If you could change ONE thing in The Hobbit triology

[Morthoron]

Originally Posted by Marwhini

I did read what you said.

And maybe if you have read works like Gone with the Wind you would realize that the movie contains far less than half the book (maybe even less than ¼ of it, but it has been almost 30 years since I read it - so I would need to find a coy of it to detail what all was left out). The film left out a gigantic Plot-arc concerning the KKK, among other things:

https://gwenonichi.wordpress.com/201...and-the-movie/

So citing it isn't exactly supporting that a long book can be translated to the screen in a single movie without cutting anything out.

I have read the book. It is in my collection. It is rather presumptuous, but not at all surprising, that you should consider otherwise. I am well aware they edited it. But again, they made a movie out of 63 chapters and even so it was a mammoth 3 hours, 41 minutes long. It is considered one of the greatest movies ever made. Gone With the Wind won 10 Academy Awards, including an Oscar for Hattie McDaniel, the first black actress to ever win.

I would suggest it would not be any better if you dragged out every subplot and nuance, drained every bit of dialogue and plopped it wholesale into 21 mind-numbing hours worth of film as you suggest. To even argue the point is inane. By your muddled logic that makes seven 3 hour movies. Or perhaps you would prefer ten 2 hour movies. Anyway one divides it, the math is just plain dumb.

Originally Posted by Marwhini

These aren't "Theories" I am talking about.

Even Nerwen recognized that there is a recognized Script:Screen relationship that the movie and TV industry uses.

I realize you like to make grand pronouncements, but your theory is not a law, even though your every utterance demands that it be so. Let it be written, so let it be done!

Here is a list of novels made into superb movies that in no way practiced your theory:

The Godfather: 32 chapters, film run-time 2 hours, 58 minutes.
Marwhini's Law - The Godfather should be 10 1/2 hours long.

Schindler's List: 40 chapters, film run-time 3 hours, 15 minutes.
Marwhini's Law - Schindler's List should be over 13 hours long.

The Silence of the Lambs: 61 chapters, film run-time 2 hours 18 minutes.
Marwhini's Law - Silence of the Lambs should be over 20 hours long.

To Kill a Mockingbird: 31 chapters, film run-time 2 hours 10 minutes
Marwhini's Law - To Kill a Mockingbird should be over 10 hours long.

Dr. Zhivago: 16 Chapters (yes, only 16 chapters, but 592 pages), film run-time 3 hours 20 minutes.
Marwhini's Law - Dr. Zhivago should be 5 hours and 15 minutes long and Sir David Lean should have been fired for making the movie too short.

I could make an unending list of great movies from books that do not fit your crabbed criteria. But I have to reply to one final point:

Originally Posted by Marwhini

Pardon me if I have been speaking in terms of total hours of screen time, instead of how many films.

It is an industry standard that we talk about a typical film having a run-time of about 2 hours.

Thus a run-time of 4 hours would be considered to EITHER be a very long single film.... Or, more likely, it would be broken into two halves and released in two parts, as two separate films.

So that sounds a little disingenuous to claim you never said anything about a 2 - 4 hour production, when you are claiming "two films tops" (which would be roughly 4 hours).

No, I have no interest in pardoning you. Confess your sins to a priest. Start with Pride.

I've just offered several films that don't meet your 2 hour matinee movie standard; in fact, the average film time has been increasing yearly, particularly for more serious, award-worthy films. The Hobbit was originally considered to be a two film venture, until greed got in the way and they threw everything and the kitchen sink in to make three films. With pacing and judicious editing, there is no need for 3 films.

The Chapter "Flies and Spiders" is mostly descriptive. The majority of "Barrels out of Bound" has Invisi-Bilbo(TM) rummaging around Thranduil's manse. "The Return Journey" is literally only 8 pages long, and "A Thief in the Night" is only 6 pages.

Stop, just stop.