The Hobbit movies need to be drastically cut-down and reworked, not added to! I'm loving the behind the scenes though. Pity the movies were only average.

"Into the Fire?" I have a hard time believing that this title was ever a consideration. Not only does it not fit Middle-earth, but it almost suggests the possibility of a fourth movie. It's not a good title for the ending of a trilogy, that's for certain.

"The Battle of Five Armies" is an improvement, but this almost foreshadows that the battle will take up the majority of the movie. Battles are nothing new, and I'd prefer not see one that takes up a huge portion of the movie.

The Hobbit movies need to be drastically cut-down and reworked, not added to! I'm loving the behind the scenes though. Pity the movies were only average.

DOS definitely had an issue with pacing. Beorn's house and Thranduil's hall were so rushed that I was shocked. Going in to see the movie, I wasn't expecting that. It seems that this was done so that we could spend a longer time watching Smaug's confrontation with the Dwarves.

(I loved the idea of the Dwarves confronting Smaug. Personally, it's something that I wish had happened in the book. But in the movie, it went on...and on...and on... One almost wonders, if Smaug is so deadly and frightening, then how come in that whole length of time he couldn't catch one Dwarf?)

DOS is almost trying to make up for AUJ. AUJ had the opposite problem with pacing -- going extraordinarily slowly! (As a book fan, I appreciated more time spent in Bag End. But on the same token, I was getting bored after spending so long in Goblin Town.)

Despite all of my comments, I am still interested in the extended edition of DOS. It depends on what it contains. If it includes more of Beorn, Mirkwood, or Thranduil's hall, I would love to see it. If it includes more Tauriel-Kili scenes, or more of the Smaug-Dwarf confrontation.... then I may have to pass.

Good point. I agree with you on all accounts (or at least what you've just described). I guess I was thinking more about the overly-long scenes rather than the rushed scenes. Yes, the rushed scenes needed more airtime. I really enjoyed the Smaug versus the dwarves scene too but it became a bit much when they poured liquid gold over him.

"Lord of the Rings: Battle of Pelennor Fields"

I finished reading The Fall of Arthur last night, and among the bonus features was a bit of commentary on how the poem related to the Númenor legend as it stood at the time. (Also there was a recap of what The Lost Road was supposed to be which is rather fascinating to contemplate because Tolkien and time travel do not seem to go together...)

As a long-time visitor of Middle Earth, it was quite strange to read of Arthur going through Mirkwood. Granted, it is a descriptive name as opposed to, say, Gondor, but there was also a part where it felt like Arthur was the king visiting the paths of the dead. It wasn't quite as jarring, however, as reading about how Lancelot might have been meant to go on the same journey as Eärendil.

Anyone else have the same sort of experience?

I would say that I liked DOS, but the list of things I didn't like is actually really long. The most concise way of expressing my feelings about the film would be, "cut out the white orc". I didn't really enjoy any of the plots involved with the white orc, and there was actually a lot of cause and effect that I didn't like because of him. I mean, it's Middle-Earth! Does it really need more action added? I didn't care for Tauriel and the implied love triangle, and her involvement with the company would not be necessary if the dwarves were not being chased by the white orc. Kili wouldn't have been shot with the arrow, and so he and Fili would actually be there with the company on the Lonely Mountain. I have no idea why they added that.
They replaced the clever scenes with action, and that affected the pacing a lot. My favorite scene is the one when Gandalf slowly introduces the dwarves and Bilbo to Beon because it's done so cleverly and it's funny and interesting. That was replaced with action. The same thing happened to dialogue with the spiders in Mirkwood and with Smaug. All the cleverness was taken out and replaced with action. I really wish I could like the movie more than I did.

As an apology for the wall-of-texts I tend to put up on threads, here are some short and sweet Tolkien links:

Reviews of the Rankin-Bass Hobbit:
http://talkbacker.com/movies/reviews/ki ... it/id=2034 and http://periannath.com/feature/ugly-elve ... -reviewed/

... ... ... ... ...

A review of the Ralph Bakshi film: http://flyingmoose.org/tolksarc/bakshi/bakshi.htm

... ... ... ... ...

Why more Tolkien actors ought to sit on their hands: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/M ... heGiantCow
(You know you’re hamming it up when TV Tropes names a cliché after you.)

... ... ... ... ...

And the inevitable result? Fan Wars! http://www.dorktower.com/2003/01/01/comics-archive-374/

Ironically, I just watched the Rankin-Bass Hobbit with my family last week, so I can give it a review here.

We have two boys (a 5-year-old and 7-year-old) in the family, and this was their first introduction to The Hobbit. Other than covering their eyes once in a while (for example, when the ugly goblins popped out onto the screen, and when Gollum was screaming with rage), they didn't seem to get very frightened.

My biggest impression of the film was how quickly it moved! It covered the entire book in a mere 77 minutes! Admittedly, it skimmed certain parts and completely skipped others. (MILD Spoilers)

One of the reviews that The Old Maid linked to discussed the author's preference for the 1970s Smaug in comparison to PJ's. Maybe it's just a matter of personal preference, but I have to disagree. Despite my misgivings and outright dislikes about DOS, I generally liked their portrayal of Smaug. I thought they did a fantastic job with making him look real and changing BC's voice.

While I have to say that I very much prefer PJ's version (due to the higher-quality and live-action), I have to point out that Rankin-Bass' version is much more faithful to the book than either AUJ or DOS. If you haven't seen it, I would recommend watching it at least for comparisons' sake. (Do be cautious if you have little children around. Even though the film is not overly violent, in my opinion many of the cartoon figures are ugly, and several are outright scary-looking!)

I do admit to having a certain fondness for the Rankin-Bass Hobbit. The animation is quite dated and not very impressive, and the pacing is rather fast, but I do like that version of Bilbo. And the soundtrack, although certainly not like anything Howard Shore has produced, does include more of Tolkien's poetry.

I found this interesting read-along while browsing the web this morning: The Silmarillion Read-Along

Might be a good excuse to read (or re-read!) the book. I think it's been four years since I last read The Silmarillion, and I don't remember a lot of what happened. Other than Galadriel. Knowledge of her backstory made her character in LotR even more interesting.

Very interesting. I've read The Silmarillion a few times, and it could be time to read it again.

There's a Readers' Guide, too - it looks helpful! Overview of the chapters and lots of good artwork - and some name lists, which are sorely needed for this book

This starts a short run of LotR related Fox trot comic strips. I love them.

Ok.... I have to say, I LOVE this poster. Just wish it was for the previous movie instead of the BoFA.

... =1&theater

I love this poster too. One of the best ones of the films, methinks. Terrifyingly effective. Actually, my first thought was that it reminds me a bit of a minute, exceedingly brave Gandalf before the Lord of the Nazgûl at the Gates of Minas Tirith. Except ... Smaug is a wee bit larger.

That is a cool poster. (I did have to laugh at the tagline "The Defining Chapter" because, yep, this chapter will set in stone how I feel about the Hobbit trilogy. )

Loving that poster. Especially after months with no news.

Is anyone else thinking it's about time for a trailer? I hope they show something at Comic-Con. What with the marketing going on for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1 (which will be released this November), it seems to me that the Hobbit production really needs to step up their advertising...

Edit: Speaking of a trailer, it says on The One Ring that one has been rated on Alberta Film Ratings. Awesome!