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The Hobbits: The Battle Of Twe Two Bagginses!


Who's the best Baggins  

25 members have voted

  1. 1. Who's the best Baggins

    • Bilbo (Martin Freeman)
    • Frodo (Elijah Wood)


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Being beaten by Mithrandir?

Much worse than his later fall.

And yet harmless compared to 95% of BOTFA.

You must be joking! Thats one of the best deaths of the series!

I think it's overdone. But I was talking about the beating.

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I actually never found this to be an issue.

Denethor is no normal man. He is descended from the ancient Numenorians and his blood is untainted by that of lesser men!

His lifespan, mind, physical prowess is far greater then ours.

But does that mean he doesn't burn as well? Are Dunedain worse fuel than lesser men?

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Then . . . there's Kili, who should be tossed into the Crack of Doom for an imposter. Could you possibly create a less-dwarvish dwarf? It's one thing for the hobbits to look like men. But for dwarves, it's an absolute travesty. Of course, they probably did this to maintain some believability in the whole Tauriel/Kili side story. It would've been an odd thing to think of her being at all attracted to Bifur, for instance. But then again . . . why the hell do they need to make a dwarf look like a man so that an elf maiden can be attracted to him WHEN IT'S NOT IN #%&@! STORY TO BEGIN WITH?!

But if you decide to do an Elf/Dwarf romance in the first place - what's the point of toning the differences down so that it doesn't seem so unexpected?

Tauriel was a useless addition, that not only ruined many moments in this trilogy, but FOTR as well (as suddenly, Gimli being infatuated with Galadriel doesn't seem that special anymore...)!

That, too. Since Tolkien specifically made a point of it being pretty much a first.

My first thought literally was....It's Gowron!

Mine, too.

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Then . . . there's Kili, who should be tossed into the Crack of Doom for an imposter. Could you possibly create a less-dwarvish dwarf? It's one thing for the hobbits to look like men. But for dwarves, it's an absolute travesty. Of course, they probably did this to maintain some believability in the whole Tauriel/Kili side story. It would've been an odd thing to think of her being at all attracted to Bifur, for instance. But then again . . . why the hell do they need to make a dwarf look like a man so that an elf maiden can be attracted to him WHEN IT'S NOT IN #%&@! STORY TO BEGIN WITH?!

But if you decide to do an Elf/Dwarf romance in the first place - what's the point of toning the differences down so that it doesn't seem so unexpected?

Because Tauriel would never go for the more Hell's Angels type of rough, pudfy and thickly bearded dwarf, that's why!

I love Tauriel, but the romance is silly and brought nothing to these films.

Absolutely true. They also focus on it entirely unnecessarily at the end of the film and milk it for every drop of overblown emotion they can with those bloody lingering shots of the reactions of both when he bites the dust.

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Martin Freeman isn't Bilbo Baggins imo. He's Tim from The Office dressed up like a hobbit. The mannerisms and pauses in the dialogue are all there, there's no difference. Freeman has very limited range. In the end I was dissatisfied with his portrayal and felt it left no lasting impression.

Elijah Wood may have grown a bit tiresome and poncy by the end of LotR, but I think his Frodo blows Freeman's Bilbo away on every level.

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Then . . . there's Kili, who should be tossed into the Crack of Doom for an imposter. Could you possibly create a less-dwarvish dwarf? It's one thing for the hobbits to look like men. But for dwarves, it's an absolute travesty. Of course, they probably did this to maintain some believability in the whole Tauriel/Kili side story. It would've been an odd thing to think of her being at all attracted to Bifur, for instance. But then again . . . why the hell do they need to make a dwarf look like a man so that an elf maiden can be attracted to him WHEN IT'S NOT IN #%&@! STORY TO BEGIN WITH?!

But if you decide to do an Elf/Dwarf romance in the first place - what's the point of toning the differences down so that it doesn't seem so unexpected?

