A Hearing Impaired Person Gets A Second Chance...Finally, WITH CC!!
I finally saw it again, this time in 3D with closed captioning.
It's the first time I've been able to get the CC device to work for me. Previous films were not CC, though they may have been advertised as such. I'd get to the theatre and find out the 2D version had CCs but the 3D did not. Maybe they had to work some technical bugs out?
Anyway, it impressed on me just how much I miss without the closed captions. It was like watching a whole new film, especiall the first scenes with Frodo and Bilbo, and the scene with the dwarves at Bag End. I even caught some things over the noise of the party that I doubt even people with normal hearing would have heard. One of the dwarves said "Oh, Gimli would have liked this!"
The 3 D glasses in combination with the CC viewer were a PITA. The viewer is a small screen about 8x3" on a long flexible arm that fits into your drink cup holder. With the 3D glasses, the screen is out of focus. Still readable, but out of focus. I found it very tiring on the eyes to constanly be switching from the big screen to the CC screen, and having to refocus my eyes each time.
About 2/3 of the way through the film I finally got it right. I found if I was able to position the arm as far away from my eyes as possible, everythng was in focus and it was much less fatiguing switching between screens, Alas, getting the arm in that position is difficult. It tends to fall out of the drink cup holder. I suppose it will get easier as I gain more experience with the device.
The dwarves' song still sent cold chills down my spine, and the switch from the interior of the house to the exterior, with sparks flying out of the chimney was a brilliant bit of cinematography. Side note: Parts of the film are so visually stunning that I'd like to nominate the New Zealand scenery for an academy award!
Still the film has its flaws. I still don't like the stone giants, and was actually glad that I didn't hear Radagast's "Rhosgobel rabbits" line the first time I saw the film. It was just so unbelievably cheezy. Okay, I laughed for a good, long minute over it...
For your enjoyment:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3A01_ef_mtM
The action sequences were much less blurry than in my initial viewing, when I was in the the 4th row of an IMAX theatre. Still, I think they are more blurry in 3D than it 2. And it would be interesting to experience the 48 FPS frame rate to see if it helps with the blurring.
Some of the 3D sequences still looked unnantural. This was most obvious in the outdoor scenes at Bag End, where there were flowers in the foreground, a character in the middle distance, and more flowers and the house in the background. It looked like a decoupage picture.
The indoor sequences worked a lot better for the 3D. Maybe they just need to get the lighting right for outdoor scenes.
This time round, the rain scene was glaringly obvious. Gandalf, the dwarves and Bilbo stayed completely dry, while the rain was falling all around. In one of the distance shots, you can even see the sun is obviously shining!
No cinematography awards for THAT scene!
With being able to sit farther back, and the blurring being reduced, the Goblintown sequence wasn't as annoying. The only scene that really made me wince for badness was the final tumble of Gandalf and the dwarves, as the bridge breaks away and falls into the abyss. It was groan-worthy even before the Goblin king's body landed ontop of everyone.
Other highlights: Cate, you were GORGEOUS as Galadriel! WOW! So queenly, and such a knockout in that dress!
The scene where Martin explains to the dwaves why he is doing this for them nearly wrung tears from my eyes, it was THAT good! It had an added impact for LOTR fans because it reminds them of Frodo saving the Shire for everyone else, then not being able to enjoy it himself.
I was at last able to 'hear' all the dialougue between Gollum and Bilbo, and everything in that scene was spot on. I missed a lot of this in the first viewing, due to Gollum's unnnatural, raspy voice.