The Films You Watched Thread V: Dead Men Watch No Movies

[Asura]

the introduction of the dwarf/elf love triangle involving the totally invented Tauriel 'she-elf' character (played by Evangeline Lilly and rightly praised), Kili and Legolas works well and the film also has one of the most imaginative and well choreographed action sequences of the six films: the down river escape from the wood-elf prison.

we have vastly differing opinions about those movies. That being said, there's already enough material on the internet about this topic.

[QualityChimp]

I think it's ace that we've got the books and the films of LotR and HP!

[fallenangle]

Asura: So you didn't like the deviation from The Hobbit book?

The book was written for a much younger age group than LOTR and IMHO without the changes made to mature the tone, the story and dialogue it would only have appealed to those young kids and consequently been much less financially and critically successful films. Most reviews unequivocally cite The Desolation Of Smaug as by far the best of the three Hobbit films too so I am not alone.

[Atticus]

I liked Fellowship but everything after, Hobbit films included, felt like a huge drop off in quality/craft. Parts 2 and 3 of LOTR were a spectacle in the cinema but I find them dull as dishwater to revisit. And I can see why Guillermo Del Toro walked away from the Hobbit film(s). I'd have preferred a kid's film that stayed close to the book. Not three films. All that pale orc nonsense. Oof, no.

[Asura]

Asura: So you didn't like the deviation from The Hobbit book?

The book was written for a much younger age group than LOTR and IMHO without the changes made to mature the tone, the story and dialogue it would only have appealed to those young kids and consequently been much less financially and critically successful films. Most reviews unequivocally cite The Desolation Of Smaug as by far the best of the three Hobbit films too so I am not alone.

I just didn't like the Hobbit films at all. I felt they were creatively barren and felt like a cynical attempt to try and get some more money out of the production design of the wonderful Lord of the Rings movies. I think they lacked a cohesive, creative vision, and cribbed too much from their predecessors.

We could talk about it all day; certainly YouTubers have. The main problem I had was that they took a slim-volume book and spun it out into 9 hours of movie, when I think they could've done it in 4. Back when I saw LOTR at the cinema, I was enraptured by every single moment, and the worst part of each movie was the ending purely because it was over.

I was bored during the Hobbit movies. I didn't even see the third one at the cinema.

However, I was kinda triggered by your post as I hated the barrel chase It felt like a videogame; too much CG.

[Cassius_Smoke]

LOTR films are an absolute masterpiece. You can see and feel the effort every person involved put in to them, not just the actors, but all the designers and crew. It was a labour of love. I watch the extended editions on a yearly basis.

[fallenangle]

However, I was kinda triggered by your post as I hated the barrel chase It felt like a videogame; too much CG.

I understand that criticism and my least favourite part of that is the very obvious CGI used when Legolas jumps on to the dwarves in the barrels and then hops along the river banks like a character out of a cartoon dispatching Orcs left right and centre.

There is the other bit too where one dwarf in a barrel is sprung by a flexing spear onto the bank and there's a silly fight sequence that is supposed be amusing. It is mitigated by coming up with the concept of launching a barrel like that being a brilliantly creative idea even if it required CGI to do it.

I'm not a fan of obvious CGI special effects either - if you notice it or it is blatantly obvious I actually dislike it more than special effects from earlier times which were obviously overly ambitious or crude by today's standards. Then it was forgivable now it is not.

[Yakumo]

I watched Battle Angel Alita last night not expecting much from it but I was actually pleasently surprised. Its actually a very entertaining movie. I loved the look and sound too. Also, it was nice to have action scenes where I could actually see what the hell was going on. None of that stupid fast panning shaky cam crap in this movie.

If you've not seen Battle Angel Alita then I suggest you do. Even the Big eyes didn't bother me as I thought they would.

[Neon Ignition]

I don't think I can think of another recent cinematic disappointment as big as The Hobbit trilogy. Worse than the LOTR trilogy in every conceivable way and even outright poor in several ways, it's staggering that they aren't a hack job done by a pretender and are actually the work of Jackson himself.

[Asura]

If you've not seen Battle Angel Alita then I suggest you do. Even the Big eyes didn't bother me as I thought they would.

It was a decent movie; the eyes were actually toned down from the original trailer.

[Yakumo]

It was a decent movie; the eyes were actually toned down from the original trailer.

Ah, that explains why they didn't bother me so much. Good call by the movie studio.

[QualityChimp]

It was a decent movie; the eyes were actually toned down from the original trailer.

The eyes are actually the same size as the trailer, the difference is, the made the irises bigger:
(Original on the left, final on the right)


It's the extra area of white of the eyes on the left that made her look bug-eyed, extra unrealistic and a little bit insane!

[Dogg Thang]

I know my preference...

->Open Spoiler<-

...none of them. Honestly, what were they thinking? It looks horrendous.

[Yakumo]

The eyes are actually the same size as the trailer, the difference is, the made the irises bigger:
(Original on the left, final on the right)


It's the extra area of white of the eyes on the left that made her look bug-eyed, extra unrealistic and a little bit insane!

Ah, well I still think it looks better in the final. I just remember the trailer really annoying me.

[Cassius_Smoke]

I don't think I can think of another recent cinematic disappointment as big as The Hobbit trilogy. Worse than the LOTR trilogy in every conceivable way and even outright poor in several ways, it's staggering that they aren't a hack job done by a pretender and are actually the work of Jackson himself.

To my shame I went to see all three of these at the Imax in the ****ty 48fps mode. Thank god that didn't take off. 48fps just made the sets and lighting really obvious. It was like watching a stage performance, and a poor one at that. Somewhere I read a really good behind the scenes look at the making of these films and it was a mess from start to finish. They began filming with no finished script and midway through decided to split it from 2 films to 3. ian mckellen actually cried onset because he hated acting to a blank green-screen.