IMO, it does have a few highs that are better than anything in LOTR. Mostly in Bag End.Pearly Di wrote:We will have to agree to disagree. Not that LotR doesn't have those moments, there are many beautiful moments in PJ's LotR that I treasure, but at the same time PJ can really over-do it. Like the Grey Havens. The sequence is covered in a golden syrup of sentimentality. I'm far from hating it, but I get slightly irritated with it.yovargas wrote:I could argue that point...but more importantly is that LotR balanced the "silly" stuff with moments of stunning beauty and grace and awe and emotion. AUJ does not manage such heights while still managing many similar lows. IMO!
The restrained emotion of the BBC radio LotR is just as moving, if not more so.
The Thorin/Bilbo hug was a definite high note for me, and it was lovely.
The Hobbit is a lighter story, and the film's tone reflects that. It doesn't have the highs of LotR, sure, but the lows in The Hobbit are no more offensive than any of the lows in LotR. IMO.
But it has many, many lows, just as the LOTR films did.
I also hate the Grey Havens scene...My goodness. Imagine how wonderful it would have been if they shot on location, by an actual bay, with the sound of seagulls and crashing (or lapping) waves, and the wind in their hair. And imagine if there wasn't a syrupy glow to the place, and that the hobbits didn't slow-motion hug each other for twenty minutes.
Ah, what could have been...