The Hobbit Film Trilogy Thread

[KK 3,307]

Awkward, too. Looks like ole Leggy loves his Egbert a little too much.

LOL! This looks so ridiculous! Can't wait to that scene in the film!

Yeah, what happened to days of real horses and real extras in LotR? Are the riding one of those awful CGI ponies from AUJ...pity. As you said, this looks ridiculous.

[Dixon Hill 4,234]

Awkward, too. Looks like ole Leggy loves his Egbert a little too much.

LOL! This looks so ridiculous! Can't wait to that scene in the film!

Don't knock it 'til you've tried it.

[Barnald 365]

It's got one of Thranduil's Giant Elks written all over it.

[gkgyver 1,645]

LotR will never be the same again ... Now you got to wonder why Legolas arrives by horse in Rivendell, and not on a giant moose.

[Quintus 5,399]

Someone seriously needs to switch their positions and maybe paint in a rubbish bedroom background: it'd be the Middle-Earth version of bored marriage sex to a tee!

[chuck 154]

Are they supposed to be riding the same steed? 'Cause they don't look in sync with their... hip movements.

[Luke Skywalker 1,795]

well in close-ups in LOTR they also use these fake horses..and it was convincing...

In AUJ, i think the elven riders that attack the wargs are cgi. Strange when most rohan close to camera scenes were real horses.

[Barnald 365]

The backgrounds in ROTK for the various close-ups of Theodon, Eowyn and Merry as they're riding to Gondor look very bad it has to be said.

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[Smeltington 1,440]

I do remember the dude who played Eomer in one of the special features talking about having to pretend to ride a horse on camera. I guess that was just for closeups?

Watching LotR again in the theater last year, a lot of the effects shots still work great, but quite a few were noticeably fake, including some that I didn't remember having a problem with before. Compositing has always been a bit of a weakness in LotR, and some of the digital doubles stand out, too. I think the thing that will ultimately ensure the LotR films are timeless in spite of this is the amount of real footage onscreen - shots with no CGI, practical effects, miniatures, all will continue to look awesome.

More than the shots that have been mentioned here, the four horses approaching the Black Gate at the Mouth of Sauron scene was one that always stood out to me as being poorly composited, even when I first saw RotK in 2003. Compared to the scenery, the characters are kind of greenish.

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[Jay 37,368]

I can't think of any bad special effect in all of FOTR

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[Bilbo 3,709]

Crossing the bridge of Khazad dum always looked like digital doubles to me and there's a bit before the Balrog appears where you see a a CGI cloud of dust.

None of them bother me though,

[Smeltington 1,440]

Yeah, digital doubles in Moria, like Legolas on the cave troll, have always bugged me.

One that I only noticed the last time is early in their journey, after leaving Rivendell, they pass some ruins on a mountain that look like CG.

It's true though, I have to think harder to come up with a lot of examples of this from FotR. Stuff like Gandalf on top of Orthanc that you'd think would be really hard to pull off seamlessly, somehow I just don't even question when watching it, it looks so convincing.

[Jay 37,368]

The worst "special effects" in FOTR, which actually exist in all 5 films, is when they use midgets in place of the main hobbit actors, their wigs are all wrong - the real actor's wigs shrunk down wouldn't look like the ones the midgets are wearing.

[Smeltington 1,440]

lol, yeah that's the type of thing you start to notice a lot more after watching for the umpteenth time. Also Gimli's double, whose face they show surprisingly often, stands out a lot.

[Faleel 5,350]

What about the "obviously not Liv" Arwen in Ford sequence, I noticed while doing my isolated score, watching frame by frame on a movie like that is a no-no

[Smeltington 1,440]

That one, I never noticed, but thanks to you maybe I will now!

[Faleel 5,350]

Along the same line, you can actually see Arwen at Helms Deep in a couple background shots.

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[Bilbo 3,709]

Because there just isn't enough Legolas in these films

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[Jay 37,368]

Am I the only one who wouldn't have minded if Arwen fought at Helm's Deep?

[Barnald 365]

Am I the only one who wouldn't have minded if Arwen fought at Helm's Deep?

I'm guessing yes

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[Smeltington 1,440]

I would've been ok with Arwen at Helm's Deep, too. It wouldn't have changed anything, except that it would keep ALL post-FotR Arwen scenes from being boring. I liked the choice to have elves at Helm's Deep, so why not? Although the elves in the film were all from Lothlorien. Of course, if Elrond and Galadriel BOTH wanted to help, it seems like Elrond oughtta send someone. Whether he'd send Arwen, though, when he discouraged her from her forbidden love with Aragorn out of concern for her, is debatable.

[Jay 37,368]

Yes.

Explains why you can't wait to see Tauriel in action...

The two are unrelated.

I would've been ok with Arwen at Helm's Deep, too. It wouldn't have changed anything, except that it would keep ALL post-FotR Arwen scenes from being boring.

Exactly.

I liked the choice to have elves at Helm's Deep, so why not?

Exactly! I think there are many arguments to be made for not having any elves at all at Helm's Deep (I would have preferred it that way), but if you are going to have elves at all, having Arwen there doesn't change a whole lot on top of that.

Although the elves in the film were all from Lothlorien. Of course, if Elrond and Galadriel BOTH wanted to help, it seems like Elrond oughtta send someone. Whether he'd send Arwen, though, when he discouraged her from her forbidden love with Aragorn out of concern for her, is debatable.

