Spoilers Middle Earth/The Hobbit/ Lord of the Rings

[Huntn]

Return of the King (2003)

• Andy Serkis- deserved an Oscar for his portrayal as Gollum.
• More magical elves, Rivendell, and the Arwen-Aragorn love story!
• The Stewart of Gondor does not want to relinquish his power.
• The lighting of the beacons is epic. Good job Pippin!
• Gandalf drives off the Nazgul with a bright light covering the retreat from Osgilith.
• Faramir rides on a suicide mission for his father, while Pippin sings a mournful ballad. I shed a tear over this scene.
• Aragorn armed with Anduril, Flame of the West, rides through the Dimholt Forest, through the Dark Door, under the Dwimorberg Mountain, to confront the Dead who owe a debt... superbly spooky.
• The entire movie builds up to the Battle of Pelennor Fields and it is epic.
• In his grief Denethor, Steward of Gondor yells for his forces to abandon their posts and Gandalf responds by giving him an ass whoop’n, yelling at them to fight.
• Nazgul descend on Minus Tirith one of the cinematic scenes in the movie.
• Shelob is one nasty spider.
• Denethor becomes a bottle rocket of sorts.
• The King of Gondor arrives on the battlefield hitting Morder’s Right flank in an amazing charge.
• Men versus the Oliphants, incredibly cinematic.
• Gandalf’s Death Is Not The End speech.
• Eowyn faces down The Witch King of Agmar, Lord of the Nazgul.
• Likely the single most impressive shot in this movie is Legolas taking down an Oliphant by himself.

• Sam rescues Frodo, the Good Guys create a diversion, and they deliver The Ring to Mount Doom, with some last minute indecision, betrayal, a fight, and a most unlikely of heroes unwittingly saves the day.
• The happiest of Endings!

​

 

[Huntn]

Jan 2020- Lord of the Rings on Amazon: everything we know about the prequel TV series

Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power: release date, trailer, cast, and more

The Rings of Power season 1 is available in full on Prime Video

www.techradar.com

Estimated arrival Date: 2021.

UPDATE: We've had a number of new cast members announced for the LOTR TV show on Amazon. Read on below for everything we know so far, including the latest news, rumors, cast announcements, likely air dates, and (of course) a healthy amount of speculation.

If you haven't heard already – yes, a Lord of the Rings TV show is on the way.

Retailer, streaming service, and production studio Amazon fought off fierce competition to buy the rights to the books, costing a colossal $250 million (£230m, or AU$270m) to create five seasons based on J. R. R. Tolkien's world-famous high fantasy novels, which lay out a mystical world of elves, dwarves, dragons and hobbits threatened by a nightmarish evil known as Sauron (the big tower-eye-thingy from the films, remember?).

Amazon is right at the coal face of the so-called golden age of TV and investing millions in content like the Lord of the Rings TV show to stick it to their fellow, and similarly spendthrift, streaming rivals. The company is also looking to create the next Game of Thrones phenomenon (there's even an upcoming Game of Thrones prequel), but few source novels have as strong a hold on the popular imagination as Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.

Also mentioned in this link about a Middle Earth Game: Mac Rumors Game Forum Link.
July 2019- Amazon Games Announces Interactive Middle-Earth Tolkien Game; Multiplayer Experience Set Prior To ‘Lord Of The Rings’ Events

Amazon Games Announces Interactive Middle-Earth Tolkien Game; Multiplayer Experience Set Prior To ‘Lord Of The Rings’ Events

A free-to-play, “massively multiplayer” online game set in J.R.R. Tolkien’s universe of hobbits, wizards and dragons is on its way from Amazon Game Studios in collaboration with Middle-earth Enterprises and Hong Kong-based interactive developer and publisher Leyou Technologies. As yet untitled...

deadline.com

To be published on PC and console, the game – set prior to the events depicted in the Lord of the Rings trilogy – is unrelated to the LOTR-based TV series being developed by Amazon.

