The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies fan reviews... SPOILERS

[Dave_LF]

People have already nominated a few "best visual" candidates--I want to add one: Thranduil striding alone through the ruins of Dale, looking down at the slain elves with snow falling all around. This probably looked good in 2d, but it was stunning in 3. This was one of only two places where I remembered I was watching a 3d movie--the rest of the time, it was so unobtrusive I just took it for granted (the other one was Bard and Thorin talking through the hole in wall).

Runner-up: Gandalf alone on horseback, galloping north across flat terrain with mountains in the distance.

I forgot one: the series' final shot of Gandalf; striding away through the forest all pilgrim-ish after saying goodbye to Bilbo.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Those are all good ones. Another one is the shot of Thorin walking with the light behind him. I really like that.

[Dave_LF]

That was a good one too.

On a different note: say what you want about Thorin and Thranduil, but if they hadn't gotten everyone all armed and armored and at each other's throats, those orcs would have caught them completely unprepared. Really, it's about the best possible thing they could have done.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

In the book, too.

[Elentári]

I am much more bothered by the juvenile humor in the LOTR films than in the Hobbit films. The buffoonery of Gmily and Merry and Pippin is much more out of place than, say, Alfred in BotFA, or Bombur in AUJ. I dislike the burping at the unexpected party, but not as much as Pippin's farting.

What about the appalling Troll scene????

[Voronwë the Faithful]

I assume you are referring to the troll scene in AUJ? Not my favorite part of the adaptation, for sure! (Though I do like the troll that knocks himself out in BotFA headbutting the gate). But I dislike the troll scene in AUJ far less than, for instance, Gimli's antics in the Paths of the Dead (without even taking into account the horrid mess they make of that scene in the EE).

[Voronwë the Faithful]

I'm surprised that Elen has not mentioned that when Galadriel says to Sauron "you have no power here" it sounds just like Théoden (or rather Saruman through Théoden) saying the same line to Gandalf in TTT. It is saved, however, but her following it with "servant of Morgoth!"

[Elentári]

Well, that would be opening up a whole other can of wyrms, what with the apparent claims elsewhere that PJ hinted Saruman is controlling Galadriel in that scene like he does Théoden in TTT...

[Voronwë the Faithful]

I'm pretty sure that there is no truth to that. I think it is just something that someone wrote in Wikipedia. I certainly don't recall any interview where Jackson said that, and I have followed things pretty closely. You have followed them perhaps even more closely; do you recall ever reading that anywhere? Certainly, the person who added that doesn't give any link, or any indication of where the interview came from. I don't believe it is true; on the contrary, I am convinced that Saruman's raised hand is an indication that he is assisting Galadriel in battling Sauron, not controlling her for his own nefarious purposes. And, going to the Wikipedia page, I see that it has at some point since I last looked at (after reading that post that you link to) been changed to say exactly that, with the reference to the supposed interview with Jackson removed.

[Elentári]

No, which is why I didn't mention it in the first place... But presumably that alleged reference was the result of others picking up on the exceeding similarity that you noted!

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Presumably, although I don't recall anyone mentioning it, in that thread, or elsewhere (though it has been a while since I read that thread). Interesting that the Wikipedia article was changed to match my interpretation of the scene (and not by me; I've never edited a Wikipedia article).

It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the EE. Boyens specifically states in that podcast that we will see more about the three rings; I wonder if that will influence or even change how Sauron is defeated.

[Jude]

You touched on something I was wondering about in the theatre: has Saruman already fallen? In the movie he seems just as keen as the others to defeat Sauron; in the book he's already playing his double-game at this point.

[Smaug's voice]

So, watching the BOFA in continuation with the DoS EE did wonders.
I loved it the second time.

I was right about the film having a very awkward opening. This time I was totally enthralled by Smaug's destruction.
I still wasn't greatly impressed by Dol Guldur and especially Galadriel. Saruman kung-fooing the Wraiths was the best thing in that scene.
I loved everything that I loved the first time I.e. All scenes Bilbo.
Honestly, none of Legolas' stunts bothered me this time! I just shrugged at the toppling tower and moved on.

I'd reverse my decision from last time. I loved the battle. especially the dwarven formation with the Elves jumping out from behind rivals the best of LotR imo. That garnered huge cheers from the other folks in the hall. I also thought it was fun to see the different bred-for-war trolls and orcs (like the battering orc).
The earthworms. Meh. Still dislike it.
Sue me if you would, but I enjoyed Alfrid to a certain degree. It just helped to lessen the grim tone of the film. And I think it's an OTT portrayal of characters you'll actually find during war times.
I noticed Dain's beard and moustache is braided in the fashion of a wild boar. Nice touch.
Ravenhill was excellent. It's got a great atmospheric build up. And I loved Azog's final duel.
Thorin's death failed to garner any emotions out of me this time, for some reason.

I think I'll stand by my rating of 4.5/5


ETA: And I'm watching FotR, keeping with the series!

[Passdagas the Brown]

I found an amusing description of the film on the website of a local cinema:

Bilbo and Company are forced to be embraced in a war against an armed flock of combatants and the terrifying Smaug from acquiring a kingdom of treasure and obliterating all of Middle-Earth.

[WampusCat]

Forced embraces, eh? I don't remember that part.

I'd say that cinema is in desperate need of an editor. It might help if the blurb writer watched the movie, too.

[Túrin Turambar]

You touched on something I was wondering about in the theatre: has Saruman already fallen? In the movie he seems just as keen as the others to defeat Sauron; in the book he's already playing his double-game at this point.

He was playing a double game, but I got the impression from the book that he was still opposed to Sauron. At the Council of Elrond, Gandalf mentions that it was chiefly through Saruman's efforts that Sauron was driven from Dol Guldur (IIRC).

Even after he captured Gandalf, he was "not in [Sauron's] service yet" but building a force in defiance of him.

[Elentári]

Elen, is that the same Empire podcast with PB that had been posted earlier, or a new one? I had listened to the earlier one and I know they said there was going to be another one with RA, but I don't recall ever seeing a link to that. Is this a different one?

Just stumbled across the RA podcast, though have yet to listen: http://richardarmitagecentral.co.uk/emp ... special-2/

[Voronwë the Faithful]

That's funny, I just stumbled on the same link and was going to post it here (but go the SQL Error). I haven't listened to it yet either, but I will.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

The long spoiler discussion before the interview is, in my opinion, a waste of time, but the interview with Richard is predictably wonderful, particularly when he talks about his death scene, and what happened after they filmed it.

[Elentári]

Yes, the panel discussion was rather wishy-washy, although I did like the mention of how they seemed to think PB previously evaded their question regarding Gandalf knowing Bilbo had found a magic ring!