Enjoying Peter Jackson’s Not the Hobbit

[Wolfie65 1283xp 0]

Having recently scored all 3 of the extended editions of this, erm, ‘trilogy‘ (look up the classical definition of that word…) at a relatively reasonable price, I think I may have found a way to actually like them as what they are: cool fantasy action flicks with a casual nod to the original source material.

I watch each movie first, then the appendices, then re-watch the movie with Jackson’s an Boyer’s commentary, trying to explain to me why they turned professor Tolkien’s fairy tale for smart children with good attention spans into a foreboding battle drama with impossible interspecies romances and Hippy Wizards. Then I move on to the second movie and repeat the process.

The interviews with the actors do get a little repetitive and even grating at times, especially when they start cracking jokes completely inappropriate for the subject matter – Tolkien would definitely not approve – but the background information on the design process is very interesting, especially John Howe’s and Alan Lee’s perspectives as artists.

The best part of the whole thing remains Radagast’s bunny sled, kudos to PJ for pulling that one out of the hat, so to speak. And the DVD sets look nice on the shelf next to their LotR predecessors – successors…whatever….

[grantinvanman 10544xp 1]

They’re fine as “not the Hobbit” movies, but really nothing more. As a Hobbit fan, even going so far as to get a reprint of the 1937 first edition (the ring scene is different, later changed to tie into LOTR), the movies are ghastly. Ignore what they were supposed to be, sit back, enjoy, and there’s enough fluffy visual candy to make them light entertainment.

[avien 2094xp 1]

I admire your dedication to getting through all three extended editions. The theatrical releases were such a slog I’ve never been able to bring myself to rewatch them. I will grant them they are visually fantastic. And I’d have to agree that the bunny sled is particularly enjoyable – I’ve rewatched that on YouTube a few times

[Wolfie65 1283xp 0]

I am currently on the appendices to movie no.2, [i]The Desolation of CGI[/i} and the team spend a good 20 minutes telling me how much of a headache the design of Smaug – or ‘Shmowg’ as Jackson calls him – was, when the obvious solution would have been right in front of their noses the whole time: Tolkien’s drawing on the map……

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