 

[Huntn]

EVERYTHING WE KNOW ABOUT THE LORD OF THE RINGS AMAZON SERIES
THE SERIES, BASED ON J.R.R. TOLKIEN'S NOVELS, TAKES PLACE IN THE SECOND AGE, WHICH MEANS SAURON WILL BE AN INTEGRAL CHARACTER. PLUS, FIND OUT WHICH OTHER CHARACTERS WE MIGHT MEET.

Everything We Know About Amazon's The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power

See the new trailer here! And see photos of Orcs and key Elves. The series' cast includes Robert Aramayo ("Game of Thrones") as young Elrond, and Morfydd Clark ("Saint Maud") as young Galadriel. Find out which other characters we will meet in the streaming giant's epic series based on J.R.R...

editorial.rottentomatoes.com

Jan 2020- More info than this in the article:
Amazon Studios announced 15 series-regular cast members during the Television Critics Association winter press tour, on January 14.

Row 1 (in tweet above):
Robert Aramayo
Nazanin Boniadi
Joseph Mawle
Owain Arthur
Ismael Cruz Córdova

Row 2:
Sophia Nomvete
Tyroe Muhafidin
Tom Budge
Charlie Vickers
Morfydd Clark

Row 3:
Ema Horvath
Daniel Weyman
Markella Kavenagh
Dylan Smith
Megan Richards

Amazon Studios Co-Head of Television Vernon Sanders told reporters at TCA that they’ve had the first table read, they’re not finished casting, and production begins in February.

“We have looked throughout the globe for the right people to bring this to life, and we are extraordinarily proud of the cast we’ve assembled,” Sanders said. “This isn’t all the cast. We still have a few key roles to cast, but we were there for the table read. It was amazing. The passion and the devotion to the Tolkien legendarium is really tangible there. So we will have more news over the next month or so and give updates. We’ll start production next month.”

Amazon Studios did not release character details, but some media outlets have released unofficial details.

Aramayo, who U.S. audiences know as young Ned Stark from seasons 6 and 7 of Game of Thrones, reportedly replaced Will Poulter (Black Mirror: Bandersnatch), who was reportedly cast in a lead role, but pulled out due to scheduling conflicts.

His Dark Materials actress Clark reportedly will portray the young version of Galadriel, the role played by Cate Blanchett in Jackson’s Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movies.

Mawle most recognizably played Benjen Stark on HBO’s Game of Thrones. Variety reported in October that sources say he will play a villain named Oren. (Could he be a Ranger perhaps?)

In July, actor Kavenagh was said to be in talks to play a character called Tyra — a name new to Middle-earth.

 

[ucfgrad93]

Can’t wait to see this!

 

[Huntn]

Brought from the Movie thread regarding extended versions of LOTR:

The extended versions of The Lord of the Rings were excellent and added a lot to the movies.

I agree! I feel like this was one of the exceptions to the rule. The books were so dense that cutting the movies down to a more 'audience friendly' running time resulted in missing pieces that made other scenes not quite work as well as they otherwise would.

Of course, I'm the kind of nerd that thinks nothing of soaking up 4 hours of high fantasy in one sitting.

I’m in the minority, I know, but I liked the adventures the Hobbits had on the way to the Prancing Pony. Of all the stuff that had to be edited out though, TFOTR worked really well without it.

The LOTR trilogy is something I would consider extended versions except as is when I watch Return of The King I fast forward through much of the Hobits dredging their way to Mordor with persecuted Gollum. He annoys the hell out of me.

Regarding @7thson’s comment, I don’t remember a lot of adventures that were cut out from the book on their way to the Prancing Pony, not criticizing you, but myself. 👀

Would anyone care to mention the significant things that are added to the extended versions if you remember?

 

[dmr727]

I fast forward through much of the Hobits dredging their way to Mordor with persecuted Gollum. He annoys the hell out of me.

I agree! My least favorite part of the movies.

 

[richinaus]

Disney needs to buy it. Kidding, but I would not be against another story if it could move me like the LOTR trilogy did. As a child, the Hobbit was the first fantasy book I read probably 10 years old. It transported me.

Unfortunately in a cash grab Peter Jackson/The Studio decided that they would LOTRosize The Hobbit with the exact thinking if we make it, bloated up and significantly altered, with added climaxes (screw the book fans) they will still come.

