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

[propita]

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

That's what I did with the LOTR movies. Once I found out about they were doing extended edition, I just rented the theatrical versions, and then bought the EEs.

Yep, that's what I plan to do.

I'm just gonna wait for all three in one fell swoop. Maybe I'll be able to talk my husband into watching. He said he couldn't get into the book(!) but he loved the LotR films.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

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

Yeah, I got a box set LOTR EE (it was a gift actually), so it makes sense to do the same for the Hobbit to parallel it.

 

[Set Harth]

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

So, about this Extended Edition.

I was a big fan of the LOTR EEs so it was pretty much foreordained that I would go the EE route for The Hobbit.

But I'd be hard pressed to call the AUJ EE a superior cut of the film.

Think Apocalypse Now Redux.

Spoiler: EE

For one thing, the film didn't need any more comic relief. Now it's got Kili hitting on elf chicks, one of whom turns out to be a dude. And a scene where Elrond and another elf discover the dwarves naked and bathing in a fountain. Also, Bofur gets up on a table and sings the song that Frodo sang(*) in Bree, and is then pelted by vegetables. We're left wondering if the dwarves cleaned up their mess the same way they cleaned up Bilbo's house.

( * In the book and cartoon, that is. The song wasn't used in Jackson's FOTR, but Peter, Fran & Philippa are into repurposing dialogue. Witness Cate Blanchett's voice-over at the very beginning of FOTR, partially lifted from Treebeard's dialogue in "Many Partings" of the ROTK text, or the Tom Bombadil role played by Treebeard in the TTT EE. )

And we get an additional full-on musical number from Dame Edna's Great Goblin. I tried to justify this scene by telling myself "We know he likes singing because of the Torture Song, so this scene sets that up!" But it wasn't working; the Torture Song is at least tolerable. At this point we're in Return of the Jedi Special Edition territory. Has Peter Jackson become George Lucas?

Now to the good stuff:

I liked seeing Bilbo as a child meeting Gandalf for the first time.

There's additional dialogue in the "White Council" scene in which the seven Dwarf-rings are actually discussed, and it's mentioned that Thrain had one of them. ( It's not pointed out that it was originally possessed by Thror, or that the ring factored into the great accumulation of wealth in Erebor, but these things can be inferred. ) I was pleased by this because I had wanted to see this mentioned somewhere in the theatrical cut. I mean, it's The Lord of the RINGS, not The Lord of the Ring, so it's good to see some of the other rings included in the narrative. And of course this may set up something down the road...

Bilbo finding the shards of Narsil is nice, but it doesn't have any apparent connection to the rest of the plot. There's an added scene in the tunnel leading to Rivendell, where Bilbo can feel the presence of magic before the city is in sight. This is interesting because it shows that Bilbo has midl-earth-chlorians.

I'm still basically committed to the idea of EEs for this series - I don't even own the theatrical cuts of the LOTR films - but the AUJ EE is by no means the "slam dunk" that the LOTR EEs were.

 

[Skywalker]

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

So, about this Extended Edition.

I was a big fan of the LOTR EEs so it was pretty much foreordained that I would go the EE route for The Hobbit.

But I'd be hard pressed to call the AUJ EE a superior cut of the film.

Think Apocalypse Now Redux.

Spoiler: EE

For one thing, the film didn't need any more comic relief. Now it's got Kili hitting on elf chicks, one of whom turns out to be a dude. And a scene where Elrond and another elf discover the dwarves naked and bathing in a fountain. Also, Bofur gets up on a table and sings the song that Frodo sung(*) in Bree, and is then pelted by vegetables. We're left wondering if the dwarves cleaned up their mess the same way they cleaned up Bilbo's house.

( * In the book and cartoon, that is. The song wasn't used in Jackson's FOTR, but Peter, Fran & Philippa are into repurposing dialogue. Witness Cate Blanchett's voice-over at the very beginning of FOTR, partially lifted from Treebeard's dialogue in "Many Partings" of the ROTK text, or the Tom Bombadil role played by Treebeard in the TTT EE. )

And we get an additional full-on musical number from Dame Edna's Great Goblin. I tried to justify this scene by telling myself "We know he likes singing because of the Torture Song, so this scene sets that up!" But it wasn't working; the Torture Song is at least tolerable. At this point we're in Return of the Jedi Special Edition territory. Has Peter Jackson become George Lucas?

Now to the good stuff:

I liked seeing Bilbo as a child meeting Gandalf for the first time.

There's additional dialogue in the "White Council" scene in which the seven Dwarf-rings are actually discussed, and it's mentioned that Thrain had one of them. ( It's not pointed out that it was originally possessed by Thror, or that the ring factored into the great accumulation of wealth in Erebor, but these things can be inferred. ) I was pleased by this because I had wanted to see this mentioned somewhere in the theatrical cut. I mean, it's The Lord of the RINGS, not The Lord of the Ring, so it's good to see some of the other rings included in the narrative. And of course this may set up something down the road...

Bilbo finding the shards of Narsil is nice, but it doesn't have any apparent connection to the rest of the plot. There's an added scene in the tunnel leading to Rivendell, where Bilbo can feel the presence of magic before the city is in sight. This is interesting because it shows that Bilbo has midl-earth-chlorians.

I'm still basically committed to the idea of EEs for this series - I don't even own the theatrical cuts of the LOTR films - but the AUJ EE is by no means the "slam dunk" that the LOTR EEs were.

I generally agree with your thoughts on the EE, such as the scenes that were good additions and the scenes that probably should have been left on the cutting room floor. However...

Spoiler: EE and Desolation of Smaug

I think the scene with Kili making eyes at Elf-maids was also there to set up a certain storyline that, if the rumors I've read are correct, will be set into motion in The Desolation of Smaug.

I agree that the scene with Elrond and Lindir finding the Dwarves bathing in the fountain was unnecessary, but I found it amusing nonetheless. Bofur's song was also unnecessary, but I think what they were trying to do was show the Dwarves' lack of respect for their hosts, given their hostility toward the Elves. I didn't mind these additions.

The Great Goblin's song is from the book, but I'm in total agreement with you on this scene. I thought it was by far the worst addition and felt extremely out of place. It's up there with the avalanche of skulls in the ROTK EE in terms of worst added scenes, IMO.

The only other scene that I thought wasn't needed was the one with Bilbo walking around Hobbiton, nervously keeping an eye out for Gandalf. Everything else I really liked, especially the added dialogue at the White Council, Bilbo's conversation with Elrond, and the conversation between Gandalf and Elrond that Bilbo and Thorin overheard. One thing I was really hoping they'd include was showing a young Aragorn (or Estel, as he was then known) somewhere in Rivendell, but I guess they didn't even film anything like that. Too bad.

Overall I do think the AUJ EE is the superior cut of the film, in spite of those. Just like in the LOTR EEs, there were some questionable additions and some that made me think they really should have been in the movie all along.