Jump to content

The Hobbit Trilogy vs. Star Wars Prequel Trilogy


John

The Hobbit Trilogy vs. Star Wars Prequel Trilogy  

50 members have voted

  1. 1. Which trilogy is better?

    • The Hobbit trilogy (directed by Peter Jackson)
    • The Star Wars prequel trilogy (directed by George Lucas)
    • I have no taste in movies; I love both!
    • Are you kidding me? Both suck.


Recommended Posts

20 minutes ago, BloodBoal said:

 

I wasn't thinking about that, rather stuff like this:

 

 

 

 

Okay, the first one is pretty awful, the second I think is not that far from the usual Legolas: walking on snow, surfing a shield, and taking down an Oliphant without breaking a sweat (I personally would have put the Super Mario rock-climbing as a counterargument here, that one definitely goes too far), and the third one at least has Alfrid dying. Did Geroge give us a horrible Jar Jar death for us to cheer for? :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, BloodBoal said:

My friend, my dear friend... Everyone knows your love for everything Kanadian is stronger than your hate of Tauriel!

 

Even Kanadians, sadly, make mistakes. :(

 

But hey, it wasn't all bad, at least she got us this:

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes, like with the Star Wars prequels and Williams, I only really care about The Hobbit films insofar as they provided a foundation upon which new Howard Shore music was laid.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, BloodBoal said:

Sure, but having her in the movie was still quite a high price to pay to get what is ultimately a Silence Of The Lambs rehash!

 

Forget that! I was talking about the opening melody, the A (B?) phrase of the Tauriel and Kili theme...the one that was sadly scratched by the third film. It's worth all the pain of sitting through these insufferable films.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The problem of the Hobbit films are the chauvinism of its protagonists and the technically exaggerated choreographies (= unrealistic battles and animation orgies). The tone of the movies (from fairy tale to war drama), however, fits the LotR films brilliantly although it is of a substantially different mood and pace. The dialogues, characters, emotions are as good as the ones from LotR, it's mainly several superficial flaws that make the Hobbit films inferior.

 

The Star Wars prequels are much worse technically and let alone in terms of content! There is just evil and good, like black and white - too much to criticize now.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, Koray Savas said:

I vote for The Hobbit and I haven't even seen those films. Star Wars is that bad. 

 

The Hobbit is that bad!

 

6 hours ago, Holko said:

Also, as they were brought up as being prequel trilogies, they must be compared as just that: the Hobbit trilogy flows pretty well into LotR (minus obvious and unevitable stuff like Martin Freeman turning into Ian Holm and a supposedly immortal, never-changing elf-prince looking significantly younger 60+ years later), while the PT goes out of its way to contradict the OT in as many things as physically possible.

 

I disagree. The Hobbit films feel like they're set in a very different and in my opinion, nastier world than LOTR.

 

6 hours ago, bollemanneke said:

Star Wars. The Hobbit was only done for the money. Star Wars, no matter its shortcomings, was a labour of love.

 

^ Absolutely this.

 

3 hours ago, BloodBoal said:

I don't know, man. It's a bit like saying it's OK to have Trump as president of the USA, because he provides us with a daily dose of good laughs. I mean, sure, he does, but then, there's all the other stuff he does...

 

Stuff like stealing the theme from Air Force One?

 

37 minutes ago, Brundlefly said:

The problem of the Hobbit films are the chauvinism of its protagonists and the technically exaggerated choreographies (= unrealistic battles and animation orgies). The tone of the movies (from fairy tale to war drama), however, fits the LotR films brilliantly

 

Maybe on paper...

 

37 minutes ago, Brundlefly said:

The dialogues, characters, emotions are as good as the ones from LotR

 

I disagree completely. I couldn't relate to a single one of these characters. They're all selfish, mean, distrustful and oddly none of them have any real conviction. "Oh, we couldn't get the secret door in the side of the mountain to open within the first 10 minutes of trying, guess we should all just pack up and live as nomads and vagrants again! Oh well..."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The prequels are worse, but both are pretty bad. I do think the PT doesn't have as perfect a piece of casting as Freeman as Bilbo. Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan comes close, but he wasn't given as much focus as Freeman had (though he didn't have nearly enough).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, Selina Kyle said:

The Star Wars prequels are better than everything except Titanic, Star Trek, Doctor Who, Twin Peaks, the Tim Burton Batman films and Always.

 

As the creator of this thread, I ask that the above not be mentioned in this topic in any way, shape, or form.

 

Especially Titanic and Star Trek. Just. No.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

FWIW The Hobbit trilogy is superior (or at least first among lesser siblings), but that's not really interesting.

 

What's interesting is how similar these two trilogies are in what they get wrong, and how many of the same mistakes Lucas & Jackson made....beginning with getting rid of anyone around them with the ability to say "Um, no".  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, Nick1066 said:

What's interesting is how similar these two trilogies are in what they get wrong, and how many of the same mistakes Lucas & Jackson made....beginning with getting rid of anyone around them with the ability to say "Um, no".  

 

They certainly have a lot in common.