I worked on the Hobbit films at the studios for several years, and thought the exact same thing when we were doing it. On some of the scenes when we were given them we were like, WTF........

 

[Huntn]

I worked on the Hobbit films at the studios for several years, and thought the exact same thing when we were doing it. On some of the scenes when we were given them we were like, WTF........

That sounds very interesting. Sorry if I should know this by virtue of any previous discussions here, but what kind of work did/do you do?

CGI in movies is astonishingly good these days. Crappy (a personal categorization) or I should say primitive, stylized CGI in the early days like Sin City or even stylized as in 300 really bugged me when it looked fake and I knew the movie was filmed in a warehouse. Now the illusion of real is sooo good it no longer matters as I think of freaking incredible Avatar. I mean it’s all so good, you don’t even know when it‘s CGI.

 

[Huntn]

In case you missed it:



Yep, more info:

http://www.nme.com/blogs/tv-blogs/lord-of-the-rings-tv-series-release-date-plot-cast-2170413

This from Sept 2020:

The Rings of Power Drops Season Finale Trailer: Will Sauron's Identity Be Revealed?

'Mordor will rise. Heroes will fall'

www.tvguide.com

 

[richinaus]

That sounds very interesting. Sorry if I should know this by virtue of any previous discussions here, but what kind of work did/do you do?

CGI in movies is astonishingly good these days. Crappy (a personal categorization) or I should say primitive, stylized CGI in the early days like Sin City or even stylized as in 300 really bugged me when it looked fake and I knew the movie was filmed in a warehouse. Now the illusion of real is sooo good it no longer matters as I think of freaking incredible Avatar. I mean it’s all so good, you don’t even know when it‘s CGI.

I worked on the physical sets not cgi. A lot more of the film than you think is real! It was a great thing to do and very interesting but I moved on from the film industry quickly after that as it’s not the place for me. Basically you are a small cog in a massive machine.

 

[7thson]

I don’t remember a lot of adventures that were cut out from the book on their way to the Prancing Pony

The barrow downs, the wight and Tom Bombadil and Goldberry, whom I thought was an elf but isn’t(¯\_(ツ)_/¯). I think there might have been more but haven’t read it recently.
Thanks for directing me to this thread!

 

[Huntn]

The barrow downs, the wight and Tom Bombadil and Goldberry, whom I thought was an elf but isn’t(¯\_(ツ)_/¯). I think there might have been more but haven’t read it recently.
Thanks for directing me to this thread!

Ok, I remember those, but would have guessed that Tom Bombadil was after the the Prancing Pony, but not arguing.

 

[7thson]

Ok, I remember those, but would have guessed that Tom Bombadil was after the the Prancing Pony, but not arguing.

No he rescued the Hobbits from the barrow wight and entertained them at his digs. He’s an oddball for sure but there was moment where he cajoles Frodo into letting him handle the Ring. Frodo is kind of suspicious as to how Tom knows he has it, but hands it over. Tom does a little slight of hand with the Ring and it disappears. Frodo nearly panics when Tom, smiling, shows him the Ring is on one of Toms finger. It has no effect on Tom. Toms magic is older than the Ring and so supersedes it, I guess. Anyway Tom is mentioned at the Counsel of Elrond as a place to hide it, but dismissed outright if I recall, because they fear he’d lose it because he’s such a scatterbrained merry old fellow.

 

[Huntn]

The Origin of Orcs, in LOTR: Two Towers, when I heard Saruman say “they were once Elves”, I thought the matter was settled. Apparently for Tolkien, it was a transitional thing.

Are Lord of the Rings' Orcs Corrupted Elves, or Something Else?

The origin of The Lord of the Rings' Orcs is a hotly debated topic among J.R.R. Tolkien fans. Here's a look at where they came from.

www.cbr.com

 

[ucfgrad93]

Return of the King (2003)
[*]Likely the single most impressive shot in this movie is Legolas taking down an Oliphant by himself.

That still counts as one!

