tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70292529084021203982024-03-13T04:09:10.155-07:00The Hobbit: Book and Film DifferencesQuoggyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05786575020157595857noreply@blogger.comBlogger54125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7029252908402120398.post-26869734323090924152014-11-04T04:00:00.000-08:002014-11-04T04:00:11.950-08:00Disappearing Lights<b>The Movie: </b>While perched atop the tree, Bilbo notices something shaking the trees in the distance, and it's growing closer. He tries to shout a warning to the others but trips and falls. A spider roars in his face, knocking him into a web. He is spun into a web cocoon.<br />
<br />
<b>The Book: </b>After climbing down from the tree, Bilbo relates what he saw to the rest of the dwarves. They grumble at him, especially at his report of wind and sun, and bemoan the fact that the forest seems to go on and on. Hunger pains them, and Bombur refuses to go any further. Balin notices a twinkle of light in the distance - a campfire. Too hungry to care about heeding Gandalf's warnings to stay on the path, Thorin's Company rush toward the fire. It's an elven feast.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEBP3PFsRsOKi7aiw9ftraHoRzYfq03r3WgovP36_B-lo0q_oLbJxlJNPPZoE_WkD5_1e2MAQGdWPDPivQiSAX_qajK4gljTrH9RSkrmv6CxnpeMKRdJ79nZjBu6mxRsS3VCvvTNrhG38t/s1600/disappearinglights1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEBP3PFsRsOKi7aiw9ftraHoRzYfq03r3WgovP36_B-lo0q_oLbJxlJNPPZoE_WkD5_1e2MAQGdWPDPivQiSAX_qajK4gljTrH9RSkrmv6CxnpeMKRdJ79nZjBu6mxRsS3VCvvTNrhG38t/s1600/disappearinglights1.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>"Elves. Why did it have to be elves?"</b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
As soon as the dwarves approach, the torches and campfire wink out like magic. The dwarves panic in the lightless dark and it is many hours before they can find each other again. By then, they are hopelessly lost. They make camp, and shortly afterwards Dori sees the lights in the distance again. Bilbo is sent to scout. As soon as he steps into the clearing where the elves are feasting, the lights wink out and he immediately falls asleep. It is only by accident that the dwarves find him. A third time the dwarves notice the lights, and a third time they approach - this time they witness the elven king himself. Thorin approaches the campfire, instead of Bilbo. As the enchantment causes Thorin to fall asleep, the lights disappear again, and Thorin's Company is separated for a third time. Bilbo wanders the forest calling for his companions, but does not find them, and he is forced to make camp by himself. He is woken up by a spider, who is halfway through spinning him into a web cocoon.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b>My Opinion: </b>I'm of two minds about this change. I certainly don't think that I would have wanted to see Thorin's Company crash three elven parties in a row; that'd get very old, very fast. But we could have seen one, right? I know that there isn't much time in this two and a half hour movie, what with all the Legolas drama and exciting barrel chases, but, c'mon. This isn't an adapted scene that failed to live up to what the book delivered. It was cut entirely! Another interesting part of Bilbo's quest just entirely removed. And it involved elves! That's, like, Peter Jackson's favorite thing, right?</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFP6LNcEYTNdLKHISp0Vf4rNAuQBlr3pPGw-j4sZUU5_IwEl6HDfqvib0gB069FRPTtlLAsShzWsaapUW1q07xlorV_uv7jCAG0rsoVen7fc7ith4OF5Va2_G7uFmVzNeGInFZEK3johht/s1600/disappearinglights2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFP6LNcEYTNdLKHISp0Vf4rNAuQBlr3pPGw-j4sZUU5_IwEl6HDfqvib0gB069FRPTtlLAsShzWsaapUW1q07xlorV_uv7jCAG0rsoVen7fc7ith4OF5Va2_G7uFmVzNeGInFZEK3johht/s1600/disappearinglights2.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>You could have used this guy if you wanted to. He's got orange hair! I know how much you like orange!</b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
A smaller note, but still a change that bothered me: this is the second time that hunger has been a driving force in the dwarves' actions in the book, and both times the movie ignored that particular motivation. When Thorin's Company <a href="http://hobbitdifferences.blogspot.com/2013/04/bilbos-first-burgle.html">risked the trolls</a> for food, it was because their ponies bolted with all their provisions. This time, though, they're out of food because they've been in Mirkwood for so <i>long</i>. Removing this small subplot isn't a big deal in the long run, but it sort of changes the scope of what's happening. Again, the movie just feels so rushed, like Bilbo and the dwarves are being hustled from one scene to another. Bilbo's grand adventure is supposed to take months! Not days. </div>
Quoggyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05786575020157595857noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7029252908402120398.post-70938148405436952752014-10-30T04:00:00.000-07:002014-10-30T04:00:02.563-07:00Mirkwood<b>The Movie: </b>Thorin's Company, now less a wizard, walk the path of Mirkwood single file. The woods are dark, and choked with vines and cobwebs. As they get deeper into the forest, the dwarves begin to complain about the stuffiness of the air. This journey seems to take no more than a full day. The path disappears suddenly, as if it had been swallowed by a ravine. The dwarves search for the path, but by then the black magic of Mirkwood has taken effect: they are lost and suffering from some sort of supernatural confusion. Their sense of reality starts to become skewed; Bofur finds his own tobacco pouch and fails to realize it belongs to him, Bilbo confuses Dori for himself, etc.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi73jXKNJbvhYCr4xDGiN8o01qVc2HBAQ4fsUdRUog2HWxS6u1DH8REL-NCAVlPEaXPGRS2L8bBjhvDsVEXqpKN1fwzYBVTdkhsumEHRqP2lRMy-xs9jqdaZRz7zHqk9VXJLzKITwLY1zc2/s1600/enteringmirkwood1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi73jXKNJbvhYCr4xDGiN8o01qVc2HBAQ4fsUdRUog2HWxS6u1DH8REL-NCAVlPEaXPGRS2L8bBjhvDsVEXqpKN1fwzYBVTdkhsumEHRqP2lRMy-xs9jqdaZRz7zHqk9VXJLzKITwLY1zc2/s1600/enteringmirkwood1.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>No wonder Radagast lives here; just breathe the air for a free acid trip!</b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
Bilbo, though suffering the same hallucinations of the rest of his party, is the first to realize that they've been traveling in circles. Thorin says that they must go east, but without being able to see the sun, none of them know how to find their way. The dwarves begin to fight, and Thorin realizes that they are being watched. Bilbo climbs a tree to see the sun. He breathes the clean air above Mirkwood, and is comforted by the sun's light and a swarm of blue butterflies. He finds east quickly, and realizes that they are almost out of the woods.<br />
<br />
<b>The Book: </b>Thorin's Company walk the path, single-file. The forest was filled with massive cobwebs (though none spanning the path), black squirrels, and strange noises all around. The woods become incredibly dark; at night, it is completely pitch black, like it was in the goblin's caves. All of the dwarves, and Bilbo, hate the stillness and stuffiness of the air. During the nights, they could see glowing eyes in the dark, of various sizes and colors. Their rations begin to grow low, implying that the journey through Mirkwood took at least two weeks. The path is blocked by a river one day; heeding Beorn's warning, they do not drink from it or refill the water skins. <br />
<br />
Bilbo, his eyes the sharpest, makes out an abandoned boat on the other side of the river. Fili throws a hook tied to a rope, guided by where Bilbo tells him the boat is, and on the third try he catches the hook to the boat and pulls it to their side of the river. Thorin decides that they will cross in groups of four: Dwalin and Bombur go last, because Bombur is so fat he needs to be on the lightest load. After all the dwarves had safely crossed the river, as Bombur was getting out of the boat, a great deer charges the dwarves and leaps across the river. Bombur gets knocked into the water.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtQCt278ov4ySHsg_E6Q8cfX8iKnjYyI5J8DqZw8KFLbTtkIwuOsrNZMsNSztHeAfv9pKQAFIyUeTh27-7piX8Dv0I_ViF3iNft5Bz15v0OWBodaTXd2BbeMLgDAYCm75OLoQEdIjJR4wG/s1600/enteringmirkwood2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtQCt278ov4ySHsg_E6Q8cfX8iKnjYyI5J8DqZw8KFLbTtkIwuOsrNZMsNSztHeAfv9pKQAFIyUeTh27-7piX8Dv0I_ViF3iNft5Bz15v0OWBodaTXd2BbeMLgDAYCm75OLoQEdIjJR4wG/s1600/enteringmirkwood2.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Every group of friends has a Bombur.</b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
The dwarves pull Bombur out, and he is fast asleep. Thorin's Company is forced to carry him for several days, even after they run out of food. When he finally does awake, he has forgotten everything since <a href="http://hobbitdifferences.blogspot.com/2013/04/an-unexpected-party.html">Bilbo's house.</a> Thorin's Company does not lose the path through any of this. They hear eerie singing and laughing in the woods, which disquiets Thorin enough to order Bilbo to climb a tree so they could find out how much longer they must endure the forest. The hobbit does so. He basks in the sunlight and watches hundreds of black butterflies flying around his face. However, he is not comforted by what he sees - he sees no end to the woods in any direction.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b>My Opinion: </b>I am <i>very </i>disappointed by how Peter Jackson handled Mirkwood. I was looking forward to seeing the enchanted river, but apparently that part of the book had to be cut for time. I guess to make room for exciting elven love triangles, I don't know. That's a big part of the chapter, though. Similar to the caves where <a href="http://hobbitdifferences.blogspot.com/2013/06/riddles-in-dark.html">Bilbo met Gollum</a>, there seems to be an odd source of light present. Mirkwood is supposed to be dark and terrifying. Everything is just too saturated in orange and blue to really be menacing.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCeimgTDn3OnFvLZoSvKy66z1HhxEWBbirRe-tRxLj-439UWKQqULfA7oZai7prkEb9vuMFNhRjhSkTKNtdK6ytANIi5jWDXwjj3UJcjXq5WTFYPR8x9ZxfxMrcLbwRVwioVLEuIsLt3oW/s1600/enteringmirkwood3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCeimgTDn3OnFvLZoSvKy66z1HhxEWBbirRe-tRxLj-439UWKQqULfA7oZai7prkEb9vuMFNhRjhSkTKNtdK6ytANIi5jWDXwjj3UJcjXq5WTFYPR8x9ZxfxMrcLbwRVwioVLEuIsLt3oW/s1600/enteringmirkwood3.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">These butterflies are black in the book, but to be fair, I think Peter Jackson suffers withdrawal if his movie goes more than ten minutes without filling the screen with orange and blue.</span></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
