Yea I understand he had problems with the LotR being long ass movies that had to have many parts completely omitted, but the source material was 3 distinct books that totaled like 1500 pages of the written word. In comparison The Hobbit is only 300 pages. I worry that in trying to stretch such a short tale into 3 movies, you are really going to lose the essence of it. I hope I am wrong, and I would not mind getting to see a lot of these side tales and stories that are only hinted at in The Hobbit (and obviously elaborated on quite a bit in The Simarillion), but I worry that in shifting the focus to this that we will diminish or lose the story of Bilbo. I hope that it is not diluted too much in adding in this additional content.

[Edited on July 31, 2012 at 9:28 PM. Reason : ]

7/31/2012 9:28:05 PM

Not worried at all about extending this way beyond the book. Want to see anything and everything Peter can throw at us . I mean the one line from bilbo in the trailer "I may not have told you everything" let's you do anything you want. Bring it on.

Question, trailer suggests gandalf and galadrial had romantic relationship when gandalf was younger. Is this in any other Tolkien material? The hobbit material is a baseline that is so brief that the extended added material is really y I want to see this movie.

[Edited on August 1, 2012 at 7:01 AM. Reason : Hhhhh]

[Edited on August 1, 2012 at 7:02 AM. Reason : Ggggg]

8/1/2012 6:59:30 AM

Not sure, but you know they are going to shoehorn a love story in there somewhere.

8/1/2012 7:39:24 AM

http://hole-intheground.blogspot.com/2012/01/galadriel-and-gandalf-not-so-romantic.html

8/1/2012 9:10:47 AM

3 movies?

I liked the LOTR trilogy, but I don't see how the hobbit can be made into 3 movies and not suck in comparison. Peter Jackson directed KING KONG, lest we forget.

8/1/2012 12:47:00 PM

Quote :

"I mean the one line from bilbo in the trailer "I may not have told you everything" let's you do anything you want. Bring it on."

i hate this. "i may not have told you everything." god. come on.

the battle of 5 armies seemed like it was probably a big enough thing to take up a pretty large amount of time in a movie. tolkien kind of shortened it with the whole "then bilbo got knocked out and woke up after it was over." you could definitely stretch that out for a while. and there was the entire sidestory about gandalf going off to deal with the necromancer while bilbo and the dwarves went to the lonely mountain that was also something that tolkien just mentioned and could also take up a good amount of screen time. i'm not too concerned with the "essence" being lost when there was still a decent amount of material that was in the book but also not in the book at the same time, if that makes sense.

8/1/2012 1:02:15 PM

While I have faith in PJ, and I hope he won't screw this up, the dynamics are very different from LOTR. In LOTR he had the luxury of a huge excess of material to draw upon. He was able to refine things down into a more concise story line, while omitting characters and events that were not pertinent to the plot. This will be the reverse, where he will be expanding on the base story, and adding characters and events not pertinent to the plot of the Hobbit. Maybe it will work out, or maybe it won't.

8/1/2012 1:42:30 PM

I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and then disparage him ferociously if I don't like the result.

8/1/2012 1:54:52 PM

First world problems.

8/1/2012 2:02:05 PM

^^^Yeah there were reasons stuff was relegated to appendices or glossed over, because they wandered from the narrative.

8/1/2012 2:22:07 PM

Quote :

"While I have faith in PJ, and I hope he won't screw this up, the dynamics are very different from LOTR"

working in the necromancer bit and splitting screen time between that and mirkwood could play out like what they did in two towers and ROTK with the 3 different plotlines. i wouldn't mind that if the pacing was right.

8/1/2012 4:05:45 PM

New trailer out

http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/wb/thehobbit/

This is going to be epic!

9/19/2012 11:20:51 AM

So I just got through with reading the Silmarillion just to see what kind of material could be pulled from it to put in the Hobbit. Turns out not much at all. 95% of it has nothing to do with the rings of power and of the 5% of the story that does deal with the rings the vast majority really wouldn't be of much use without dropping lots of names and places that don't come close to pertaining to the essence of the story.

