[Rhod the Red]

Another;

It makes you scared at least a few times. Certainly did for me.

Like with the spider attacks in the Mirkwood scene. A few jolts got me there.

Another is when Radagasts pops into the tombs of the Nazgul in the High Fells
of Rhuadur and takes his normal form. A real jolter that was.

Towards the end, as Thorin talks of Erebor in the secret door & Balin talking, my eyes watered. <-----A good movie does that to me, as I was eye-watering in the end of the Return of the King film.

Another, the Master of Laketown. Even though a bit of a rewrite, Stephen Fry in usual quality performed well in the stereotypical, two-faced greedy political figure. I don't get why anyone would compare his black underling to Grima Wormtongue, apart from his black clothes. He's not a foreign agent with a concealed agenda. He's a corrupt official flourishing from a corrupt city-state regime. I almost laughed when he exclaimed to Bard "These fish are illegal!" perfect intro to corruption & bureaucratic cruelty of Middle-earth. Obviously it wasn't all squeaky clean outside the Dark Powers!

Another is the scenery, both made up & New Zealand mountain shots, etc.

Another the music & sound effects, bought the soundtrack. It kept me up all night in pleasure. Howard Shore quality!

As other have mentioned, Benerdicts' Smaug was a beast! Unlike the cartoon version, I'm sure that if I was sneaking around the treasure trove of that version of Smaug I'd be freaked out trying to move my feet and pick out silver diamonds from the trove. And the way they introduced him with a slow awakening was way better than the cartoon version. Bit by bit he stirs, the music builds, he slowly raises his head and Bilbo takes cover. Awwww, so well done there! Benedict's accent for him was perfect too.

Thranduil....pretty good performance. When you think about it it's a little bit too easy to think he would be instantly kind and compassionate to lost travelers. And offering help with a possible double agenda, that we get a hint of, oww yes!