The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug - Grading & Discussion (Spoilers)
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Re: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug - Grading & Discussion (Spoile
Isn't such a card in the Fellowship as well? At least in the theatrical cut.
Isn't such a card in the Fellowship as well? At least in the theatrical cut.
Re: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug - Grading & Discussion (Spoile
My read is that it was an okay to pretty-good movie, but it become obvious to me that Jackson has succumbed to whatever degenerative digital-dependent disease Lucas spawned in his ILM labs in the 90s. It was cartoonish set-piece after cartoonish set-piece. If they were going to turn everything up to 11 and have everyone bouncing around like they're invincible, they may as well have just made the entire trilogy animated.
My read is that it was an okay to pretty-good movie, but it become obvious to me that Jackson has succumbed to whatever degenerative digital-dependent disease Lucas spawned in his ILM labs in the 90s. It was cartoonish set-piece after cartoonish set-piece. If they were going to turn everything up to 11 and have everyone bouncing around like they're invincible, they may as well have just made the entire trilogy animated.
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Re: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug - Grading & Discussion (Spoile
By the way, does anyone know what music title the drum bit is at the end of the teaser trailer (starting at 1:46, when Smaug surrounds Bilbo).
[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnaojlfdUbs[/yt]
I THINK I heard the same drums when they took the boat from Laketown to the Lonely Mountain, but I'm not so sure.
By the way, does anyone know what music title the drum bit is at the end of the teaser trailer (starting at 1:46, when Smaug surrounds Bilbo).
[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnaojlfdUbs[/yt]
I THINK I heard the same drums when they took the boat from Laketown to the Lonely Mountain, but I'm not so sure.
Re: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug - Grading & Discussion (Spoile
He's talking about the sub-title ("The Desolation of Smaug") being in a modern, unadorned text. IIRC, in the LOTR films, the sub-titles ("The Two Towers", etc.) were done in a stylized white script similar to the stylized main "The Lord of the Rings" title. I must admit I noticed this, too.
Re: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug - Grading & Discussion (Spoile
http://bplusmovieblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/the-fellowship-of-the-ring-title-card.png
http://bplusmovieblog.files.wordpre...rd-of-the-rings-the-two-towers-title-card.png
http://bplusmovieblog.files.wordpre...e-rings-the-return-of-the-king-title-card.png
http://www.filmcaptures.com/wp-cont...e_Hobbit_An_Unexpected_Journey_0-1024x423.png
http://www-images.theonering.org/torwp/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Smaug-Main-Title.png
Is that font change REALLY so troublesome?
I know that he is referring to that subtitle. And there came no opening credits after it, which I was referring to.
http://bplusmovieblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/the-fellowship-of-the-ring-title-card.png
http://bplusmovieblog.files.wordpre...rd-of-the-rings-the-two-towers-title-card.png
http://bplusmovieblog.files.wordpre...e-rings-the-return-of-the-king-title-card.png
http://www.filmcaptures.com/wp-cont...e_Hobbit_An_Unexpected_Journey_0-1024x423.png
http://www-images.theonering.org/torwp/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Smaug-Main-Title.png
Is that font change REALLY so troublesome?
Re: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug - Grading & Discussion (Spoile
Yes. Peter Jackson is the new George Lucas, and is thus always wrong.
Yes. Peter Jackson is the new George Lucas, and is thus always wrong.
Re: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug - Grading & Discussion (Spoile
I'd rate this movie a B. It was entertaining, and overall was pretty good, but it was flawed. A lot of the added stuff, besides just being annoying, felt more like filler than most of the same stuff in the first movie. Outside of the general low quality of sewveral of the changes, it started feeling a lot more like just filler, which was obviously going to be a problem when they decided to make three movies. A few sections I really enjoyed from the book (The barrel ride and the journey through Mirkwood) were just mangled. The forest trip was the worst. Instead of just having the darkness, actual disorientation, and overall evil feeling of the forest be the threat, they went with making it super goofy, and it sucked. I also didn't like seeing Beorn, who was cool in the book, being lamely tied into Azog for no real reason then to try to make this boring filler villain seem more important/threatening.
But, there were a lot of good moments, and I managed to get past the bad filler enough to enjoy the movie. It was probably even a little better than the first Hobbit movie, and I'm excited for the third, it should have some cool stuff. I just wish Jackson & co weren't still so excited about adding their fan fiction to a story that doesn't need it.
I'd rate this movie a B. It was entertaining, and overall was pretty good, but it was flawed. A lot of the added stuff, besides just being annoying, felt more like filler than most of the same stuff in the first movie. Outside of the general low quality of sewveral of the changes, it started feeling a lot more like just filler, which was obviously going to be a problem when they decided to make three movies. A few sections I really enjoyed from the book (The barrel ride and the journey through Mirkwood) were just mangled. The forest trip was the worst. Instead of just having the darkness, actual disorientation, and overall evil feeling of the forest be the threat, they went with making it super goofy, and it sucked. I also didn't like seeing Beorn, who was cool in the book, being lamely tied into Azog for no real reason then to try to make this boring filler villain seem more important/threatening.
But, there were a lot of good moments, and I managed to get past the bad filler enough to enjoy the movie. It was probably even a little better than the first Hobbit movie, and I'm excited for the third, it should have some cool stuff. I just wish Jackson & co weren't still so excited about adding their fan fiction to a story that doesn't need it.
