The Battle of the 5+ Armies

[Lalaith]

Loving all your reviews and just a couple of things to add.

Moments I waited in vain to see - surely they would make fabulous cinema?

"Suddenly out of the dark something fluttered to his shoulder. He
started-but it was only an old thrush. Unafraid it perched by his ear and it
brought him news. Marvelling, he found he could understand its tongue, for he
was of the race of Dale.
"Wait! Wait!" it said to him. "The moon is rising. Look for the hollow of
the left breast as he flies and turns above you!" And while Bard paused in
wonder it told him of tidings up in the Mountain and of all that it had heard."

And:
"In that last hour Beorn himself had appeared - no one knew how or from
where. He came alone, and in bear's shape; and he seemed to have grown almost
to giant-size in his wrath. The roar of his voice was like drums and guns; and
he tossed wolves and goblins from his path like straws and feathers. He fell
upon their rear, and broke like a clap of thunder through the ring. The
dwarves were making a stand still about their lords upon a low rounded hill.
Then Beorn stooped and lifted Thorin, who had fallen pierced with spears, and
bore him out of the fray. Swiftly he returned and his wrath was redoubled, so
that nothing could withstand him, and no weapon seemed to bite upon him. He
scattered the bodyguard, and pulled down Bolg himself and crushed him."


Most annoying thing in the film: a female fighter who spends her time distracting other fighters: "Yoo hoo! Kili my poppet, where are you?" and needing rescuing. Far worse than having no female fighters at all.

Best bit: the dwarf testudo formation with elf lords-a-leaping.
Worst line: Why does it hurt so much?

[Zigûr]

Slightly bizarre comment from Peter Jackson in this interview:
http://news.moviefone.com/2014/12/19...bit-interview/

I don't really like the Hollywood blockbuster bandwagon that exists right now. The industry and the advent of all the technology, has kind of lost its way. It's become very franchise driven and superhero driven. I've never read a comic book in my life so I'm immediately at a disadvantage and I have no interest in that.

I don't want to accuse him of lacking self awareness but the remarks about technology and franchises seem equally relevant to his own work lately.

Putting any and all irony aside, isn't Tintin a comic? I figure he means 'superhero comics' but surely he perceives that a lot of the characters in his films (like Legolas) are "superheroic" in a very comparable manner to Hollywood superheroes.

[Morthoron]

Originally Posted by Zigûr

Slightly bizarre comment from Peter Jackson in this interview:
http://news.moviefone.com/2014/12/19...bit-interview/

I don't want to accuse him of lacking self awareness but the remarks about technology and franchises seem equally relevant to his own work lately.

Putting any and all irony aside, isn't Tintin a comic? I figure he means 'superhero comics' but surely he perceives that a lot of the characters in his films (like Legolas) are "superheroic" in a very comparable manner to Hollywood superheroes.

His ego has consumed him, and he imagines himself above all these other petty directors who toil on otherwise subpar franchises. How else do you explain having the gall to invent a major character for a classic book adaption? Did David Lean add characters when he directed Charles Dickens' classics? Or did Lean suddenly decide an illicit affair with a Bedouin harem girl would be perfect smack dab in the middle of Lawrence of Arabia?

If Jackson believes the twaddle he spews, then he should have had the integrity to keep The Hobbit as a two-film venture, not ballooning the story with fan-fiction Super Mario chase scenes into a bloated three film mess.

[IxnaY AintsaY]

Originally Posted by Zigûr

Slightly bizarre comment from Peter Jackson in this interview:
http://news.moviefone.com/2014/12/19...bit-interview/

I don't want to accuse him of lacking self awareness but the remarks about technology and franchises seem equally relevant to his own work lately.

Putting any and all irony aside, isn't Tintin a comic? I figure he means 'superhero comics' but surely he perceives that a lot of the characters in his films (like Legolas) are "superheroic" in a very comparable manner to Hollywood superheroes.

My guess is he doesn't see the superhuman characters as being the focus of his movies, but rather (where they exist) as sideshows or antagonists. But yeah, "lacking self awareness" when he said that is probably being kind.

Anyway, he seems like a director who could really benefit from reading some good comics.

[Nerwen]

Ah, well, denouncing CGI-driven blockbuster franchises is this year's way of signalling that one is A Filmmaker of Integrity. I don't think self-awareness comes into it.

[Boromir88]

I won't link the cracked article, because that website tends to be rather crude...but the most interesting parts out of its 6 "failures" in The Hobbit trilogy are...

1. Ian McKellan literally bursting out in tears and frustration because of all the green screen he had to act in. The "forced perspective" that was highly (and rightfully) praised in the LOTR films with Gandalf and the hobbits...was not used in The Hobbit movies, much to the dislike of Ian McKellan:

http://www.nme.com/filmandtv/news/ian-mckellen-filming-the-hobbit-made-me-cry-with-f/291187

2. Viggo Mortensen criticizing Jackson that after the boatload of money from the Fellowship, it became progressively worse:

http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/05/...and-the-hobbit

[Michael Murry]

Thanks for the "Cracked" reference. I found the article online with no trouble. My favorite quote at the end:

"... And now Jackson gets the entire economy of New Zealand to toy with. That much CGI, marketing, and new technology ... obviously he would use it from a desire to do good, but through him, it wields a power too great and terrible to imagine."

But now, after about 8 hours stretched over three years, we no longer have to imagine ...

[alatar]

Sigh.

Our tribe went and saw B5A today. Some observations, some of which may overlap others' posted above:

• Why was the movie subtitled, "The Battle of the Five Armies" when most of the battle focuses on individuals fighting? Fili and Kili and a couple of Thorin's best warriors join him in a sub battle that had nothing to do with B5A. Azog could have squared off with Oakenshield while everyone else (Morgul bats included) sat around and ate pie.
• Why didn't Tauriel get to kill a 'boss' character?
• Orcs have great health care, especially for those that lose limbs.
• If Galadriel would become a Dark Lord if she were to possess the One Ring, how does she 'go dark' with one of the Three? Wouldn't it be have been better to show that her ring (and that of the other elves, not touched by evil nor created for the purposes of war) gave her some 'good' power? And she was able to boot Sauron into the East?
• Nice to see that when the 13 finally join the fight, they take off all of that armor.
• Loved Dain's pig.
• The PLAN (capitalized intentionally) boggles the mind. Sauron, or whomever was running this show, knew that when Smaug was killed that the humans would go back to Dale and send warriors to Erebor and so the Plan would pin the defenders at the gate while the other Gundabad army would assail the city of 100 fisherpersons so that the elves and men would be forced back to the city stranding the dwarves.... This pearl of a plan was wasted on this swine (lover).
• Wouldn't those Dune worms been better used to dig tunnels into Erebor? Or under Dale?
• Thorin, when battling the ball-and-chain wielding Azog, should have focused all of his skill of cutting of the arm - and long ranged attack - of this orc.
• The reason for Thorin's death was stupid. He'd previously taken more damage and walked away. Maybe his feelings were sorely hurt, or just didn't have anything else on the bucket list ("Take Erebor, Ride ram, Kill Azog, Die.").
• I liked the Thorin - Bilbo death scene.
• Why does Legolas hate dwarves in LotR again?
• Tribe's opinions ranged from bored to too much CGI. Tweens liked the love story between Kili and Tauriel.
• Hate seeing Gandalf look weak (Dol Guldur). Like at the Bridge of Khazad-dum, like to see him go down swinging.
• By the by, how did Gandalf get his staff and hat back after being imprisoned?
• Can't wait for the extended version so we can finally learn what happens to Radagast and air-dropped Beorn.

If only I could care.