 

[Huntn]

EVERYTHING WE KNOW ABOUT THE LORD OF THE RINGS AMAZON SERIES
THE SERIES, BASED ON J.R.R. TOLKIEN'S NOVELS, TAKES PLACE IN THE SECOND AGE, WHICH MEANS SAURON WILL BE AN INTEGRAL CHARACTER. PLUS, FIND OUT WHICH OTHER CHARACTERS WE MIGHT MEET.

Everything We Know About Amazon's The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power

See the new trailer here! And see photos of Orcs and key Elves. The series' cast includes Robert Aramayo ("Game of Thrones") as young Elrond, and Morfydd Clark ("Saint Maud") as young Galadriel. Find out which other characters we will meet in the streaming giant's epic series based on J.R.R...

editorial.rottentomatoes.com

Jan 2020- More info than this in the article:
Amazon Studios announced 15 series-regular cast members during the Television Critics Association winter press tour, on January 14.

View attachment 911589​

Row 1 (in tweet above):
Robert Aramayo
Nazanin Boniadi
Joseph Mawle
Owain Arthur
Ismael Cruz Córdova

Row 2:
Sophia Nomvete
Tyroe Muhafidin
Tom Budge
Charlie Vickers
Morfydd Clark

Row 3:
Ema Horvath
Daniel Weyman
Markella Kavenagh
Dylan Smith
Megan Richards

Amazon Studios Co-Head of Television Vernon Sanders told reporters at TCA that they’ve had the first table read, they’re not finished casting, and production begins in February.

“We have looked throughout the globe for the right people to bring this to life, and we are extraordinarily proud of the cast we’ve assembled,” Sanders said. “This isn’t all the cast. We still have a few key roles to cast, but we were there for the table read. It was amazing. The passion and the devotion to the Tolkien legendarium is really tangible there. So we will have more news over the next month or so and give updates. We’ll start production next month.”

Amazon Studios did not release character details, but some media outlets have released unofficial details.

Aramayo, who U.S. audiences know as young Ned Stark from seasons 6 and 7 of Game of Thrones, reportedly replaced Will Poulter (Black Mirror: Bandersnatch), who was reportedly cast in a lead role, but pulled out due to scheduling conflicts.

His Dark Materials actress Clark reportedly will portray the young version of Galadriel, the role played by Cate Blanchett in Jackson’s Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movies.

Mawle most recognizably played Benjen Stark on HBO’s Game of Thrones. Variety reported in October that sources say he will play a villain named Oren. (Could he be a Ranger perhaps?)

In July, actor Kavenagh was said to be in talks to play a character called Tyra — a name new to Middle-earth.

Just curious, any fans of the Rings of Power in 2025? The first season underwhelmed me and I’ve not watched the 2nd Season.

“I would rather share one lifetime with you than face all the ages of this world alone. I chose a mortal life.”

I’m contenting myself today with watching Lord of the Rings, Fellowship of the Ring. Epic, awesome. ☺️

 

[7thson]

Just curious, any fans of the Rings of Power in 2025? The first season underwhelmed me and I’ve not watched the 2nd Season.

“I would rather share one lifetime with you than face all the ages of this world alone. I chose a mortal life.”

I’m contenting myself today with watching Lord of the Rings, Fellowship of the Ring. Epic, awesome. ☺️

I enjoyed it. I realize it’s not going to land right for many LOTR fans but I appreciated it for fleshing out some history/back stories. I really love that world and felt like it added to it.

 

[obeygiant]

The second season was great. It very entertaining and well done.

 

[ignatius345]

No he rescued the Hobbits from the barrow wight and entertained them at his digs. He’s an oddball for sure but there was moment where he cajoles Frodo into letting him handle the Ring. Frodo is kind of suspicious as to how Tom knows he has it, but hands it over. Tom does a little slight of hand with the Ring and it disappears. Frodo nearly panics when Tom, smiling, shows him the Ring is on one of Toms finger. It has no effect on Tom. Toms magic is older than the Ring and so supersedes it, I guess. Anyway Tom is mentioned at the Counsel of Elrond as a place to hide it, but dismissed outright if I recall, because they fear he’d lose it because he’s such a scatterbrained merry old fellow.

