For those who have read The Hobbit, what did you think of Peter Jackson's adaptation of the book?

I haven’t seen the film yet (I will), but I am curious – have you read The Silmarillion? I am just wondering whether the flashbacks are true to the backstory provided in his other works.

@glacial Haven’t read it, but in interviews, Peter Jackson has said that all the added story is directly from J.R.R. Tolkien’s appendices. I just wish they made it to the directors cut Blu-ray and not the actual theatrical film.

Have seen the movie. I’m now reading the book. So far my probably unfair comment is that the magic appeal of the band of brothers theme was less potent here compared to LOTR’s.

I haven’t seen the movie yet, it’s a project…but can someone tell me…

SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS stop reading this if you haven’t read the book or seen the movie
is that werebear lumberjack guy in there?

@Symbeline Not this movie. He’ll be later. ^_^ They only take us to Gwaihir and the Eagles in this one.

As a hardcore Tolkien fan, I LOVED that they brought in the backstory, instead of leaving it to “This ragtag band of old, fat dwarves are going on this suicide mission for… ultimately no reason at all”. That’s fine for a children’s bedtime story, but as grownups, we know there has to be a better reason than that.

Tolkien’s appendices and further works (the History of Middle Earth, The Silmarillion, The Children of Hurin, Unfinished Tales, the list is quite extensive) all contribute to the very rich backstory of the fall of Erebor, the exile of the Dwarves, and the happenstance that led up to the finding of the Ring and the ultimate war that would end the Third Age of Middle Earth.

Thank you, Peter Jackson, for bringing my obsession to beautiful film!

I absolutely LOVE it and I really enjoyed the additional backstory

@Seek_Kolinahr I have to agree, even if I haven’t seen it lol. The book may be short, but there’s tons of shit that constantly happens in it, so if Peter Jackson was able to make something epic with it that lasts three movies, why not? Definitely looking forward to seeing it.

Interesting note. Tolkien apparently wrote The Hobbit solely for his kids-! Talk about a parent’s devotion in bringing joy and stimulating his kid’s imagination. I wonder what story I would have written for my own kids or for that matter, what would @Symbeline‘s written story for her kid be like-?

I liked it except there were far too many comedy “Disney moments” (in particular the washing-up scene in Bilbo’s house, all I could think of was Snow White. And Radagast’s rabbit-sleigh. Ugh). However the backstory is excellent. I hope there’s less comedy in the next two instalments. I’m looking forward to seeing Thranduil (Legolas’s dad) and the Mirkwood elves, and seeing if Jackson dares to make them as nasty as they are in the book.

The washing-up scene was in the book, including the song they sang. I’m so glad they didn’t leave it out.

Oh, and Tolkien would be incredibly insulted by the phrase “Disney Moments”. He was feverishly opposed to anything related to that “intolerable cartoon mouse”.

^_^

It’s now official, some friends and I planned it, so we’re going to go see it tomorrow. W00t

@mazingerz88 Mine would have moar Viking and less intolerable cartoon mouse. :D plus zombies, prolly

Oh, and Thranduil is hot. Like, amazingly hot. Like, I’m regretting portraying myself as his daughter during High School roleplaying games hot. So far, they’re jerks, but gorgeous jerks.

Definitely looking forward to more of that in Volume 2.

Oh so I saw the movie so I can finally answer haha.

I think the adaptation is pretty sweet, because it’s damn faithful, for one. Everything that I remember from the book happens. Now, of course there’s a lot of changes and things that were added, but I feel that such changes stay true to the feel of the saga, and were probably pretty necessary when turning a kid’s book into something oriented towards a more mature audience. Tolkien is all about lore, so I thought it was pretty cool seeing the history of Erebor. And after the success of LotR, of course some things could not have been avoided. Frankly I don’t remember Saruman or Galadriel making an appearance in the The Hobbit book, but it added the intensity and ’‘heavy air’’ feel everybody knows from the LotR movies, and most likely expect.

I have nothing to say about the action. It was awesome. Some pretty spectacular shit went on, especially in the end with all the bridges. The dwarves rocked, I love them. And man I love how they decked them up. Dwarves are supposed to have outrageous hair, whether it’s beards or head hair, and they didn’t fail here. although I am a little biased, I fucking love dwarves Gandalf once again amazes, and I especially love how he goes ape shit with his sword against the orcs. Man, you gotta love this guy.

I think the adaptation is just great. Do I have some complaints? Not really…I didn’t get the huge sense of epicness that I did with LotR, but then, expectation can be a bitch. But you got a sense of adventure, and that’s just what this is. My complaint isn’t valid. And anyways there was more than enough gorgeous scenery and corny fantasy movie music to give me goosebumps.

My real complaint is that I saw this in 3D and I hate that shit lol. Makes me nauseous and it’s just annoying. I kept the glasses because I look damn awesome with them on hahaha But the movie, I have to say, was excellent. A little long, but I didn’t find myself bored anywhere. If the other two are like this, and follow the book properly while changing things intelligently, then I’m there dude.

PS; Wargs; always awesome.

@Seek_Kolinahr Yeah. Thranduill’s a prick. Seriously what an ass, for a character you only see for like seventeen seconds lol.

Also, I like dwarves.

Cool down girls, cool down…heh heh…I do have an axe-!

Saw the movie last week and I just started my second listening of ‘The Hobbit’ via audiobook.

I’d heard this mentioned, but now I actually understand that ‘The Hobbit’ is a children’s book. It’s tone and method of story telling are completely different from ‘The Lord of the Rings’. Seeing this, I think the tone and pacing of the movie was appropriate.

Peter Jackson made changes to the story that were appropriate for a theatrical presentation. ‘The Hobbit’ is a tale whimsically narrated. Character thought and motivation described in the book were replaced, it seems, by stronger characters. The most vivid examples are the dwarves. With the exception of Thorin Oakenshield, the dwarves in the book were rather generic. Thorin, himself, was an older, less engaging character who seems intent on simply recovering treasure lost many years ago. The movie presented a much younger heroic version of Thorin, whose quest is a lot nobler. That and Thorin’s antagonism toward Bilbo and the elves presented a central theme that successfully moved the story along. This replaces Bilbo’s inner dialogue and narrator descriptions of the book.

All key scenes in the story were left intact in the film. Whatever changes I noticed did nothing to distract from my enjoyment of the film. I might go so far to say that this is one of the rare occasions I find the movie to be as good or better than the book.

I was a bit apprehensive about the new 3D technology, having read a bit of negative feedback. I don’t know what movie those reviewers saw, but my 3D experience was amazing. The entire film was beautifully rendered. I watched for “the rain not touching Gandalf’s face” and concluded that it must be impossible for some people to just enjoy a movie…they have to pick it apart.

I have to admit, though, that I couldn’t initially understand why ‘The Hobbit’ had to be stretched over 3 films since it’s much shorter than ‘LOTR’.

I don’t care anymore. The first installment of the movie was extremely well done. If the next 2 installments are equally well made, I’d say Peter Jackson did himself proud.

I actually liked the movies better than the book. The movies may not follow the books exactly… But, I prefer the faster pace and energy in the movies.