BBC Sherlock Fan Forum - Serving Sherlockians since February 2012 / The Hobbit

**Posted by Liberty** January 16, 2015 7:30 pm

To be fair, I do think there were some things going against the Hobbit. For me, LOTR worked brilliantly on film, and I suppose having Peter Jackson, making it a trilogy, etc. was a way of making the Hobbit the same thing. But the book isn't the SAME as LOTR. It's just a little book, and it's a children's book. It has a completely different feel. It's more playful in nature, and I think there are things that really flag up that it's a fantasy world (the references to the "real" world in particular), whereas LOTR seems more like a completely created "real" world of its own. I don't mean that it's better (I loved The Hobbit and didn't finish LOTR), just different. And I think the trilogy tried to bring the two together in a way that maybe didn't quite work. Maybe Peter Jackson was stuck with being tasked to make a LOTR copy with a book that didn't fit the bill.

**Posted by SolarSystem** January 16, 2015 8:24 pm

besleybean wrote:
And very unseeemly to do so...

Unseemly to do what? To criticise the film(s)? Sorry, but that happens when you make a film / write a book / compose music. People will talk about it and make up their minds about it, and it's only natural that some people won't like it. And everyone's allowed to state their opinion.

kittykat wrote:
All I can say is that I have read many great reviews, so they did something right. Most people seem pretty happy. I've seen a few whiners, mostly on Facebook. Throwing tantrums because they didn't get everything they wanted. Not much point complaining now...

They certainly did something right, no doubt about it. But we've had this very 'discussion' one year ago, so it's probably no use to start all over again. And of course, people who don't like it are 'throwing tantrums' - which obviously means that they are wrong and everyone who is a huge fan and likes everything about it is right.

**Posted by besleybean** January 16, 2015 8:28 pm

Sorry, did I misunderstand?
I thought celebs had been moaning about their lack of nominations.

**Posted by Vhanja** January 16, 2015 8:37 pm

I haven't heard anyone moaning about their lack of nominations, actually.

**Posted by SolarSystem** January 16, 2015 8:53 pm

I thought this was about fans moaning about the fact that The Hobbit didn't give them everything they expected.

**Posted by besleybean** January 16, 2015 8:58 pm

Which is what I had misinderstood.

**Posted by kittykat** January 16, 2015 9:30 pm

I'm pretty darn happy with the film You're right, Liberty: perhaps some people expected it to be just like LOTR, which was always going to be impossible. Like you said, it's completely different.

**Posted by Liberty** January 16, 2015 9:54 pm

Yes, and even though I think it was maybe a mistake to tie it so closely to the LOTR films, while I was watching it I found myself loving the tie-ins, particularly seeing the same actors.

**Posted by besleybean** January 16, 2015 10:18 pm

Yep. Iliked this, too.

**Posted by kittykat** January 16, 2015 10:34 pm

Oh, it awesome to see some familiar faces! I still grin when I see Frodo at the beginning of the prologue ^^ Maybe it's just nostalgia, but I love seeing them

**Posted by Liberty** January 17, 2015 9:41 am

I'm looking forward to getting the inevitable boxed set of extended editions .... then one Christmas I'd like to watch the whole thing through in order! It would be great to go straight from the final scenes of Five Armies to the start of The Fellowship!

It's now a while since I've seen the film, but bits of it are sticking with me. I think Thorin's descent into greed and paranoia was outstanding, and I loved the imagery of him drowning in gold. Did the gold magically cause his sickness, or was it a (hereditary?) weakness in Thorin himself? I watched it with the first in mind, and now I'd like to watch it again from the second point of view.

**Posted by Vhanja** January 17, 2015 10:13 am

I think it was both. Greed is an inherit weakness in dwarves in general (and the Rings enhance that weakness). But the gold was also influenced and cursed by the long presense of Smaug. So I interpret it, it was the combination of the two that caused his illness.

And, yes, I LOVED the tie-in with Fellowship, and can't wait to see them in order! It puts so much history and context into Bilbo in LotR, I love it!

Last edited by Vhanja (January 17, 2015 10:13 am)

**Posted by Harriet** January 17, 2015 12:30 pm

I feel like throwing a big tantrum now because the Hobbit wasn't what I expected
- no, wait, unfortunately it was quite what I had expected - or feared ...

TANTRUM!

**Posted by kittykat** January 17, 2015 12:59 pm

Vhanja wrote:
I think it was both. Greed is an inherit weakness in dwarves in general (and the Rings enhance that weakness). But the gold was also influenced and cursed by the long presense of Smaug. So I interpret it, it was the combination of the two that caused his illness.

And, yes, I LOVED the tie-in with Fellowship, and can't wait to see them in order! It puts so much history and context into Bilbo in LotR, I love it!

Oh, I agree! It puts the whole thing in a different light. When Bilbo says to Frodo in Rivendell, "I'm sorry for everything." It might not just be Frodo that he's apologising to

Also, when Gandalf mentions that Thorin gave the mithril shirt to Bilbo, and when they find Balin's tomb and Ori's skeleton...that hurts like a bitch now

**Posted by kittykat** January 17, 2015 1:01 pm

Liberty wrote:
I'm looking forward to getting the inevitable boxed set of extended editions .... then one Christmas I'd like to watch the whole thing through in order! It would be great to go straight from the final scenes of Five Armies to the start of The Fellowship!

It's now a while since I've seen the film, but bits of it are sticking with me. I think Thorin's descent into greed and paranoia was outstanding, and I loved the imagery of him drowning in gold. Did the gold magically cause his sickness, or was it a (hereditary?) weakness in Thorin himself? I watched it with the first in mind, and now I'd like to watch it again from the second point of view.

I've seen some people talk about doing a marathon of all six movies in one go. If we're talking extended editions, they've worked out that it's about 21 hours or something. Sounds exhausting but fun!