The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (Post-release)

[tubachris85x]

I’m surprised just how many people appear to be OK with that last final section. Did no one find the ridiculous use of a wheelbarrow in dragon combat just that one step beyond a reasonable suspension of belief? And what the hell was the damn thing supposed to be made of anyway, so it can float leisurely down in a stream of molten gold without melting, bursting into flame or do dwarf kings have backsides made of asbestos??
That last five minutes of horribly assembled CGI’d rubbish (including the worst looking giant Dwarf statue melting into a giant golden puddle moment ever ) just set my teeth on edge and pulled me totally out of the film. And that final cut!
It’s annoying just what has been distorted by changes to the story in that last part. Smaugs failure to smite the mountain has left the secret passage way open , obviously for a convenient future story point. No ponies, no food, so I guess the Dwarfs should starve unlesss…… oh yes.
In the story the KEY reason Thorin holes himself into the mountain is he doesn’t want to share the smallest part of his wealth. But here he can apparently melt enough gold to make a huge statue turn into a “lake” deep enough to drown a dragon. There’s just too much gold here to make that credible any more.
And the four other dwarfs in Laketown, including a romantic lead (that’s supposed to be fighting fit in the book) are presumably going to be involved in springing Bard from the jail. I imagine there is going to be a very tense and extended escape section there involving Tauriel ,but who will fire the Black Arrow, Bard is supposed to but I’d say Tauriel is arguably the better shot now. Unless…..
I can see WHY they have left Smaug V Laketown for the next because there is going to be a lot of waiting about for the Battle of the Five armies to commence once he is downed (excluding Gandalfs escape from Dol Guldur). But those last ten minutes really exasperated me because up until then I thought they’d done an exciting, clever and enhanced revision of the story.

The same silly argument can be made in reference to an argument in the first hobbit film. I find it hilarious in a manner of speaking that they couldn't convince the Saruman about the necromancer, and they dismissed it as being "impossible" and non-existent. Yet, they all live in a fictional world of magic and powers, so that argument they used kind of baffles me.

Same thing can be applied, it's a fictional existence. Traditional logic, physics, etc. don't exactly apply. As for the CG gold, well, Yea, that was kind of off. Then again, I have never seen IRL a giant statue cast in still-molten gold before

 

[Monkey67]

The same silly argument can be made in reference to an argument in the first hobbit film. I find it hilarious in a manner of speaking that they couldn't convince the Saruman about the necromancer, and they dismissed it as being "impossible" and non-existent. Yet, they all live in a fictional world of magic and powers, so that argument they used kind of baffles me.

Saruman couldn't say its real cause the dude is really playing for the Eye ball team.

 

[tubachris85x]

The same silly argument can be made in reference to an argument in the first hobbit film. I find it hilarious in a manner of speaking that they couldn't convince the Saruman about the necromancer, and they dismissed it as being "impossible" and non-existent. Yet, they all live in a fictional world of magic and powers, so that argument they used kind of baffles me.

Saruman couldn't say its real cause the dude is really playing for the Eye ball team.

While that's true, even Gandulf and the rest of them should have thought that a strange argument

 

[Treadwell]

I'm pretty sure Saruman is not yet corrupted by Sauron. He hasn't looked in the palinitir yet. He's just a debbie downer at this point.

 

[ghostryder]

Gorgeous Smaug concept art shows all the scaly details from The Hobbit

 

[Jedi2016]

Just got back, HDR 3D. Very impressed. I'm not going to listen to people nitpicking because it would only serve to lessen my utter enjoyment of the film.

 

[Treadwell]

I'm pretty sure Saruman is not yet corrupted by Sauron. He hasn't looked in the palinitir yet. He's just a debbie downer at this point.

I've been reading up, and according to the wiki, Saruman had coveted the Ring as far back as the year Smeagol got it. Wow.
He is against Sauron but wants him to get just strong enough to reveal the whereabouts of the Ring....thus he doesn't want him defeated prematurely.

 

[SmilingOtter]

I didn't notice, but a friend pointed out that in the few glimpses we got of Smaug in "An Unexpected Journey" he had four legs (plus the wings.) Between the two films, PJ and the Weta crowd changed their mind and made him a two-legged dragon, then apparently changed the DVD to match...

 

[kialna]

I noticed that too, although it's not very clear whether that were his backlegs or frontlegs. It's a vague shot, but it implies four legs.

 

[SVTStingRay]

lets hope the extended version bluray will be released with a smaug statue.......said it here first

 

[Clutch]

They changed him into a Wyvern.

 

[kialna]

I also remember this picture of how they thought smaug was going to look like at first.

I am actually glad they didn't hold on to that design.

 

[Nexus6]

They changed him into a Wyvern.

^EXACTLY^, & personally, I couldn't have been happier about that. The other configuration has never made a lot of sense to me.

OT: I thought this film was MUCH better than the first installment, & the Smaug visuals (accompanied by Cumberbatch vocals) really MADE this movie for me.

