Battle of the Five Armies - Extended Edition

Come on guys, enough with the TORn whining.

bungobaggins wrote:In the future, if a teacher assigns their students to read The Hobbit and write a report on it, the students will be more than likely to actually read the book because it would be quicker than watching the movies.

The BBC actually made an estimate of this:

Yeah but getting kids to read now days is tougher because with a film all they have to do is sit on their butt and stare at the screen. A book requires imagination and a willingness to get to the end of the book. Both my boys love to read, but I have nephews that if it ain't on TV or a video game they aren't interested. And the hobbit films are kind of both, video gamish on TV

I think it all depends on how the kids are raised. If parents read to them every night before bed while they're little (what my parents did), then the kids are probably more apt to continue reading as they get older. If parents just plop them on the living room floor and let the TV be the babysitter, then they'll probably gravitate more towards that. It's not that video games are bad, it's just that they should be played in moderation (or at least that's how I feel). My brother played a lot of video games in his teenage years and he confessed to me last year that he felt like he really wasted his time and didn't get much out of them. I don't feel like I've ever wasted time, or gotten nothing out of reading a book.

Young adult/teen fiction is a huge market. Plenty of kids read for fun.

bungobaggins wrote:In the future, if a teacher assigns their students to read The Hobbit and write a report on it, the students will be more than likely to actually read the book because it would be quicker than watching the movies.

Agreed. I got NOTHING from the films, my brain just died a death & went numb but books, well, look at the fun in that ! its personal, it involves only you, its you that gets the tingles, its you that wants to carry on. The only carrying on I wanted to do was look for the exit ! Include just a few sketches or drawings to feed the imagination & voila !

azriel wrote:

bungobaggins wrote:In the future, if a teacher assigns their students to read The Hobbit and write a report on it, the students will be more than likely to actually read the book because it would be quicker than watching the movies.

Agreed. I got NOTHING from the films, my brain just died a death & went numb but books, well, look at the fun in that ! its personal, it involves only you, its you that gets the tingles, its you that wants to carry on. The only carrying on I wanted to do was look for the exit ! Include just a few sketches or drawings to feed the imagination & voila !

Oh I completely agree, as would my kids. Reading is so immersive, it's a wonderful thing. I get stuck in a book sometimes and next thing I know it's 4 am and I got to get up at 6.

http://www.digitalspy.com/movies/s225/hannibal/interviews/a644201/richard-armitage-looks-back-on-the-hobbit-and-forward-to-hannibal.html

When asked what scenes he's looking forward to in BOFA-EE:

Richard Armitage wrote:Yeah, there's a big funeral scene which was cut from the final film, and I know they were quite upset that that had to be lost, so I'm looking forward to seeing that. There's also a fantastic chariot chase during the battle - they built this incredible chariot with a crossbow on the back, and I think we had Dwalin and Balin and a couple of the other dwarves on the chariot. I heard a sneaky rumour that they may do a limited cinema release just because some of the footage is so epic, and WETA Digital have been working like crazy to get it finished.

@ the bolded

Sometimes I wish I wasn't such a completionist but I know I'll be seeing this when it comes out. I can't imagine abandoning these films at the final hurdle after following them for 6.5 years (seven by the time December rolls around).

Eldorion wrote:Come on guys, enough with the TORn whining.

Huh....what? That's even more fun that PJ bashing.

I kinda don't want to get into this argument again, but I was concerned a couple of months ago (as were multiple other people who PM'd me about this) that we were in danger of becoming a "TORn rejects" forums and that it was hard to have a Hobbit-related discussion without discussion of that site taking over the thread.

Ho boy, can't wait for that chariot race sequence that was totally in the book.

Maybe PJ realized he still needed to rip off Ben-Hur in order to complete his Star Wars Prequels bingo.

Star Wars Prequels bingo.

I was just going to ask where did GL rip off Ben-Hur, and then I remembered the podrace.

I'd be really interested to see that funeral scene. That was one thing that felt distinctly lacking in the movie.

The chariot racing.. yeah.. not so much..

Although I do baulk a bit at.. or am i reading this wrong.. they're still working on it? They had a year, an additional year to what was originally planned, with no reshoots, no additional filming, and they still couldn't get this done in time for the standard edition premier?

There were a few bits of ROTK-EE (well, at least one live-action shot) that was filmed after the Oscar sweep. And of course the EEs have lots of new digital effects shots. But yeah, PJ is not known for being a master of careful planning or scheduling.

Fair point. I guess it wouldn't be as much of a problem if the movie didn't feel half finished.

Bluebottle wrote:
Although I do baulk a bit at.. or am i reading this wrong.. they're still working on it? They had a year, an additional year to what was originally planned, with no reshoots, no additional filming, and they still couldn't get this done in time for the standard edition premier?

