Hall of Fire Reviews - Post Them Here! [SPOILERS!]

[sauronsfinger]

Saw it today in the standard non-3d format. Will see it tomorrow at an IMAX in 3D at 48 frames per second.

I loved it. It breezed by so fast that it seemed like only 90 minutes.

My favorite parts were Erebor, Rivendell, and the dwarves singing that dirge at Bag End.

What I love about the Jackson middle earth films is the look of everything. Each of them is like taking a trip to Middle earth and seeing what you only read about as real as it can get.

As many other have said - the casting was terrific. Freeman as Bilbo and Armitage as Thorin were perfect in every way. Ad Ian as Gandalf was his expected great as always.

I loved it from start to finish.

[Lalaith]

Lali, I'm glad you like (at least some of) it!

I'd give it an 8 out of 10. It would probably be a 9 in 2D standard.

But I'm not a purist, so changes from the book didn't bother me. (This is even more so because I don't love The Hobbit in the same way that I love LotR.)

What I didn't like (minor spoilers):

Hidden text.

I thought some of the scene at the beginning with the dwarfs at Bag End was kind of cheesy. That was because of the dwarfs, not because of Bilbo or Gandalf.

The Goblin King's scrotum face was distracting. Plus, all I could picture while he was talking was the shark from Finding Nemo.

I can't think what else didn't work for me.

Anyway, there is a wonderful parallel scene to FotR. Did you all catch it? It involved the arrow in the orc and what Thorin says. ?? I laughed!

There were actually several of those kinds of nods to the LotR movies. I didn't mind them; in fact, I thought they were kind of nice, little presents for those of us who are fans.

[sauronsfinger]

Anyway, there is a wonderful parallel scene to FotR. Did you all catch it? It involved the arrow in the orc and what Thorin says. ?? I laughed!

There were actually several of those kinds of nods to the LotR movies. I didn't mind them; in fact, I thought they were kind of nice, little presents for those of us who are fans.

Excellent. Just like the sound of the elf horns at Helms Deep in the scene with the unseen elves attacking the wargs on the doorstep.

[axordil]

I enjoyed the film but I HATED the 48fps. Hate it. The film looks like a BBC play from the 1970s, for pete's sake. Not bothered by the 3D. My problem is with the 'too real' look, it just ruined that wonderful filmic sense of illusion.

It looked like BBC drama from the 70s the same way a rainbow looks like a picture of a rainbow. I felt the sense of filmic illusion was enhanced, not ruined, with the exception of a couple of dodgey CGI shots that last maybe 20-30 seconds total.

I'm guessing if they omitted everything directly tied to the White Council/Dol Guldur plot, the movie would still be two hours long. It hit basically every significant plot point of the first third of The Hobbit and *did not rush through them.*

As a rule this is a Good Thing. People who thought it dragged should take their Adderall or go watch The Avengers again. Not that The Avengers is a bad movie! But it's just a movie. The Hobbit is, in a way, paced in the way a lot of people think LOTR should have been, because it's a three-hour portal into Middle-Earth. I would have been happy to watch more.

Pro tip: go to the bathroom first and don't get a drink.

[Lalaith]

Didn't help. I still had to pee. But I held out as long as possible and made it till after the Trolls. And I was back in record time!

I didn't think it dragged at all, actually.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Sounds like you liked it, Ax (both the film and the HFR).

That's the thing about going to two, and then three, movies, instead of doing the one stand-alone movie of just The Hobbit. We are getting so much more of the actually story (as well as all the extras) than we would have gotten with even a long single movie.

I'm now officially excited (as if I haven't been).

[axordil]

I liked both, yes. I go into quibbles in Alatar's spoiler thread. They are minor in my view, some technical, some scriptwriting, some directorial.

It's possible I liked it better than FOTR, which was the least disrupted of the original trilogy. I'll ponder that after I see it again tomorrow.

[axordil]

Didn't help. I still had to pee. But I held out as long as possible and made it till after the Trolls. And I was back in record time!

The intermission belonged between Rivendell and the mountain pass.

[Pearly Di]

Bah! No Star Trek trailer at our viewing! . *pouts*

The film is faithful to the book. . Especially, and delightfully, in the interaction between Bilbo, Gandalf and the Dwarves. This is the heart of the story. And it's about the making of a hero - Bilbo - and it was wonderful to see. . Beautiful character development, just beautiful.

Yes, faithful to the book, with PJ embellishments here and there, naturally. Most of them bearable, some of them silly, some of them tedious.

I don't mind PJ having fun with orcs and battles, it's part of the story, but some of it is over-cooked.

So this is not a perfect film.

I had an open mind about the 48fps. I really didn't expect it to be like that, and it shocked me.

However, all is not lost. My first viewing was saved by the fact that I absolutely adore Freeman as Bilbo, and by the other things I loved -Thorin, Gandalf, Rivendell, etc etc.

Somewhere hidden in this film is a terrific 2 hour, 10 minute movie.