I did enjoy, however, the evil magic that has corrupted the forest. That's not in the book at all, seeing everybody trip balls like they ate the wrong brownies. It not only provided a nice visual, but it sort of emphasized the dangers Sauron represents. Mirkwood is this way because of his influence in Dol Guldur - if he wins, perhaps all forests will become like this? It's a neat touch. I don't think it necessarily replaces the loss of the river, but it was still cool.<br />
<br />
At one point in the movie, Dwalin mumbles that he "doesn't even know what day it is." I can't tell if this is meant to imply that several days have passed, or just his general state of confusion. The movies certainly doesn't imply that more than a few hours had passed. That's something I feel the movie has gotten very wrong. The passage through Mirkwood feels far more sinister and epic if it's something that takes almost a month of travel. You shouldn't be able to get through it in a hearty afternoon.Quoggyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05786575020157595857noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7029252908402120398.post-10318938337736887662014-10-30T03:30:00.000-07:002014-10-30T03:30:03.562-07:00Gandalf Leaves (again!)<b>The Movie: </b>Thorin's Company rides for what appears to be less than a day before arriving to the edge of Mirkwood. It is a sudden change, with massive ugly trees looming at the edge of the grasslands. Gandalf finds the Elven Gate, which is the entrance to the path. It is overrun with vines. He sees, in the distance, Beorn in bear form, and tells the dwarves to return the ponies to their rightful owner. A comment from Dwalin insinuates that Beorn had protected them this far. Bilbo says that the forest feels sick, "as if a disease lies upon it." He asks if there's another way around.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlNXGL8RAePP_VdLKzsaWU2yFlx5cH7ubQcEPWCuBLkUySGHhIGQnePIhv-agK8__vD5MxQRAKbbOAxhrVipXPMr4YW-BR_4oWl8tAVf6o-HF3z1PtzsEik3hHoPF__JpXr_t-rJTwuLO6/s1600/gandalfleaves1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlNXGL8RAePP_VdLKzsaWU2yFlx5cH7ubQcEPWCuBLkUySGHhIGQnePIhv-agK8__vD5MxQRAKbbOAxhrVipXPMr4YW-BR_4oWl8tAVf6o-HF3z1PtzsEik3hHoPF__JpXr_t-rJTwuLO6/s1600/gandalfleaves1.png" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Motherfucker, this is Middle Earth. You'd be hard pressed to find a forest or mountain that's <i>not</i> haunted.</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Gandalf says the only alternatives are a two hundred mile detour north, or a four hundred mile detour south. He explores the entrance to the forest and finds an elven statue, on which someone had painted an eye in red (blood?). At the same time - the movie is ambiguous if they are related - the One Ring begins whispering to Bilbo, and Gandalf receives a telepathic message from Galadriel telling him to explore the tombs in the High Fells. He turns around and tells the company that he is leaving, and adds that he would not do this unless he had to. Before going, he and Bilbo have a conversation. Gandalf tells Bilbo that he has changed, and Bilbo nearly confesses about the ring - but lies about it at the last minute. Gandalf tells Thorin to meet him in front of Erebor, and to not enter the mountain with him. He gives a final warning about Mirkwood, whose very air is "heavy with illusion," and rides off. His last words are "Stay on the path!"</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b>The Book: </b>The journey to the edge of Mirkwood takes over three days. One night, as they set camp, Bilbo sees the shadowy form of a great bear. Before they arrive at the forest, Bilbo notices a dead silence, with fewer deer and birds. The trees of Mirkwood are huge and gnarled. At the edge of the forest, Gandalf orders the dwarves to return their ponies. They grumble about it, until Gandalf reminds them that Beorn would be a terrible enemy, and that he had been following them "to keep an eye on the ponies." Gandalf tells the dwarves that he is leaving. This is not the first they had discussed it - Gandalf actually had mentioned this to the dwarves as soon as they left the eagle's company - but everybody is upset at the timing. Gandalf snaps that he has pressing business, and says to the dwarves that he is "already late bothering with you people." </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk7rDB-Jfnm_DFJIyujbn8NM_WIsKs36W7IUKY5oTz5JYZ8A9joHlniRiPMddSQsOYxfoHtjGMdqpKR5ySa36dWjU3BTNlqSjg7RgwB35Ds75fkTShGRc8DxDuqExhAwL0cksLeZaEN2_f/s1600/gandalfleaves2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk7rDB-Jfnm_DFJIyujbn8NM_WIsKs36W7IUKY5oTz5JYZ8A9joHlniRiPMddSQsOYxfoHtjGMdqpKR5ySa36dWjU3BTNlqSjg7RgwB35Ds75fkTShGRc8DxDuqExhAwL0cksLeZaEN2_f/s1600/gandalfleaves2.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">"What exactly do you mean, <i>you people?</i>"</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
In the edge of Mirkwood, Bilbo notices that the forest had "a sort of watching and waiting feeling" that makes him uneasy. He asks Gandalf if there is another way around. Gandalf tells him that the only alternatives are two hundred miles north, which is "stiff with goblins, hobgoblins, and orcs," or he could go south, which would take them into the lands of the Necromancer. Gandalf tells Bilbo that there are "no safe paths in this part of the world." He hops on his horse and rides away. His last words are "Don't leave the path!"</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b>My Opinion: </b>There's a lot here to discuss, so I'm going to save some of it for future posts, especially Bilbo's fascination with the Ring, and Gandalf's investigation of the Necromancer. I will say, however, that his departure was not a sudden decision in the book. Gandalf had plans to attend a meeting of <a href="http://hobbitdifferences.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-white-council.html">the White Council</a>, and had already warned Thorin's Company that he wouldn't be sticking around the whole time.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
There are some minor changes here that gall me worse than they really should. Gandalf's kindness in the movie vs. his rudeness in the books, Beorn's protecting the dwarves vs. his protecting his own ponies, etc. I know the movie characters aren't exact matches to their book counterparts, but it's still annoying seeing these kinds of changes. The outside of Mirkwood, however, is on point. I think the movie has done a very good job of communicating the danger of this forest to the audience.</div>
Quoggyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05786575020157595857noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7029252908402120398.post-78490442639253536562014-10-28T04:00:00.001-07:002014-10-28T04:00:12.753-07:00Queer Lodgings <b>The Movie: </b>Beorn, in bear form, guards his house against the orcs lurking outside. Everybody is asleep when he returns, in the middle of the night. The next morning, Bilbo Baggins is woken by the sounds of ponies and bumblebees. He is the last one up; everybody else is already at breakfast, being served by Beorn. He serves milk, fruit, bread, and cheese. All of the furniture and tableware is huge for the dwarves and Bilbo, since it is made to fit a very large man.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-m94ach0j3s3206wYCo4hfRgRn6qpVO3JNeKzRcQcE7CqN0GN-tMoKtY9bwAVf7D7uqMrsoYN34Ks_B7IacTxcccpM99KYBlFZ13jUIylCq-YXZN0VgPCVhj1YntGkgq5Szq6w_JxfbOl/s1600/queerlodgings1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-m94ach0j3s3206wYCo4hfRgRn6qpVO3JNeKzRcQcE7CqN0GN-tMoKtY9bwAVf7D7uqMrsoYN34Ks_B7IacTxcccpM99KYBlFZ13jUIylCq-YXZN0VgPCVhj1YntGkgq5Szq6w_JxfbOl/s1600/queerlodgings1.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Or thirteen tiny little people. </span></b></div>
<br />
In a somber conversation, they discuss Beorn's history and Gandalf's plans for the company. Beorn warns them about the evil in Mirkwood. He lists orcs, wood elves, and the Necromancer as things to be careful of. Gandalf says that they plan on taking the elf path through the forest. Beorn offers the use of his ponies to help the dwarves reach the woods. This all happens in the span of no more than a few hours.<br />
<br />
<b>The Book: </b>Thorin's Company, having already met Beorn, are invited to supper. At Beorn's instruction, they are all served by his animals. His ponies carry torches in their mouths and push together tables. His dogs, standing on their hind-legs, set the table. Beorn serves nuts, fruits, honey, and bread. They exchange stories; Beorn talks about, among other things, the dangers of Mirkwood. After dinner, Beorn leaves, and the dwarves sit around the fireplace, drinking mead and singing a song. Bilbo could hear the growling and scuffling of a bear outside and, terrified, dives under his blankets.<br />
<br />
Everybody else is eating breakfast when he awakes. Neither Gandalf nor Beorn are around. Bilbo and the dwarves just sort of wait around all day until Gandalf returns in the evening. Gandalf refuses to answer any of their questions until he has eaten and smoked. Gandalf says that he noticed several bear tracks, not all belonging to Beorn; there had been a meeting of bears last night. Bilbo is frightened that Beorn has gone to bring the goblins back. They go to sleep for the night. Beorn himself awakens them the next morning by picking Bilbo up and laughing at his fat belly.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDqUOtwnOZAcOs1KXajnDUNtaJ5xBpMuHvDS1r3yvy8uSzcRLWd3Gmsu4tt073C5NOW9dBBbMeUfqCXqurrTha2dmvvp3ERj_fk8THb9d9sBE7Q2XXR-SuKZSjZcA1QOQs795X19SrYCc1/s1600/queerlodgings2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDqUOtwnOZAcOs1KXajnDUNtaJ5xBpMuHvDS1r3yvy8uSzcRLWd3Gmsu4tt073C5NOW9dBBbMeUfqCXqurrTha2dmvvp3ERj_fk8THb9d9sBE7Q2XXR-SuKZSjZcA1QOQs795X19SrYCc1/s1600/queerlodgings2.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>"Have some waffles, you chubby little bunny!"</b></span></div>
