spoilers

Saw it yesterday with the fam... Loved it.. It was as I expected it to be - while more kid friendly, it was a lot of fun and didn't seem to be almost 3 hours in length.. Very excited for part II..

A

On edit: So since it's been so long since I've read the books, I couldn't answer my son's question about Moria.... So after the battle of Moria, the Dwarves re-established a settlment there, only to have it overrun again in the years prior to the LotR trilogy? My son was wondering why Gimli didn't know that his kin had been killed off by the goblins/orcs... So I told him that I was assuming that after the battle where Azog was injuried the Dwarves took it over for a while, but were killed off sometime after that... No clue as to how or why Gimli didn't know about it..

 

[Klaus]

Re: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - Grading & Discussion (Spoilers

The War of the Dwarves and the Orcs started over Thror being killed by Azog when he tried to enter Moria, and though most of the Orc strongholds in the mountains were taken and the Dwarves won the war with the costly victory at the Battle of Azanulbizar before the gates of Moria, it was decided that they were not strong enough to attempt the recapture of Moria and left it alone. Balin's mission was some time later.

Btw Dain Ironfoot killed Azog at that battle in the books, and Beorn killed Bolg at the Battle of Five Armies. Thorin wasn't involved.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Re: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - Grading & Discussion (Spoilers

Yeah, I suspect Azog is there so Thorin can kill him while Beorn can kill his son.

 

[Neroon]

Re: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - Grading & Discussion (Spoilers

Here's a bit of fun to start Christmas day (here in the US at least)

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Re: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - Grading & Discussion (Spoilers

It's so hypnotic...I can't stop watching it!

 

[Mr Light]

Re: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - Grading & Discussion (Spoilers

So I'm reading the Hobbit and it describes Smaug as being red. Then I read the ROTK appendix and it called him Smaug the Golden. And in the movie, I think he looks black.

I keep forgetting to mention one of my favorite new parts in the movie, showing the dwarves hanging on ropes in a crack in the earth, mining gems. I've never actually seen a visual representation of what they do before and that was really cool.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Re: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - Grading & Discussion (Spoilers

So I'm reading the Hobbit and it describes Smaug as being red. Then I read the ROTK appendix and it called him Smaug the Golden. And in the movie, I think he looks black.

Take a closer look at that image Neroon posted. Smaug is a deep red with contrasting gold. With the exception of the final shot, Smaug looks black because he's silhouetted to tease the audience of his full appearance.

 

[Mr Light]

Re: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - Grading & Discussion (Spoilers

Oh, good. I could've sworn in the fleeting shots of him in the movie prelude that he was black!

 

[Set Harth]

Re: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - Grading & Discussion (Spoilers

He's only black from the waist down.

 

[Silvercrest]

Re: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - Grading & Discussion (Spoilers

Is that politically correct?