Close to two thousand years. The Istari arrived in Middle-earth circa 1000 TA, and The Hobbit takes place in 2941 TA.
The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies Grade/Discuss (Spoilers)
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Close to two thousand years. The Istari arrived in Middle-earth circa 1000 TA, and The Hobbit takes place in 2941 TA.
I'm not seeing it until Thursday morning, but I can't let a chance to disagree with someone slip by -
For comparison :
Fellowship of the Ring: A-
The Two Towers: A+
Return of the King: B+
An Unexpected Journey: B
The Desolation of Smaug: B
The Battle of Five Armies: TBA...
2000 years on Arda or Middle Earth specifically.
But if we assume that the lifespan in Middle Earth was around 50 average, then he is maybe 15,000 years old, as he said he had lived as long as "300 lives of men" in The Two Towers.
He has probably seen everything, if not through mortal eyes.
Saw it with my daughter last night as a special preview screening. Never read the book, have seen all the Jackson movies, consider myself a very casual Tolkein fan.
Saw the first two in 48fps/3D, this one in 24fps/2D. Much preferred the latter format (though I didn't hate the former--faster frame rate made 3D less headache inducing than usual).
Gave it an A-, as I would all three. Actually for all but Fellowship (that one is worth an A for me).
I'm sure I'll do a marathon weekend of all six at some point. I enjoy them for the grand spectacle they represent. Not nearly enough invested in the original source material to care how well the movies hew to them though. Maybe that makes it easier for me to give high marks overall?
Saw the first two in 48fps/3D, this one in 24fps/2D. Much preferred the latter format (though I didn't hate the former--faster frame rate made 3D less headache inducing than usual).
Gave it an A-, as I would all three. Actually for all but Fellowship (that one is worth an A for me).
I'm sure I'll do a marathon weekend of all six at some point. I enjoy them for the grand spectacle they represent. Not nearly enough invested in the original source material to care how well the movies hew to them though. Maybe that makes it easier for me to give high marks overall?
This was Peter Jackson's Return of the Jedi. Action-packed, lots of attempted crowd-rousing moments that missed almost as much as it hit, an annoying thread or two running through the proceedings (but not enough to derail those proceedings) and a definite vibe of the creative engine running out of gas, finally stopping just one inch past the finish line. Ultimately satisfying, but you find yourself wishing for some indefinable something the other films had that this didn't.
At least it definitely ends here (thanks to the Tolkien estate), before Jackson can fully descend into Prequel Trilogy levels of suck.
At least it definitely ends here (thanks to the Tolkien estate), before Jackson can fully descend into Prequel Trilogy levels of suck.
Some would argue that he already did.
Ironically, the highest rated of the Hobit movies (Desolation) was in my opinion a sterile, uninspired, watered down POS, and less enjoyable than even the worst of the prequels. I attempted to rawatch it on BR exactly once, and gave up 25 minutes in.
Just for reference, I've seen all three LOTR films more times than I can count.
Some would argue that he already did.
Ironically, the highest rated of the Hobit movies (Desolation) was in my opinion a sterile, uninspired, watered down POS, and less enjoyable than even the worst of the prequels. I attempted to rawatch it on BR exactly once, and gave up 25 minutes in.
Just for reference, I've seen all three LOTR films more times than I can count.
I'm of much the same view. Enjoyed AUJ and BOTFA but nowhere as much as the LOTR series and I didn't enjoy TDOS at all. I'd probably re-watch the 2nd and 3rd Star Wars prequels over the 'good' Hobbit movies and I'd choose Phantom Menace over Smaug.
Having said that, I might enjoy Smaug more if I got to see it without the 48FPS, but I don't really have 3 hours to set aside to do so!
The day before Return of the King was released, 100 theaters nationwide did a special screening, called Trilogy Tuesday. It was the extended editions of the first two movies - being shown for the first time in theaters - followed by Return of the King, starting a full two hours before it opened anywhere else in the country.
Naturally, when the opportunity to follow it up with Prequel Monday arose, I had to take advantage of it. And I'm so glad I did.
Besides the extras, including interviews from the world premiere, and an extended speech from Peter Jackson leading into the final movie, it was an opportunity to see the whole trilogy as one long masterpiece. As it was designed to be.
Each film flows perfectly into the next, like the editor randomly pressed "pause" and then started the movie back up again.
While I didn't so much care for the character of Alfred, his appearance was all but forgotten once the guardians took up arms against you-know-who, and Galadriel went full Dark Elf.
As soon as the box set of the extended editions of this new trilogy is available, I'll be ordering it, just as I did with Lord of the Rings, and I imagine I'll be revisiting them just as often.
Naturally, when the opportunity to follow it up with Prequel Monday arose, I had to take advantage of it. And I'm so glad I did.
Besides the extras, including interviews from the world premiere, and an extended speech from Peter Jackson leading into the final movie, it was an opportunity to see the whole trilogy as one long masterpiece. As it was designed to be.
