TH: Desolation of Smaug Extended Edition Anticipation Thread

For discussion of the upcoming films based on The Hobbit and related material, as well as previous films based on Tolkien's work
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Post by Alatar »

Passdagas the Brown wrote:
Elentári wrote:I'm sure you will enjoy it, V - another 36 hours for me to wait!

Back to the real purpose of this thread, though, and more suggestions of moments we had heard about previously that apparently didn't make it into the TE - hopefully they will be reinstated in the EE:

-"And that's why the eagles will take you no further..." scene
- Bilbo's "never venture east!" scene that we saw in the Sneak Peek:
Bilbo: “I should’ve never left Bag End. That was my first mistake. We have a little saying in the Shire, we learn it from birth: Never venture east.”

Bard the Bowman: “So tell me Master Hobbit, why did you venture east?”
Out of curiosity, who confirmed that the "never venture East!" scene didn't make the cut?

Would be a shame, as it sounds like Bilbo character scenes like that are just what this film needs.
I'll confirm that the line did not make the cut, but honestly, I felt Bilbo got plenty of moments.
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Post by Smaug's voice »

Elentári wrote:I'm sure you will enjoy it, V - another 36 hours for me to wait!

Back to the real purpose of this thread, though, and more suggestions of moments we had heard about previously that apparently didn't make it into the TE - hopefully they will be reinstated in the EE:

-"And that's why the eagles will take you no further..." scene
- Bilbo's "never venture east!" scene that we saw in the Sneak Peek:
Bilbo: “I should’ve never left Bag End. That was my first mistake. We have a little saying in the Shire, we learn it from birth: Never venture east.”

Bard the Bowman: “So tell me Master Hobbit, why did you venture east?”
That eagle-dialogue. Is that confirmed? Will there be a scene explaining why the eagles won't drop them off at Erebor at Mount Doom? I really think that should be clarified. And it would have more sense if it was in the TE since it is the non-fans who put up that argument.
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Post by Elentári »

Graham McTavish revealed that such a conversation about the eagles had been filmed, when telling a funny story about Sir Ian McKellen stumbling over the words.

But I haven't heard that it made it into the TE...
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Post by Voronwë the Faithful »

It hasn't.
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Post by Elentári »

PJ confirms we will see more of Beorn in EE in this Den of Geek interview:

Peter Jackson interview: The Hobbit, 48FPS, Cumberbatch
Swedish fans have been waiting for Mikael Persbrandt and Beorn for a long time now. And there’s not very much in this film, and I’d like to ask you, why was there just that short appearance, and also I’d like to know what more we’ll see of him in the next film.

His character does do more in the third film, in ways I won’t explain. But he does have more to do, and he does come back into the story. We almost set him up in this one, for things that are going to happen in the third film. Because what’s really great about that character - we kind of took from Tolkien and went a different way - is that we made him a fairly enigmatic figure. He’s not necessarily a good character or a bad character. He lives by his own rules; as he says in the movie, “I don’t like dwarves, but orcs I like even less.”

That’s how he chooses which side he’s going to be on. And there is going to be a little bit more of him in the extended cut of this film. We shot scenes with Mikael. But when we cut the film together, and looked at the length and things, we shaped it and structured it for the best way we thought it would work for the cinematic version.

So you’ve got a couple more things to look forward to: you’ve got a couple more scenes in the extended cut of this film, and some more of him, which I won’t be describing, in the third movie!
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Post by Voronwë the Faithful »

I'm not surprised, and I look forward to seeing the added scenes, but honestly, I thought it was about right for the theatrical version. And I thought he looked sounded, and acted great. No complaints about Beorn. Even the transformation was good.

Edited to add: I hope the added scenes include the scene that is shown in the great two full page picture of Beorn and Gandalf in the Official Movie Guide.
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Post by yovargas »

I would really, really liked more time in Mirkwood, particularly the pre-spiders time there. It felt oddly rushed and I would gladly have spent another few minutes there. Specially if it had meant a few less minutes of molten gold. :P
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Post by Elentári »

Voronwë the Faithful wrote:I'm not surprised, and I look forward to seeing the added scenes, but honestly, I thought it was about right for the theatrical version. And I thought he looked sounded, and acted great. No complaints about Beorn. Even the transformation was good.

Edited to add: I hope the added scenes include the scene that is shown in the great two full page picture of Beorn and Gandalf in the Official Movie Guide.
Ooh, yes! I wonder what that conversation is all about...lots to look forward to in the EE, methinks (as long as it's not more action or unrequited feelings! ;) )
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Post by Passdagas the Brown »

Since I'm not a huge fan of the Mirkwood soundstage set, I actually liked that we didn't spend too much time there.

