The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)

[darin epsilon]

First film ever to be shot in 48 frames per second, which could quite possibly be the new industry standard very soon.

Been following Peter Jackson's "making-of" featurettes on his Facebook page and they help to emphasize just how difficult his job really is.

This and Prometheus are probably my two most anticipated films of the year, with Dark Knight Rises and Snow White & The Huntsman in 3rd and 4th.

Did I make it too obvious that I'm a Fantasy and Sci-Fi freak?

[88Mariner]

Re: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)

I'm surprised they didn't go with "There and Back Again" as the main title. Looks great. Looking forward to this.

2 quick things

-how can I tell it's filmed at 48 fps? I mean, what is the effect of filming it like this?

-do you have a top 10 sci-fi/fantasy film list?

[darin epsilon]

Re: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)

I'm surprised they didn't go with "There and Back Again" as the main title. Looks great. Looking forward to this.

Most likely they'll keep that title for the 2nd film. Makes perfect sense.

-how can I tell it's filmed at 48 fps? I mean, what is the effect of filming it like this?

It means it will be more real than life! People have been complaining that it looks TOO real and resembles the look of a soap opera. They prefer the standard 24fps to give it that cinematic quality.

-do you have a top 10 sci-fi/fantasy film list?

I'll have to think about that one. I'm no movie expert or anything, just like watching movies with imagination.

[88Mariner]

Re: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)

^ right on.

as for your top ten list, I don't think anyone can call themselves a movie expert (with a few exceptions of course) without being laughed at. I was simply curious what you thought was good so that I might be able to catch a few films I haven't yet seen.

[res0nat0r]

Re: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)

man I cant fuggin wait for this.

[res0nat0r]

Re: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)

this is a hell of a year for kick ass movies imo. also good on peter jackson coming so far from Meet The Feebles to a huge project like this. nice work.

[darin epsilon]

Re: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)

It will be a full trilogy instead of just 2 films.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
The Hobbit: There and Back Again

This needs to come out NOWWW

[feather]

Re: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)

[darin epsilon]

Re: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)

[feather]

Re: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)

How much taxpayer money can Warner Bros. demand from the government of New Zealand to keep production there (rather than, say, in Australia or the Czech Republic)?

That answer turns out to be about $120 million, plus the revision of New Zealand’s labor laws to forbid collective bargaining among film-production contractors, plus the passage of three-strikes Internet-disconnection laws for online copyright infringement, plus enthusiastic and, it turns out, illegal cooperation in the shutdown of the pirate-friendly digital storage site Megaupload and the arrest of its owner, Kim Dotcom.

Now that's messed up.

Kill the Hobbit Subsidies to Save Regular Earth - Bloomberg

[Highsteppa]

Re: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)

Seeing an advance screening tomorrow morning. Will report back shortly afterwards.

[darin epsilon]

Re: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)

It's got 72% on RottenTomatoes.com at the moment, which isn't bad, but not particularly great either. I guess the critics were left wanting more. But really, is it even fair to expect the new movies to be anywhere near as good as the original LOTR trilogy?

And just how were they able to stretch 1 book into 3 movies?

[feather]

Re: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)

They might as well be completely different movie since the Hobbit was written as a children's book and LOTR was a lot darker. But yeah don't get how they stretched one easy book into 3 movies, pretty lame if you ask me.

[Highsteppa]

Re: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)

It's nowhere near the revelation that the Lord of the Rings was, probably because The Hobbit isn't the breakthrough that set the standard for a lot of fantasy themed movies that followed LOTR. It's also a bit mind boggling and irritating to sit through for the first hour, as it feels like you're listening to your grandfather tell you a story with a ton of digressions. I can't help but question why they decided to turn what was originally a 19 chapter book into 3 movies that will probably run about 3 hours each - it really feels very unnecessary and could definitely use some editing. It takes nearly an hour for them to get out of the Shire alone and you have to sit through a lot of Dwarven folk songs - this is really more of a film for the fans that didn't get enough from Peter Jackson's first time around.

But it does manage to continue the spectacle that the Lord of the Rings trilogy managed so well, even if a lot of the work does feel very familiar - the chase through the orc lair is very similarly shot with sweeping camera shots like the first movie was with the Balrog lair.

But I have to admit that the casting works quite well and the movie does give plenty of head nods to the Lord of the Rings trilogy (including numerous cameos from the cast of the original films - and they do a pretty decent job of keeping them looking younger than they did in their own films).

It's not a bad film per se, but it really does go overboard in the detail in the eyes of a casual viewer. Hard core fans, however, can expect a feast of a Middle Earth tale.

[feather]

Re: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)

I can't help but question why they decided to turn what was originally a 19 chapter book into 3 movies that will probably run about 3 hours each - it really feels very unnecessary and could definitely use some editing.

Obviously milking it for everything. Can you imagine a director's cut on blu-ray that's over 3hrs per movie

I think I'll boycott this movie based on that Bloomberg article I posted.