The Hobbit (I)
Dec. 14th, 2012 03:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
grav_ityOnce upon a time, there was a little girl who loved books. She read a lot of books on her own, and quite a few with her mother, and, just one time, she read a book with her Dad. That book was called "The Hobbit", and in all the years after, when the girl read the book, she heard it in his voice.
One day, that book became a movie. And that movie? Well, let's just say it lived up to the all the girl's hopes and dreams.
So...it was pretty much perfect? I think the only thing that struck me as incredibly weird was the Great Goblin's voice. He sounded much too human. I understand that they were trying to make him sound like something other than an orc (or a troll), but...it was weird.
I loved pretty much every change they made in the text: giving Thorin an actual enemy, giving a reason for the reason the elves don't like the dwarves, messing around with the timeline, OMG, THE WHITE COUNCIL, the Fifteen Birds scene...all of it. They had to get the book out of Bilbo's head, and I think they did a magical job of it.
Starting from the top, I ABSOLUTELY LOVE that they gave us the scene that happens 15 minutes before the opening scene from FotR. It was a perfect frame, and it allowed us some GORGEOUS shots of Dale and Erebor, and THE BEARD OF THROR, and the BADASS WARMOOSE Thranduil showed up on.
(Aside: Legolas is no longer "still the prettiest". Sorry dude. Your dad is MUCH. PRETTIER. THAN YOU.)
And then Martin Freeman was PERFECT. His first scene with Gandalf was PERFECT. GANDALF I CAN'T EVEN. The Unexpected Party was brilliant, from the entrances to Thorin being a douche. AND I GOT MY PLATES SONG! You have no idea how happy this makes me. I love the idea that the dwarves are all really good at throwing things at each other. AND THEN as if that wasn't enough, I got the Golf joke (one of my faves), and THEN, OMG, THE SONG. Seriously, I pretty much just passed out. But not so much that I missed the line about conkers. CONKERS! *twirls*
The "on the road" scenes were also magnificent. Gods above, New Zealand is pretty. And Howard Shore knocked it out of the park. The Troll scene, the first really significant departure from the book, was excellent. I enjoyed seeing Bilbo really step in, instead of it all being Gandalf, and use his brain a bit. And, then, naturally, the swords.
I wasn't really sold on Radagast, but I think Sylvester McCoy absolutely nailed it. I had pictured him being a bit more quiet, perhaps, but I love the idea of him like this (um, except for the bird crap on his head. That was kind of gross). And the spiders! UGH, THE SPIDERS. And Radagast using his brain to figure it out! AND THEN TELLING GANDALF.
(aside: I loved when Gandalf was explaining the wizards to Bilbo, and was all "I've totally forgotten what the other two are called!")
The Chase to Rivendell which a) had to happen (narratively) and b) had to be different from last time, was excellent. Plus, you know, SECRET TUNNEL! And then Rivendell! I may have cried (um, again. I cried a lot in the Shire). And then Action!Elrond got off his horse, and![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
eldanna and I dissolved into HIGHLY INAPPROPRIATE GIGGLING, and it was AWESOME. Also, he has a room for reading Moon Runes. There may have been more giggles.
I loved the scene of the dwarves eating their own food at Rivendell. They're all so TEAMY and I love it.
And then the White Council happens, and Galadriel brain-skyped AND brain-texted, and OMG, I LOVE HER, and the whole audience was like "SHUT THE FRONT DOOR!" when Saruman appeared, and then the whole thing was basically a really important STALL and OMG, GANDALF I LOVE YOU.
I love the Stone Giants scene, which is basically a throw-away line in the book. The dwarves are, obviously, more interesting if you have to split them up. This was the scene where I realized that they didn't really highlight Fili and Kili as being Thorin's nephews, but his concern for them was special, compared to the others, so maybe it was obvious anyway? I'm not sure.
And then we went down, down to Goblin town, yo ho, my lad. Song and all. And Bilbo used his brain AGAIN (kind of), and tried to help the dwarves, but was overpowered. This was the third major change, and, again, I rather liked it. The Great Goblin, as I said above, was really the only thing that felt a bit off. And I can't believe they didn't cut off his head! But mostly I liked the scenes themselves. The running fight scene was SPECTACULAR. It was at that moment when I realized that I need to see this movie about ten million times. The architecture and moving shots and choreography...it was all stunning.