 

[rodneyfaile]

Just saw it.

Hate to say it, but so far the first two Hobbit movies remind me of the Star Wars prequels. The only thing I find remotely redeeming is they are set in the same world as their originals. If not for that link, they wouldn't be very good at all.

I'm disappointed they stretched a nice neat story into three movies. Lord of the Rings is massive, and we'll deserving of the length of its three extended editions. At no point was I ever as bored as I was during the action scenes of these Hobbit movies.

 

[allosaur176]

"One minor complaint - unless Smaug has a pretty good intelligence network going, he probably wouldn't have known Thorin's nickname of "Oakenshield," since that happened well after Smaug took over the lease in Erebor. "

I was under the assumption that the little bird at the end of the Hobbit was informing Smaug..Why would Smaug refer to Bilbo as "Barrel Rider" if he wasn't aware of the ventures of the fellowship?

 

[SmilingOtter]

"Barrel rider" was one of the titles Bilbo called himself when talking to Smaug, rather than giving his real name.

 

[Ronan87]

Just saw it, it's much better than the first one. Third is going to be a blast... :lol

 

[Guri]

Saw it in 3D Imax HFR and was impressed on how different it 'felt'. (We saw the first movie in regular and then 3d only) The sound and visuals brought me right into the room - almost TOO much so that I was distracted by how different it felt from the usual watching of a movie; but that might just mean it's new and I have to get used to it.

My mindset with these films is that I am going to enjoy them because I miss Middle Earth... that doesn't mean I don't have questions and critical comments, just that I do not expect perfection, I am just glad they were made!!

Agreed on the action sequences being over the top - but ever since the dinos tumbling down the valley in "Kong" this is what I expect from Jackson - he likes to give the audience crazy, implausible fights and chases. I just try to enjoy it as fantasy and set aside my usual need for realism.


I'm most interested in discussing the face of Thranduil - I have read some people think he is hiding his scarring with magic and what he showed Thorin is what he really looks like. But because elves do not age or grow old, I do not think they scar either - so I think it's the opposite; that he was burnt, but healed and was conjuring up what it looked like when it first happened.

I did not mind the supposed love triangle, but then again, I didn't really see much of it - just a suspicion from Thranduil. Legolas did not look romantically interested at all, just concerned like an older, protective brother or friend who is being enlightened to another way of thinking. Tauriel as well did not look interested in Legolas for more than his influence as a Prince. That is likely because the actors were not ACTING with that in mind, it was added dialogue later. The entire scene with Thranduil made the king look like he was completely making things up where they weren't there...

The interest Tauriel showed in Kili also did not seem like infatuation but curiosity. It was as if she had been presented with one version of greedy, shallow, ugly and short dwarves her whole life (which they warrant most of the film) and then meets one who shatters that image. This goes along with her interest and concern for the rest of the outside world and dislike of Thranduil's shunning and ignoring of it.

Overall the addition of Tauriel made sense both to bring females into the story (though she did not need to be captain of the guard) and her perspective added significantly to the heart of the film. It had nothing to do with romance, IMO.


I LOVED the Sauron shadow in the eye sequence. It really brought together the whole idea of his spirit gaining power and presence in Middle Earth.


The story is actually pretty complicated when you consider all of the motivations in the characters. Thorin's character is confusing because he goes back and forth about how he feels about Bilbo, and even why they are doing it: to find a home, to get the gold, to get the stone so he can rule over all the dwarves... It's all of those at once! But the different reasons keep rising up and battling for prominence in his motivation - very interesting.

However, because of that, he is coming across as very untrustworthy and scary to follow. While I feel I am supposed to side with him on getting their home back, Bard makes some good arguments of leaving it all alone and that the gold is not worth their lives... let sleeping dragons lie. But then I remember that Gandalf started this whole thing even before he knew who was returning. So the point seems to be to not just kill the dragon to give the dwarves their homeland back, or make Thorin king, but he is USING that motivation in them to protect ALL of middle earth from Smaug joining in the darkness that is spreading.

 

[nwjedidave]

It's been a loong time since I read The Hobbit but I remember Bilbo NOT wanting to enter the vault' henceforth Gandalf's line in Fellowship of "giving your Uncle a little "nudge."

With the movie ending with Smaug taking off for Laketown was the nudge over looked or saved for the last movie?



Even though it was so long ago, hearing that line in Fellowship the first time brought me back to being a youngster again and made me giggle.

 

[Jedi2016]

It's been a loong time since I read The Hobbit but I remember Bilbo NOT wanting to enter the vault' henceforth Gandalf's line in Fellowship of "giving your Uncle a little "nudge."

With the movie ending with Smaug taking off for Laketown was the nudge over looked or saved for the last movie?

It wasn't a "nudge" into any vault, there was never a vault. It was a "nudge out of the door", meaning getting Bilbo to go with the dwarves in the first place.