[sauronsfinger]

oh - one more thing. I did not like the Great Goblin both physically and the voice. He was not on screen long enough to spoil the film for me but it was the least enjoyable part of the experience.

People have criticized Azog in some reviews but I had no trouble with him in any way and liked the depiction.

[ToshoftheWuffingas]

To save myself rewriting my reactions over again, I am copying my thoughts from TORC

I saw it yesterday lunchtime in 3D. I believe it was at 24 fps but I'm not sure. Overall I was not impressed by the 3D. Often I couldn't tell if an object was foreground or background. Things sometimes were fuzzy and the 3D effect itself was only so-so. It was my first experience of 3D by the way. Next time, 2D is fine for me.
Now the film itself. Overall I love the conception of the dwarves and their kingdom; easily the match for the realisation of the Rohirrim. I don't think they put a foot wrong.
I can see why they started in the Shire on the eve of the party. It will make showing the story in chronological order more coherent. It's not canon but I understand it. Having seen a photo of the Green Dragon set, I was surprised and a bit disappointed not to see it in the film. We still don't really get much of an idea of hobbit society.
The troll sequence hit the right note of potential gore and humour. The roving band of Elves was a nice addition. Azurbanipal (sp?) worked really well to give both general dwarf back history but Thorin's in particular. I can see why they have built Azog up. He'll be needed for the battle of the five armies. Bear in mind some of the elements are foreshadowing later plotlines. Thorin is splendid.
I think the Gollum encounter was done just about perfectly. The White Council worked well for me. Rivendell seemed more fleshed in now. Arwen must have been busy with her cross stitch in some back room.
Though Jackson (IMHO) doesn't have the poet's feel for Nature that other directors have, all the same the landscape scenes were wonderful and apt. Martin Freeman is of course excellen with just the right amount of self doubt and underlying resolution. I notice he uses a naturalistic acting style whereas Jackson often demands a heightened or artificial style. (Take for example Serkis's acting in the Sméagol/Degol sequence in LOTR)
Now for grumbles. We know what to expect from PJ now but really the orc cave sequence went on and on and looked totally artificial. As was said just like some video game. The problem is it takes the credibility away from the more realistic scenes. Radagast, I'm in two minds over. My first opinion is that he was too twee and eccentric but it might grow on me. Dol Guldur was effective but too short. I could have done with more. I guess we'll see more later and get the Thrain back story. The music didn't jump out at me but there is still time to go. Generally I cordially dislike reaction shots, they have to be done very sparingly and totally to some point and Gandalf's here were as artificial and intrusive as I find elsewhere. I wish directors would learn this. The right place (IMO) for a facial reaction is in a shot involving the speaker and the listener at once.
Overall I liked it a lot.
Did I mention the dragon? Dragons have been done to death by every special effects fantasy; it was a hard hill to climb. This one rocked and we haven't properly seen him yet.

[Dave_LF]

I loved it! The whole thing! I'm glad I was prepared for Goblin-town to be silly, but I seriously don't know what film 30-something percent of the critics watched.

[Stranger Wings]

Ok. Here it goes...

I....

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...haven't seen it yet. Going tomorrow to see it in IMAX 3D.

Keeping my expectations as low as possible.

[Stranger Wings]

I loved it! The whole thing! I'm glad I was prepared for Goblin-town to be silly, but I seriously don't know what film 30-something percent of the critics watched.

Stop it, Dave. Stop it. I'm trying to keep my expectations low, and you know I respect your opinion. Shame on you.

[Dave_LF]

Ok; I actually do know what film 30-something percent of the critics saw, and I understand most of their complaints, and I'm sure a couple of things will grow to irritate me with time. But on this first viewing, what was wrong was completely outshone by what was right.

I do have one major complaint, though...too short!

[Dave_LF]

Another comment--I don't believe for a second that the decision to turn this into three films was only made this summer. There's no way they morphed Frying Pan from the halfway point into an effective climax in just a couple months.

[Imin]

Ok. Here it goes...

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...haven't seen it yet. Going tomorrow to see it in IMAX 3D.

Keeping my expectations as low as possible.

I will be really happy for you, after knowing how badly you wanted to love the lotr movies.

Just to keep you expectations low - i will give you a million if you like this film - its probably everything you disliked from lotr turned up to 11!

[SirDennis]

Ok. Here it goes...

Keeping my expectations as low as possible.

I will be really happy for you, after knowing how badly you wanted to love the lotr movies.

Just to keep you expectations low - i will give you a million if you like this film - its probably everything you disliked from lotr turned up to 11!

Hehe... does it need more cowbell perhaps? (Nice to see you Imin!)

[Dave_LF]

And for future reference, they were maybe just doing what they had to do, but the trailer editors really butchered a lot of good dialog and acting. And even the one-minutes clips that appeared online were edited differently than the film.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Dave, I thought that was probably the case but it is a relief to hear nonetheless.

SA, I still think you are going to hate it. After all that other noted Jackson. Ritic, David Bratman, hated it with a passion.