<br />
Beorn is acting "most jolly" and tells jokes and funny stories over breakfast. Beorn tells the dwarves that he had noticed that the goblins, angry over the death of their king, were amassing an army to find the dwarves. Beorn shows Bilbo a goblin's head on a stick, thus allaying the hobbits concerns of betrayal, and tells the dwarves that they have won his respect by killing the Great Goblin.<br />
<br />
Gandalf tells Beorn the whole story of their journey. Beorn offers enough food to last them for weeks, as well as ponies (and a horse for Gandalf). He warns them to avoid drinking water in Mirkwood, especially the great black river that carries "a great drowsiness and forgetfullness." He insists that they do not stray from the path, for any reason.<br />
<br />
<b>My Opinion: </b>As usual, the movie streamlines some things. This is understandable in an adaptation from book to movie. Still though, I'm a little disappointed in how rushed this scene feels. Beorn speaks almost exclusively in cliches ("Once there were many, you are running out of time, etc.") and the dwarves are rushed out as soon as breakfast is over. We know that the orcs are in Dol Guldur right now, so this suspense is entirely manufactured. Why not at least imply that Thorin's Company stayed for a few days, like in the book? Maybe then it wouldn't feel like we were being hustled from scene to scene. You don't necessarily need to show the dwarves singing, but it wouldn't hurt to inject <i>some </i>of the levity of the book into the movie.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlO1szTS4DooS6XXduf6jO79Qnsdr3Kk0kiE0ytxMVYzZc9CBwHZAs9M05fgkWOyZcOBtBie8g3MfkxNE7aarQH_FmJgZTIkCgU9Cz9srtMLTzf70vp7xnA3BbLhk3PZxJ80YNvVByEcNY/s1600/beorn2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlO1szTS4DooS6XXduf6jO79Qnsdr3Kk0kiE0ytxMVYzZc9CBwHZAs9M05fgkWOyZcOBtBie8g3MfkxNE7aarQH_FmJgZTIkCgU9Cz9srtMLTzf70vp7xnA3BbLhk3PZxJ80YNvVByEcNY/s1600/beorn2.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Why have songs and funny stories when you can talk about slavery and genocide instead?</b></span></div>
<br />
Everything else about Beorn's long hall was fantastic. It looks just like I imagined. I guess I could whine about the omission of the serving animals, but I don't think I could stomach seeing a dog walking around on its hind-legs, serving plates in its paws. I think I had trouble accepting that as a very young child reading this book. And, as a vegetarian myself, I am <i>very </i>happy that they kept Beorn's larders meat-free!Quoggyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05786575020157595857noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7029252908402120398.post-62590167541604861002014-10-28T04:00:00.000-07:002014-10-28T04:00:10.427-07:00A Commander of Legions<b>The Movie: </b>Azog is blocked from his pursuit of Thorin by Beorn, who stands vigil over the long hall. Another warg-rider, who we later learn is Bolg, arrives to relay a message: Azog has been summoned back to Dol Guldur by Sauron. Deep within the heart of the fortress, Azog has a conversation with a massive, amorphous shadow. It demands that Azog lead his armies, and to stop focusing his attentions on a single dwarf. Unwilling to let Thorin off the hook, but also unwilling to defy his master, Azog summons Bolg and appoints him leader of the pack hunting Thorin's Company.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRueQX4bMpeAWv1cbZD4j76UHZyPviI8sfkCtOVnQ9wAOig1nGkXsTPrSDce8MCYkwXdwW6tDgS2Q2TCx_nrECaVgkSK7gE1nzN4VPFZ1aBoy2Tp9ATCROykZ9grxeHhyphenhyphenchDZnxj-R2V5M/s1600/azogisreplaced1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRueQX4bMpeAWv1cbZD4j76UHZyPviI8sfkCtOVnQ9wAOig1nGkXsTPrSDce8MCYkwXdwW6tDgS2Q2TCx_nrECaVgkSK7gE1nzN4VPFZ1aBoy2Tp9ATCROykZ9grxeHhyphenhyphenchDZnxj-R2V5M/s1600/azogisreplaced1.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">"Ew, gross. Can't we just kill them?"</span></b></div>
<br />
<b>The Book: </b>No such scene exists. Bolg, not Azog, is the leader of the goblin/warg legions.<br />
<br />
<b>My Opinion: </b>I'll save my analysis on Sauron's current status for a later post (and that one's gonna be messy as hell). I'm happy that they're bringing in Bolg, but I'm not sure about the <i>way </i>he's been used in this movie. Frankly, I feel like they're just replacing one evil orc with another. Yeah, they're both cool looking and all, but what does this mean for Bilbo and Thorin? Is one orc more dangerous than the other? And while it may be best to reserve judgment until the third movie, I got a problem with Azog being appointed the leader of Sauron's army. That's <i>Bolg's </i>job. If Peter Jackson wanted a new character to personally hunt Thorin, that's cool. But why demote Bolg from his leadership role so that Azog - who's not even in the damn books! - can have it? It's another pointless change.Quoggyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05786575020157595857noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7029252908402120398.post-21602816593312440842014-10-23T04:00:00.001-07:002014-10-23T18:12:50.962-07:00Beorn<b>The Movie: </b>As a man, Beorn is tall and muscular. His brown hair grows in a strip down his back, like a huge mohawk. He has an interesting beard that touches neither chin nor lip; it looks more like long muttonchops that run down the entire side of his face. His eyebrows are enormous.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5UGxsTQxArjM5aZOTsrC9MyU4F5WxUHJVF2Y7s5EGPdlIcUYjG95X0upMldoCSyaOY-50B45eI_Rd4eJ7KvIzOi0XgkfHH5Jm6ZrhEy2I5-kvT3oPFpBC5g95Caqtx0oUNonwNwgTYUEJ/s1600/beorn1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5UGxsTQxArjM5aZOTsrC9MyU4F5WxUHJVF2Y7s5EGPdlIcUYjG95X0upMldoCSyaOY-50B45eI_Rd4eJ7KvIzOi0XgkfHH5Jm6ZrhEy2I5-kvT3oPFpBC5g95Caqtx0oUNonwNwgTYUEJ/s1600/beorn1.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>He obviously has a razor - he leaves his lip bare - so I guess he just prefers his eyebrows like that?</b></span></div>
<br />
As a bear, Beorn is a wild, unpredictable berserker. As a man, Beorn is polite and stoic, though he does express a dislike for the greed of dwarves. He talks freely about his past and his people; he says that Azog the Defiler killed most of his family and enslaved the rest. The slaves were tortured for sport. A manacle on Beorn's wrist implies that he was once such a slave. Beorn pins the genocide of his race on Azog, and claims to be the last survivor of his people.<br />
<br />
<b>The Book: </b>Beorn isn't described as having such an exotic appearance; he is "a huge man with a thick black beard and hair." He is rude, interrupting and makes demands of his guests. When in a better mood, however, he is much jollier; cracking jokes and laughing loudly. He does state that he is not overfond of dwarves, but does not mention their greed or selfishness. Beorn is seen speaking to animals in their own language. There's no indication that his personality changes as a bear or a man - however, both Beorn and Gandalf warn the dwarves not to venture out at night, while Beorn is wandering around as a bear, "at their own peril." Beorn enjoys stories; he is pleased by Gandalf's recollection of their journey thus far, and over dinner he tells tales of his own adventures in the forest. He does not mention his past or his people. Gandalf surmises that Beorn is a descendant of the "ancient bears of the mountains," or descended from the "first men who lived before Smaug," but admits that he does not know the truth. Beorn is also not the last of his kind. Very little about his people is ever stated in the books (or even if they <i>are </i>a separate race), but during the Council of Elron, Gloin made a mention of Beorn's son, named Grimbeorn. There's at least one other.<br />
<br />
<b>My Opinion: </b>Beorn was nothing like how I imagined him. I guess he's technically not far from how the book describes him (I'd hesitate to call that thing on his face a beard, though), but I always imagined some great big lumberjack, or a Hagrid-looking dude. I think the mohawk and unique beard are just silly. Not <i>everybody </i>has to look special and unique. Some people just hang out in the woods and don't shave. His personality, too, was different. Beorn of the Book was a man of passions and wild moods. Beorn of the Movie was stoic and serious. Why the change? This version of Beorn is just... boring.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLg7jmpW6xoyHnKKUAm7m0JBPpJ8iPkd2Ql7olLN59cG9rZD5_d7hMmYfwa0lxvo6KRwI2SZ0Ux7XFXywdSyIWube33JqeU4mJ9x8SB4qCdRx8UyXOr5APl4C_KpqeJKfZLxPOR7zL42Uv/s1600/queerlodgings3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLg7jmpW6xoyHnKKUAm7m0JBPpJ8iPkd2Ql7olLN59cG9rZD5_d7hMmYfwa0lxvo6KRwI2SZ0Ux7XFXywdSyIWube33JqeU4mJ9x8SB4qCdRx8UyXOr5APl4C_KpqeJKfZLxPOR7zL42Uv/s1600/queerlodgings3.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">My girlfriend disagrees, for some unfathomable reason.</span></b></div>
<br />
