coracle, That's beautiful! I've always wanted to travel to your breath taking country!
28 days left! I have a feeling that DoS is going to best in The Hobbit trilogy. What's left for TaBA? An hour and a half Battle Of Five Armies and Bilbo's uneventful journey home?

I agree that there will be plenty of wonderful stuff covered in this film, however I don't think we will have just the Battle of Five Armies and the journey home in the last film.

I've just bought my tickets!!! I'm going to a midnight showing in 3D!

When is everyone else planning on seeing the movie? And in what format?

shastastwin, I would concur with your Spoiler there.

So, there is just less than a week to go. Have fun at the midnight showing, Impending Doom!

We are hoping to see the film with friends on Friday, Dec. 14 in the afternoon, I think. And then we will be viewing it with other friends over the holidays sometime. I remember coming home from the first movie thinking I could not care less if I didn't see it again, but still went once more with a family member just to have the experience of watching it together. I sure hope I feel differently about this one.

Non-3D for me, if possible.

So the theory is that the title refers to

That is my take.

Eli?

fantasia, it also makes sense because, as was pointed out soon after the title was revealed,

I agree with all three of you.
Especially for the reasons that shastastwin gives. It makes most sense that way.

Has anyone been to see the movie, (Desolation of Smaug) yet? I thought it was to be released on 2/12/2013 in USA. We won't see it until 26/12/2013.

I hesitate to disturb the stunned silence with a frivolous review, but...

My, my, my, that movie is a fanficcers' paradise.

In short it was a really good movie but a bad adaptation. Don't go into the theatre expecting it to be like the book because you will be disappointed. Try to keep an open mind and you'll probably enjoy it!

Has anyone been to see the movie, (Desolation of Smaug) yet? I thought it was to be released on 2/12/2013 in USA. We won't see it until 26/12/2013.

It was released December 13 (this past Friday) here in the U.S. I feel a bit like the odd one out because all of my friends have gone to see it, but I've still been too busy finishing up the semester to go. I am planning to go see it with several family members this Friday, though.

I hesitate to disturb the stunned silence with a frivolous review, but...

My, my, my, that movie is a fanficcers' paradise.

Oh dear. That's what I've heard. The reviews I have read say that it "fixes a lot of the wrongs with AUJ", but in the meantime adds huge deviations to the source material. I've tried to remain relatively unspoiled -- I don't want to know everything that happens in the movie before it happens -- but I'd like to not have some extremely awful plot deviation take me off my guard.

So, can anyone who has seen it explain what sort of bad adaptation it is? Is it a bad adaptation because of all the extra material that has been added---(but the core moments of the book are still there)---or is it a bad adaptation because it changes what happens in the book? Or is it an extreme case of both?

(My, I felt like that last paragraph was like Gandalf's quote in the Hobbit about "what sort of good morning". )

I'm doing my best to keep an open mind. I would just appreciate knowing what to expect.

Lady Galadriel, it's mostly recognizable, but book parts have been curtailed in favor of Action! and Action! I guess it's your first sort of bad adaptation with a seasoning of the second.

Impending Doom, you're right, if it wasn't The Hobbit I would have enjoyed it a fair bit more, but I also might have liked to be surprised with an intelligent script or plot twists that did something interesting.

Agreed, Mel. Parts of the book are recognizable but there's a lot more Action. I went to see it again today (with a different group of friends) and decided it's fairly enjoyable under these conditions:

*You don't expect a close adaptation to the book
*You expect an action movie
*You're able to suspend disbelief regarding the laws of physics

There are things to like: the awesome New Zealand scenery, the wood elves' realm, Smaug the dragon and the interior of the Lonely Mountain.

Other spoilery comments:

@Lady Galadriel, I would compare this movie to Prince Caspian.

Got back from seeing it tonight, and I would say that I loved it and hated it at the same time. Impending Doom said it right, it's a good movie but a horrible adaptation.

Things I liked...

Things I hated...

There were other things I didn't care for, but could at least forgive the changes/tweaks because I knew they had a lot of material to cram in.