Amph One Thread To Rule Them All: The Rings of Power + The Hobbit & Lord of the Rings Trilogies

A nifty tool to make wallpapers, icons, banners, what-have-you:
http://wallpapergenerator.thehobbit.com/

Lauré

 

There really seems to be a lot of effort to exclude Smaug from promotional material, not sure why given he's the title character for this part (and arguably the main character outside of Bilbo & Thorin)

We know he's in it, and cool CGI as he might be (unconfirmed from the headshot in the trailers which looked meh IMO) in the end a Dragon is a Dragon. They all look much the same, so just do a poster of him flying out of Erebor already

 

Yes, but where would be the shock and effect of surprise? I like the fact that, in this day and age where almost everything is spoiled by the power of Teh Internetz, some things can manage to stay under the radar, so to speak. And frankly, I'd rather discover Smaug on an IMAX screen, all terrible and magnificent, than on my tiny 16" screen. I'm supposed to be scared of him, dammit, and my computer simply doesn't cut it on that scale.

Lauré

 

Is it bad that most of the elves are starting to remind me of Bruno?

 

Yeah, I totally agree that Smaug shouldn't be seen in the promotional material. I mean, we've seen just about every thing else in the trailers. Save at least one thing for the movie.

 

So, about the elephant in the room.

And no, I don't mean Chris Christie.

I mean this Extended Edition.

I was a big fan of the LOTR EEs so it was pretty much foreordained that I would go the EE route for The Hobbit.

But I'd be hard pressed to call the AUJ EE a superior cut of the film.

Think Apocalypse Now Redux.

Spoiler

For one thing, the film didn't need any more comic relief. Now it's got Kili hitting on elf chicks, one of whom turns out to be a dude. And a scene where Elrond and another elf discover the dwarves naked and bathing in a fountain. Also, Bofur gets up on a table and sings the song that Frodo sung(*) in Bree, and is then pelted by vegetables. We're left wondering if the dwarves cleaned up their mess the same way they cleaned up Bilbo's house.

( * In the book and cartoon, that is. The song wasn't used in Jackson's FOTR, but Peter, Fran & Philippa are into repurposing dialogue. Witness Cate Blanchett's voice-over at the very beginning of FOTR, partially lifted from Treebeard's dialogue in "Many Partings" of the ROTK text, or the Tom Bombadil role played by Treebeard in the TTT EE. )

And we get an additional full-on musical number from Dame Edna's Great Goblin. I tried to justify this scene by telling myself "We know he likes singing because of the Torture Song, so this scene sets that up!" But it wasn't working; the Torture Song is at least tolerable. At this point we're in Return of the Jedi Special Edition territory. Has Peter Jackson become George Lucas?

Now to the good stuff:

I liked seeing Bilbo as a child meeting Gandalf for the first time.

There's additional dialogue in the "White Council" scene in which the seven Dwarf-rings are actually discussed, and it's mentioned that Thrain had one of them. ( It's not pointed out that it was originally possessed by Thror, or that the ring factored into the great accumulation of wealth in Erebor, but these things can be inferred. ) I was pleased by this because I had wanted to see this mentioned somewhere in the theatrical cut. I mean, it's The Lord of the RINGS, not The Lord of the Ring, so it's good to see some of the other rings included in the narrative. And of course this may set up something down the road...

Bilbo finding the shards of Narsil is nice, but it doesn't have any apparent connection to the rest of the plot. There's an added scene in the tunnel leading to Rivendell, where Bilbo can feel the presence of magic before the city is in sight. This is interesting because it shows that Bilbo has midl-earth-chlorians.

I'm still basically committed to the idea of EEs for this series - I don't even own the theatrical cuts of the LOTR films - but the AUJ EE is by no means the "slam dunk" that the LOTR EEs were.

 

I'm more interested in the nine hours of extras (that will easily be worth the prize), but I'm still a little wary of buying it. I have LOTR EEs, and when the inevitable big Red Book of Westmarch with both Hobbit and LOTR in it arrives I'll buy that, so buying these EEs would be redundant in the long run.