I believe Tolkien talks about this in some of his correspondence with CS Lewis -- the fact that Tom is just so old that the Ring is simply not very relevant to him. If they gave it to him for safekeeping, as you say, he'd just forget about it. I've always loved that idea, that Tom is of a much much older world than anyone else.

 

[Bodhitree]

Just come across this thread today, and as I love both Tolkiens original books and the films, I felt I had to comment. For anyone who still hasn’t seen the extended editions, on the Apple TV store there is a bundle of all six films for 35 euros, and as I prefer the EE’s to the Theatrical Release it was a no brainer for me when I decided to rewatch the entire set.

I think you all have been giving The Hobbit trilogy an undeserved hard time. Any film of a book is going to be an adaptation, not a strict translation, and I think seen on it’s own merits The Hobbit films are lighter and more humorous in tone, but still with enough action to be interesting to young and old. I have many favourite moments in The Hobbit, but just to mention a few: the Dwarves singing in Bag End, the Goblin King’s dead body dropping on top of the Dwarves during the escape from the Goblin Tunnels, Stephen Fry’s masterful turn as the Master of Lake Town, a wonderful Dragon in Smaug the Magnificent, Martin Freeman’s portrayal of Bilbo with humour and depth as he goes from wanting to go home because he is missing his pocket handkerchief to baiting dragons and battling orcs alongside the Dwarves… I really enjoy rewatching it as a lighter alternative to The Lord of the Rings.

The Lord of the Rings I have just started rewatching, and the music and the epic nature of the storyline just kind of draw you in. I remember a lot from the last time I watched them on DVD, but the 4K of the streamed versions adds a lot of crispness and freshness to the films. I have my favourite moments here as well: Gandalf going to research the history of the One Ring, giving you for the first time panoramic views of Minas Tirith and Pelennor Fields, Sam and Frodo in front of the Black Gate, the Ents destroying Isengard, Sam and Frodo meeting Faramir, Eowyn confronting the Witch King of Angmar on his drake. It’s epic, but at the same time it has this good vs evil dynamic which is deeply part of Tolkiens world.

 

[Huntn]

Just come across this thread today, and as I love both Tolkiens original books and the films, I felt I had to comment. For anyone who still hasn’t seen the extended editions, on the Apple TV store there is a bundle of all six films for 35 euros, and as I prefer the EE’s to the Theatrical Release it was a no brainer for me when I decided to rewatch the entire set.

I think you all have been giving The Hobbit trilogy an undeserved hard time. Any film of a book is going to be an adaptation, not a strict translation, and I think seen on it’s own merits The Hobbit films are lighter and more humorous in tone, but still with enough action to be interesting to young and old. I have many favourite moments in The Hobbit, but just to mention a few: the Dwarves singing in Bag End, the Goblin King’s dead body dropping on top of the Dwarves during the escape from the Goblin Tunnels, Stephen Fry’s masterful turn as the Master of Lake Town, a wonderful Dragon in Smaug the Magnificent, Martin Freeman’s portrayal of Bilbo with humour and depth as he goes from wanting to go home because he is missing his pocket handkerchief to baiting dragons and battling orcs alongside the Dwarves… I really enjoy rewatching it as a lighter alternative to The Lord of the Rings.

The Lord of the Rings I have just started rewatching, and the music and the epic nature of the storyline just kind of draw you in. I remember a lot from the last time I watched them on DVD, but the 4K of the streamed versions adds a lot of crispness and freshness to the films. I have my favourite moments here as well: Gandalf going to research the history of the One Ring, giving you for the first time panoramic views of Minas Tirith and Pelennor Fields, Sam and Frodo in front of the Black Gate, the Ents destroying Isengard, Sam and Frodo meeting Faramir, Eowyn confronting the Witch King of Angmar on his drake. It’s epic, but at the same time it has this good vs evil dynamic which is deeply part of Tolkiens world.

