It is bound to be fast-paced and action-packed; perfect for a teaser trailer. The next trailers will be around the usual length and will focus more on the story and characters.
Then, finally, The Hobbit The Battle of Five Armies trailer played. It was a teaser. Bilbo says “I’ll remember everything that happened. Those who survived, those who didn’t.” There’s footage of Smaug blowing fire on Laketown, a decimated city, soldeirs and huge armies walking. Then, finally, Billy Boyd’s song from Return of the King hits, setting a somber, down tone. It promises the defining chapter of the Middle Earth trilogy as we see footage of a chase scene on ice. Flashes of Sauron. Then Bard asks Thorin, “Will you have peace or war?” He responds “I will have war!” A few more epic shots before everything gets quiet. Thorin “Will you follow me one last time?”
I am curious about how long it should take to kill off Smaug in the film. We all basically know what will happen, so I hope it's dealt with in a short and sweet fashion which allows time to focus entirely on the battle of the five armies. It should certainly not be 50 % about Smaug attacking the city and 50 % about the battle in my opinion if we want a coherent movie with momentum.
Good trailer, but still shows signs of the weaknesses that the first two films had.
Unrealistic CGI is the only one noticeable to me, TH films lean toward a game look sometimes compared to the original trilogy and all it's organic beauty.
"If you make yourself more than just a man... If you devote yourself to an ideal... You become something else entirely- A Legend."
True, but it's more fault of the cinematography making the films to look too bright and colorful compared to the gritty cinematography of the first LOTR film.
Good trailer, but still shows signs of the weaknesses that the first two films had.
Unrealistic CGI is the only one noticeable to me, TH films lean toward a game look sometimes compared to the original trilogy and all it's organic beauty.
And yet it's surprising how much unrealistic CGI can pull you out of the film. That sledding chase is one thing, but the panning over the battle with all the CGI characters was downright shitty. If the entire battle of the five armies is a digital environment it's simply going to lessen the scale and invalidate emotional stakes if it's that noticeably fake. I still have faith in this film, I'm sure it's going to be the best in the Hobbit trilogy, and it has easily the best scenes (including the ones we've all been waiting for), but there's something about this trailer that just brings home how much of a lost cause this massive project has been. Using the song from RotK and hyping it all up as the "Defining Chapter of the Middle-Earth Saga"...I'm sorry, the films are decent, but they don't touch LotR.
What would you guys attribute this to? PJ getting lazier on this trilogy? In retrospect would everyone have been pleased with just one film?
I think it lies in a mixture between his increasing love for digital environments and his seeming need to replicate the success of LotR. He seems to be aiming to push VFX technology (especially by filming in 48fps) but, while some of it is impressive, it directly counters the gritty nature that LotR had, which causes a massive loss of emotional impact and intensity. Don't get me wrong, the VFX for Smaug and Gollum are wondrous to behold, but when Jackson allows his imagination to roam free in a playground of VFX where anything impossible, we get sequences like the sled chase, the barrel chase, and the battle against Smaug in DoS's climax. It is physics-defying, seemingly nonsensical video-game style footage that pales in comparison to the visceral and kinetic battles from LotR like Amon Hen and Helm's Deep. This is all just made so much worse by the fact that Jackson is actively trying to make this another epic trilogy, which, even amongst the hours of filler and unneeded fluff, fails under the lack of emotional stakes, intensity, and gritty realism. The worst part is, we know that recreating the gritty, realistic fantasy style of Lord of the Rings today is still possible--just look at Game of Thrones, which has incredible dramatic stakes thanks partly to their traditional way of filming and limited use of special effects.
It shouldn't be gritty or realistic, because this was a children's book. The fact that they want to make The Hobbit like LOTR is the real problem. And like I said, the cinematography makes the CGI to look much more fake than in LOTR.
A good thing is that this trilogy shows to the people who says "I wouldn't mind to have a 10 hours film based on a book" that it won't bring you a good movie, nor a faithful adaptation.
^That. I don't care about the differences between them. I don't see why they need to be as similar as people think they should be, when the books are not similar in tone. The Hobbit was intended as a fairy tale, not as something terribly gritty, so I don't really see the big deal. They're enjoyable in their own right, and they're obviously intended to be different to LotR.
Sure the books are different in tone, but by having Jackson expand the book into three films, which include elements from LotR like Sauron--and adding in sweeping romances, political/racial undertones and massive battle scenes (when, in the novel, Bilbo is knocked out all throughout the battle), as well as drawing out each film to epic length, it's easy to see that he's trying his hardest to make it an epic to complement LotR. It's just that the way that the core story is structured, as well as the way it is filmed and the overabundance of CGI simply does not suit an epic. It's not up to the standards of its predecessors.
Compliment LotR, yes. Up to the standards of it, god no. They're not intended to be, that's what I'm saying. They tie together with expansion and future elements, sure, but they're intended to feel different. They are radically different in every way. It doesn't need to be up to the same standard. If Tolkein wrote Lord of the Rings first, and then wrote The Hobbit later, it'd be the same thing; Not gritty enough, not real enough, not living up to the same standard. You know, it's not...meant to be? I'm honestly just grateful these films were made at all, especially with Jackson at the helm. We know from the immense success of the Lord of the Rings that he's the right guy for the job and I don't think it's a bad thing that his vision for the prequel, which is a fairy tale, is coming off this way. But that doesn't mean it has to be up to the same snuff as the Lord of the Rings. Everything in Lord of the Rings is bigger than The Hobbit, book and film. The characters, the plot, the scale. They tell a different story, and no matter how you paint it, the Lord of the Rings is the one that comes out on top. The liberties Jackson has taken on the elements of the book of The Hobbit in order to better tie it in to the Lord of the Rings are a betterment, to be honest. I don't see him has 'trying to make it an epic' to compliment LotR. I see him taking the incredibly whimsical source material and giving us something that, on screen, we might actually be interested in. Sure, these films are from the same universe, and yes, they are radically different. You're right in that The Hobbit does not suit an epic, which is exactly why it isn't gritty and real like the Lord of the Rings was, and has received the stylised visuals and the treatment it has been given by Jackson and his team. Just my two cents.
