The Hobbit: First Look At Smaug

I would have been more intrigued had Del Torro stayed at the helm with Jackson producing.

 

Loved it!

 

Finally saw this last night and enjoyed it more than part 1, which I fell asleep during. It did go on too long. I was ready for it to be over shortly after Bilbo first meets Smaug. Could have done completely without the Dwaf/Elf romance sub-plot. I really liked the whole barrel sequence, though. I thought it was fun and funny.

It's been a long time since I read "The Hobbit", so I see things that don't quite seem right, but am unsure what I've forgotten. The meeting at the beginning between Gandalf and Thorin, for example, where Thorin talks about hearing rumors of his father being spotted wandering somewhere. His father is long dead, isn't he? Are we to take it that Gandalf spread the rumors just to draw Thorin to the area so he could propose the quest? Was this stated anywhere in the book, or does it come from somehwere else, like "The Silmarillion" (which I haven't read).

 

The meeting of Gandalf and Thorin is from the book "Unfinished Tales" in the chapter The Quest of Erebor.

The movie changed some bits from the books - it was Thorin's grandfather Thror who is killed at Moria fighting Azog the orc. Thrain, Thorin's father, survives the battle and flees to the Blue Mountains for awhile before wanting to try to retake Erebor and 'wanders' the wilderness before being captured near Dol Guldur and taken prisoner. That is where Gandalf finds him when Gandalf does some of his own investigations on the darkness taking over Mirkwood (which is Sauron taking form again) and finds Thrain. Thrain then gives him the key to the secret door before dying in Dol Guldur.

 

Okay, thanks. So Thrain IS alive. Or was, and presumably in the next installment we'll see a flashback of Thrain giving the key to Gandalf.

 

A scene of Gandalf and supposedly Thrain having a rather violent encounter in what looked like Dol Goldur has been floating around since the first trailer; it'll either be in the extended Desolation or in the third film.

 

The first film had singing in it.

 

I think it was better than the first Hobbit movie, but still problematic. I liked Thauriel (I've got a kick ass daughter too although interestingly she much prefers Arwen as a character).

Overall, these Hobbit movies feel like a very empty exercise compared to Lord of the Rings. It's like they're hollow at the center. Re-watching LotR it occurred to me that Gimli had more personality than all 13 Dwarves in Thorin's company combined. I think that's the fundamental problem.

 

I really find Radagast (sp?) disgusting. I think they could convey that he loves nature without having a stream of caked bird**** down the side of his face and beard.

 

I tried to press the like button about 15 times for this thought, fwiw...

 

I think removing the love story would be simple. The prison conversation was tacked on, and unnecessary. The Laketown love sequence cut back and forth with the Smaug sequence. By cutting the scene where the dwarf gets hurt (which does not happen in the book, iirc), she doesn't need to come heal him.

I have only seen it once, but I don't think it will be hard for someone to edit. I will be looking forward to somebody doing it. If Peter Jackson were smart, he would do it himself as a DVD bonus. A version that is close to Tolkien would please all segments of the fan base.

 

So how will you explain why he and the other dwarves who stayed in Laketown are not with Thorin and Bilbo at the Mountain? It's probably not as easy as you think, unless you're just talking about editing it in theory rather than working with the actual footage.

And admit that he shouldn't have made three movies? I don't see that happening.

 

I am not certain the dwarves would be missed at the Smaug sequence. The only two that stand out are Thorin and the friendly old one. The dwarves are kind of a nameless group.

The other option could be to let him get hurt and stay behind, but let him heal on his own?

Or use the inevitable him feeling better scene that will be in part III to show him getting better.

These are off the top of my head, but the dwarf-elf love triangle has got to go in any edit.

You are correct about Jackson. It would never happen.

 

True. One problem with the movie. And I don't even like Thorin. He's kind of an a##hole.

