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

[Gil T.Azell]

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

I saw it Sunday night in 3D Ultra/AVX, totally impressed it was visually stunning.
Cant wait for the next two.
the price of the Pop Corn and Pop sucked $10 plus with the discount for being a scene member.

the man of Steel trailer looked good.
not to sure about the Tom Cruise Oblivion trailer.

 

[Balrog]

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

Loved it!

Truly brought me back to LOTR trilogy, which I was hoping it would. To me, it did not drag at all. And it was much more light-hearted in spots than LOTR, which was expected of course.

It made me want to break out some dice.

A+

 

[Dart]

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

A+ for me.

I was blown away by the HFR 3D. Brilliant.

 

[RAMA]

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

I saw it Sunday night in 3D Ultra/AVX, totally impressed it was visually stunning.
Cant wait for the next two.
the price of the Pop Corn and Pop sucked $10 plus with the discount for being a scene member.

the man of Steel trailer looked good.
not to sure about the Tom Cruise Oblivion trailer.

Ah i forgot! The best part of the Hobbit was the Star Trek ID trailer playing before it!!

I still can't get over these 3D movie crybabies, it seems as if the process looks better every time I see a 3D movie. Just shut up already, its here to stay. One technology that I wasnt as thrilled with was DBOX...which basically felt like someone kicking the seat everytime there was an action sequence.

HFR is cool also, I saw a reviewer give the movie low marks, mainly for the use of HFR, such people should be brought out onto the main street of town and flogged for stupidity.

 

[JoeZhang]

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

Just seen it - it needed a good edit, way way too long and I didn't like HFR it kept pulling me out of the film and I am not sure if aspects of the CGI were poor or it was a combination of the HFR and the CGI but I felt like I was watching cut scenes from a video game.

 

[Klaus]

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

I still can't get over these 3D movie crybabies, it seems as if the process looks better every time I see a 3D movie. Just shut up already, its here to stay.

Respectfully, I'll whine if I want to. It's largely a cheap gimmick and, for many of us, an eyestrain. I've had to take off my glasses and rub my aching and watering eyes halfway through each of the last 2 3D movies I've been to. Not exactly an enhancement of the viewing experience, and hard to suspend your disbelief when you can't see straight.

That's not a whine, it's a legitimate complaint.

Luckily home viewing will keep 2D options available for the foreseeable future.

3D sucks, and in all honesty I don't plan to ever see one again. If the HFR was in 2D I'd never have seen this one that way.

 

[Set Harth]

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

One technology that I wasnt as thrilled with was DBOX...which basically felt like someone kicking the seat everytime there was an action sequence.

You don't need technology for that, just sit in front of someone. Here's to a generation utterly lacking in empathy and consideration for others!

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

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

Respectfully, I'll whine if I want to. It's largely a cheap gimmick and, for many of us, an eyestrain. I've had to take off my glasses and rub my aching and watering eyes halfway through each of the last 2 3D movies I've been to. Not exactly an enhancement of the viewing experience, and hard to suspend your disbelief when you can't see straight.

I can understand why that would be annoying, but I don't see how the technology is to blame if you have sensitive eyes. Most people never experience the kind of eyestrain you're talking about.

 

[Mr Light]

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

I just saw it for a second time, this time in 24 frame 2D, and man, what a difference. HFR is so much better! I really don't understand people's complaints about it.

BTW for the opening footage of Bilbo moving about Bag End at disturbing super speed, it actually looked a little sped up even in the 2d version!

 

[JoeZhang]

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

Respectfully, I'll whine if I want to. It's largely a cheap gimmick and, for many of us, an eyestrain. I've had to take off my glasses and rub my aching and watering eyes halfway through each of the last 2 3D movies I've been to. Not exactly an enhancement of the viewing experience, and hard to suspend your disbelief when you can't see straight.

I can understand why that would be annoying, but I don't see how the technology is to blame if you have sensitive eyes. Most people never experience the kind of eyestrain you're talking about.

The problem for me is what it does to the colours in a film, it depends on the palette used but if you watch a film like the avengers it really mutes the colours (which by whipping off the glasses in the cinema is down to the plastic lens not the film itself).

 

[Klaus]

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

Well even when my eyes aren't freaking out, I still don't think 3D adds that much... and I've seen articles about how the 3D process creates eyestrain by its very nature. And last I knew the % of the gross made by major 3D pictures has been steadily dropping... This one may dodge that trend owing to the HFR novelty, but to say 3D is the wave of the future is far from proven.