I prefer the movie's version of Beorn's history. Making him one of the lone survivors of a race of badass shapeshifters is pretty neat. The book's implication is... absurdly stupid. I'm sorry, Tolkein, but it's quite silly to say that he is either descended from ancient bears or from ancient men. <i>All </i>men are descended from ancient men! <i>All </i>bears are descended from ancient bears! If he is not under some enchantment (as both the movie and book claim), then why not make the claim that he is a member of a different species?Quoggyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05786575020157595857noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7029252908402120398.post-32621781898803165662014-10-23T04:00:00.000-07:002014-10-24T14:34:28.517-07:00Wilderland<b>The Movie: </b>After Bilbo warns Thorin's Company about Azog, and the giant bear he saw, Gandalf makes a decision to take refuge at a nearby house. Thorin asks who the house belongs to. Gandalf says the owner of the house is neither friend nor foe, and has an equal chance of helping them or killing them. Seeing little alternative with Azog and the other warg-riders so close, the dwarves run off. Azog's pack chases them - through a vast meadow, through a small forest, and finally to a large, moss-covered long hall. Also on their trail is the bear Bilbo saw earlier. It roars and lunges at the dwarves. They slam the door of the long hall in the bear's face, just barely keeping it at bay.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLY5DiQ9BpSWvbl1J3bNUkY317qH-0eBD-pD7Q4u3GBWMMzjY5b74ttnvYws-1k78HXeMEsWChHD9lXJU8f6ilpwry76sXbxt6gJ05Slw-9knmo09JWUm9r2YZrp_DSZyFEUMQMTip7V2X/s1600/triptobeorns1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLY5DiQ9BpSWvbl1J3bNUkY317qH-0eBD-pD7Q4u3GBWMMzjY5b74ttnvYws-1k78HXeMEsWChHD9lXJU8f6ilpwry76sXbxt6gJ05Slw-9knmo09JWUm9r2YZrp_DSZyFEUMQMTip7V2X/s1600/triptobeorns1.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">"Dude, what the fuck? This is <i>my </i>house!"</span></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Gandalf explains to the nonplussed dwarves that the giant bear was, in fact, their host - a skin-changer named Beorn. Gandalf tells everybody to get some sleep, and they bed down in the long hall. Beorn is later seen keeping watch, guarding his home against the orcs.</div>
<br />
<b>The Book: </b>Bilbo asks Gandalf why the <a href="http://hobbitdifferences.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-eagles.html">large rock the eagles landed on</a> is called the Carrock. Gandalf replies that it is called the Carrock because "a very great person" calls it that. The wizard explains that this person is a skin-changer named Beorn, a man who can be kind, but is terrible when angry - and he gets angry easily. Therefore, to keep him in good humors, Gandalf tells the dwarves not to come to Beorn's long hall all at once. Instead, they ought to wait behind, while Gandalf approaches with Bilbo, alone. Then the dwarves are to arrive in pairs, once every five minutes. Gandalf works this into a conversation with Beorn very cleverly, so that Beorn isn't bombarded with a dozen dwarves all at once. This keeps the skin-changer interested, and in good enough humors to invite everybody into his hall for dinner.<br />
<br />
<b>My Opinion: </b>I didn't care for this change, but I can understand why it was made. Watching two dwarves introduce themselves at a time to their begrudging host is something that's much easier to read than it is to watch - especially to filmgoers who just saw that exact thing happen <a href="http://hobbitdifferences.blogspot.com/2013/04/an-unexpected-party.html">in the beginning of the first movie</a>. Even <i>that </i>didn't play out as slowly as it did the book. But did Gandalf's clever scheme <i>have </i>to be a thrilling chase? Just because perfect fidelity might not have been an option, it doesn't have to turn into some kind of theme park thrill ride.<br />
<br />
And this isn't exactly a comparison, but I just gotta ask - what is <i>up </i>with all the sudden, drastic changes in scenery? I understand trying to make the whole thing feel epic, but this is not the first time that the movie has drastically switched from one kind of locale to another in one scene. First they're on a mountain, then this vast prairie, then they're in the woods. It's jarring.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRF9yUf1yAK9OZp9rn2zj3aOM1N3W4KYaz443aIJ4qNlh8SAcwjs1W2bhX55WiFzlvH4jDTjXDQOSE23X0iMWr4GoJILE1U8ApRuHG_QmEcNx9Ol32QZFFonqEQPasw1wYROWAyWWl9pfO/s1600/triptobeorns2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRF9yUf1yAK9OZp9rn2zj3aOM1N3W4KYaz443aIJ4qNlh8SAcwjs1W2bhX55WiFzlvH4jDTjXDQOSE23X0iMWr4GoJILE1U8ApRuHG_QmEcNx9Ol32QZFFonqEQPasw1wYROWAyWWl9pfO/s1600/triptobeorns2.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>You could cut out all these scenes from the movie and shave off, like, 45 minutes, <i>easy.</i></b></span></div>
<br />Quoggyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05786575020157595857noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7029252908402120398.post-37228154881345992352014-10-22T06:10:00.001-07:002014-10-23T18:12:03.674-07:00Bilbo the Scout<b>The Movie: </b>Bilbo Baggins is surreptitiously spying on something in the mountains. It's Azog, in the distance, leading a pack or warg-riding orcs. He is on the hunt. Bilbo hides to avoid being seen, then dashes off to warn the others. On his way back down the rocks, the hobbit notices a massive bear roaring in the distance.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAVMdbVZx-8G6kZ0JNqD55P3kVkbfWXkEaSQrCIQK-UvlASD8JVAATPgmh1z2wKn1c2nXpj-7ApxIVRk36lmPNx6am44S3FjwzCdx6pl0UQBnJ-rlX5JSKeW6uTLr1s4m6duJM8Er8BsxC/s1600/bilboscout1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAVMdbVZx-8G6kZ0JNqD55P3kVkbfWXkEaSQrCIQK-UvlASD8JVAATPgmh1z2wKn1c2nXpj-7ApxIVRk36lmPNx6am44S3FjwzCdx6pl0UQBnJ-rlX5JSKeW6uTLr1s4m6duJM8Er8BsxC/s1600/bilboscout1.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>"It's a pity I don't own some kind of magical necklace that would make hiding easier. Better crouch behind these rocks!"</b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b>The Book: </b>No such scene occurs.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b>My Opinion: </b>I just wanted to take a minute to talk about how Bilbo Baggins is treated differently in the movies than in the book. The movies have taken efforts to make Bilbo a more competent member of the team; in fact, it'd be fair to say that his given purpose is almost as important as Thorin's, and the rest of the dwarves are really only there to escort him to Erebor (more on that later, when I talk about the Arkenstone). In the books, Bilbo does not scout ahead of the team, or look around for enemies. Perhaps he might have, if the orcs were in <u>The Hobbit</u>, and then again, maybe not. Bilbo's heroic <a href="http://hobbitdifferences.blogspot.com/2013/06/bilbo-and-thorin-fight-azog.html">battle with Azog</a> is a complete fabrication of the movies. He is not this brave or helpful in the books, at least not at this stage of the story.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Personally, I like the change. I think having the burglar scout around for enemies makes sense, and I enjoy seeing Bilbo actually do stuff. Plus, since the "Bilbo finds his courage" character arc happened earlier than Mirkwood in Peter Jackson's version, it doesn't seem like a gross misinterpretation of his character. However, this is just my opinion - there's a lot to be said <i>against </i>the decision to take a main character and completely change his motivations and personality. At this point, in <u>The Hobbit</u>, the eponymous protagonist is still being carried (quite literally) by his companions. </div>
Quoggyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05786575020157595857noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7029252908402120398.post-70799736308188367402014-10-22T05:42:00.004-07:002014-10-23T18:11:48.148-07:00Thorin Meets Gandalf<b>The Movie: </b>A short cloaked figure is seen walking through the city of Bree in the rain - it's Thorin.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvCZD9YF9fqdmSVbjBWqw06ohuhTztjHKbt1CRQK0bfGYR4bEOfOvDCaEthh6piAh1tb064LsfODpHwTRJvohA0zyF0njyQcgfwcattar_emck6zdewlzFovNh_zBtauvF3IIADI1dI9zI/s1600/thorinmeetsgandalf2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvCZD9YF9fqdmSVbjBWqw06ohuhTztjHKbt1CRQK0bfGYR4bEOfOvDCaEthh6piAh1tb064LsfODpHwTRJvohA0zyF0njyQcgfwcattar_emck6zdewlzFovNh_zBtauvF3IIADI1dI9zI/s1600/thorinmeetsgandalf2.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">No, not him.</span></b></div>
<br />
Two menacing figures follow him into the Prancing Pony tavern. He is served dinner by what looks to be hobbit woman, and as he eats, he notices the two scary dudes staring at him. He reaches for his sword. The bad guys stand up, but whatever they're about to do, it's interrupted by the unexpected arrival of Gandalf.<br />
<br />
Gandalf sits down at Thorin's table and introduces himself. At this point, apparently Thorin and Gandalf had heard of each other, but never met. Thorin says he had been looking for his father Thrain, near Dunland. Thorin asks Gandalf about his relationship with Thrain. Gandalf admits that he told Thrain to return to Erebor, reclaim his throne, and kill Smaug. He urges the same to Thorin. Gandalf mentions that there are men looking for Thorin - he produces a cloth message, with a bounty for Thorin's head written in Black Speech. Thorin argues that he needs the Arkenstone to rally his people. Gandalf recommends a burglar.<br />
<br />
<b>The Books: </b>No such scene occurs in <u>The Hobbit</u>. A similar scene is described in <u>Return of the King</u>, Appendix A. There is no mention of the two men (or anybody) following Thorin, or a bounty on his head. In the book, Thorin approaches Gandalf in Bree and asks him for help. Gandalf says that he has been thinking about the Dragon of Erebor. The book makes no mention of Thorin's purpose in Bree, only that he was returning west from a journey.<br />
<br />
<b>My Opinion: </b>This was a really good scene to show, even if it wasn't in <u>The Hobbit</u>. Sure, there are some differences, but they're mostly minor: who cares if Thorin approaches Gandalf, or vice versa? Who cares which of them had the idea to reclaim Erebor? The important stuff is the same - Gandalf is worried about Smaug being used "with terrible effect," and Thorin wants his home back, and they both run into each other at Bree and decide to come up with a plan to kill the dragon. This scene does a good job of reminding the audience of what's going on, while adding a little bit of new information. <br />
<br />
