Why Smaug's Death Needs to Wait for the 2nd Film

[Padme]

I too worry about the SFX Smaug. I have yet to see a good dragon done with SFX that didn't make me think ...... fake. But GdT pale man was really creepy so I hope he can make Smaug look good. Plus I think he and PJ have snatched up all the best SFX people in the industry. At least that's what I am told.

[yovargas]

You are indeed one hard to please woman, vison.

[Padme]

As Queen of the Universe, she expects the best.

[vison]

You are indeed one hard to please woman, vison.

Yeah, I am.
The thing is, yovargas, that I truly did not think the SFX lived up to the hype. The ONE magnificent one was the Balrog, I think it was astonishing and beautiful and perfect. The Balrog, coming right after that awful, stupid, lumpy, kindergarten-plasticene troll was just gobsmackingly wonderful.

The rest did not look much better to me than the old Ray Harryhausen stop-motion-creatures. A bit better, but not much. They do not improve upon rewatching, either, which is one of the reasons I don't watch the movies any more. The nice bits are firmly in my memory and the rest are being mind-bleached away.

Mind you, PJ's worst SFX sins were committed in King Kong, so appallingly cheezy that words almost fail me.

I know they need SFX, but what they REALLY need is to not think that SFX are going to make the story irrelevant, which is what PJ did with TTT and ROTK.

[yovargas]

I really don't know how much more real looking the eagles and the winged riders and Gollum could have looked. Even the not-oft-loved Oliphaunts or cave troll. For the most part, they look about as real as real. I really don't know what more one could ask for.