Someone needs to revoke Peter Jackson's dramatic license.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

If, at any time during the making of The Hobbit, anyone bothered to inform him that there is a genuine, much beloved book of the same name, it completely escaped his notice.

Now, I tolerated the Lord Of The Rings trilogy because although it was as scrambled as eggs he left enough of it intact that it was at least enjoyable. But with The Hobbit he simply tossed the eggs AND the frying pan out the window.

My recommendation (upon viewing Part II) is, instead of buying the DVD, buy the book. Read the real thing. Experience the adventure from within your mind, which is what J. R. R. Tolkien intended.

Jeez. Is nothing sacred any more?

Nice miniature work, though...

[uppityperson]

1. "based loosely" and starring Martin Freeman.

[Ron Obvious]

2. Agreed

The LOTR movies had their charm but missed an awful lot of what makes the books so special. A 20 second scene in the extended Fellowship did more to capture the mood of the books than the whole rest of the movie. I'm referring to the Elves leaving Middle Earth and Sam saying "I don't know why, but it makes me sad..."

I wished that scene would have made the theatrical cut.

The first Hobbit movie was a bit of a mess, but I was forewarned and still enjoyed it. Less said about Radagast and his rabbit sledge, the better though.

With this second Hobbit movie, though, the franchise has truly hit rock bottom. I only got as far as Lake Town before giving up.

My annoyance started with the flashback in Bree, with Thorin eating dinner. The serving wench puts the plate in front of him and says "Here you go."

"Here you go"????

"HERE YOU GO"???!!!!

What is this place, Denny's??!

And that illustrates just one of the charms of the series that has completely passed over the heads of the writers: the language and dialogue. Dialogue lke "Here you go" and "Let's go hunt some orc" ring false and break the spell. The hobbits don't take "detours" (A French word), they take "shortcuts". The writers don't have a feel for language and dialogue at all.

The language used in the books is part of what makes it feel so real. The dialogue is dated and rooted in Germanic and old English and authentically so. Virtually no modern fantasy writer has been able to pull it off. They might throw in a thee and thou here and there, but it always ring false and artificial. But Tolkien knew what he was about when it came to language.

Hell, I could be here all day venting my annoyances with this movie.

"Here you go"....

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

3. I haven't seen the second Hobbit film

but in the first one, it's the supposedly humorous line of the Goblin King when Gandalf slays him that annoys me: "that'll do it". For me the tone is all wrong. They're going for the breezy nonserious tone of a sitcom. Would such a character crack a joke about his own demise? And it doesn't sound like Tolkienesque language.

I enjoyed the LOTR trilogy of films although they were nowhere near as enjoyable as the books. I agree with the OP, about The Hobbit and about nearly every film adaptation: "buy the book. Read the real thing. Experience the adventure from within your mind".

[Ron Obvious]

4. That line WAS awful...

You're exactly right, that movie couldn't find the right tone to stick with and ended up misfiring at every level.

In fact, that whole interminable Goblin Town sequence was just so wrong. Aside from its similarity to the Mines of Moria escape in FOTR, all the CGI, the defiance of the laws of physics, and the breakneck pacing makes it feel artificial much like a video game.

Give me the sets and pacing of the LOTR movies any day, and I thought THEY were too rushed and made Middle Earth seem small!

People living in Middle Earth didn't grow up with our mass media and instant communications and wouldn't have our sense of time and urgency at all. That's another thing either missed by the writers or (more likely) deliberately ignored for commercial reasons.

I don't think I'll bother with the third Hobbit either.

[handmade34]

5. love the books

(named kids after characters- didn't everybody?) everyone told me the movie was terrible (especially the namesake) ... just saw the 1st one last week... I rather enjoyed it for itself... dismissing the connection to the book

advise... always read the book!

funny though... I have one son who looks just like Elijah Wood and after he moved away, I could not watch the trilogy because I missed him so much and I cried when I saw Frodo... really! (I can laugh now- I have gotten over empty nest syndrome)

[Frank Cannon]

6. He's making 3 looooong movies out of a 300-page kid's book.

You know there's going to have to be some filler and digression in it.