 

2 hours ago, Selina Kyle said:

I didn't realize so many people disliked the Hobbit movies.

 

Based on the people I've talked with in real life, the average moviegoer was pretty ambivalent about them. I've met a ton of people who say something like "they're not great adaptations, but they're decent enough films." In my mind, this translates to: "I don't remember or care about the book, but thought the movies were fine and I just don't want to piss you purists off!"

 

Some of these people changed their minds after the third film came out, especially after seeing the EE, but many still like them. I think they're just bad films all around -- surprise, surprise -- but I recognize that I am still in the minority, except of course on boards like this one.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, Disco Stu said:

You'll find JWFan is pro-Titanic all the way outside of a few wayward fools.

 

7 hours ago, Muldoon said:

And many feel Star Trek is better than everything.

 

I've learned over the last months that JWFan is a great forum to discuss music, but not really to discuss movies for it's a pretty mainstreamed film community here. It is rarely objectively rated and mostly either a "masterpiece" or "total shit".

 

And no, I do not especially refer to Titanic or Star Trek.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 minutes ago, Brundlefly said:

 

 

I've learned over the last months that JWFan is a great forum to discuss music, but not really to discuss movies for it's a pretty mainstreamed film community here. It is rarely objectively rated and mostly either a "masterpiece" or "total shit".

 

And no, I do not especially refer to Titanic or Star Trek.

 

You clearly have not been here long enough, or explored the forum's threads well. There's plenty of insightful discussion and debate happening about obscure films and television. You just have to look past the usual JWFan humour and troll posts.

 

It takes time to get the hang of this place. There's something here for everyone I think. You'll learn your way to make the most of it soon enough.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, KK said:

 

You clearly have not been here long enough, or explored the forum's threads well. There's plenty of insightful discussion and debate happening about obscure films and television. You just have to look past the usual JWFan humour and troll posts.

 

It takes time to get the hang of this place. There's something here for everyone I think. You'll learn your way to make the most of it soon enough.

It is true that my statement is only based on the more recent threads and I've not been here very long. Only since the JP collection from LLL.

 

But it is also difficult to discuss something complex on the internet instead of having a dialogue with somebody sitting next to you, eye to eye*. Many aspects of communication are not that easy here.

 

*Nowadays one would probably say "goat bait and to the maintenance shed".

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Brundlefly said:

It is rarely objectively rated and mostly either a "masterpiece" or "total shit".

 

I feel like that's just discourse on the Internet in general, but I am sort of amazed how often people find things to watch or listen to that they really hate. I mean, some here seem to consume absolutely everything they can possibly get their hands on even if they know they probably won't like it and I guess that's one thing, but I generally watch around 50 new movies a year and probably at least twice as much old stuff and only once in a great while do I ever come across something that I feel less than indifferently about. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Brundlefly said:

It is true that my statement is only based on the more recent threads and I've not been here very long. Only since the JP collection from LLL.

 

But it is also difficult to discuss something complex on the internet instead of having a dialogue with somebody sitting next to you, eye to eye*. Many aspects of communication are not that easy here.

 

*Nowadays one would probably say "goat bait and to the maintenance shed".

 

Without Drax and I, the forum would be boring. To be fair, we very nearly ran out of things to discuss when all the good movies and scores stopped coming out, most of the scores we wanted were released and all our favorite composers either died or stopped composing. JWFan is currently Titanic in the early stages of sinking. Still entertaining as fuck and drama to be had, but with a looming danger.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Brundlefly said:

It is rarely objectively rated and mostly either a "masterpiece" or "total shit".

 

I think the internet at large seems to be that way because people are more likely to remember and discuss the movies that effected them emotionally. There are very, very few non-Hobbit movies that immediately spring to my mind as "total shit" because for the most part, I do a good job of avoiding movies that I'd full on "hate" in the first place.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Independence Day Resurgence qualifies as 'total shit' because of its bad script, bland characters, groan inducing narrative, boring aesthetic visually and aurally, lack of energy or momentum, which is all aggravated when placed next to the first film, which is no masterpiece but at least it was awe-inspiring.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, Godzilla said:

Independence Day Resurgence qualifies as 'total shit' because of its bad script, bland characters, groan inducing narrative, boring aesthetic visually and aurally, lack of energy or momentum, which is all aggravated when placed next to the first film, which is no masterpiece but at least it was awe-inspiring.

There are of course some movies that deserve the term "total shit", but I do not know this example.

 

5 hours ago, BloodBoal said:


It's not about "liking talking about things they hate" or "talking about things they hate for the sake of talking about things they hate". One just has to look at what those most-discussed hated films have in common: The Hobbit trilogy, the Star Wars prequels, Prometheus and Alien: Covenant... They're all prequels/sequels to beloved films, films that made a big impression on people, that really affected the way they look at movies. Genre-defining movies. Movies that were not just liked, but loved. Adored. And with these new movies (sequels/prequels, etc.), people were promised new adventures of the same quality (especially since often, these movies were directed by the person who did the first one(s)), which of course means great expectations: people were expecting to relive the same kind of experience with the same kind of quality. And the end result simply ended up being nowhere near as good as those original films, thus the disappointment ended up being greater than with your random bad film.