I did <i>not </i>care for the the "menacing figures." In fact, that whole little subplot just raised a whole host of questions and inconsistencies. In the previous movie, neither Gandalf nor Thorin seemed to know that he was being hunted - they actually argue about it the first time Azog's orc pack attacks. And what's up with the order being given in Black Speech? The Dark Tongue of Mordor kind of gives away where it came from. Couldn't it have been written down in Common Speech? Shouldn't some <i>serious </i>alarm bells start ringing in Gandalf's when he sees the language made up by Sauron for his orcs?<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8iX4R7Hd8OFunbb2CSdYz1wDIWMzw0ezMdZaheJV77GjxmdZivGpOJiFv876bZwFrZS7StJ0ag_aAtPuHYhT6B3c6l3CZmWG4AtmC37QFMDgC0Ez_ilRdNLkfbIBhZBclaXFPGk_S4wjc/s1600/thorinmeetsgandalf1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8iX4R7Hd8OFunbb2CSdYz1wDIWMzw0ezMdZaheJV77GjxmdZivGpOJiFv876bZwFrZS7StJ0ag_aAtPuHYhT6B3c6l3CZmWG4AtmC37QFMDgC0Ez_ilRdNLkfbIBhZBclaXFPGk_S4wjc/s1600/thorinmeetsgandalf1.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>You know, for a demi-god renowned for his age and wisdom, Gandalf can be pretty fucking stupid sometimes.</b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I'm also confused about the Thrain subplot they've been kicking around. Thorin knows that Thrain was captured, tortured, and killed at Dol Guldur. Is the movie suggesting that he's still alive somewhere around the Dunlands? I don't want to weigh in too heavily right now, until I've seen the third movie, but I'm wary every time Thrain's name is mentioned with such an air of mystery to it. </div>
Quoggyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05786575020157595857noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7029252908402120398.post-51856564046949114552013-06-30T13:22:00.005-07:002013-07-02T19:44:26.710-07:00Smaug Awakens<b>The Movie:</b> The thrush flies to the ruins of the Lonely Mountain, and picks up a snail to crack against the stone wall. The sound can be heard inside, echoing in the vast chambers of Erebor where the halls are completely filled with gold. Smaug, buried in the mountains of treasure, shifts enough for us to see the side of his face. His eye opens; he is awake.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs7F6rb6FEElWD93yHJr8rhhHt1xG510SgBxT0PzHmvbHkukp3vffdLlzsCmTEyBMSKFOW6yLL9uGWLFC3qMYzqBUZ4faNIkIUIzYY8hu3i-u-PDyz5UTBDtJ44YOaQ5NcAbOmewNmldou/s500/smaugAwakes1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs7F6rb6FEElWD93yHJr8rhhHt1xG510SgBxT0PzHmvbHkukp3vffdLlzsCmTEyBMSKFOW6yLL9uGWLFC3qMYzqBUZ4faNIkIUIzYY8hu3i-u-PDyz5UTBDtJ44YOaQ5NcAbOmewNmldou/s1600/smaugAwakes1.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Here's hoping that Thror's treasure had a Keurig or something.</b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b>The Book:</b> No such scene occurs.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b>What difference does it make?</b> Showing Smaug's eye has no impact on the rest of the plot. It stands to reason that, at some point in the novel, the dragon opened his eyes.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b>My Opinion:</b> I remember being a little surprised at how much gold, exactly, Smaug had in this scene. The book is never explicit with any solid number, but it's enough for the massive dragon to comfortably lay on. Tolkien's own <a href="http://imgur.com/LXTTqK1" target="_blank">drawing of Smaug</a> has a much smaller pile of gold, but it's hardly fair to say that Peter Jackson's interpretation is wrong. The fact of the matter is, Smaug has a <i>lot </i>of money - a nearly unassessable amount.</div>
<br />
This scene is awesome, and Smaug's eye looks amazing. Anybody who disagrees with this sentiment is objectively incorrect.Quoggyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05786575020157595857noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7029252908402120398.post-72759588875050430792013-06-30T13:05:00.003-07:002013-06-30T13:24:05.247-07:00Thorin Awakens<b>The Movie:</b> Gandalf rushes over to Thorin, who is still unconscious. The wizard places his hand over Thorin's face, closes his eyes, and mumbles a few magic words. Thorin's eyes snap open, and he immediately asks about Bilbo. When Gandalf assures him that the hobbit is safe, Thorin gets on his feet, and begins to scold Bilbo Baggins for getting into danger. He repeats his earlier sentiments that the hobbit did not belong with them, then says "never have I been more wrong" and embraces Bilbo.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGqZdMu8w4ViRVmxWr9HCJqsD-yo3v7ku9NfsGJf215ZpDa26AUzXFDVa34zVaPr3zvCRJlbLbyR5zNgGeHbfGRfBt1yruC4NaAzsQPasX6quU5LcyWk0i-i4idMymNgMTwB4teJhxUAVa/s500/endFirstMovie1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGqZdMu8w4ViRVmxWr9HCJqsD-yo3v7ku9NfsGJf215ZpDa26AUzXFDVa34zVaPr3zvCRJlbLbyR5zNgGeHbfGRfBt1yruC4NaAzsQPasX6quU5LcyWk0i-i4idMymNgMTwB4teJhxUAVa/s1600/endFirstMovie1.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>"You know you don't <i>have </i>to insult people before saying nice things, right? You could've just said the nice things <i>without </i>the insults."</b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
After Thorin's Company watches the eagles fly away, Thorin sees, in the distance, a lone mountain - Erebor is finally in their sight. Oin notices a bird flying to the mountain, and mistakes it for a raven (in accordance with the portents). Gandalf corrects him; it is a thrush. Either way, Thorin takes it as a good omen. Bilbo agrees: the worst is finally behind them.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN0OTu21po2CGssTNSLYzJ3-JozCpuE9igPfxKdd-IY8_CqBkFCEt4AMiicueA0VTgf6mJ8aVSHuZ4mGN-luI-vNGcdIvCmAskf3tjByETGLs5uOQowVCDn2kjejcpleXMsyZ33oUrXPIY/s500/endFirstMovie3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN0OTu21po2CGssTNSLYzJ3-JozCpuE9igPfxKdd-IY8_CqBkFCEt4AMiicueA0VTgf6mJ8aVSHuZ4mGN-luI-vNGcdIvCmAskf3tjByETGLs5uOQowVCDn2kjejcpleXMsyZ33oUrXPIY/s1600/endFirstMovie3.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Except for the dragon. You remember, the whole fucking point of the adventure?</b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b>The Book:</b> No such scene occurs.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b>What difference does it make? </b>Very little. The events of this scene have little impact on the rest of the plot. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b>My Opinion:</b> Thorin's conversation with Bilbo is thematically superfluous. We <i>just </i>had a scene where Bilbo won the dwarves' respect - when he gave that speech about helping them retake their home. Then the hobbit actually puts actions to his words and <i>proves</i> his loyalty, honor, and bravery, by attacking Azog to protect Thorin. The "fakeout" bit of the conversation was just silly. This whole conversation should have been axed. It was nothing but a bad rehash of themes that have already been resolved.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Also: since when Gandalf do that kind of healing? I don't exactly want to get into the quagmire that is "Tolkien's inconsistent descriptions of magic," but, I'm pretty sure he can't <i>do </i>that. Gandalf's healing powers have been referred to on two occasions: with Gwaihir, and with Theoden. Gwaihir once mentioned how Gandalf had pulled an arrow out of him, and Gandalf helped lift Theoden's dark spirits... but those are different. As with several of Peter Jackson's changes, I'm not sure why it was included at all. What purpose do these new powers serve? Why invent powers them at all? Just have Thorin wake up.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Those nit-picks aside, this is a fine scene. The movie needs an ending; rolling credits after the eagles picked the dwarves up would have been awful. Showing the Company gazing wistfully at Erebor in the distance is a good, satisfying end to the movie. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-7jUoBraAMQ3i57yJTUy2kLzjZwac2qzEy_j8m5-EGMLhYJfGRDsMqkjyCA9kem-62wxzTIbtBWxvhT3FUG79oDsu9iGGle5Nij_Q153UALmsR24qH2U9GgMa2nawpJB3g1sUFN0HLD6K/s500/endFirstMovie2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-7jUoBraAMQ3i57yJTUy2kLzjZwac2qzEy_j8m5-EGMLhYJfGRDsMqkjyCA9kem-62wxzTIbtBWxvhT3FUG79oDsu9iGGle5Nij_Q153UALmsR24qH2U9GgMa2nawpJB3g1sUFN0HLD6K/s1600/endFirstMovie2.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>And an excuse for Thorin to stare nobly into the distance one last time.</b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<br />Quoggyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05786575020157595857noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7029252908402120398.post-56460584601126383292013-06-29T15:27:00.000-07:002013-07-02T19:49:02.182-07:00The Eagles<b>The Movie:</b> Gandalf's moth returns to him. Dori loses his grip on Gandalf's staff, and he and Ori fall. They are caught by a giant eagle, however, and saved. The eagles attack Azog's pack, killing several wargs and orcs by picking them up and dropping them off the cliff side. One eagle picks up the unconscious body of Thorin, as well as his sword, but his oaken shield falls to the ground.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj251qJyDwjEtsXzea8EG1EqR36A2FP2qKGL-GZAcsUdxT42EWcDkLfhyphenhyphenT7Nt6IlO-DfoaLk9_JBtjfeNqSbTc9GjIZOY2J1O93mtCIaIxob4kE2jREa4qLm87d8Z7YitarA3ymFEC-HPE/s500/eagles1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj251qJyDwjEtsXzea8EG1EqR36A2FP2qKGL-GZAcsUdxT42EWcDkLfhyphenhyphenT7Nt6IlO-DfoaLk9_JBtjfeNqSbTc9GjIZOY2J1O93mtCIaIxob4kE2jREa4qLm87d8Z7YitarA3ymFEC-HPE/s1600/eagles1.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Thorin Oakenshield loses his oaken shield, which he had obtained after defeating Azog in battle, after he loses a battle with Azog. Ready... set... SYMBOLISM!</b></span></div>
<br />
<br />
Azog roars with fury as the eagles carry away the rest of the dwarves, as well as Bilbo and Gandalf. There's little he can do as the eagles soar away, flying throughout the night. The eagles drop Thorin's Company off on top of a huge rock. far from danger, and fly away.<br />
<br />