This issue is double fold and hard to put a stamp on it.
I will compare it to light. Light is both a particle and a wave. There is no obvious answer as to why despite the advances in quantum mechanics.
The Hobbit films are both really good and I love them yet they are also a train wreck compared to what it could have been. Such a conundrum. I suppose the answer would have been to simply put away the lust for money and make the best FILM possible not FILMS. Follow the book as closely as possible without tying it to LotR and make one film. It would have been amazing and would have stood on its own.
"If you make yourself more than just a man... If you devote yourself to an ideal... You become something else entirely- A Legend."
The digital remaster of Braindead will be released post-The Hobbit (one for TBHL fans. There is already a working cut of the film, with only a couple more shots to “chisel into shape”. Without credits, the cut currently runs to 150 minutes and Jackson says he’s aiming at 140 minutes. Jackson: “I think of this third movie as a psychological thriller with actions scenes interspersed in the middle of it. It has for a very tight narrative structure.” Thranduil’s Warmoose will return! (Yay!!). Line from Thranduil to Thorin: We’ve come to tell you payment of your debt has been offered… and accepted. The orcs have all manner of creatures. Not just trolls, but creatures they have bred for their armies. Negotiations between Thorin and Thranduil conclude abruptly when Dain Ironfoot’s “cavalry” arrives. The dwarves are mounted on battle goats and battle rams. Dain rides a warpig.
Comments
Lord Stafford.
I had a fun day at Comic Con walking among you all. Did anyone see the Evil Jester? Some of you did because you asked him to pose for pics!
Cheers, Peter J
Then, finally, The Hobbit The Battle of Five Armies trailer played. It was a teaser. Bilbo says “I’ll remember everything that happened. Those who survived, those who didn’t.” There’s footage of Smaug blowing fire on Laketown, a decimated city, soldeirs and huge armies walking. Then, finally, Billy Boyd’s song from Return of the King hits, setting a somber, down tone. It promises the defining chapter of the Middle Earth trilogy as we see footage of a chase scene on ice. Flashes of Sauron. Then Bard asks Thorin, “Will you have peace or war?” He responds “I will have war!” A few more epic shots before everything gets quiet. Thorin “Will you follow me one last time?”
Lord Stafford.
teaser of a teaser lol :P
So many trailers coming out this week, lol.
Lord Stafford.
Lord Stafford.
Lord Stafford.
Lord Stafford.
A good thing is that this trilogy shows to the people who says "I wouldn't mind to have a 10 hours film based on a book" that it won't bring you a good movie, nor a faithful adaptation.
I'm honestly just grateful these films were made at all, especially with Jackson at the helm. We know from the immense success of the Lord of the Rings that he's the right guy for the job and I don't think it's a bad thing that his vision for the prequel, which is a fairy tale, is coming off this way. But that doesn't mean it has to be up to the same snuff as the Lord of the Rings. Everything in Lord of the Rings is bigger than The Hobbit, book and film. The characters, the plot, the scale. They tell a different story, and no matter how you paint it, the Lord of the Rings is the one that comes out on top. The liberties Jackson has taken on the elements of the book of The Hobbit in order to better tie it in to the Lord of the Rings are a betterment, to be honest. I don't see him has 'trying to make it an epic' to compliment LotR. I see him taking the incredibly whimsical source material and giving us something that, on screen, we might actually be interested in. Sure, these films are from the same universe, and yes, they are radically different. You're right in that The Hobbit does not suit an epic, which is exactly why it isn't gritty and real like the Lord of the Rings was, and has received the stylised visuals and the treatment it has been given by Jackson and his team.
Just my two cents.
I will compare it to light. Light is both a particle and a wave. There is no obvious answer as to why despite the advances in quantum mechanics.
The Hobbit films are both really good and I love them yet they are also a train wreck compared to what it could have been. Such a conundrum. I suppose the answer would have been to simply put away the lust for money and make the best FILM possible not FILMS. Follow the book as closely as possible without tying it to LotR and make one film. It would have been amazing and would have stood on its own.
Lord Stafford.
https://uk.yahoo.com/movies/the-hobbit-the-desolation-of-smaug-extended-93856081591.html
There is already a working cut of the film, with only a couple more shots to “chisel into shape”.
Without credits, the cut currently runs to 150 minutes and Jackson says he’s aiming at 140 minutes.
Jackson: “I think of this third movie as a psychological thriller with actions scenes interspersed in the middle of it. It has for a very tight narrative structure.”
Thranduil’s Warmoose will return! (Yay!!).
Line from Thranduil to Thorin: We’ve come to tell you payment of your debt has been offered… and accepted.
The orcs have all manner of creatures. Not just trolls, but creatures they have bred for their armies.
Negotiations between Thorin and Thranduil conclude abruptly when Dain Ironfoot’s “cavalry” arrives.
The dwarves are mounted on battle goats and battle rams. Dain rides a warpig.