Introduction to The Hobbit

[youkrst]

DWILL with his myth comment has ventured into seriously dangerous territory.

aye cap'n but we be the fearless sort here y' know

ye aint scared of a little myth are ye cap'n

[stahrwe]

A more important question is whether or not you are scared of a big myth.
Are you?

[youkrst]

NO

[DWill]

Geo's comment is well done and I learned something from it.

DWILL with his myth comment has ventured into seriously dangerous territory.

One question: why am I blamed for something said by catholiceducation.org? Then is TLOTR history, as a college professor I spoke to said students in the 60s would tell him?

Oops, that was two questions.

[youkrst]

A more important question is ...
Are you?

what? more important because you ask it.

stahrwe, you consistently twist and turn and avoid all the substantial questions and issues, it seems to bug the hell out of you that many people on this board dont subscribe to your narrow minded religious BS.

we are doing just fine without historical jesus, and the doctrine of eternal damnation etc etc

you never put up your definition, you never commit to a position, you dont respond honestly to the various issues various posters raise.

tell me what you honestly believe and lets see if it's defensible.

i've seen you and ants posts shot to hell time and time again, and instead of an honest conversation it seems all you really want is to feel that in spite of the fact that reasonable people take issue and describe in great detail very rational issues with your posts you can just claim the high ground and there is no need for you to actually put forward a reasoned response.

you duck and dive so much i cant get a bead on your arguments assuming you actually have any.

anyways i'm just expressing my frustration honestly...

sheesh,

[DWill]

youkrst, maybe it's time to bring out into the open what The Return of Stahrwe is meant to be about. Maybe stahrwe himself should say what he has in mind as far as his interactions with us are concerned. I guess what I'm saying is that we might not want to jump to conclusions that it's the same old stahrwe. And maybe in some ways we need to make an effort not to be the same old "us," either.

[DWill]

Sorry if this is curmudgeonly, but regarding "The Hobbit" movies, why has Peter Jackson decided to make 3 films out of that one book? The books of the trilogy, all much longer than The Hobbit, got but one film each. The Hobbit is a charming book, but giving it super-epic treatment is surely a mistake. The reviews of the first installment are uneven, unlike the critical reception for the other Rings movies. Some of the reviews point to lack of substance as the film's major failing.

http://moviereviewintelligence.com/movi ... d_journey/

[geo]

Sorry if this is curmudgeonly, but regarding "The Hobbit" movies, why has Peter Jackson decided to make 3 films out of that one book? The books of the trilogy, all much longer than The Hobbit, got but one film each. The Hobbit is a charming book, but giving it super-epic treatment is surely a mistake. The reviews of the first installment are uneven, unlike the critical reception for the other Rings movies. Some of the reviews point to lack of substance as the film's major failing.

http://moviereviewintelligence.com/movi ... d_journey/

I initially thought Jackson would do a good job with The Hobbit which has a more concise storyline and is a more filmable project than TLOTR. But three movies? To be honest, I found TLOTR to be a rather bloated, self-indulgent affair. The reviews don't surprise me. How do you divide The Hobbit into three separate storylines? I wonder if the Tolkien estate was supportive of the three-movie approach or did the studio itself want to have a cash cow.

[geo]

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[VMLM]

I agree the treatment is far too epic for the hobbit. This is a more light-hearted story than LOTR, and should probably be treated accordingly.
I liked Jackson's treatment of the characters... The trolls are funny and stupid, the goblins are suitably gruesome (yet the goblin king is caricaturesque and somewhat funny) the elves are haughty, the dwarves are lovable and easy to empathize with, gollum is pitiful and scary as always.... But three, three hour movies? Excessive...

And let's face it, Jackson's pacing isn't great. The movie is sloooow. Which isn't surprising considering he's trying to stretch the story far beyond its breaking point.

I still liked it xD. To my mind these movies bring middle earth to life in a way the books can't. The beautiful rolling vistas, the mountain passes, the deep caverns.... I love seeing it like this because I never actually imagined it so. Sure, I've stood on mountain tops and thought to myself "I wonder if this is what the misty mountains looked like", fantasized about goblin strongholds, the dragon's hoard, the necromancer in mirkwood, etc.
But this movie brings these things to life, and I love that.
Actually that's what I loved about the LOTR movies too. I had the good fortune of finishing my first read of LOTR exactly as the movies were coming out. I couldn't believe it. Here I was reading this really old fantasy trilogy which I thought must be somewhat obscure and not very well liked (in my infinite teenage wisdom I thought I had discovered something only I could truly appreciate), thinking it would be awesome to see the white city, rivendell, the battle at helm's deep, tom bombadil, elves, orcs, wizards, etc. And out of nowhere I'm walking through a mall and see a LOTR poster. I'm pretty sure my jaw literally dropped, and I know I didn't move from that spot for at least 15 minutes. That very day I got to see the first LOTR movie.
And then there's the stone giants, which I didn't expect at all. And that was awe inspiring and amazing. I loved that scene because I'd barely given the stone giants any real though. I knew they were big, I'd never thought to make them that big.

I think the main reason that I like these movies is that they're pulled off with an excellent level of technical skill, with a suitable art direction and a budget that will probably never come this story's way ever again.
I'll watch these movies alone if I have to xD, but I've totally gotta get me some dragon fighting action, and some scenes of mirkwood, possibly some more necromancer. It's probably too much to ask for, but what I really want to see is the silmarillion. I want to see the ainur, see a thousand streaming elven banners arrayed agains Morgoth, I want to see silver telperion and golden laurelin, see gondolin before its fall, not to mention the silmarils themselves.