My defense, when you take a 200+ page book and turn it into 3 bloated movies with inserted events to create artificial filler, like a manical barrel chase scene, and end-movie highs, Bilbo dueling the Head Goblin, not included in the original source material, then the original atmosphere has been obliterated in the pursuit of $$$. I describe this as the LOTRization of The Hobbit, which was written with an entirely different tone as a children’s story. No issue if you approve of this adaption, it’s just not for me, and I loved LOTR.

 

[Bodhitree]

My defense, when you take a 200+ page book and turn it into 3 bloated movies with inserted events to create artificial filler, like a manical barrel chase scene, and end-movie highs, Bilbo dueling the Head Goblin, not included in the original source material, then the original atmosphere has been obliterated in the pursuit of $$$. I describe this as the LOTRization of The Hobbit, which was written with an entirely different tone as a children’s story. No issue if you approve of this adaption, it’s just not for me, and I loved LOTR.

Sure, creating a trilogy of movies from such slender source material was always going to present a challenge. But it has to be said that the book passes over a lot of quite lengthy periods of time in a kind of poetic mode, which the movies choose to flesh out to show more of the journey.

Yes, there were some editorial choices made in favour of the storytelling in a movie, such as the addition of the villain Azog the Defiler, and the passages of the tombs and the encounter between the White Council and the Necromancer at Dol Guldur, and the love interest between the dwarf Fili and the elf Tauriel. There is quite a bit of additional material there. But it is ‘of a piece’ with Tolkien’s world, and if you look at the events of the book but consider what might actually have happened, I don’t think the departure is too egregious.

In short, I don’t think the additions really detract from the movies. From a purist’s point of view you are right to say it’s not entirely true to the book, but I think from a movie fan’s viewpoint The Hobbit makes for a pretty good trilogy. In some ways it is better than LotR — the cameraderie of the dwarves, and Martin Freeman makes an excellent Bilbo, means the movies have more of a focus than the LotR which spends a lot of time tracking the quests of lesser characters like Merry and Pippin in Fangorn.

I loved LotR too, but for different reasons. It has a great reach of light and dark in the story, and some great moments from the hobbits and the dwarf. The Hobbit has a lighter touch, it’s like they found a way to inject some extra humour into the setting.

 

[Huntn]

Sure, creating a trilogy of movies from such slender source material was always going to present a challenge. But it has to be said that the book passes over a lot of quite lengthy periods of time in a kind of poetic mode, which the movies choose to flesh out to show more of the journey.

Yes, there were some editorial choices made in favour of the storytelling in a movie, such as the addition of the villain Azog the Defiler, and the passages of the tombs and the encounter between the White Council and the Necromancer at Dol Guldur, and the love interest between the dwarf Fili and the elf Tauriel. There is quite a bit of additional material there. But it is ‘of a piece’ with Tolkien’s world, and if you look at the events of the book but consider what might actually have happened, I don’t think the departure is too egregious.

In short, I don’t think the additions really detract from the movies. From a purist’s point of view you are right to say it’s not entirely true to the book, but I think from a movie fan’s viewpoint The Hobbit makes for a pretty good trilogy. In some ways it is better than LotR — the cameraderie of the dwarves, and Martin Freeman makes an excellent Bilbo, means the movies have more of a focus than the LotR which spends a lot of time tracking the quests of lesser characters like Merry and Pippin in Fangorn.

I loved LotR too, but for different reasons. It has a great reach of light and dark in the story, and some great moments from the hobbits and the dwarf. The Hobbit has a lighter touch, it’s like they found a way to inject some extra humour into the setting.

Based on my expectations of the story that touched as a child I walked into it hoping for the best, yet was sorely dissapointed by the choices made. I accept our disagreement.

 

[Bodhitree]

On another note, I came across a piece on YouTube which contrasted Tolkien’s way of writing villains with that in Studio Ghibli’s films. It sparked some really interesting thoughts for me, because while I love the high fantasy of The Lord of the Rings, I have to say that Spirited Away’s No-face and Howl’s Moving Castle’s Witch of the Wastes and Suleyman feel more real to me.