Re: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug - Grading & Discussion (Spoile
I'd think the tonally and visually different storytelling styles between The Hobbit and LOTR are more noteworthy than fonts.
As far as the "fake-y" look of Hobbit, I completely understand the description. These movies are, in my own terminology, more "cartoonish." I happen to enjoy and appreciate this slightly different change - mostly because the story is much more childlike than LOTR - but it does make the movies feel different and I can see why some LOTR fans would not take to the shift in presentation.
Having seen the Extended Edition Blu-Ray extras, though, I have to say that the entire production crew was at least as dedicated and passionate about their work as they were on LOTR. It's not easy to catch lightning in a bottle twice - and they didn't - but as far as I am concerned, these movies are extremely well-crafted and represented a high level of artistry all 'round.
I'd think the tonally and visually different storytelling styles between The Hobbit and LOTR are more noteworthy than fonts.
As far as the "fake-y" look of Hobbit, I completely understand the description. These movies are, in my own terminology, more "cartoonish." I happen to enjoy and appreciate this slightly different change - mostly because the story is much more childlike than LOTR - but it does make the movies feel different and I can see why some LOTR fans would not take to the shift in presentation.
Having seen the Extended Edition Blu-Ray extras, though, I have to say that the entire production crew was at least as dedicated and passionate about their work as they were on LOTR. It's not easy to catch lightning in a bottle twice - and they didn't - but as far as I am concerned, these movies are extremely well-crafted and represented a high level of artistry all 'round.
Re: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug - Grading & Discussion (Spoile
It isn't so much the tone or even the visuals themselves, but the events they are presenting. The barrel ride, the forge, etc. were presented like cartoons. Any time they step away from using the effects to make fantastical events look real, and instead make them all the more fantastical, they step out of the world they've carefully created and into one without consequence. Normally deadly falls end with the characters brushing themselves off like pilots who jumped out of their exploding helicopter at the last second in a GI Joe cartoon, one dwarf bounces around off jagged rocks in a barrel and conveniently slams into a dozen computer generated orcs before fighting off a few with his arms sticking out the sides and then safely ends up back in the water, etc.
This is all the more distracting when it is intercut with (especially Gandalf's side-story) sequences seeming like they're out of an entirely different LOTR prequel movie.
It isn't so much the tone or even the visuals themselves, but the events they are presenting. The barrel ride, the forge, etc. were presented like cartoons. Any time they step away from using the effects to make fantastical events look real, and instead make them all the more fantastical, they step out of the world they've carefully created and into one without consequence. Normally deadly falls end with the characters brushing themselves off like pilots who jumped out of their exploding helicopter at the last second in a GI Joe cartoon, one dwarf bounces around off jagged rocks in a barrel and conveniently slams into a dozen computer generated orcs before fighting off a few with his arms sticking out the sides and then safely ends up back in the water, etc.
This is all the more distracting when it is intercut with (especially Gandalf's side-story) sequences seeming like they're out of an entirely different LOTR prequel movie.
Re: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug - Grading & Discussion (Spoile
Yeah I wonder why recently, filmmakers don't take a step back saying "Come on, nobody would survive that, let's scale it down."
Yeah I wonder why recently, filmmakers don't take a step back saying "Come on, nobody would survive that, let's scale it down."
Re: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug - Grading & Discussion (Spoile
Why is Howard Shore missing in action in this film?
Remember in Fellowship, when the Company is making way down that staircase in the Mines of Moria and the music was exciting, interesting and memorable?
Aside from a few tiny bits used in LOTR (like strains of the Shire theme when the title "The Hobbit" appears on the screen) and a nice little theme for Lake Town, the music in this film was so unremarkable, like sonic wallpaper.
Why is Howard Shore missing in action in this film?
Remember in Fellowship, when the Company is making way down that staircase in the Mines of Moria and the music was exciting, interesting and memorable?
Aside from a few tiny bits used in LOTR (like strains of the Shire theme when the title "The Hobbit" appears on the screen) and a nice little theme for Lake Town, the music in this film was so unremarkable, like sonic wallpaper.
Re: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug - Grading & Discussion (Spoile
He's probably imprisoned in Dol Guldur.
He's probably imprisoned in Dol Guldur.
Re: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug - Grading & Discussion (Spoile
Really? There were a couple of really memorable themes introduced in this movie, the Wood Elves theme being the most prominent. You could hear it all over the place during the Barrels Out of Bond sequence.
Really? There were a couple of really memorable themes introduced in this movie, the Wood Elves theme being the most prominent. You could hear it all over the place during the Barrels Out of Bond sequence.
Re: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug - Grading & Discussion (Spoile
Yeah, I'm humming the themes ever since I saw the film.
Yeah, I'm humming the themes ever since I saw the film.
Re: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug - Grading & Discussion (Spoile
I think that may be Tauriel's new theme.
Re: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug - Grading & Discussion (Spoile
Thanks for that link, by the way. I didn't realize they'd released another production blog!
Yeah, that's the exact one I was thinking of. Very catchy and memorable. I thought it was for the Wood Elves in general, though, not just Tauriel. Guess I was wrong.
Thanks for that link, by the way. I didn't realize they'd released another production blog!