While below we have Riddles in the Dark. Which. Let's be honest. The whole thing, the WHOLE THING, hangs on those scenes. And it was freaking awesome. Andy Serkis remains fabulous. Both Gollum and Smeagol were as perfect as ever. I loved when Bilbo's sword went out. And the riddles themselves were excellent. The button scene was great, and then, when all he has to do is slit Gollum's throat and he can't. ALL MY FEELS. Saved the world, right there, and doesn't even know it.
The Fifteen Birds scene was gorgeous and long. I loved the trees and the fire pinecones. I nearly had a heart attack waiting for the eagles to come. I loved that Bilbo got to do something stupid and awesome. AND THEN THERE WAS HOBBIT HUGS. UGH, I MISSED YOU, MIDDLE EARTH.
I have questions, of course. Like how the Battle of the Five Armies will play out (I doubt, for example, that Bilbo will send the majority of the battle unconscious), and I can't wait to see Laketown and the Elves of Mirkwood. The ending happened almost exactly the way I thought it would, on the Carrock, ready for the next step, but I LOVED using the thrush and the snails and the EYE (OMG, not seeing Smaug for the whole of the sack of Dale? BRILLIANCE).
I loved how much of a mirror for FotR this movie was. The stories are set up like that deliberately (party, walk to Rivendell, disaster in the mountains, adventure in the woods, etc). I loved the eight billion little details at Bag End that really made it look exactly as it looked MORE THAN A DECADE ago. I loved the music. I loved the costumes (armoured. beard.), and I loved the way they got so many of the songs in. I loved each and every dwarf, even though I can only identify about half of them on sight. And Bilbo, and Gollum, and Gandalf. And New Zealand.
I can't wait. I can't wait to see it again (and again), and then I can't wait for The Desolation of Smaug. I said a long time ago that these movies couldn't possibly suck, and instead An Unexpected Party met and surpassed my expectations. I am so. so. pleased.
FWIW, we saw it in IMAX 48FPS 3D, and it didn't even kind of make me feel ill (and I went in with a headache, because of my back, so I was worried). If anything, it made me feel like I was standing in the frame with them, so I didn't even notice the audience most of the time. It was great. We also got the first 7 minutes of the new Trek movie, which was cute because everyone yelled "MICKEY!" at the same time, and then the colours and effects were so real, I think I had an allergic reaction to the on-screen pollen.
faith_king and I were talking the other day about how maybe we were passed our days of seeing movies multiple times in theatres, and I think I can say now that it was just the wrong movies. I haven't felt this way about a film since RotK, and I plan to go and see it on the big screen just as often as I can.
Please feel free to link me to your reviews, if I have missed them.
One day, that book became a movie. And that movie? Well, let's just say it lived up to the all the girl's hopes and dreams.
So...it was pretty much perfect? I think the only thing that struck me as incredibly weird was the Great Goblin's voice. He sounded much too human. I understand that they were trying to make him sound like something other than an orc (or a troll), but...it was weird.
I loved pretty much every change they made in the text: giving Thorin an actual enemy, giving a reason for the reason the elves don't like the dwarves, messing around with the timeline, OMG, THE WHITE COUNCIL, the Fifteen Birds scene...all of it. They had to get the book out of Bilbo's head, and I think they did a magical job of it.
Starting from the top, I ABSOLUTELY LOVE that they gave us the scene that happens 15 minutes before the opening scene from FotR. It was a perfect frame, and it allowed us some GORGEOUS shots of Dale and Erebor, and THE BEARD OF THROR, and the BADASS WARMOOSE Thranduil showed up on.
(Aside: Legolas is no longer "still the prettiest". Sorry dude. Your dad is MUCH. PRETTIER. THAN YOU.)
And then Martin Freeman was PERFECT. His first scene with Gandalf was PERFECT. GANDALF I CAN'T EVEN. The Unexpected Party was brilliant, from the entrances to Thorin being a douche. AND I GOT MY PLATES SONG! You have no idea how happy this makes me. I love the idea that the dwarves are all really good at throwing things at each other. AND THEN as if that wasn't enough, I got the Golf joke (one of my faves), and THEN, OMG, THE SONG. Seriously, I pretty much just passed out. But not so much that I missed the line about conkers. CONKERS! *twirls*
The "on the road" scenes were also magnificent. Gods above, New Zealand is pretty. And Howard Shore knocked it out of the park. The Troll scene, the first really significant departure from the book, was excellent. I enjoyed seeing Bilbo really step in, instead of it all being Gandalf, and use his brain a bit. And, then, naturally, the swords.