Of course I'll see them and likely as often as I like. I'm sure many of my friends and relatives will get it.

 

I bought the EE today. It's sitting there, staring at me. I have to wait a few days to watch it.

One thing I was going to comment on was the HUGE variation on this release that seems to exist in the States. I was looking on TORN and they had an article profiling about a zillion different EE versions. Mostly down to the special features that come with each, it seems, but nonetheless it was mind-boggling. Here we only appear to have two. A Blu-ray release and a DVD release. I bought the Blu-ray, which comes with the appendices, the film in 2D and the film in 3D. I don't own a 3D set at the moment, but I'm pleased to have a 3D copy of the film for when I do.

 

Regarding the EE, I will add to Arawn_Fenn 's comments that I particularly liked a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment.

Spoiler

More specifically, the bit at the start in the throne chamber of Erebor, where Thranduil goes to meer Thror. They show the Dwarves opening a caskett with a very beautiful, diamond-like jewelry set (the design of which doesn't seem much Dwarf-like, to say the least - indeed, it looks more Elvish, if anything), on a bed of stones made of the same. I couldn't help but wonder if this jewel beyond compare, held by the Dwarves of Erebor, wasn't in a way linked to the Nauglamir of legend.

Thranduil would have at least known of it in his youth, if not seen it outright, and he might have considered it a rightful Elven possession. Given the way the Dwarves refused to let him even approach it (even snapping the lid of the coffer, to add insult to injury), no wonder Thranduil, when Smaug fell upon Erebor, felt like that they deserved it, in a way, and (besides the fact that you don't go against a freaking dragon without massive armies and failsafe battle plans) decided to let them face the consequences of their greed and egoism.

Lauré

 

I'll only buy it for the bloopers anyway.

 

I had thought the same thing. I was sort of nonplussed by the scene, and I think that's because it tries to get a point across almost symbolically, as if compressing a longer sequence of events into a visual metaphor. Coming as it does in the middle of an introductory narration, there's no time for anything else, but what we're left with reminds me of "No soup for you!"

Spoiler

Though at least it does address the question of why Thranduil didn't help out.

I should also have mentioned that the scene with the conversation between Elrond and Gandalf overheard by Thorin and Bilbo is one of the better additions, foreboding later events.

 

But maybe it will be further elaborated in TDOS or TABA? Or, failing that, in the EEs? I don't think that PJ would throw that in "just because", and I am eager to see where he might take this particular thread of the tale.

Lauré

 

The trailer seems to imply that Thorin turns on Bilbo at some point. I haven't read the book since 2001, so does this actually happen?

 

yeah, it's one of the key plot points actually.

 

A small tour of Beorn's house:


Lauré

 

Am I the only one who thinks it odd they are saying it as 'Bay-orn'? I have always said it as 'Be-orn'...

 

Yes, and then Bilbo says "I am so turned on right now."

 

I've always said "Bay-orn" but I'm still trying to get used to saying "Smowg."

 

Well the story is about finding out your true self...

 

More scans, this time from SFX magazine:
http://thorinoakenshield.net/2013/11/13/sfx-magazine-desolation-of-smaug-interviews/

I must say I'm looking forward to Thranduil being a total badass. Considering who his father is (and his son, also), he has a lot to live up to.

Lauré

 

http://insidemovies.ew.com/2013/11/1...ug-soundtrack/

Sneak peek of the DOS soundtrack

 

Less than a month until it comes out!!

 

From the soundtrack, it seems they'll be spending the majority of time around Dale and the mountain, less in Mirkwood and barely any time at Beorn's. Based on the advertising so far I was worried they'd be focusing too much on Mirkwood, but if the tracks are anything to go by, that might not be the case.

 

so are they going to do a principal shoot for the third film or did they do that already?

 

They've done already last year in principal photography and this last July they shot on pickups the Battle of Five Armies