That is what really annoys me. Some prequels/sequels/remakes don't even need to be bad, sometimes it's enough when they're just different and everybody hates them. So many people considered "The Force Awakens" a bad movie and I assume they didn't even want to like it, although honestly it is the revival of Star Wars since 1983.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, BloodBoal said:


It's not about "liking talking about things they hate" or "talking about things they hate for the sake of talking about things they hate". One just has to look at what those most-discussed hated films have in common: The Hobbit trilogy, the Star Wars prequels, Prometheus and Alien: Covenant... They're all prequels/sequels to beloved films, films that made a big impression on people, that really affected the way they look at movies. Genre-defining movies. Movies that were not just liked, but loved. Adored. And with these new movies (sequels/prequels, etc.), people were promised new adventures of the same quality (especially since often, these movies were directed by the person who did the first one(s)), which of course means great expectations: people were expecting to relive the same kind of experience with the same kind of quality. And the end result simply ended up being nowhere near as good as those original films, thus the disappointment ended up being greater than with your random bad film. And the more strongly you feel about something (in a good way or in a bad way), the more you feel the need to talk about it. People rarely talk about things they're indifferent to. And in a place like this forum, full of really passionate people, who feel even more strongly about films than your average moviegoer, you're bound to have more discussions about films they loved/hated than about films they felt were just OK.

 

Yeah, if I thought a movie was just fine why would I spend a lot of time thinking and typing about it?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, BloodBoal said:

They're all prequels/sequels to beloved films, films that made a big impression on people, that really affected the way they look at movies. Genre-defining movies. Movies that were not just liked, but loved. Adored. And with these new movies (sequels/prequels, etc.), people were promised new adventures of the same quality (especially since often, these movies were directed by the person who did the first one(s)), which of course means great expectations: people were expecting to relive the same kind of experience with the same kind of quality.

 

Absolutely. For many people the Star Wars trilogy seems to have been life changing, but for any number of reasons, these same people aren't as effected by the various prequels, sequels, TV shows, novels, comics, etc that have sprung up since. For me, The Hobbit had a very high standard to attain as it was being compared both the previous movies and a favorite novel from my childhood. If I felt it had compared favorably to either, the trilogy would have at least been acceptable to me. I'll admit, I'm sure there are people out there who don't like The Hobbit films simply because they saw the LOTR films first, but I'm also certain I'm not one of them.

 

My favorite put down from fans of the series is being told I couldn't do any better than PJ did. They may very well be right. But given the money, I'd damn well try.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Star Wars PT is probably the worst trilogy of movies ever made, containing one of the worst films ever made (AOTC).  I have only seen the first movie in the Hobbit trilogy, but it was pretty good.  It's unimaginable that the other two can be so bad as to take up the mantle from Star Wars.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Muldoon said:

My favorite put down from fans of the series is being told I couldn't do any better than PJ did. They may very well be right. But given the money, I'd damn well try.

 

I've always hated this dumb argument, as if the person criticising the film has no right to do so unless they can demonstrate they can make it better. No, we just know that the filmmaker failed to replicate what made the previous films work after he demonstrated that he could do it before.

 

These are the same people who rate everything 10/10 due to brand loyalty, rather than any regard for quality.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When it comes to the cringe factor, the Star Wars prequels take the cake easily. I don't feel embarrassed for the LOTR series when I imagine people watching the Hobbit trilogy for the first time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

25 minutes ago, Godzilla said:

I've always hated this dumb argument, as if the person criticising the film has no right to do so unless they can demonstrate they can make it better.

 

I can't make a chair, but I know shitty craftsmanship when I see it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

14 hours ago, Godzilla said:

Independence Day Resurgence qualifies as 'total shit' because of its bad script, bland characters, groan inducing narrative, boring aesthetic visually and aurally, lack of energy or momentum, which is all aggravated when placed next to the first film, which is no masterpiece but at least it was awe-inspiring.

 

Yeah, just like Indiana Jones IV. Weirdly, Spielberg talked about ID4 when he said he didn't want to make another Indy. And both eventual sequels turned out just as terribly.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 minutes ago, BloodBoal said:

So? Does that make the movies less suck?

 

I said no such thing. I merely posted the current results of the poll, though if you need to know, I vastly prefer the Hobbit trilogy over the Star Wars prequel films.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, BloodBoal said:

So it's a poll to make a point? "The Hobbit films are not so bad, at least not as bad as the SW Prequels. Numbers prove it!"?

 

At least, that's how it feels to me because you pointed out the results of the polls when they suddenly aligned with your own opinion. You made no mention of the results when the SW prequels were leading the poll.

 

I would have presented the current results of the poll regardless of what choice was in the lead. My personal opinion had nothing to do with the fact that I pointed out which trilogy at the time was the most favored, which happened to be my personal preference, which is something I made clear in the first post of this thread. Now please, go and try to cause pointless arguments someplace else.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Guidelines.