<b>The Book:</b> Gwaihir, Lord of the Eagles, sees the fire from his perch far away. He hears the wargs, and correctly guesses that the goblins are up to some mischief. Gwaihir and his eagles are described as noble and proud, and they hate goblins - they make it their mission to stop whatever wickedness the goblins may be up to, and to drive them back to their caves. The eagles attacked the goblin pack, and snatch up Thorin's Company to take them to safety.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPCWJF3A-Uu5EVRd-r-08RyUnVB1x8oSZ9Q2TaPM1-FHmCck34TtztNZwNPBalvUVjViODCjh5cQrxxAMEL8uFnN8IA4rYPsuePYmT0eVuw_u8OQp5Xda9HjcqE3elDnOF_9xCoJfZXcQn/s500/eagles3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPCWJF3A-Uu5EVRd-r-08RyUnVB1x8oSZ9Q2TaPM1-FHmCck34TtztNZwNPBalvUVjViODCjh5cQrxxAMEL8uFnN8IA4rYPsuePYmT0eVuw_u8OQp5Xda9HjcqE3elDnOF_9xCoJfZXcQn/s1600/eagles3.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>See, it's not just Peter Jackson. This is apparently the only way Tolkien knows how to resolve a climax.</b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
The eagles land at their eyrie, called the Great Shelf. One eagle refers to the dwarves as prisoners, which leaves Bilbo trembling with fear, until he sees Gandalf chatting amicably with Gwaihir. He learns that the eagle referred to them as "prisoners rescued from the goblins," not captives of the eagles. Gandalf, in fact, had once done a favor for the Lord of the Eagles. They were honored guests, and the eagles even brought hares and sheep for the dwarves to cook. The next morning, the eagles refuse to fly the dwarves too close to where men live, afraid of being shot down. Gandalf asked to be taken as close to the Lonely Mountain as possible, so the eagles dropped their passengers off on a great rock several miles away.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU96_-7Z5NMTdPZe5VlPF4yUZCHNHaGVwzepWjqkfxRp9Cq6rFDcWov4B2U4g67_QkkpOTmm3V7YDo8t99-OxQaduvgpw9BTcJWr1UUM90vA1iYi-XZTHu05uFll3XfN0ayn1iiEilhW97/s500/eagles5.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU96_-7Z5NMTdPZe5VlPF4yUZCHNHaGVwzepWjqkfxRp9Cq6rFDcWov4B2U4g67_QkkpOTmm3V7YDo8t99-OxQaduvgpw9BTcJWr1UUM90vA1iYi-XZTHu05uFll3XfN0ayn1iiEilhW97/s1600/eagles5.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>The eagles just expected them to climb down, I guess? </b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b>What differences does it make?</b> Peter Jackson took several liberties with the eagles. Notice that they are never summoned by Gandalf in the book - there is no moth, and they investigate the fire and goblin's attack on their own. They did not even know Gandalf was present when they attacked the goblins. Further, in the book, the dwarves are taken back to the eagle's eyrie and treated as guests, allowed to eat and rest. They engage Gandalf in conversation, and even explain why they cannot take the Company too far.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b>My Opinion:</b> Does Peter Jackson just fucking hate Tolkien's intelligent animals or something? First the wargs, then this. The eagles have been transformed from a noble, intelligent race into some birds that Gandalf has trained to come at his call.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
It <i>matters</i>. I can't tell you the number of people who have asked, either in this movie or the end of <u>Return of the King</u>, why the eagles didn't just fly them all the way to their destination in the first place. The books give a reason: the eagles chose not to, for whatever reason (it's honestly not too explicit in <u>RotK</u>). The movies just leave the question hanging. Why can't Gandalf's pet birds fly a little longer? They're not shown to have any intelligence at all, or any ability to really make their own decisions. It's as if the movie literally stripped away every example of these birds having some kind of cognition, and I can't for the life of me understand why.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
The moth thing was stupid, too. I'm going to just clear this up right now: there <i>is </i>no moth in the books. Any of the books. Gandalf never uses a moth to call for the eagles. In fact, Gandalf <i>never summons eagles</i>. They came to the Battle of the Five Armies, and the Battle of the Black Gate, of their own accord. They came to help Thorin's Company escape the fire and the goblins because... well, they fucking hate goblins. And remember when they came to rescue Gandalf from Saruman's tower? You know, the first time the movies had him use that goddamn moth?</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<i>Radagast </i>sent them.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCOY03tCxzxPrUkCWvR1zVHOvbT4sQEKzgXThS3HkhGgAuESIdoR4sVMm-SZ_Uqvc1uibZj_tcsP8C1-xGdi_-StXP5HP4NMHoUicQjc7H1fAd3GmrbWApvkOqeUDJoVkzJZQPySB2ciZ-/s500/eagles6.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCOY03tCxzxPrUkCWvR1zVHOvbT4sQEKzgXThS3HkhGgAuESIdoR4sVMm-SZ_Uqvc1uibZj_tcsP8C1-xGdi_-StXP5HP4NMHoUicQjc7H1fAd3GmrbWApvkOqeUDJoVkzJZQPySB2ciZ-/s1600/eagles6.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Peter Jackson worked <i>really </i>hard to make Radagast suck so bad.</b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
Quoggyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05786575020157595857noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7029252908402120398.post-11789005729992973362013-06-23T19:03:00.001-07:002013-06-23T19:25:05.334-07:00Bilbo and Thorin Fight Azog<b>The Movie:</b> Most of the dwarves are hanging on for dear life. Gandalf is the only thing keeping Dori and Ori from falling to their deaths. Thorin, however, is able to find his footing. He stands up and, wielding Orcrist and his oaken shield, runs toward Azog.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi8QTvqov2Gy4iCCgM-UQwOUlnZNnqbp8EiC_QJsDfjFuGV7vHqSWL4jJbPvHDXjemh-lcwrmoYwvadcdFPV49FIcZeG59ilVzX1U-G5PAZSWENgYnR0Mx2AOEIAhLcMQ9NXP-JW8MqtqV/s1600/finalFight1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi8QTvqov2Gy4iCCgM-UQwOUlnZNnqbp8EiC_QJsDfjFuGV7vHqSWL4jJbPvHDXjemh-lcwrmoYwvadcdFPV49FIcZeG59ilVzX1U-G5PAZSWENgYnR0Mx2AOEIAhLcMQ9NXP-JW8MqtqV/s1600/finalFight1.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>"Sword, check. Hair flowing in the wind, check. Piece of wood, check. There's no way I can lose."</b></span></div>
<br />
<br />
Their fight is unfortunately very short; Azog, mounted on his white warg, makes quick work of the Dwarven Prince. The dwarves look on in horror; Balin screams, and Dwalin almost falls in his hurried attempts to rescue Thorin. Only Bilbo is able to regain his footing. As Thorin lays defeated, about to be beheaded by one of Azog's minions, Bilbo draws his own sword, collects his courage, and charges. The hobbit knocks Azog's lieutenant to the ground, and after a short grapple, stabs the orc to death. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDOb1k9LLtvex1JbyScFSneauGrVvD2pGX3gMEIu6rwYGuKnKFFeHJ49IROMELlm8egKY6m7ov7-9nfmoxZjGf5vZ3xhaq7zx_nyDnw0TpCBSg-tNbX319oyAadpvdPb6TJ_mjMoFgiSUg/s1600/finalFight4.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDOb1k9LLtvex1JbyScFSneauGrVvD2pGX3gMEIu6rwYGuKnKFFeHJ49IROMELlm8egKY6m7ov7-9nfmoxZjGf5vZ3xhaq7zx_nyDnw0TpCBSg-tNbX319oyAadpvdPb6TJ_mjMoFgiSUg/s1600/finalFight4.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Azog's face.</b></span></div>
<br />
<br />
Bilbo then stumbles to where Thorin's body lays, as the rest of the orc pack surrounds him. He swings his sword a few times, in a vain attempt to intimidate them. Azog gives the command to kill the hobbit, but the rest of the dwarves suddenly charge in before the orcs can attack. After a short fight, Azog personally directs his attention toward Bilbo. He is about to kill the hobbit when the moth returns to Gandalf.<br />
<br />
<b>The Book:</b> There is no such scene.<br />
<br />
<b>What difference does it make?</b> This changes the events of the book a great deal. This scene is not in the book, and adds a violent battle that somewhat changes the tone of the scene. At this point, Peter Jackson has taken a step beyond "adaptation" and is now using Tolkein's book as a springboard to tell his own story. Furthermore, it is not in Bilbo Baggins' nature to rush into a battle like this. He is represented as braver and more skilled with a sword than he should be, according to the source material.<br />
<br />
<b>My Opinion: </b>I have to admit to some bias, here. I'm what many refer to as a Bilbo Baggins fanboy. Any change that gives him more screen time and makes him look better is a good change in my eyes. As long as they keep it in character, I'm going to like it. That said... I <i>loved </i>this change.<br />
<br />
I understand that this is a controversial viewpoint to have. This whole scene smacked of "action movie," and "obvious videogame tie-in." I can understand rolling your eyes as a 60 pound hobbit tackles a full-grown orc (in heavy armor!) to the ground. I've heard a lot of griping about Bilbo's character arc being complete far too soon, that he's not supposed to be killing things until the spiders of Mirkwood. I'm not convinced. His character growth isn't completely finished, and I'm fine with Bilbo seeing battle at the end of the first movie, instead of halfway through the second. It gives a nice climax that, honestly, the movie needed; a truly faithful adaptation would have ended things on a boring, ho-hum note.<br />
<br />
Look closely during this scene. Bilbo is fucking <i>terrified</i>. And, with one rather unfortunate exception (when Bilbo joins the dwarves in combat after defending Thorin), Bilbo is terrible with his sword. He's figured out which is the dangerous end, sure, but otherwise just sort of swings it around clumsily. He doesn't know what he's doing, and is clearly in over his head.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0o-hPTA750cXOIQYbiu7up1YS1z2pqnDK-06NmrVbacFSH97hfDeqElRe7o9I0D_6ib-_LWK6nQsRP-d7kQLhmYYAXpHEYfIetcW8HSxRu6rcn5uZriWy_YgapMbgCAO1Hgw3l4u2Oj6m/s1600/finalFight5.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0o-hPTA750cXOIQYbiu7up1YS1z2pqnDK-06NmrVbacFSH97hfDeqElRe7o9I0D_6ib-_LWK6nQsRP-d7kQLhmYYAXpHEYfIetcW8HSxRu6rcn5uZriWy_YgapMbgCAO1Hgw3l4u2Oj6m/s1600/finalFight5.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>He's just lucky he doesn't drop the damn thing.</b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Those who look down on this scene because Peter Jackson has turned Bilbo Baggins into some kind of action hero have <i>missed the point entirely</i>. Bilbo is scared, unskilled, and completely out of his element. But he's the first to jump to Thorin's defense, even if it means facing half a dozen mounted orcs by himself. Bilbo Baggins has a lot of heart, and this scene displays it better than the book ever did.</div>