Wizards and Hobbits don't even arrive on the scene until the last few pages. The only main character from LotR that has any significant roles to play is Sauron, but the character is totally different. Other than that there are a few name drops like Elrond and Galadriel but they don't do much. Besides, the book has no narrative, I guess they could make a movie out of it, but it would be terrible. The book becomes more bearable after page 60 or so but overall it's a bore and repeats on a few themes.

I've since moved on to reading the appendices at the end of LotR. It starts off by giving a page or two synopsis of the Silmarillion and I've found that the synopsis is probably all you will ever want or need to know about the Silmarillion. I expect the LotR appendices will hold a lot more relevant info.

[Edited on September 19, 2012 at 1:05 PM. Reason : -]

9/19/2012 12:59:43 PM

Definitely going to watch the new trailer at home and then I think I'm done watching anything until the movie comes out.

[Edited on September 19, 2012 at 3:48 PM. Reason : ]

9/19/2012 3:48:10 PM

For those of us in the 21st century, here is the trailer in a non-MOV format:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViUNm30ADEA&hd=1

9/19/2012 10:34:31 PM

not too much longer

11/5/2012 4:05:40 PM

Tickets on sale already...

11/7/2012 2:42:13 PM

Yep, I think I might get my midnight tickets soon. My wife and I don't work that Friday anyway.

11/7/2012 2:46:35 PM

Haha available formats:

Quote :

"The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey 2D (35mm) The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey 3D The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey – An IMAX Experience The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey – An IMAX 3D Experience The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - High Frame Rate (48 frames per second) 3D The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - High Frame Rate (48 frames per second) IMAX 3D"

Going to confuse the fuck out of everyone.

11/7/2012 2:48:16 PM

agreed. To make it even better, my closest theater only says "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" for their presale. So who knows what version it is for.

11/7/2012 2:51:13 PM

Think I'll try the 48 then 24 and see which I like better. I guess that means the 3D is 96 (48 each eye).

11/7/2012 2:53:15 PM

So, I'm confused now; I guess I will have to call the theater. Their online tickets say: 12:03AM Thursday Dec. 13th, but I know the movie comes out on Dec 14th, so I expected to see 12:03AM Friday Dec 14th.

Is this a standard way to list midnight showings? The next showing they have listed after the 12:03 on Dec 13th is 11:30am on Dec 14th. If their midnight showing truly were Dec 13th, I would expect to start seeing the normal showings start at 11:30am on the 13th, not the 14th.

I want to double check with them before ordering my tickets. I couldn't make a showing at midnight on the 13th but can on the 14th.

11/8/2012 5:14:54 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Hy6O682OGI&feature=player_embedded

very excited, but i really, really hate the whole "i may not have told you everything" shit he says to frodo. i know jackson took a few creative liberties with the LOTR trilogy, but this is just so stupid.

11/21/2012 1:52:08 PM

Wow. That trailer may have told me everything. I feel like I've seen the movie now.

And I took the "may not have told you everything" as just a way of kicking off the story. I.e. I told you I had a ring but I didn't tell you about the adventure I had in finding it... so here's the tale: start movie.

Not as a license to add or make things up. He's going to do that regardless.

[Edited on November 21, 2012 at 5:28 PM. Reason : -]

11/21/2012 5:28:10 PM

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/the-hobbit-an-unexpected-journey-soundtrack-honors-the-dwarves-premiere-20121130

12/3/2012 10:31:20 AM

http://www.forbes.com/sites/markhughes/2012/12/12/the-hobbit-review-peter-jacksons-return-to-middle-earth-is-a-triumph/

Quote :

"Peter Jackson has delivered a remarkable film, one that at once matches the quality and integrity of his The Lord of the Rings trilogy while setting a new standard on its own terms as a unique, different story. Jackson has also introduced us to a major technical advance in modern mainstream feature filmmaking with the 48 frames per second, also in turn helping improve the quality of 3D. He has much to be proud of with this film, and fans have much to be thankful for. I will admit that going into this film, I was worried. The news that Guillermo del Toro bowed out, that the planned two films were being expanded into three films, and that Jackson was utilizing the controversial 48 fps all slowly added to my concerns. Then came some of the first reviews and complaints, and my worries mounted. So I entered the theater tonight afraid that I was going to have to come home and write a bad review, or more likely a mixed review. What I didn’t expect was to walk out of the theater feeling like I’d just seen a movie that was better than the opening chapter of the previous Middle Earth trilogy, and the equal of the other two films in that series. But I am glad to have been wrong, I’m happy that my negative expectations were all for naught, and I am pleased to tell you that you should go see this film because most of you are going to love it and have a great time. Bravo, Mr. Jackson."