 

[Captain Craig]

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

Saw this in the past few days, in 2D

Grade: A

I found the movie to be quite enjoyable. I've read some found the first hour slow. The gathering of the dwarves(whom I'm not going to try and name) at Bilbo's house and them trying to get him along on the quest. Since I'm not overly familiar with those characters I was fine with that part.

It does pick up considerably in action and drama once they leave the Shire though.
I liked the interlude at Rivendale(sp) and the round table conference the "adult" had about this quest. I'm wondering if the Necromancer is tied to Sauron's(sp) eventually fall? I don't recall him being in the book but it's been forever since I read it, I'm likely wrong.

I found the structure to be similar to FotR but the resolution of the film feels like a solid stopping point much better than FotR did I think.

 

[JeffreyAbrams]

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

Well even when my eyes aren't freaking out, I still don't think 3D adds that much... and I've seen articles about how the 3D process creates eyestrain by its very nature. And last I knew the % of the gross made by major 3D pictures has been steadily dropping... This one may dodge that trend owing to the HFR novelty, but to say 3D is the wave of the future is far from proven.

That's because of the quality of recent 3D and converted to 3D films. Most of them also suck in 2D.

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

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

to say 3D is the wave of the future is far from proven.

To be fair, proving things that may happen in the future is not easy.

 

[stj]

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

I understand the complaints by some about 3D, because it does task the eyes. And the glasses also strain people unaccustomed to the weight. So if some viewers complain of headache, this is entirely believable.

But I must admit I don't understand the complaints about the 48 fps. The old silent film era movies often seemed speeded up and jerky. But that's because the modern frame rate was faster than the rate those movies were photographed. The only way to make the 48 fps movie seem similarly speeded up and jerky is to play the 48 fps movie at an even higher rate. When both the old silent movies and The Hobbit are played at the same rate they were filmed at, the motion is natural and smooth.

So complaints about the 48 fps seem to be complaining that a clearer image during motion is less realistic, or even unpleasant. This is hard to understand. People's preconceptions have an incredible ability to modify their perceptions. But this seems like a really powerful example.

 

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

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

I found the structure to be similar to FotR but the resolution of the film feels like a solid stopping point much better than FotR did I think.

Uhhh. I don't understand this at all. I mean, this film ends with them getting rescued - if I hadn't been familiar with the book, it would have felt like Deus Ex Machina with the eagles. Even knowing the book, it felt like that.

But look at the way Fellowship ended. A man who no one could fully trust because of his fixation on the Ring and his own needs dies a heroic death trying to save the hobbits. Aragorn earns his respect, and with a simple look, he realizes that he must become a leader of Men. The film ends with the breaking of the Fellowship, but, after some cajoling, Frodo realizes that Sam's presence is essential.

Overall, it feels like a lot actually happened in the film...

I can't say the same about AUJ

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

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

So complaints about the 48 fps seem to be complaining that a clearer image during motion is less realistic, or even unpleasant. This is hard to understand.

I have no horses in this race but the usual complaint about the 48fps is that it makes the movie look like actors on a movie set instead of characters in a fictional universe.

 

[Set Harth]

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

Yeah, it's allegedly like the soap opera effect.

I'm wondering if the Necromancer is tied to Sauron's(sp) eventually fall?

The Necromancer is Sauron, so...

If there's a scene in this film most strongly tied to Sauron's eventual fall, it's Riddles in the Dark.

But look at the way Fellowship ended. A man who no one could fully trust because of his fixation on the Ring and his own needs dies a heroic death trying to save the hobbits. Aragorn earns his respect, and with a simple look, he realizes that he must become a leader of Men. The film ends with the breaking of the Fellowship, but, after some cajoling, Frodo realizes that Sam's presence is essential.

Look at the way AUJ ended. Because Bilbo demonstrated his heroism he earned Thorin's respect and was finally accepted as a legitimate member of the company. This dynamic is not dissimilar.

 

[Servo]

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

Finally saw this tonight. Absolutely loved it. Definitely giving it an A. Had no issue at all with the frame rate. No headaches and the film looked stunning.

Slightly off topic, but related to a conversation earlier in the thread; I find it unbelievable that people are still paid to be film critics, let alone that anyone actually allows a critic to tell them what films are worth watching.

 

[Klaus]

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

...I use film reviews for general impressions, not a specific up/down vote. If virtually every review of a film says the same good or bad things about it then I give that some weight. I've also looked to find critics who generally have similar taste in movies to me, though I don't have one of those right now.