<br />
<br />
<br />Quoggyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05786575020157595857noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7029252908402120398.post-29436542504811529492013-06-21T22:00:00.000-07:002013-06-22T17:05:37.395-07:00Fifteen Birds in Five Firtrees<b>The Movie:</b> There is no equivalent sequence.<br />
<br />
<b>The Book:</b> As the goblins feed the fires by the dwarves' trees, they sing a wicked song:<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Fifteen birds in five firtrees,</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>their feathers were fanned in a fiery breeze!</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>But, funny little birds, they had no wings!</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>O what shall we do with the funny little things?</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Roast 'em alive, or stew them in a pot;</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>fry them, boil them and eat them hot?</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Burn, burn tree and fern!</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Shrivel and scorch! A fizzling torch</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>To light the night for our delight,</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Ya hey!</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Bake and toast 'em, fry and roast 'em!</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>till beards blaze, and eyes glaze;</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>till hair smells and skins crack,</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>fat melts and bones black</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>in cinders lie</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>beneath the sky!</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>So dwarves shall die,</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>and light the night for our delight,</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Ya hey!</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Ya-harri-hey!</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Ya hoy!</i></div>
<i><br /></i>
<b>What difference does it make?</b> There is no significant difference to the plot, narrative, or any characterizations due to the lack of the singing.<br />
<br />
<b>My Opinion</b>: As cool a song as this was, it just wouldn't have worked in film. I'm not even sure it worked in the book, to be honest. Most of Tolkein's songs make it seem like his world has this rich oral history; that all cultures and civilizations have in common a love for song. Songs like this, though, skirt the edges between "rich oral history" and "full-fledged musical." Are we, the audience, supposed to believe that the goblins have some reason to have memorized this song about a bunch of dwarves burning alive in the trees? Or did they all just spontaneously come up with the same lyrics at once? Even if it didn't stink of "sudden musical" there's something decidedly non-intimidating about carefully choreographed song, mid-battle. I'm happy this was left out.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGxfU-s7dH5uiLv1SBn32nCJj5CT2yPU5ZXv0_iAZhQojp5kDz0waZUbxi9_O20KyKqvOI2Jxmj3XIrEvPr2vXA4DcBrKnuQdjOHUGi0GEMv3WE_WBE6NMshnQz81zgAFjsTDuFZ0_sZ_k/s1600/burnTreeAndFern1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGxfU-s7dH5uiLv1SBn32nCJj5CT2yPU5ZXv0_iAZhQojp5kDz0waZUbxi9_O20KyKqvOI2Jxmj3XIrEvPr2vXA4DcBrKnuQdjOHUGi0GEMv3WE_WBE6NMshnQz81zgAFjsTDuFZ0_sZ_k/s1600/burnTreeAndFern1.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">"Alright guys, don't forget to start the chorus after the third refrain. And for Christ's sake, Gary, watch your D-sharps."</span></b></div>
<br />Quoggyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05786575020157595857noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7029252908402120398.post-62814229918014594042013-06-21T21:41:00.001-07:002013-06-23T19:05:29.512-07:00Into the Fire<b>The Movie:</b> The moment between Bilbo and the dwarves is interrupted by the sudden presence of Azog and his warg-mounted orc pack. The wargs without riders are quickest, and manage to catch up with Thorin's fleeing Company. Bilbo draws his sword and manages to kill one (almost entirely by accident). The Company continues to run until they hit a cliff; at Gandalf's command, they all climb the nearby trees. As the wargs circle and surround the trees, Gandalf whispers something to a nearby moth and sends it away. Azog himself approaches, to Thorin's horror. Azog mocks the Dwarvish Prince, as well as his father Thrain, and gives the order to attack. The wargs attack the trees with such ferocity that they begin to uproot and fall on one another. The dwarves leap from falling tree to falling tree until all 13 of them, as well as Bilbo and Gandalf, are perched on a single tree at the edge of the cliff. Gandalf grabs a pinecone, magically sets it on fire, and throws it at the wargs. He lights more pinecones on fire, passing them to Bilbo and the dwarves. Soon, so many flaming pinecones have been thrown that the entire surrounding area is on fire. Just then, damaged by the flames, their tree uproots; Thorin's Company is now hanging precariously over the edge of the cliff.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ7saqSeDR-s3EF7abxnpnB896yesTFPq4Jd7X2INwCohWktdtq-jZE1DxNIUPfSWmM5ByEmaA1pfYDCsk_KOQRT2GUzaCVt3tR1pFuVUUQpgkTxaK8u8D0qNgP1gQErvHpeGMr1bpcN34/s1600/intoTheFire1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ7saqSeDR-s3EF7abxnpnB896yesTFPq4Jd7X2INwCohWktdtq-jZE1DxNIUPfSWmM5ByEmaA1pfYDCsk_KOQRT2GUzaCVt3tR1pFuVUUQpgkTxaK8u8D0qNgP1gQErvHpeGMr1bpcN34/s1600/intoTheFire1.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Am I supposed to feel suspense right now? I thought it was established that they can't be hurt by falling great distances?</b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<b>The Book:</b> After quite a bit of marching through the woods, Thorin's Company comes upon a glade with no trees. They hear wolves howling nearby, and Bilbo starts to freak out a little. Gandalf orders them all up into the trees. Bilbo has a little trouble climbing, and Dori has to climb down, and let Bilbo climb up his shoulders; he barely makes it back up before the wargs attack. There are hundreds of wargs, but since they can't climb trees, the Company is safe for the moment. More and more wargs keep coming in, and they leave guards at the foots of the trees that had anyone in it. A great grey wolf, the leader of the wargs, speaks to Gandalf in his "dreadful language." He says that the wargs and the goblins were meeting here for an attack on nearby woodsmen, and the goblins were running somewhat late. The warg leader thought the dwarves were friends of the woodsmen, so they would wait until the goblins came to chop the trees down. Gandalf lights a pinecone on fire, a bright blue flame, and chucks it at the wargs. He throws another pinecone, and another; one is in blue flames, one in red, another in green. Soon enough the entire glade was afire.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIjKCshanO7mlofDJIGIR-40sQDADDFfd_Qbkar43Qt4sd1c7tl81-zDQ_KM_cNZqoE7_H2MlSGheowYi-wrMOejlk5QmBkM1CkKtNAZXIbDnk11DEgTmBpATOGN2aye6v0IF-uSY03hiw/s1600/intoTheFire1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIjKCshanO7mlofDJIGIR-40sQDADDFfd_Qbkar43Qt4sd1c7tl81-zDQ_KM_cNZqoE7_H2MlSGheowYi-wrMOejlk5QmBkM1CkKtNAZXIbDnk11DEgTmBpATOGN2aye6v0IF-uSY03hiw/s1600/intoTheFire1.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>You seriously didn't see a fucking problem with this, dude?</b></span></div>
<br />
<br />
The goblins arrived all at once, screaming and yelling; they paused when they realized that there was no great battle, but the dwarves were all stuck in the trees. The goblins, not fearing the fire, laughed and sang a song as they piled more wood on the fire nearest the trees where the dwarves were. Gandalf climbed to the top of the tree; lightning flashed from his wand, as he prepared to suicide bomb the goblins to save the rest of the Company.<br />
<br />
<b>What difference does it make?</b> The entire climax is changed. Instead of the goblins attempting to avenge the death of their King, Azog's orc pack makes a reappearance. The wargs are once again treated as little more than mounts, and not an intelligent species unto themselves. The scene is somewhat less exciting in the book; there's less combat, no leaping from tree to tree, etc. The book has this scene take place in a glade, while the movie takes place over the edge of a cliff.<br />
<br />
<b>My Opinion:</b> As far as "necessary changes" are concerned, I think this scene is mostly fine. I understand the desire to have a strong, central antagonist to the first film, and having this be the scene of the climatic final battle makes good sense. Thus, if you absolutely must have Azog, this is a good scene for him to return and do battle with Thorin's Company. That means all the little changes - the wargs being in league with his orcs, the extra bits of action, etc. - all work rather well. I was pretty happy that there wasn't any singing here, too. It'd be hard to take this shit seriously if the bad guys were singing a jaunty tune.<br />
<br />
Why were the wargs treated like dogs, though? They're as intelligent as dwarves or elves. The book has them using tactics and speaking to each other. They're a <i>species</i>. But in the movie, they're nothing more than large, trained, attack wolves. I guess there's nothing stopping Peter Jackson from establishing their intelligence later on, but he seems to be ignoring a detail that made Tolkein's world just a little richer.<br />
<br />