12/12/2012 10:22:34 AM

Looking forward to it I am planning to see it in 24fps the first time.

12/12/2012 10:27:43 AM

Yea I am confused as fuck by the 18 different formats this movie is releasing in. I think I am just going to see it in regular 24 non 3D. I checked out the IMAX version at Marbles, and for a family of 4 was going to be like $46. And I don't think that was the higher frame rate either.

12/12/2012 11:31:25 AM

Yeah I'm boggled by all the options. Is the IMAX 3D by default in 48 fps, or can only non-IMAX films be shown in 48 fps?

I had forgotten until today about the fact they made this into 3 movies. There simply isn't 9 hours of material in the book to make three films. As a result, I'm not getting overly excited (I don't want another Prometheus letdown).

12/12/2012 11:48:36 AM

^Southpoint (which I know isn't a true IMAX theater) has 3 versions. Hobbit, Hobbit IMAX 3D, and HFR 3D. Seems to distinguish IMAX from High Frame Rate.

12/12/2012 11:54:43 AM

^^ Yeah, as far as the 3 movies were concerned I was thinking that maybe each movie was only 90 minutes this time.

Quote :

"The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Runtime: 169 min"

Nope, looks like it will be 9 hours after all.

[Edited on December 12, 2012 at 2:27 PM. Reason : -]

12/12/2012 2:25:17 PM

My local paper just gave it a subpar review. Said Jackson really drug this one out too much.

I'm kinda glad that it's at least lowering my expectations a bit.

12/12/2012 3:49:28 PM

^I came to post the same. IndyWeek gave it a one star out of four... which is kind of shocking because if anything they are often too generous with reviews. They thought it was seriously over the top and far too action-packed, even compared to the trilogy movies. They echoed a sentiment I hear a lot which is that there shouldn't be three movies, it should be quainter and more passionate than the other movies, et cetera, whereas apparently it is just an ASSAULT of characters and fights.

...but I'll still see it.

12/12/2012 6:15:24 PM

JGBFTM: It far exceeded my tempered expectations. The 3D Star Trek trailer was wicked. The only downside, to me, was the part with Golem seemed a little too short. That was by far the fastest (almost) three hour movie.

12/14/2012 3:51:57 AM

didn't care for it.

there were at least a half dozen scenes where i found myself thinking "holy shit they really went into too much detail with this".

12/14/2012 6:30:52 AM

Like which parts? The book has been out for over 70 years, so spoil away.

Just going off the trailer the only thing that looked suspect were some of the fighting clips they used. They made Bilbo come off like he was some sort of bad-A, or at the very least that he was much more confident (and competent for that matter) a fighter than the book made him out to be.

Not that they have to follow the book exactly, but if they made Bilbo an instant warrior it would be kind of hard to sell that whole I'm a simple Hobbit and will reluctantly go thing.

That said, part of the point in the book was to show how he grew in usefulness as the story progresses.

[Edited on December 14, 2012 at 7:28 AM. Reason : -]

12/14/2012 7:23:33 AM

Bilbo in the book always complained about everything. Wanting to go home, eat more food, being tired, not wanting to be there. However, whenever he was asked to do something, he stepped up. In the book Bilbo was more courageous than the Dwarves throughout the journey, except for that embarrassing episode during the unexpected party, and later on during the standoff between the Elf King, Bard, and later on with the battle of 5 armies (which was more of a ideological break from the Dwarves war mongering and greed. It took a lot of courage to steal the Arkenstone and give it to Bard and the Elf King, to barter a peace treaty and prevent war). So really, I have to disagree, and say that Bilbo was in fact a wolf in sheep clothing for most of the book. With the exception of Gandalf saving everyone from the Trolls, and the Eagles saving everyone from the goblin-encircled treetops, Bilbo was the sole hero throughout the majority of the book, minus Beorn (who was also a badass).