Agree with Voronwë re: Beorn. I actually thought we spent a lot more time at his house than the reviews implied, so I was pleasantly surprised.

But that location, the house, and Beorn himself are so great (possibly my favorite elements in all five films) that I am dying for more. And for some reason, I really want to see him chopping firewood (perhaps because I love chopping firewood...)

ETA: PJ surprised me with the transformation scene. I was expecting a completely OTT and grotesque moment, and instead we got what I thought was a quick, elegant and beautiful scene.
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Post by kzer_za »

ETA: PJ surprised me with the transformation scene. I was expecting a completely OTT and grotesque moment, and instead we got what I thought was a quick, elegant and beautiful scene.
Agreed - that was handled perfectly.
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Post by yovargas »

Passdagas the Brown wrote:But that location, the house, and Beorn himself are so great (possibly my favorite elements in all five films) that I am dying for more.
Whaaaat the..........all of that could hardly have been more ordinary!! Sometimes you people really baffle me. :P
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Post by Voronwë the Faithful »

And sometimes you baffle me, my dear yov. :hug:
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Post by Passdagas the Brown »

Beorn's house was ordinary? Wait a second. Do you live on the planet of the Anglo-Saxon-inspired skin-changers, where there are rows and rows of houses like that, arranged in neat little cul-de-sacs? If so, why have you not told us before? ;)

And if Beorn's house (and that stunning mountain valley) were ordinary, what was so extraordinary about Mirkwood's plastic trees?
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Post by yovargas »

It was in a valley? I just remember it being in a little grassy field. And the house was...just a house. Wasn't it just a house? The house had a nice garden around it I guess?

The whole thing might've worked better for me if it didn't feel like we spent as much time with Gandalf telling us what a werebear is as we did with the actual werebear. The ratio of exposition to payoff was pretty bad in this one. But even then...I've seen were-animals. This one doesn't stand out amongst the world of were-animals on film. I have a hard time believing he would stand out to you in any special way if you weren't familiar with and in love with the book.

As to Mirkwood, I didn't think it looked all that great but the hallucinatory mind games were very cool and legit creepy. I had been assuming this was the primary sequence you were thinking of with your fever-dream talk but I guess not? :scratch:
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Post by Elentári »

Talking of Mirkwood, Arannir on TORn has listed three images to remind us of scenes in Mirkwood that were cut from the TE, and which we can hopefully look forward to seeing next Fall on the EE:


Thorin with bow

Company carrying Bombur

Exhausted Company resting
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Post by yovargas »

Teehee, really like Bilbo in that last image. :)
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Post by Dave_LF »

ETA: PJ surprised me with the transformation scene. I was expecting a completely OTT and grotesque moment, and instead we got what I thought was a quick, elegant and beautiful scene.
Wait. =:)
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Post by Passdagas the Brown »

yovargas wrote:It was in a valley? I just remember it being in a little grassy field. And the house was...just a house. Wasn't it just a house? The house had a nice garden around it I guess?

The whole thing might've worked better for me if it didn't feel like we spent as much time with Gandalf telling us what a werebear is as we did with the actual werebear. The ratio of exposition to payoff was pretty bad in this one. But even then...I've seen were-animals. This one doesn't stand out amongst the world of were-animals on film. I have a hard time believing he would stand out to you in any special way if you weren't familiar with and in love with the book.

As to Mirkwood, I didn't think it looked all that great but the hallucinatory mind games were very cool and legit creepy. I had been assuming this was the primary sequence you were thinking of with your fever-dream talk but I guess not? :scratch:
To clarify, I loved the spider sequence (which is certainly fever-dreamesque, though I think the whole film has that quality). And Mirkwood in general was well done. I just don't think I want to spend anymore time there, not least because I think the set isn't its strongest element.

And Beorn's house was just a house if most houses feature furniture and beams and rafters with elaborate Anglo-Saxon-inspired wood carvings, and long-horned oxen living inside...It's a house that looks like it came straight from Tolkien's imagination, and I liked it! :)

Though perhaps not as great as Meduseld...
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Post by Passdagas the Brown »

Dave_LF wrote:
ETA: PJ surprised me with the transformation scene. I was expecting a completely OTT and grotesque moment, and instead we got what I thought was a quick, elegant and beautiful scene.
Wait. =:)
Good advice. ;)
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Post by axordil »

Beorn's house was culturally similar to Meduseld...as it should be, given the origin of the Eorlingas. But it was less grand and more scaled to human (albeit big human) needs.
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