In theatres: 'Desolation of Smaug' | SPOILERS

Pettytyrant101 wrote:them establishing the importance of The Arkenstone early on - Malick

But the only thing the Akenstone is important as is a physical representation of greed and avarice and its pretty good at that. It doesnt have to be some magic thing that inexplicably turns all other dwarves into a zombie who must follow whoever holds it- what the hells that about?  

That's pretty much exactly what I thought it was. I don't know what this dumb crap in the movie is.

Eldorion wrote:

Radaghast wrote:

Ringdrotten wrote:If Jackson felt the Scouring of the Shire was an anticlimax...

Wow, if he thinks that, then he really doesn't understand Tolkien   

He's been saying that for years.

I try to avoid listening to him   

Was it just me or did Azog originally take Bolg's role of ambushing the Barrels at the gate? I seem to remember him being in the trailer.

Hmm...perhaps Jackson has been listening to us, I at least was VERY vocal about my Hatred for the Albino Fork Monster.

Good point, Malick. They used that one shot of Azog in nearly all the DOS trailers, and looking at it again, the stonework is clearly part of the Elven river gate.

Azog kind of look to me like Peter Garrett, one-time frontman for the Australian band Midnight Oil

It is noticeable thinking back to it. How weak was the whole 'Oh Bolg, go and kill the Dwarf scum pleeeease' scene... It felt forced like a last minute change.

So first they hastily cgi Azog over the original prosthetic version in AUJ, and now they have hastily painted over cgi Azog with a cgi Bolg in DOS who himself is a hasty replaced cgi of the prosthetic Bolg?

Way to show you haven't a fucking clue what your doing PJ and are just making this crap up off the top of your head as you go.

Does at least go someway to explaining the embarrassing state of the end product.

Shame he couldn't CGI paste over Orlando Bloom with a CGI tree, both are wooden.   

Snap.

I am genuinely under the impression he less a of a grasp of the basic story then LOTR, which he admitted he only read once before getting hold of the rights.

They might as well have had one character and named him Bolzog.

Well thats at least getting closer to what I think every time he appears on screen, "Oh, bollocks!"   

Azog the Defiler=BollocksZog the Gapfiller?

Or something like that.

Ass-ballz-hog the Interchangeable.

 

Petty are you making notes?

malickfan wrote:I am genuinely under the impression he less a of a grasp of the basic story then LOTR, which he admitted he only read once before getting hold of the rights.

Well he's never claimed to have read The Hobbit before he started working on the films ... not sure if he's claimed to read it since either.

I enjoyed your review MusicOTA, your understated humour dripped sarkytude.   

ooooh! I just remembered that bit you mentioned, Thorin standing on Smaugs muzzle failing to get fried. That was the moment I got up and left, it was like sitting in a dentists waiting room with only the Readers Digest to pass the dragging time. I could virtually hear the weeeee weeee weeee of the drill.

malickfan wrote:Petty think of it as a slapstick comedy and you will enjoy it more.

2 things I think even you MIGHT think was an improvement was them establishing the importance of The Arkenstone early on (I am familiar with the Whole 'Was the Akenstone a Silmaril?' argument but I still think it comes out of knowhere in the book

Yes I agree with the whole taking it as a comedy angle because it is indeed very funny/ silly / ridiculous.

As far as establishing the importance of the Arkenstoner early on...

I think that also changes the story in ways that will only lead to more trouble down the road.
In Dos the precious and very important value of the  Arkenstone was made clear to Bilbo multiple times.  Thorin talks in detail multiple times about its importance and value to the Dwarf kingdoms  good lord the dragon, Beorn I believe even mentions it...if not Azog or Blog ,I sort of remember, or is it Bolgazog.
Every one seems to be all in Thorins business like it was printed in the Middle earth gazette...so now when Bilbo decides to withhold it from him and pass it off in Movie 3 he will be portrayed as a complete and premeditated traitor and scum bag who would deny the whole dwarf race the talisman that gives them their voodoo power.

I know in the book he also chooses to withhold it and give it away as an attempt to force Thorin to be reasonable, but I believe that before he found the arkenstone he was not really told much about it other than, it was the most amazing creation of his people and something that Thorin really wanted. But Bilbo was wanting it and considering it his payment for services rendered. Nothing about it being the Keystone to unite all the dwarf kingdoms was mentioned which would make his keeping it a much much more serious act in my view.

