Sad or Elated now the Movies are at an End?

[Faramir Jones]

I'm neither sad nor elated. I'm relieved that the mess of The Hobbit films is over, and am hoping that in the future, perhaps when I'm still around, others will make a better job of things.

At least I'm spared the bad fanfiction of Tauriel, and the 'romance' between her and Kili. I have to single out these three bits that made (and still make) me cringe:

One:

Kili: Aren't you going to search me? I could have anything down my trousers.

Tauriel: Or nothing.

Two:

Kili: Tauriel...

Tauriel: Lie still.

Kili: You cannot be her. She is far away. She... she is far, far away from me. She walks in starlight in another world. It was just a dream. Do you think she could have loved me?

Three:

Tauriel: [weeps for Kili] If this is love, I don't want it. Take it away, please! Why does it hurt so much?

Thranduil: [sadly] Because it was real.

[Morthoron]

Originally Posted by Faramir Jones

I'm neither sad nor elated. I'm relieved that the mess of The Hobbit films is over, and am hoping that in the future, perhaps when I'm still around, others will make a better job of things.

At least I'm spared the bad fanfiction of Tauriel, and the 'romance' between her and Kili. I have to single out these three bits that made (and still make) me cringe:

One:

Kili: Aren't you going to search me? I could have anything down my trousers.

Tauriel: Or nothing.

Two:

Kili: Tauriel...

Tauriel: Lie still.

Kili: You cannot be her. She is far away. She... she is far, far away from me. She walks in starlight in another world. It was just a dream. Do you think she could have loved me?

Three:

Tauriel: [weeps for Kili] If this is love, I don't want it. Take it away, please! Why does it hurt so much?

Thranduil: [sadly] Because it was real.

The delicate, sensitive flower that I am, I found the intrusion of fan-fiction Mary-Sue Tauriel to be appalling enough, but the whole ill-advised dwarf-elf love story was just so over-the-top (capped as it was by Thrandy's "Because it was real" line - perhaps one of the top ten worst lines in cinema history!) that I had to laugh. It was just so ridiculous!

And the cappers kept on coming, because then Thrandy told Legolas to go look for the Dunedain, Aragorn, who at that time was, what, 10 or 11 years-old? Yes, Elrond needs a babysitter when he goes out on Saturday night.

[Michael Murry]

In reply to Faramir Jones and Morthoron: I covered these ridiculous "love story" plot points in comment number 95 on page three of the "Battle of the 5+ Armies" thread, I called the posting "Unrequited Elf/Dward Libido" and included in it my final poem of the Elf Chick Security Guard cycle of verse polemics which I hope someday to publish as a single collection. An idea this bad -- and this badly bungled -- ought not to pass unheralded, since it can always serve as a cautionary tale for those interested in not screwing up film adapations of literary works.

http://forum.barrowdowns.com/showpos...7&postcount=95

[mhagain]

Likewise relieved.

I watched all three movies with grim fascination as they gradually got worse and worse, continually astonished at how on earth PJ was going to top each moment of slapstick in the next one, then groaning at how he actually did.

CJRT was right: the story was gutted, eviscerated, what came out at the end was something that bore a superficial resemblance to the books in that a group of Dwarves and a Hobbit went on a quest and some of the same stuff happened, but mostly seemed designed to set up special moves and set-pieces in tie-in computer games.

PJ's biggest failing was to not trust his source material and not trust his viewers. A good movie (or even extend it to two) could have been made out of the book, and could have remained relatively faithful, but still raked in the $$$$. If I wanted to watch Avengers on speed I'd go watch Avengers on speed, but not everything has to be that.

I had bad feelings when the development team first discussed the character of Tauriel and said that they weren't going to do anything that wasn't true to Tolkien. Of course that's exactly what they then went and did.

I have no idea how this happened. I said Avengers on speed above, but maybe the Star Wars Holiday Special on crack is another appropriate comparison. Take a much-loved work, camp it up in a totally inappropriate way that shows lack of understanding, even disrespect, for the original, then foist it on an unsuspecting public. At least George Lucas showed some decency.

Maybe it was the lack of trust I mentioned, maybe it was the rumoured executive meddling, maybe it was just totally misunderstanding the source material, or maybe it was plain old-fashioned hubris on the part of PJ & co. Maybe it was all four.

Either way, thank the Valar it's almost over. All that remains is to see how badly they mess things up even more in the EE, then we can hopefully shut the door on these movies and wait for them to be resoundingly trounced in the inevitable 5/10 year retrospectives.

[Boromir88]

I would say I'm more sad than I am elated. Sad not in the "sad that there will be no more Middle-earth films," but sad Jackson missed some great opportunities particularly in The Battle of Five Armies. I say I'm not really elated, because I've always been able to keep the books and movies separate. I get far more enjoyment out of reading books than I do watching films. My book genres are pretty much limited to fantasy, science-fiction, historical non-fiction, and Steven King's horror. I can basically enjoy any movie/tv genre other than romcoms. Although, my reasons for watching a film are quite different from reading a book. I want to get completely immersed into a book...movies are for when I'm the lazily multi-tasking. "I want to get cleaning done...alright pop in a movie I can sort of pay attention to, but don't have to give THAT much attention."

In my opinion, The Hobbit was a far more filmable story than the Lord of the Rings, but I'm left sad because somehow The Hobbit ended up being far worse films. The Hobbit has some great moments, when you're reading you think "this is just meant for film...even fitting for a blockbuster, mega-money Jackson film." The description of Beorn's arrival turning the tide in the battle, and rampaging through Bolg's guard. Or Fili and Kili's bodies laying dead next to Thorin's, as they were desperately defending their King's body. These could have been great film moments, for a director who wanted to ramp up the war sequences. Instead, what we get is just...not good. A bunch of cheesy, drawn out one on one fights, and a really bad "forbidden" love story.

Overall, The Hobbit films looked far too clean and polished, which made it look and feel fake. There was a grittiness and realness to The Fellowship of the Ring that slowly disappeared as more and more money was pumped into them. I mean, heck, there was so much green screen and CGI in The Hobbit movies that Ian McKellan literally had a break down crying on set about how this is not why he became an actor.

[Rikae]

I wouldn't say elated, but I'm looking forward to seeing the fandom change. It will shrink, yes, but if I won't have to listen to so-called fans talk about how hard Tolkien is to read, or look at more fan art that is copied from movie stills, that will be an overall gain.

[Pitchwife]

I'm in the camp of indifference, I guess. I haven't seen the second and third film yet, and extrapolating from my own gripes with the first and the reviews in the Movie forum by people whose judgement I trust (reviews which, I fear, may actually have been more entertaining than the movies themselves) I don't think I've missed very much. If they're shown on TV some time (which is bound to happen sooner or later, 'round Christmas or so) I'll probably watch them for curiosity (as long as there's nothing more interesting on another channel) and move on.