I wasn't really sold on Radagast, but I think Sylvester McCoy absolutely nailed it. I had pictured him being a bit more quiet, perhaps, but I love the idea of him like this (um, except for the bird crap on his head. That was kind of gross). And the spiders! UGH, THE SPIDERS. And Radagast using his brain to figure it out! AND THEN TELLING GANDALF.
(aside: I loved when Gandalf was explaining the wizards to Bilbo, and was all "I've totally forgotten what the other two are called!")
The Chase to Rivendell which a) had to happen (narratively) and b) had to be different from last time, was excellent. Plus, you know, SECRET TUNNEL! And then Rivendell! I may have cried (um, again. I cried a lot in the Shire). And then Action!Elrond got off his horse, and
eldanna and I dissolved into HIGHLY INAPPROPRIATE GIGGLING, and it was AWESOME. Also, he has a room for reading Moon Runes. There may have been more giggles.I loved the scene of the dwarves eating their own food at Rivendell. They're all so TEAMY and I love it.
And then the White Council happens, and Galadriel brain-skyped AND brain-texted, and OMG, I LOVE HER, and the whole audience was like "SHUT THE FRONT DOOR!" when Saruman appeared, and then the whole thing was basically a really important STALL and OMG, GANDALF I LOVE YOU.
I love the Stone Giants scene, which is basically a throw-away line in the book. The dwarves are, obviously, more interesting if you have to split them up. This was the scene where I realized that they didn't really highlight Fili and Kili as being Thorin's nephews, but his concern for them was special, compared to the others, so maybe it was obvious anyway? I'm not sure.
And then we went down, down to Goblin town, yo ho, my lad. Song and all. And Bilbo used his brain AGAIN (kind of), and tried to help the dwarves, but was overpowered. This was the third major change, and, again, I rather liked it. The Great Goblin, as I said above, was really the only thing that felt a bit off. And I can't believe they didn't cut off his head! But mostly I liked the scenes themselves. The running fight scene was SPECTACULAR. It was at that moment when I realized that I need to see this movie about ten million times. The architecture and moving shots and choreography...it was all stunning.
While below we have Riddles in the Dark. Which. Let's be honest. The whole thing, the WHOLE THING, hangs on those scenes. And it was freaking awesome. Andy Serkis remains fabulous. Both Gollum and Smeagol were as perfect as ever. I loved when Bilbo's sword went out. And the riddles themselves were excellent. The button scene was great, and then, when all he has to do is slit Gollum's throat and he can't. ALL MY FEELS. Saved the world, right there, and doesn't even know it.
The Fifteen Birds scene was gorgeous and long. I loved the trees and the fire pinecones. I nearly had a heart attack waiting for the eagles to come. I loved that Bilbo got to do something stupid and awesome. AND THEN THERE WAS HOBBIT HUGS. UGH, I MISSED YOU, MIDDLE EARTH.
I have questions, of course. Like how the Battle of the Five Armies will play out (I doubt, for example, that Bilbo will send the majority of the battle unconscious), and I can't wait to see Laketown and the Elves of Mirkwood. The ending happened almost exactly the way I thought it would, on the Carrock, ready for the next step, but I LOVED using the thrush and the snails and the EYE (OMG, not seeing Smaug for the whole of the sack of Dale? BRILLIANCE).
I loved how much of a mirror for FotR this movie was. The stories are set up like that deliberately (party, walk to Rivendell, disaster in the mountains, adventure in the woods, etc). I loved the eight billion little details at Bag End that really made it look exactly as it looked MORE THAN A DECADE ago. I loved the music. I loved the costumes (armoured. beard.), and I loved the way they got so many of the songs in. I loved each and every dwarf, even though I can only identify about half of them on sight. And Bilbo, and Gollum, and Gandalf. And New Zealand.
I can't wait. I can't wait to see it again (and again), and then I can't wait for The Desolation of Smaug. I said a long time ago that these movies couldn't possibly suck, and instead An Unexpected Party met and surpassed my expectations. I am so. so. pleased.