Each film flows perfectly into the next, like the editor randomly pressed "pause" and then started the movie back up again.
While I didn't so much care for the character of Alfred, his appearance was all but forgotten once the guardians took up arms against you-know-who, and Galadriel went full Dark Elf.
As soon as the box set of the extended editions of this new trilogy is available, I'll be ordering it, just as I did with Lord of the Rings, and I imagine I'll be revisiting them just as often.
The Battle of the Five Armies really was the perfect way to end the Hobbit Trilogy, and just barely edges out Return of the King as the best of Jackson's Middle-earth Saga. I'm another person who will be picking up the EE for the film as soon as it's available, and I'm looking forward to being able to sit down and watch all 6 films back-to-back as they're meant to be seen.
Excellent movie! No real complaints. I was surprised how briefly Smaug was in it; given PJ's tendency towards excess I was expecting him to be around for at least 45 minutes! The battle was amazing throughout. Though I suppose it's a continuity error for this battle to appear even BIGGER than the Siege of Minas Tirith 
This movie, more than any other LOTR movie, was basically one vast original concept extended from the source material, which made it pretty exciting to watch as I had little idea what would happen next
There managed to be some huge surprises for me:
One thing I didn't really understand. Why did Azog commit the bulk of his forces to hunting down the humans in the city? Who cares about the humans? His objective was to take the Mountain. He should be a) trying to enter the Mountain or b) trying to kill the Elven army as quickly as possible as they are the only true threat to him. I know he was luring them in for the second wave, but if the humans and Elves are in the city they have a defensible position rather than sitting out in the open...
Speaking of, for some reason I absolutely loved the fact that Azog was sitting on a hill using signal flags to issue commands. I just thought that was a brilliant touch.
This movie, more than any other LOTR movie, was basically one vast original concept extended from the source material, which made it pretty exciting to watch as I had little idea what would happen next
There managed to be some huge surprises for me:
Galadriel duels Sauron; and kicks his ass! Legolas goes to Gundabad! The Earth-Eaters! That one troll who wore a brick on his head and kamikazed himself into the wall! Tauriel does NOT get killed! Ironically the one scene that really choked me up was when Thranduil told Legolas about his mother.
One thing I didn't really understand. Why did Azog commit the bulk of his forces to hunting down the humans in the city? Who cares about the humans? His objective was to take the Mountain. He should be a) trying to enter the Mountain or b) trying to kill the Elven army as quickly as possible as they are the only true threat to him. I know he was luring them in for the second wave, but if the humans and Elves are in the city they have a defensible position rather than sitting out in the open...
Speaking of, for some reason I absolutely loved the fact that Azog was sitting on a hill using signal flags to issue commands. I just thought that was a brilliant touch.
As he saw it, the Mountain was as good as won anyway. Only a handful of dwarves inside, all the ones outside getting slaughtered, and sooner or later Thranduil would lose his nerve and turn tail back to the forest. This (since all the able men were out in the field fighting) was purely about getting evil jollies by offing women, children (babies = bonus points) and elderly in the most savage and (to the enemy, esp. out in wider Middle Earth proper) demoralizing ways possible. That's how orcs roll.
Christopher's an old man. He won't always have the say.
There's enough stuff in the Silmarillion to bang out a film every two or three years for the next couple of decades.
It's hard to refuse, say, ten million per film plus a percentage !
I just got back from seeing it on IMAX 3D with the high fram rate. I liked it well enough but I think my enjoyment of it was hampered by the high frame rate. I found it very distracting. It actually looked great in the slow moving wide shots but the action scenes just didn't look right to my eye. I did get used to it by the end of the movie but overall I think I would have enjoyed it more if I had seen it at a standard frame rate.
Seems like there was a lot of filler in this one. Too much time was spent on looong soulful stares and Thorin staring into space for way too long. I think it would have been better as two movies than three. I watched it in 2D and you could tell some things were there just for 3D. I gave it a B.
I don't know. The fast action scenes felt a little too much like a home movie at times for me. But you are right, the crispness was pretty amazing even if I wasn't particularly taken with the feel of it.
I really did like the wide shots though. It felt very true to life, like you were almost there.
I really did like the wide shots though. It felt very true to life, like you were almost there.
The only scene I thought was way overblown was when Thorin flashes back through like twenty lines of dialogue from the previous movies while imagining he's drowning in gold. That went on waaaaaaaay too long.
I was also confused as to the intention of the scene after the battle ends when Gandalf finds Bilbo, sits down next to him, then we watch him playing silently with his pipe for 30 seconds. I would imagine it was supposed to be Gandalf comforting him but it certainly didn't come off that way...
I was also confused as to the intention of the scene after the battle ends when Gandalf finds Bilbo, sits down next to him, then we watch him playing silently with his pipe for 30 seconds. I would imagine it was supposed to be Gandalf comforting him but it certainly didn't come off that way...