Simple solution: don't decide to do an Elf/Dwarf romance in the first place. Particularly when doing an adaptation of a book that emphasizes the dislike and distrust between dwarves and elves. You only undermine the subtext you're supposed to be establishing when you introduce an entire storyline that says, "Hey, maybe these two races don't mind each other that much after all!"

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I don't know how anybody could say Freeman's performance is anything but excellent. Preferring Wood, fair enough, I disagree but fair enough. Freeman isn't Bilbo though? Rubbish.

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The it helps to atract more viewers in the 13 to 17 age group who made Twilight such a massive hit! The focus-groups that Warner used for their market research were all in agreement.

Also you can't have a woman in Middle Earth without having some romantic angle being involved! It's not very Tolkien or PJ.

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Romances between dwarves and elves were not at all Tolkien.

So focus groups are now the authoritative source of material on Middle Earth. So when they get around to doing the Silmarillion, we can expect to see a screenful of zombies, cute cat videos, and Marvel comic book superheroes. Can't wait.

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I don't know how anybody could say Freeman's performance is anything but excellent. Preferring Wood, fair enough, I disagree but fair enough. Freeman isn't Bilbo though? Rubbish.

He looks the part, but he doesn't put any sort of embellishment into the role. He's just a slightly nervous slightly awkward small man. Bilbo Baggins was quirky and capricious, he was an eccentric. I get none of that from Freeman's portrayal. It's a conservative performance, I'd even call it reserved.

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Nah I can still vaguely remember reading The Hobbit when I was 16. He was very much how Holm played him and so securely claimed ownership. Have you listened to the ancient BBC audio recording of The Hobbit? It's all there.

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I disagree. I find Freeman's interpretation of a Bilbo who wishes he brought his handkerchief and want to be in his comfy Hobbit hole rather then with these confounded Dwarves to be a very close match.

Indeed.

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I disagree. I find Freeman's interpretation of a Bilbo who wishes he brought his handkerchief and want to be in his comfy Hobbit hole rather then with these confounded Dwarves to be a very close match.

It's just that he seems to be all Baggins and no Took. Other than the bit where he runs out of his house the morning after the unexpected party, PJ/Freeman's Bilbo never seems to show any excitement at going on the adventure.

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I disagree. I find Freeman's interpretation of a Bilbo who wishes he brought his handkerchief and want to be in his comfy Hobbit hole rather then with these confounded Dwarves to be a very close match.

It's just that he seems to be all Baggins and no Took. Other than the bit where he runs out of his house the morning after the unexpected party, PJ/Freeman's Bilbo never seems to show any excitement at going on the adventure.

Bilbo is very much like that in the novel as well. He begins excited but it soon wears off when he has to ride for miles and miles in pouring rain and sleep outside, which is enough for him to get second thoughts. Tolkien references this wish "to be in his comfortable hobbit hole" many times throughout. He is still stay-at-home personality but he is thrust into this adventure and has to cope. Yet there is the kernel reluctant hero in him as well, which comes out in the toughest points of the story. He has that certain Englishness about him as he has promised to do something and he is so honorable and polite he doesn't want to disappoint even though strickly speaking he did not offer himself up to the task in the first place. But the gentleman hobbit he is, he intends to keep his word come what may. You see Bilbo taking in the sights and new places like Rivendell as those are places he likes and loves but of course you can't expect him to be excited when wargs and orcs are chasing him or when Gollum tries to kill him. I think Freeman does an admirable job of portraying this, a man thrust from his comfortable surroundings into a world he knew existed only in stories and slowly coming to find his own courage and worth in this world but still retaining the gentle outlook of his people. There is humour to this adjustment at first but later Bilbo really shows his true quality and Freeman gives the character this range and Bilbo becoming more self-confident and reliant on his own wits and strengths but it is not the wonderment or huge enjoyment in the journey that drives him by the time they reach the edge of the Wild. I think his bond with the dwarves is really what makes him to go on all the way to Erebor, that and his word and commitment he has given, which when broken would be very impolite and improper.

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