Well, we don't know what the deleted scenes were that led to her being there. Maybe she goes against Elrond's wishes, or something.

[Smeltington 1,440]

Well, we don't know what the deleted scenes were that led to her being there. Maybe she goes against Elrond's wishes, or something.

True, and that would make their love even MORE forbidden, which is always nice.

[gkgyver 1,645]

Shoehorning Arwen into Helms Deep would have had the same effect as magnifying Legolas' and Tauriel's parts in the story have; it would have pissed off people for no objective reason. You can't solve the problem of Arwen being boring in RotK by adding even more of her in TTT. The solution would have been to make it, you know, not boring.

[Bilbo 3,709]

I don't find her that boring. She doesn't really have a multitude of scenes and the score is generally excellent when she's onscreen. No complaints here.

[Jay 37,368]

I don't find her post-FOTR scenes or her music interesting. Actually, I like her scene with Aragorn in TTT that is a flashback showing her say goodbye to Aragorn when the Fellowship is getting ready to leave Rivendell.... but I'd prefer it if it was in FOTR in proper chronological place instead of in TTT.

[gkgyver 1,645]

The trio infernale Jackson/Walsh/Boyens could have come up with a better and less irritating story than "Arwen is dying because, um, Sauron grows stronger, and this means her life is tied to the fate of the Ring because Storytelling for Dummies says every person's fate must be tied to the main story".

[Jay 37,368]

Exactly. Ugh.

I guess there was a deleted scene taking place in a library that they forgot to put into the ROTK EE that would have helped explain it all but still... ugh.

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[Dixon Hill 4,234]

Yes.

Explains why you can't wait to see Tauriel in action...

The two are unrelated.

Ah, yeah, my bad. You're excited about Tauriel because of Evangeline Lilly.

That's good enough reason for me.

[Jay 37,368]

Nope. Liv Tyler is hotter than Evy Lilly

[Faleel 5,350]

Liv looks too much like her father though

[Jay 37,368]

Not at all

[Luke Skywalker 1,795]

Along the same line, you can actually see Arwen at Helms Deep in a couple background shots.

really? o_0

holy crap, two legolas...i never noticed... and its there for several seconds...

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[Jay 37,368]

She was hot in lost, that was 10 years ago

Liv ain't as hot as she was 13 years ago either

[Luke Skywalker 1,795]

god, i feel old.

[gkgyver 1,645]

Along the same line, you can actually see Arwen at Helms Deep in a couple background shots.

really? o_0 holy crap, two legolas...i never noticed... and its there for several seconds...

Yes, she is wearing a wine red outfit on Asfaloth. When you know where to look, it's even pretty obvious.

My favourite TTT blunder however is that they simply forgot to paste Karl Urban's face on his stunt double when Eomer is riding towards the camera together with Gandalf, Aragorn and Theoden at the end.

[Bilbo 3,709]

Along the same line, you can actually see Arwen at Helms Deep in a couple background shots.

really? o_0 holy crap, two legolas...i never noticed... and its there for several seconds...

Yes, she is wearing a wine red outfit on Asfaloth. When you know where to look, it's even pretty obvious.

My favourite TTT blunder however is that they simply forgot to paste Karl Urban's face on his stunt double when Eomer is riding towards the camera together with Gandalf, Aragorn and Theoden at the end.

They acknowledge the KU one in the commentary don't they?

[SafeUnderHill 205]

[Dixon Hill 4,234]

I never really felt that it was supposed to be her literally "getting weaker," just that she was now mortal and bound to Middle-Earth, and so bound to the fate of the Ring.

[Luke Skywalker 1,795]

Along the same line, you can actually see Arwen at Helms Deep in a couple background shots.

really? o_0 holy crap, two legolas...i never noticed... and its there for several seconds...

Yes, she is wearing a wine red outfit on Asfaloth. When you know where to look, it's even pretty obvious.

My favourite TTT blunder however is that they simply forgot to paste Karl Urban's face on his stunt double when Eomer is riding towards the camera together with Gandalf, Aragorn and Theoden at the end.

wow true. but it seems that in the last moments he is karl. or at least the stunt resembles him...so it's not that bad

[gkgyver 1,645]

I agree Arwens music is always great. For me it was merely a love story, I never really thought of the whole her becoming weaker thing at all (I don't can't see her literally becoming weaker anyway). It was merely sad Arwen and Aragorn were apart - I was never attached to these scenes nor hated them.Has anyone actually asked the filmmakers to explain her becoming weaker?

Along the same line, you can actually see Arwen at Helms Deep in a couple background shots.

really? o_0 holy crap, two legolas...i never noticed... and its there for several seconds...

Yes, she is wearing a wine red outfit on Asfaloth. When you know where to look, it's even pretty obvious.My favourite TTT blunder however is that they simply forgot to paste Karl Urban's face on his stunt double when Eomer is riding towards the camera together with Gandalf, Aragorn and Theoden at the end.

They acknowledge the KU one in the commentary don't they?

Yep, tbh I'm fine with it simply being another rider. Maybe there's continuity error with ROTK but as PJ says "Fuck continuity", no but seriously it's easy to come up with an explanation that Eomer just catches up or is somewhere else etc...

But why would any other soldier wear Eomer's armour?

[Luke Skywalker 1,795]

a bodyguard squire, like queen amidala's...