Hall of Fire Reviews - Post Them Here! [SPOILERS!]

Fri Dec 21, 2012 2:36 pm

Maybe there just won't be any close-ups of him in the entire trilogy. Or maybe they will be saved for EE's.

Post by **Holbytla** » Fri Dec 21, 2012 6:50 pm

Which begs the question of why it is there in the first place if there wasn't any reference to it. Surely there has to be a better way of distinguishing between dwarfs than embedding an ax in a skull. I just don't get it.

I'll be doing the HFR viewing sometime next week probably. I'm glad I saw them in the order that I did, but I want to see how the HFR looks before it is gone from the theaters.

Will the other two movies also be available in HFR, or is that "experiment" over with?

Fri Dec 21, 2012 7:04 pm

Good question! I haven't seen anything about that. I would guess that Jackson will still push to have it be available, but if the studio thinks that it impeded the box office, well, nothing speaks louder than money.

Post by **Beutlin** » Sat Dec 22, 2012 12:58 am

I have just returned from my second viewing of "An Unexpected Journey". This time I watched it on a smaller screen (70m2), again in 48fps. I will have a hard time to find a cinema that shows the original version in 24fps here, but I might give it a try some time in the future. Again, I had no problems with the 48fps, even though I had feared that the negative aspects of said technology would be more visible without IMAX.

We brought our mom to the cinema today, and she liked the film, enjoying it more than the LOTR films. It was her first 3D experience, and she liked it a lot. Curiously my parents both very much enjoyed the 3D in this film - and no, they are not ignoramuses who barely watch films; in fact they are film enthusiasts who hardly ever watch blockbusters and prefer European and American independent films. So I was a little bit surprised listening to their reactions.

I enjoyed the film more this time around. My sympathy for Martin Freeman's Bilbo has grown now, I especially liked his acting during the trolls' scene. Some of the scenes which I did not like on my first viewing (Warg/Radagast/Dwarves-chase) or that I only found okay (the trolls' scene) did not bother me or even excelled. Others still seemed odd (Giants, Azog-Thorin showdown), but only because they were overly long.

I think it has been mentioned before, but I would recommend everyone to watch this film in DOLBY ATMOS - which is in my opinion far more an improvement than the whole 48fps 3D thing. I saw the film with Atmos on my first viewing and my heart started racing during the prologue (...and I am still a young guy, who has seen films aplenty on the big screen - rarely ever does this happen). Today I watched "AUJ" in an older cinema and I must confess that the sound paled in comparison.

Post by **anthriel** » Sat Dec 22, 2012 1:33 am

Somebody had an axe in their head?

Sat Dec 22, 2012 1:52 am

Post by **Primula Baggins** » Sat Dec 22, 2012 1:53 am

I know. I knew it was there and deplored it in advance and then never noticed it. They could probably remove it digitally for the EE and no one would notice that, either. Deluxe Extended Edition, with Bonus Axe-Free Bifur.

Sat Dec 22, 2012 2:22 am

Anthy, I actually started a petition about the axe in Bifur's head (and then Al started a counter-petition), which was actually referred to in Visual Companion tie-in book that was released a few weeks ago.

Post by **SirDennis** » Sat Dec 22, 2012 2:32 am

Voronwë the Faithful wrote:Anthy, I actually started a petition about the axe in Bifur's head (and then Al started a counter-petition), which was actually referred to in Visual Companion tie-in book that was released a few weeks ago.

I remember that. I supported your petition even though I was ambivalent about the axe (iirc). mmm so you are part of the official record... I hope they do a follow up highlighting the largess on display when you admitted that in the end it didn't really affect your enjoyment of the film.

Sat Dec 22, 2012 2:42 am

I remember you supporting it despite being ambivalent about it, Dennis, and I appreciate the support!

Post by **yovargas** » Sat Dec 22, 2012 6:06 am

Just cuz nobody ever noticed it doesn't mean it wasn't an awful idea.

Post by **Primula Baggins** » Sat Dec 22, 2012 7:45 am

Well, what I feared was that it would be in our faces all the time because it was "kewl." They made a different choice, at least for this film, and I'm glad.

Because, ew. I mean, really.

Post by **anthriel** » Sat Dec 22, 2012 1:22 pm

Voronwë the Faithful wrote:Anthy, I actually started a petition about the axe in Bifur's head (and then Al started a counter-petition), which was actually referred to in Visual Companion tie-in book that was released a few weeks ago.

I'm beginning to believe I should have followed the pre-release thread.

Oh well. Maybe next movie!

Sat Dec 22, 2012 3:02 pm

"Once it takes hold of us, it never lets go."

Post by **tinwë** » Sun Dec 23, 2012 11:33 am

I didn't know anything about it and luckily never noticed it. Good thing too. I mean seriously, what a monumentally stupid idea. Worse than using trebuchets as a defensive weapon. At least there was none of that in this movie (was there? I might have slept through that part).

Sun Dec 23, 2012 2:55 pm

No trebuchets, but did you catch Bombur eating the donuts?

Post by **JewelSong** » Sun Dec 23, 2012 10:16 pm

Okay, I just saw it for the 3rd time, this time with my youngest son. He has never read the books, but really liked the LOTR movies. He was very intrigued with the prologue with Old Bilbo and Frodo and it really served to put him back into Middle Earth. It made it very clear to him who Bilbo was and where the story had come from.

I've decided I LOVE the movie. The whole thing. All of it. COULD Peter Jackson have made it simpler? Yeah, he could have. But he didn't. He choose to create something more, using material not only in the Hobbit book, but also from Tolkien's larger story.

As I am re-reading the book, I am amazed at how much detail PJ put in...for instance, in the battle with the Wargs, he mentions how angry the orcs were because a flaming pine cone burned the chief Warg's nose. In the fight, there is a very clear shot of a burning pine cone hitting the Warg's nose and the Warg reacting in extreme pain.

I think much of the initial negative reaction comes from getting used to the fact that this is NOT the simple children's tale that the book is...but part of a much larger story. And it is so great to be BACK in Middle Earth. With a bang!

I finally heard Bilbo say "Confusticate and bebother these dwarves!" I thought they'd left it out!

Post by **yovargas** » Mon Dec 24, 2012 12:13 am

JewelSong wrote:I think much of the initial negative reaction comes from getting used to the fact that this is NOT the simple children's tale that the book is.

And I think much of the negative reaction comes from it not being a very good movie.

Post by **JewelSong** » Mon Dec 24, 2012 12:17 am

yovargas wrote: And I think much of the negative reaction comes from it not being a very good movie.

Well, obviously I disagree with you, yov.

Post by **yovargas** » Mon Dec 24, 2012 12:20 am

Since you were speaking for a group I am a part of, I felt like my 2 cents were worth throwing back in there.

The Hall of Fire

Hall of Fire Reviews - Post Them Here! [SPOILERS!]

Second viewing.