 

Well, I sort of liked this movie before I finshed reading this thread. Now I kind of feel Bilbo got cheated by an a**hole wanna be King Bling Dwarf and some cuckoo wizard with bird**it in his hair

 

Saw this Thursday with my two boys both of whom have read the Hobbit and know that I'm a Tolkien 'nerd'.

I'm with many others that some of the action sequences just went on too long - esp the barrel ride.

I guess I'm less 'fanatical' in my older age and/or less concerned over the changes PJ made to the Hobbit vs Lord of the Rings.

It was enjoyable enough, a tad long, too many gratuitous orc beheadings, and cliff hanger special effects.

The one really jarring addition was the Tauriel 'love triangle'.

And I get the whole buildup before we get to see the wonderous calamity that is the mighty Smaug - but the more time spent showcasing his terrible splendor the more it diminishes the spectacle...always leave the audience wanting more - not sated and bored.

But - Thorin was an a-hole in the book. You should read some of the harsh words Thorin had for Gandalf in the chapter The Quest of Erebor from Unfinished Tales.

 

Excellent observation, Erik. I also felt that Smaug's magnificent awesome-ness diminished the longer he was on-screen. I think they did a great job with the design and voice of Smaug, but less is more.

I also thought the whole "cover him in rivers of gold" sequence was a mistake. Did that occur in the book? I don't remember. It just seemed to be such an incredible amount of gold that there's no way they could have put that plan together and implemented it so quickly. Also, when Smaug shook the gold off like a wet dog after a bath with no gold remaining attached to him, it made it even less believable.

 

This is definitely NOT how it goes in the book. I outlined in post #56 how I wish they had done this sequence in the movie, and still closely followed the book. I do not believe that scene needed changes to translate to the big screen.

1. They find the door and go inside
2. Bilbo is sent to check out the lair, finds Smaug sleeping, takes a gold cup (You could make it the Arkenstone, if you wanted it in this film), and returns to tell the others the dragon lives.
3. Smaug awakes and realizes a piece of the treasure is missing, and in a rage flies out scorching the hillside and killing their ponies (That would be an impressive scene!).
4. Bilbo goes back in and has his lengthy discussion with Smaug, and escapes back into the tunnel as flames are sent after him.
5. The upper door is destroyed by Smaug, trapping the dwarves inside, and he flies off to exact punishment on Laketown.

There is no way to end a middle act anyway, but you have Smaug flying toward Laketown in his anger, and Thorin says, "There is no turning back, we must enter the mountain."

 

That's an awful sequence, I agree, and in thinking about how to re-edit this film, excising that part becomes a problem because of the "shaking the gold off" as he flies away. The long discussion between Bilbo and Smaug is something I hope we get in an extended cut of the movie, but I'm doubtful.

 

I agree mostly, I preferred the first, but also felt both were hollow, more like pirates of the Caribbean than I would have liked....

 

What exectly is the purpose of all those dwarves? At least 6 too many.

 

This sequence makes far more sense than the movie-version, I think. So far I get the impression this could (should?) have been two movies instead of three. I know it's nicely symmetrical with the "LOTR"-trilogy, but here the story is wearing a bit thin in places.

 

Been a while since I read the book, and I'm not saying the movie version is better, but I don't think the sequence above is an improvement:

- They go into the mountain, they come out, the dragon goes on a rampage, they go back in and have a nice chat with the dragon ... wait, what?
- The cliff-hanger is: they enter a room full of treasure when there's no longer any danger.

--Geoff

 

Smaug can not fit in the passage the dwarves are in. So he of course wants to talk to Bilbo in hopes of finding a way to kill them all.

The dwarves are there to kill the dragon, so just because he goes on a rampage, does not mean they can just pack it up and go home. It is Bilbo's job to investigate the dragon's lair, and also find the Arkhenstone.

You are correct in the difficulty of ending it here, and that is why it should not be 3 movies.

 

Will the final battle consume the majority of the last movie? I guess it is time to see this one.