As far as a debate about the Arkenstone being a silmaril that is baseless. I believe Thorin himself states in the book that it is the heart of the mountain implying that the Dwarves mined it there. Besides the fate of all the silmarils is covered in other books and none survived to become the arkenstone. That argument must have been inspired by the "necklace of the dwarves" that used to hold a silmiril that Thingol had the Dwarves make I suspect. The silmirils were all accounted for and could not possibly have been the Arkenstone. Though of course similarities can be drawn between the two.

Figg ...Why thank you very much for your kindness. And I yours as well. It is nice to see everyones thoughts again and feel a bit of disconnectedness to you all my fellow lovers of the JRR.

As far as the scene you mentioned... It was so very laughable indeed. the inept and harmless dragon only had to open his mouth wide to kill him, or even jump to the side and let him fall down the bottomless pit , or fire him. But poor old washed up efficient slayer of dwarves by the droves couldn't even manage to kill one of the invaders to his home... it is kind of sad really to see a proficient performer loose his touch as he gets too old...

It seems like Smaug has been defanged. I know Peej wanted to make the dwarves all heroic and all but, well...

COME ON PETTY! get your skates on and go and watch it.  

I'm still brewing Figg, in all senses of the word.   

In the shear overwhelming mass of foolish revisions pressing on my brain I have failed to mention the treatment of Beorn. In the book it was a nice break from the tensions preceding it.
It held a presentment and taste to come in FotR when we meet Bombadil sort of, with a similar goodness about it. His connections to his animals his gentle vegetarian sensibilities yet he was a shapeshifting shaman warrior leader of his kind against the Orcs.

His home was warm and full of hospitality and was a refuge from the wildness all around. His kindness basically saved our friends who stumbled to him hungry without supplies with orcs on their heels. Let me contrast that with DoS...

Here we find some sort of Huge Manbearpig creature which chases our friends as they get near his house, growling and apparently quite T'd off. Our friends go barging in after building tension by apparently forgetting how to lift a latch and open a door. Then they can't get the door quite closed as the perhaps 2000 lb. Manbearpig crashes into the door at a full run.
But to no avail as there are a couple of 120lb. dwarves there to force his face back out side of the house. His house, like he wouldn't know how to get inside if he wanted to.

So while he is completely p'd off about the dwarfs he hates just taking over his home and the animals he loves and locking him out of the house...he decides to run off into the woods again I guess to spend the night?

And how about Gandalfs suggestion immediately after getting into Beorns place? Well I think we better get some sleep now... or something like that. Good lord man how could anyone be expected to fall asleep after all the excitement right before hand?

Once again the only things I like about a PJackson film is the set and the look of it, the costumes are always good in my opinion,
The actors for the most part do an incredible job really with the horse crap they are handed in my opinion. You got to think that they all have read the book many times probably and are familiar with it at the least and probably like it too.
Then they are handed the arghedyblaugh bla they are supposed to say and portray... It is miraculous that they just wouldn't start laughing or crying and have a look in their eyes saying- "forgive me please , it is not what I would have chosen to say or do"

The lighting and camera angles are very good, The CGI to me seems about as good as that sort of thing can be in the present state of the art but I am no authority on that. That is of course way over used and is a source of the crappy overall tone of the films at times.

You know before any of these films came out that is what I expected the number one problem preventing the LOTR from working as a film would be the special effects.That it would look cheesy and fake. Quite the contrary as it turns out, it isn't the settings or creatures or bizarre magical situations or events that proved the biggest difficulty at all, for as a rule all these were mastered very well.

As it turns out the main stumbling block was the decision makers incredibly poor judgement in deciding to stray so far from the amazing characters and dialog and the basic spirit of the books and their choices to substitute these given birds in the hand with weak, talentless, dribble that is nearly infinitely less good.     

what really gets my (talking) goat, is all the lazy cheesy LOTR rip offs. They were deperate to link everything to the point of ludicrous overkill, or they seriously thought it would be kewl or they just ran dry in the art department. I dunno.   

Oh crap, is this the Beorn from the movie???

Radaghast wrote:Oh crap, is this the Beorn from the movie???

Don't worry, his human form is only on screen for like two minutes.

Okay, but that shouldn't be shown on the SyFy channel for any amount of time