If you could change ONE thing in The Hobbit triology

[Boromir88]

Even Tolkien, himself, when responding about the Zimmerman script knows when adapting novels to the big screen you are inevitably going to have to cut out parts of the novel.

As it is, Jackson actually filmed every chapter in The Hobbit, it's just he either drastically altered the story when adapting novel to screen, or he threw in a bunch of garbage to bloat the story into 3 films. But every chapter from The Hobbit gets covered in the Jackson movies.

The Lord of the Rings was a story big enough to contain Jackson where he had no choice but to make cuts that ended up focusing his movies. I was re-watching the FOTR Appendices recently and Jackson repeatedly said, FOTR had to be about Frodo and the Ring. Any scenes that took the audience away from Frodo and the Ring was getting cut out of the theatrical and only placed if it added new and necessary information (like Gandalf's imprisonment in Isengard and learning of Saruman's treachery). In my opinion, FOTR turned out to be Jackson's best work and there's a lot that had to get cut out, which is just necessity when adapting novel to screen.

The Hobbit films should have been about...well The Hobbit. But The Hobbit story was too small to contain the greed for more money. The care, passion, and attention to details in making FOTR was clearly noticeable and translated to the quality of the film. It's a shame that if the same care and passion was given to making The Hobbit films (instead everyone just looks rushed and tired) then they could have been highly enjoyable. The Hobbit should have been a much easier story to film, and as Morth said, should only take 2-films at most.

[Marwhini]

This does seem to be pointless as the point I am making seems to be completely ignored.

MB

[Marwhini]

I should also say:

Yassa massa... I be a stopping' now.

MB

[Nerwen]

Originally Posted by Marwhini

I should also say:

Yassa massa... I be a stopping' now.

MB

Good.

[Galadriel55]

Taking the discussion back around to the topic, what if the thing to change was not something global but rather one detail, or one scene?

I haven't watched the last movie, and barely remember the second, so here's one thing I would change with the first one: cut the part where Radagast faints after taking a whiff. It's bad enough that he's a walking comic relief and Saruman comments on him eating too many mushrooms. At least spare us the smoking.

[Nerwen]

Originally Posted by Galadriel55

Taking the discussion back around to the topic, what if the thing to change was not something global but rather one detail, or one scene?

I haven't watched the last movie, and barely remember the second, so here's one thing I would change with the first one: cut the part where Radagast faints after taking a whiff. It's bad enough that he's a walking comic relief and Saruman comments on him eating too many mushrooms. At least spare us the smoking.

Well, that's what comes of decades of "weed" jokes. Perhaps fandom as a whole needs to shoulder some of the blame.

[Michael Murry]

My thanks to everyone for resurrecting this thread for additional discussion. With the unfortunate film butchery of The Hobbit now consigned to the dustbin of history, it will probably take a long while before someone comes along with any appetite -- let alone studio funding -- for another go at a film adaptation. Yet, as we all know, many classic tales have seen mutliple remakes over time as generations change and different directors bring different viewpoints to the telling of the same story.

I think I recall another person mentioning the original Robocop, by Paul Verhoeven. Someone made a remake of that classic film a few years back and after seeing only a few scenes, I quit even trying to watch. But I still go back from time to time and watch the original: a very well made film. Great social satire eviscerating the Reagan Era, too. The same goes for The Time Machine, by George Pal. I saw it three times at a walk-in theater back in my junior high school days. I have DVDs of the original plus a remake starring Guy Pearce. Some better updates on the technology in the remake, but not a better story. Again, the original far outshines the remake. On the other hand, I very much prefer the remake of The Count of Monte Cristo, starring James Caviel and Guy Pearce. Really crackling dialogue, great acting, and some interesting twists on some basic elements of the story. Here, in my opinion, the remake far outshines the original.

Sorry for going on at such length setting up my answer to the orignial thread question, but if I could change one thing, I would go back to the original production idea of making The Hobbit as a single film with a follow-on "bridge" movie -- or several of them -- taking the story through sixty-some odd years from the ending of The Hobbit to the beginning of The Lord of the Rings. Specifically, I once imagined The Hobbit ending with Gandalf and Balin visiting Bilbo at Bag End for a little reminiscing -- as in the book -- then switching to a final scene of Smeagol/Gollum emerging from beneath the Misty Mountains, filled with rage and longing for The Precious, snarling and gulping:

"Where is it Presciousss? Where is The Shire? Where is Baggins? Thief! We hates it! We hates it forever! And we will find it, won't we precious?" Something like that. And then Gollum slinks off into the night, setting up the beginning of the next film with Smeagol/Gollum as the primary character and Andy Serkis doing the voice work as only he can. Come to think of it, someone could probably just skip remaking The Hobbit and get right to The Adventures of Smeagol/Gollum, with those other characters like Aragorn and Elrond, et al, in supporting roles.

Anyway, probably not a chance of any of this ever happening, but if I could change one thing, I would change back to the original concept of a single, self-contained Hobbit followed by a "bridge" movie, or several of them, depending upon audience hunger for more of Middle Earth and especially more about Smeagol/Gollum who pretty much stole the show in The Lord of the Rings in my opinion.

Anyway, my thanks again for bringing back the discussion of changes, remakes, etc.

[Aaron]

Originally Posted by Galadriel55

Taking the discussion back around to the topic, what if the thing to change was not something global but rather one detail, or one scene?

I haven't watched the last movie, and barely remember the second, so here's one thing I would change with the first one: cut the part where Radagast faints after taking a whiff. It's bad enough that he's a walking comic relief and Saruman comments on him eating too many mushrooms. At least spare us the smoking.

I'm going to be honest, I hated that Radagast was involved at all.
I have always seen him as a coward, one of those who sat on the fence, puttered about, and let others fight and die for him. I didn't appreciate him being shown as some selfless hero, or even a harmless and doddering eccentric - because I don't view neutrality as being harmless when the stakes are so high.
Had he appeared, made some infantile excuse as to why he couldn't get off his rear end and do something, and then wandered off, that would have made more sense.