I recall reading the other day Jackson is currently involved in setting up WW1 exhibits to commemorate the centenary of The Gallipoli landings, so it's possible as BOTFA neared completion he switched his energies to other projects, perhaps he always intended to finish the EE later than usual.

Eldorion wrote: we were in danger of becoming a "TORn rejects" forum

I wonder, how many of us were rejected by TORn, and how many of us rejected them

I haven't posted there in months, but I have noticed a few other Tolkien forums seem quieter than before, I wonder if it will be a repeat of 2005 with no new films to talk abouthopefully the fanbase crawls to a slow halt...

malickfan wrote:

Bluebottle wrote:
Although I do baulk a bit at.. or am i reading this wrong.. they're still working on it? They had a year, an additional year to what was originally planned, with no reshoots, no additional filming, and they still couldn't get this done in time for the standard edition premier?

I recall reading the other day Jackson is currently involved in setting up WW1 exhibits to commemorate the centenary of The Gallipoli landings, so it's possible as BOTFA neared completion he switched his energies to other projects, perhaps he always intended to finish the EE later than usual.

Yeah, I think others have brought up the idea before that his interest in the project of the Hobbit waned when it didn't attract the kind of attention he had hoped. But the movie was screaming out for something like the funeral scene, and if it wasn't in because they didn't manage to finish it in time..

Bluebottle wrote:

Yeah, I think others have brought up the idea before that his interest in the project of the Hobbit waned when it didn't attract the kind of attention he had hoped. But the movie was screaming out for something like the funeral scene, and if it wasn't in because they didn't manage to finish it in time..

It was definitely filmed (saw some screenshots posted on Reddit) and I don't see why you wouldn't include it, but I suppose he was wary of the Too Many endings criticisms repeating themselves, more people than usual seemed to have issues with the theatrical cut of BOTFA it certainly felt surprisingly rushed for a Jackson film.

I still think some of the issues stem from hiring just one principle editor to work on all three films, it's a hell of a lot of work...

malickfan wrote:

Eldorion wrote: we were in danger of becoming a "TORn rejects" forum

I wonder, how many of us were rejected by TORn, and how many of us rejected them  

I haven't posted there in months, but I have noticed a few other Tolkien forums seem quieter than before, I wonder if it will be a repeat of 2005 with no new films to talk abouthopefully the fanbase crawls to a slow halt...

They rejected me. But then again, it was like hanging out with people you thought were your friends, but you couldn't be yourself around them. Here it's totally different.

You can do all the dwarf-tossing you want here, Bungo.

Bluebottle wrote:Fair point. I guess it wouldn't be as much of a problem if the movie didn't feel half finished.

Yeah, I agree that several parts of BOFA felt like they just said "fuck it, we can finish it for the EE".

malickfan wrote:I wonder, how many of us were rejected by TORn, and how many of us rejected them  

It's hard to say.  I think most people here (at least from the older crowd) posted on Forumshire or Bree before joining any other forums, so any falling out between TORn and, say, Petty would be difficult to classify.  But I know we've had at least a few members make their ways here via TORn.  There was a time when I posted more on TORn than any other forum, though that was because I'd gone into self-imposed exile from the LOTR Plaza, and my activity at TORn sharply declined after I returned to the Plaza.  This place was only just beginning to get active at that point.  I still have fond memories of many people at TORn and was pleased to learn more recently that a few of them still remember me as well.

I haven't posted there in months, but I have noticed a few other Tolkien forums seem quieter than before, I wonder if it will be a repeat of 2005 with no new films to talk abouthopefully the fanbase crawls to a slow halt...

Yeah, The Hobbit failed to save most of the older forums, but activity among all forums (including ones like TORn and us that parlayed The Hobbit trilogy into growth) has sharply declined since BOFA.  TORn's BOFA boost extended longer than most but they're seeing drop-offs now as well.  It's hard to say when and where activity will stabilize for various forums.  January was an atrocious month for us, but March was back up over 100 posts per day.  We'll probably settle somewhere in between, at least in the short to medium term.  But the fandom in 2014 was already smaller than the fandom in 2003 and the declines started sooner, so I worry about what kind of future awaits Tolkien forums over the next several years.

bungobaggins wrote:They rejected me. But then again, it was like hanging out with people you thought were your friends, but you couldn't be yourself around them. Here it's totally different.

I'm sorry that you or anyone else felt rejected by TORn, and our door is certainly open to anyone who's interested, regardless of their experiences on other forums.  I am proud of the way in which our forum is structured and our culture has grown, which is in many ways a deliberate reaction against more conventional styles of forums.  Comparisons are inevitable between the current two largest Tolkien forums, but I don't want us to be defined simply by being "not TORn".

Saw a complete edition of all three movies for sale. Resisted the (slight) urge to buy it. Still haven't seen three yet. I am strong.