FWIW, we saw it in IMAX 48FPS 3D, and it didn't even kind of make me feel ill (and I went in with a headache, because of my back, so I was worried). If anything, it made me feel like I was standing in the frame with them, so I didn't even notice the audience most of the time. It was great. We also got the first 7 minutes of the new Trek movie, which was cute because everyone yelled "MICKEY!" at the same time, and then the colours and effects were so real, I think I had an allergic reaction to the on-screen pollen.
faith_king and I were talking the other day about how maybe we were passed our days of seeing movies multiple times in theatres, and I think I can say now that it was just the wrong movies. I haven't felt this way about a film since RotK, and I plan to go and see it on the big screen just as often as I can.Please feel free to link me to your reviews, if I have missed them.
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no subject
Date: 2012-12-14 08:40 pm (UTC)I have all the feels right with you.
no subject
Date: 2012-12-14 09:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-12-14 10:03 pm (UTC)WHAT IS EVEN MY LIFE
Ugh everything was SO BEAUTIFUL and I can't even verbalize anything.
ALSO I WOULD LIKE TO BELATEDLY ADD
no subject
Date: 2012-12-15 07:15 am (UTC)I love action!Elrond! Fucking magnificent!
The Riddles In The Dark scene is a fucking masterpiece. Martin Freeman and Andy Serkis totally blew me away. Bilbo's sword going out, perfect! And the moment where he spares Gollum with Smeagol/Gollum crying over his lost precious.
Not seeing the dragon is fucking brilliant!
By now, I can recognise most of the dwarves from the back too!
I think my favourite moment is Bilbo saving Thorin and then THE HUG!
no subject
Date: 2012-12-15 11:52 am (UTC)The golf bit and the 'forgetting the name of the two blue wizrds' thing were both inspired insider kind of things for book people and I love that they were in the film.
Riddles in the Dark was just epic. Andy needs all of the awards!
I love the scene where Bilbo has decided to sneak off and leave since he 'doesn't belong'.
I think Golin is perfect! He looks like he could really be Gimli's Father.
The plate throwing and the song and even one musical instrument too! All I was missing there was the coloured smoke rights.
I will see it again and again and well, lots of agains, because it makes me happy.
no subject
Date: 2012-12-15 01:17 pm (UTC)I think he's become DoctorRaddy in my head. You know, like DoctorDonna except with a wizard. ;)
I'm going again tonight, this time for IMAX! My state finally has one and it just opened 2 days ago! And I have to thank PJ for doing what I have so far failed in--all of this extra source material has gotten Doug really excited and curious and for the first time he's actually said that maybe he SHOULD read the LotR books!
no subject
Date: 2012-12-15 02:57 pm (UTC)I disagree with you on only one point - Legolas is still prettiest in my book. But I figure disagreements are perfectly allowed on those points, especially when everything in general is SO PRETTY.
Yes, so want to see it again. And again and again and again.
no subject
Date: 2012-12-15 08:46 pm (UTC)http://minuiko.tumblr.com/post/30610236635/phobs-heh-whats-wrong-with-our-kids-man
no subject
Date: 2012-12-16 01:56 am (UTC)Also, the .gif is KEELLING me.
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Date: 2012-12-16 01:57 am (UTC)I have the soundtrack, but I want to see the movie a few more times before I listen to it, so I have the scenes locked in. I can visualize the entirety of LotR listening to the soundtracks, and I'm hoping that happens with the HOBBIT too. ;)
no subject
Date: 2012-12-16 01:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-12-16 02:03 am (UTC)And yes, action!Elrond was fantastic.
RitD was amazing. Such a great blend of book and other movies (in particular the song) and the emotion, my heart!
Secret!Dragon! :)
I've got a reasonable handle on them, too.
I...don't think I have a favourite moment yet? I mean, I love a lot of them, but...I don't know what my favourite MOMENT is.
no subject
Date: 2012-12-16 02:04 am (UTC)EVERYTHING WAS JUST PERFECT.
no subject
Date: 2012-12-16 02:04 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-12-16 02:05 am (UTC)Just saying. ;)
no subject
Date: 2012-12-16 02:11 am (UTC)Like, not even a gag reel or anything?
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Date: 2012-12-16 02:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-12-16 06:32 am (UTC)I loved seeing it with my brother. I laughed a lot more than when I was on my own.
no subject
Date: 2012-12-18 01:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-12-30 09:10 pm (UTC)Mostly I'm impressed that you managed this much of a rundown as I mostly came out of the theater going *eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee*
no subject
Date: 2012-12-30 09:12 pm (UTC)