Tolkien is so absolutist with his villains. Sauron is a supernatural being who embodies all evil, symbolised as a burning eye. His minions the Nazgûl are undead and live in the realm of wraiths. No orc seems capable of doing a good deed. It is a world of highly contrasted light and dark.

In Studio Ghibli’s films, the villains are much more ambiguous, and often can and do change sides. No-face is first presented as neutral, then swallows a greedy minder of the bath-house, and under his influence turns into a monster. Later he regurgitates everyone he has swallowed and returns to neutral, only to become a faithful companion of Chihiro, the girl who is the hero. It is fantastical, but at the same time shows an emotional core which is surprisingly mature.

In the Ghibli films it is like it is in the real world — people rarely have only one side, and often you find yourself understanding why the villains do the things they do and even sympathise with them. It is a world image in which sympathy and warm heartedness stand as guiding principles.

I find it a weakness of Tolkiens world that his villains are pure evil and unredeemable, serving only to be held up as examples to be hated and cast down, like Gandalf did with the Balrog. It arouses hate in the heart, and that to my mind should not be the role of fiction.

 

[wonderings]

Just come across this thread today, and as I love both Tolkiens original books and the films, I felt I had to comment. For anyone who still hasn’t seen the extended editions, on the Apple TV store there is a bundle of all six films for 35 euros, and as I prefer the EE’s to the Theatrical Release it was a no brainer for me when I decided to rewatch the entire set.

I think you all have been giving The Hobbit trilogy an undeserved hard time. Any film of a book is going to be an adaptation, not a strict translation, and I think seen on it’s own merits The Hobbit films are lighter and more humorous in tone, but still with enough action to be interesting to young and old. I have many favourite moments in The Hobbit, but just to mention a few: the Dwarves singing in Bag End, the Goblin King’s dead body dropping on top of the Dwarves during the escape from the Goblin Tunnels, Stephen Fry’s masterful turn as the Master of Lake Town, a wonderful Dragon in Smaug the Magnificent, Martin Freeman’s portrayal of Bilbo with humour and depth as he goes from wanting to go home because he is missing his pocket handkerchief to baiting dragons and battling orcs alongside the Dwarves… I really enjoy rewatching it as a lighter alternative to The Lord of the Rings.

The Lord of the Rings I have just started rewatching, and the music and the epic nature of the storyline just kind of draw you in. I remember a lot from the last time I watched them on DVD, but the 4K of the streamed versions adds a lot of crispness and freshness to the films. I have my favourite moments here as well: Gandalf going to research the history of the One Ring, giving you for the first time panoramic views of Minas Tirith and Pelennor Fields, Sam and Frodo in front of the Black Gate, the Ents destroying Isengard, Sam and Frodo meeting Faramir, Eowyn confronting the Witch King of Angmar on his drake. It’s epic, but at the same time it has this good vs evil dynamic which is deeply part of Tolkiens world.

The Hobbit movie trilogy is terrible. Tolkien would be furious with the adaptation based on his own writing and thoughts on this very subject. The movie DOES deserve strong criticism because they took a much loved story and went at creating 3 films without zero effort. There is tons of evidence of this, Peter Jackson himself said day to day they sometimes did not even know what they were filming. He came in to try and save the movies as the original director backed out. The same effort and respect put into the Lord of the Rings movies was not put into The Hobbit trilogy. It was a cash grabbing banking on the success of Lord of the Rings. Same thing goes for Rings of Power which did an amazing job of being even worse than the Hobbit trilogy.

Yes films cannot go 1:1 with a story from print to film, they are 2 very different mediums for story telling. One is smart, engaging, pulls you in and the other is dumbed down so anyone can get the most minimal basics of the story. If you actually like Tolkiens work I have no clue how you could like The Hobbit trilogy. There were of course some good things about it, very few. Smaug would be the highlight in my option. Cumberbatch did a great job as the dragon without a doubt. The dwarves did not look like dwarves, they looked (for the most part) like regular men who were just shrunk down. They created characters were none were needed, romance between an elf and a dwarf where none was needed. All in all I think they missed the beauty of the simple story Tolkien wrote that moved the hearts and minds of millions.