[Edited on December 14, 2012 at 9:46 AM. Reason : -]

12/14/2012 9:34:19 AM

can't write much now. Went to bed as soon as getting home last night and then we were out all day and now im getting around to head back out...but I wanted to at least say that I enjoyed it. We watched it at standard 24fps non-3D.

The Hobbit has been my favorite book since I was a kid and I have read it SEVERAL times so I figured I'd be a harsh critic regardless of the product. So, I wasn't surprised that there were certainly a handful of things that I didn't like about it. That being said, it was still enjoyable and I plan to go back to see it in 48fps, 3D at some point. I'll probably expand on this later.

12/14/2012 6:06:33 PM

Anybody that has seen it, appropriate enough for a 5 and 9 year old? They are pretty good with most stuff as long as it isn't too scary. My oldest read The Hobbit, so I would like to take them all. I have not shown them the Lord of the Rings movies, yet, but I think they would be fine watching any of them. Thoughts?

12/14/2012 9:24:27 PM

Saw it this afternoon in 24fps, 3D (neither my choice, I'd prefer to see if 48 fps 2D if that were an option).

Good movie, little to do with the book. I mean, it's a 300 page book make into a 9 hour movie trilogy. Possible spoiler alert: there is a large amount of content in the film that, as far as I recall, has no basis in the books. I'm not convinced this is a bad thing; purists can deal with it dot gif, but this movie is basically an ultra high budget fan fiction. It's pretty okay.

BTW, for the weird Venn diagram of people who watch How I Met Your Mother and the animated movie of The Hobbit, Bob (Robin's elderly boyfriend in Season 3, Episode 9, "Slapsgiving" (a.k.a. one of the best episodes evar)) is the voice of Bilbo Baggins, the hobbit.

12/14/2012 10:36:35 PM

Saw it today. Regular 2D. I enjoyed it but I will not be going back to see the rest of them. I felt like I was getting robbed watching this movie, 300 pages is enough content to make a 3 hour movie.

12/14/2012 11:59:33 PM

Saw it, loved gollum, will see the rest

12/15/2012 11:40:21 AM

Saw it last night and really liked it. One question, this was probably explained in the books more, but why don't they use the giant eagles more often? After they escaped from the Orcs on the eagles, they were dropped off maybe 100-200 miles from the Lonely Mountain... that's probably like a 2-3 hour flight for the eagles whereas it would probably take them weeks on foot (and probably be a lot more dangerous). Maybe the eagles have some kind of thing where they only help out in emergencies or something? Can anyone who read the books elaborate?

12/15/2012 1:37:01 PM

Gandalf called the eagles when he spoke to that butterfly. I can remember the specifics (Read the book in middle school).

Gollum needs his own movie ^^

Quote :

"What does bagginsessss has in its pocket"

I laughed for most of the Gollum scene.

12/15/2012 6:23:26 PM

^^

"The Lord of the Eagles would not take them anywhere near where men lived. "They would shoot at us with their great bows of yew," he said, "for they would think we were after their sheep. And at other times they would be right. No! we are glad to cheat the goblins of their sport, and glad to repay our thanks to you (Gandalf), but we will not risk ourselves for dwarves in the southward plains."

I think it's BS because they could easily set them at the Eastern edge of the Mirkwood. That, and I don't know why their journey would be "southward." For reference, you'd need to travel "200 miles or so out of your way north, and twice that south" to circumvent Mirkwood.
http://www.tolkien-archives.com/maps/wilderland2.jpg

[Edited on December 16, 2012 at 2:23 PM. Reason : ]

12/16/2012 2:21:17 PM

just saw it, it was fun, IMAX 3D was awesome

and damn the star trek preview was pretty fucking sweet

[Edited on December 16, 2012 at 4:51 PM. Reason : radagast is a balla]

12/16/2012 4:50:55 PM

^^^ I would not survive an hour if Gollum had his own movie.

By the end of the trilogy i was ready to off myself if i heard the words "my precious" again

12/16/2012 5:08:41 PM

This movie was awesome. People will bitch about anything. This is gling to be a really good hear for movies

12/16/2012 6:32:17 PM

Quote :

"This is gling to be a really good hear for movies"

12/16/2012 7:34:41 PM

wow my fucking phone slaughtered that ....


"this is going to be a very good year for movies"

12/16/2012 7:46:16 PM