The Desolation

[LordPhillock]

Dear everyone...

it has come to my attention that we are in almost-if-not-complete agreement on the reception of this second film. As a fan of the original material, like all of you, it took me days, days to consider referring you to two little things I, my brother, and our cousin are going through with the alleged "hobbit trilogy". I was the most staunchly opposed of the three even years before the first film came out, and very quickly both of my colleagues dropped out from being even faintly hopeful for the next installment...

however... we have decided to watch and record commentaries on the films once each of them came out on video (including Extended Editions) for the very first (and last) time. I would love to invite you to watch our highlights commentary video of us three watching "Unexpected Journey", the Extended Edition for the first time ever.

if the pain is too much, or the videos get too long, I would also adore it if you would set aside some time to listen to our podcast episode where we discuss (or just rant) about "The Desolation of Smaug" immediately after watching it. - I am aware it is epochally long, but I sure hope it will bring at least a little bit of entertainment.

I originally wanted to post this as a new thread, but I felt that would be too pigheaded and interrupting. In any case, since we're completely in the same mindset about these new films, I figure you would find it at least - well - agreeable. I apologize if I interfered for a shot at a shameless plug.

Can't wait for next December to record the last one!

[Morthoron]

Originally Posted by LordPhillock

Dear everyone...

it has come to my attention that we are in almost-if-not-complete agreement on the reception of this second film. As a fan of the original material, like all of you, it took me days, days to consider referring you to two little things I, my brother, and our cousin are going through with the alleged "hobbit trilogy". I was the most staunchly opposed of the three even years before the first film came out, and very quickly both of my colleagues dropped out from being even faintly hopeful for the next installment...

however... we have decided to watch and record commentaries on the films once each of them came out on video (including Extended Editions) for the very first (and last) time. I would love to invite you to watch our highlights commentary video of us three watching "Unexpected Journey", the Extended Edition for the first time ever.

if the pain is too much, or the videos get too long, I would also adore it if you would set aside some time to listen to our podcast episode where we discuss (or just rant) about "The Desolation of Smaug" immediately after watching it. - I am aware it is epochally long, but I sure hope it will bring at least a little bit of entertainment.

I originally wanted to post this as a new thread, but I felt that would be too pigheaded and interrupting. In any case, since we're completely in the same mindset about these new films, I figure you would find it at least - well - agreeable. I apologize if I interfered for a shot at a shameless plug.

Can't wait for next December to record the last one!

While I appreciate your willingness to suffer for the rest of us (O the humanity!), I can't see myself watching an extended version of DOS, which would be like watching a mortician sew appendages on to a bloated corpse.

I kid. I'll watch your assault this weekend.

[LordPhillock]

I fully appreciate your own willingness, indeed!

[Nerwen]

Nice riffing!

[LordPhillock]

Originally Posted by Nerwen

Nice riffing!

hooray, someone actually looked at it! I'm glad you liked it

[Zigûr]

I know no one's posted in this thread recently but I didn't think this was worth starting a new one for.

Supposedly it's revealed on the Extended Edition Blu-Ray (in the bonus material I suppose) that that ludicrous scene in this film where Smaug was chasing the Dwarves all around Erebor was one of the things added in after they'd shot the original two films when they decided to pad it out to three.

No wonder it feels so tacked on and the ending is such a cop-out (Smaug leaves to attack Lake-Town for no discernible reason when he could have deep-fried the majority of Thorin and Company right then and there).

What really astounds me, however, is something that struck me when watching 'An Unexpected Journey' too. This film went for two hours and forty-one minutes. They can't have filmed that much extra material after the three-part decision was made. That would mean that even before the 'trilogy' decision, they probably had enough material to make three films anyway, probably one and a half to two hours each. But no, they're the successors to Peter Jacksons 'The Lord of the Rings,' so they have to go for nearly three hours each because that's just how long a 'Peter Jackson Lord of the Rings film' has to go for. Obviously shorter films would make it harder to justify a trilogy as well, even if they actually already had enough material. So that's how we ended up with all this filler. The original excuse, that they had so much anyway that they thought it was better to make three films rather than two, surely doesn't hold up when it's outright stated that turning it into a trilogy wasn't about saving material from the cutting room floor but actually involved producing more padding to artificially extend the runtime.

I think this is what Baudrillard called Pure Simulation.

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

Originally Posted by Zigûr

I think this is what Baudrillard called Pure Simulation.

And it's also what PJ would call Pure Silmarillion. (Let's hope we never see that day...)