That shit with Gandalf and the moth needs some discussing, too, but I'll save that for a later post.Quoggyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05786575020157595857noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7029252908402120398.post-5557475256023495812013-06-17T21:22:00.001-07:002013-06-17T21:33:15.484-07:00Out of the Frying Pan<b>The Movie: </b>Thorin's Company has retreated from the Misty Mountains. Gandalf does a quick head count, and when he realizes that Bilbo Baggins is missing, grows angry at the dwarves. The dwarves blame Dori, and Nori mentions that he saw Bilbo slink away when the rest of them were kidnapped. Bilbo, still invisible from wearing the ring, approaches the Company in time to overhear the conversation. Thorin argues that the hobbit saw an opportunity to escape, and good riddance; Bilbo's done nothing but hold them back the whole time. Bilbo interrupts the insults by taking off his ring and revealing himself to the Company.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi526k29UBMttDUM3tF6Eyg_DEU72KD3FFx-B5zMEDy-8W7iaUxEb0rUVcEZKDJVL-P9XRCt32zrqkhR6iyRZGAz26j9ovJFWtjZPwP-R5ZxqB0W9Iq4_uJEDQIf7RNhOBQpSEkJinVkDg4/s1600/outOfTheFryingPan1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi526k29UBMttDUM3tF6Eyg_DEU72KD3FFx-B5zMEDy-8W7iaUxEb0rUVcEZKDJVL-P9XRCt32zrqkhR6iyRZGAz26j9ovJFWtjZPwP-R5ZxqB0W9Iq4_uJEDQIf7RNhOBQpSEkJinVkDg4/s1600/outOfTheFryingPan1.png" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">"He has thought of nothing but his soft bed and his warm hearth ever since oh god he's behind me isn't he?"</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Everyone but Thorin is thrilled to see Bilbo, and they ask him how he managed to get past the goblins. Bilbo avoids the question; Gandalf gives him an odd look, but says it doesn't matter. Thorin presses the issue: he wants to know why Bilbo came back. Bilbo Baggins concedes that he <i>has </i>thought of the Shire often, and he truly does miss his home. He's come to better understand what Thorin's Company must feel regarding Erebor, and pledges that he will do his best to help them reclaim their homeland. Moved, the dwarves all look on the hobbit with a newfound respect. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b>The Book:</b> Bilbo, lost and still wearing the ring, wanders around a valley on the other side of the mountains. He hears voices, and creeps into a dell where the dwarves are encamped. Balin is the look-out, but cannot see the invisible hobbit. Gandalf and the dwarves are arguing about Bilbo; the wizard wants to go back and look for him, but the dwarves (the book does not mention which ones) argue that he's been more trouble than use. They blame Dori for dropping him. When he starts to defend himself, Bilbo slips off the ring and surprises them all. They are amazed that he managed to sneak by Balin, and ask him where he'd gone. He tells them the story, including Gollum and the game of riddles, but decides to leave out the part about the ring. Bilbo's story about dodging goblins, tricking Gollum, and sneaking past Balin wins him a new respect with the dwarves. Gandalf gives Bilbo an odd look, but then tells their side of events. After everybody is all caught up, Gandalf gives the order for everyone to move on. Bilbo complains of hunger, but since their rations are with the ponies (which the goblins still have), there's nothing to do but snack on some berries during their march. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b>What difference does it make?</b> This is an enormous difference. The book version of Bilbo Baggins gains the respect of the dwarves through his deeds - he sneaks past their best look-out, and tells an exciting tale of adventure in the mountains. Furthermore, Thorin has no strong feelings towards the hobbit at this point in the novel; his mild irritation at Bilbo Baggins is shared with the rest of the dwarves. In the movie, there isn't really enough time to swap stories, and nobody seems to care that he snuck up on them. The movie also revisits Thorin's disdain for Bilbo as a lodestone, and has Bilbo win the dwarves respect with a moving speech.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b>My Opinion: </b>This was <i>amazing.</i></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
It's not like I ever had a problem with the book's version of events. But this scene is a payoff to a lot of little things that Peter Jackson had been building up, almost independently of the novel's narrative: namely, Thorin's lack of respect for the hobbit, and the dwarves' quest to retake their homeland. In the book, the focus of the dwarves' quest is on the <i>gold</i>. The movie makes it pretty clear that they want their home back. Their goals are loftier and more noble. The movie also greatly emphasizes Thorin's disdain for Bilbo. These are both things that technically are in the book, but they're so lightly touched upon that they're almost insignificant details. The movie plays them up so much more.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
It's a good thing, too, because that gives us this scene. Bilbo Baggins is given a reason to help the dwarves that is simply not present in the book, where he just decides to go on an adventure for no real reason. This not only creates a stronger sense of nobility in the hobbit, but is still <i>entirely in character</i>. Peter Jackson has taken Bilbo's love for his home, a source of comedy in the books, and turned it into an altruistic motivation. This is a big change, but it is an <i>excellent</i> one. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzYOzlQk6lQdL9QbaVBhlccCCdWt6xCL3iiUF-W_79sH9HjzpZPSSM-Y6z9Bdps3MyFcP8uwVIc2bFtu590qpoj0lpIMdpiEIt4IK5cOT0GRRik5hofOzHVNhVKmU7nioc7KIybasRA1w8/s1600/outOfTheFryingPan3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzYOzlQk6lQdL9QbaVBhlccCCdWt6xCL3iiUF-W_79sH9HjzpZPSSM-Y6z9Bdps3MyFcP8uwVIc2bFtu590qpoj0lpIMdpiEIt4IK5cOT0GRRik5hofOzHVNhVKmU7nioc7KIybasRA1w8/s1600/outOfTheFryingPan3.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>"Yeah I'm pretty much the shit. No big deal, though."</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
Quoggyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05786575020157595857noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7029252908402120398.post-78086911401499658912013-06-16T16:27:00.002-07:002013-06-16T19:05:46.560-07:00Bilbo Escapes<b>The Movie:</b> "I won the game, you promised to show me the way out," Bilbo says. Gollum, however, refuses to help until Bilbo tells him what's in the hobbit's pocket. Gollum menacingly reaches into his pocket, then panics when he realizes that his ring is missing. He starts to scream that he has lost his precious. Gollum eventually calms down, however, when he realizes that Bilbo must have the ring in his pocket. Gollum then attacks Bilbo, who runs away. Not knowing the passageways, however, he quickly finds himself at a dead-end. Terrified, and seeing Gollum approach, he tries to force himself through a narrow crack in the cavern wall. It's a tight squeeze; his buttons burst off his jacket from the effort, and he collapses on the other side of the wall. The ring fortuitously falls onto his finger, and he turns invisible.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNWKYCFyLYjdfgrD85pjJQOg7t8pnZeZiI15ZLCf4NHhSuMscRSTvL_tutQhuk74xcZ0vvRczQAIaDhDA6KX4Lrsss24kp1TyDTGN7u2iR3PaD5z8Sn4Oo8YxbhL63je8Tpq9hsQXNLwUY/s1600/bilboEscapes1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNWKYCFyLYjdfgrD85pjJQOg7t8pnZeZiI15ZLCf4NHhSuMscRSTvL_tutQhuk74xcZ0vvRczQAIaDhDA6KX4Lrsss24kp1TyDTGN7u2iR3PaD5z8Sn4Oo8YxbhL63je8Tpq9hsQXNLwUY/s1600/bilboEscapes1.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>How many fucking references to <u>Lord of the Rings</u> do we need? Or does Peter Jackson think this is something that actually happens?</b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Gollum comes screaming through the hole in the wall, but, unable to see Bilbo, continues on his search for the hobbit. Bilbo follows Gollum all the way to the exit, where he sees Gandalf and the rest of Thorin's Company making <i>their </i>escape. However, Gollum is in the way; even invisible, Bilbo wouldn't be able to make it past without alerting the dangerous creature. Bilbo readies his blade for an easy kill, but, seeing the look of utter despair on Gollum's face, finds himself unable to go through with it. Instead, Bilbo opts to try and leap over Gollum. He makes the jump, but his foot strikes Gollum in the face, alerting the creature to his presence. There's nothing Gollum can do about it, though; defeated, he shrieks his hatred for Bilbo Baggins.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b>The Book:</b> Gollum promises to help Bilbo find his way out, but first, he needs to get something from his hut in the middle of the lake. Bilbo waits impatiently as Gollum takes his raft across the water; he doesn't know that Gollum intends to fetch the ring in order to kill Bilbo with it. Gollum can't find the ring, however, and begins to shriek about having lost the precious. He again asks Bilbo what the hobbit has in his pocket, and begins to paddle wildly back to shore. Bilbo turns and runs. His hand find its way into his pocket, where the ring accidentally slips onto his finger. He trips, and when Gollum runs right by him, realizes he is invisible. Bilbo follows Gollum, who starts to argue with himself. He watches Gollum navigate through the mountain to the way out. Fearing goblins, however, Gollum decides to just wait at a narrow passageway. The only way out is past him. Bilbo weighs the option of killing Gollum; pity wells in his heart, and he decides not to. He instead leaps over Gollum's head. Gollum screams how he hates Bilbo Baggins, but is too afraid of goblins to go any further.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-1ylRbwt55ADDAjViMX2Qnf2MRQHGPSoAB_63qgINVfIokjQ8XZYjk74FIty0MO97lfCyRDmSukL9uYYmpi1vuNvGu8bc3FIqc6zDDMblfj_2jfXQYfzFX5glk4XUA2qrLc1iuu2r_3bG/s1600/bilboEscapes2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-1ylRbwt55ADDAjViMX2Qnf2MRQHGPSoAB_63qgINVfIokjQ8XZYjk74FIty0MO97lfCyRDmSukL9uYYmpi1vuNvGu8bc3FIqc6zDDMblfj_2jfXQYfzFX5glk4XUA2qrLc1iuu2r_3bG/s1600/bilboEscapes2.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Whatever. Not like we'll ever see this guy again.</span></b></div>
<br />
Bilbo follows the passageway until he sees a leak of sunshine from an ajar door, guarded by several armored goblins. The goblins attack him; whether by accident or some evil trick of the ring, it was no longer on his finger, and Bilbo Baggins was no longer invisible. He quickly puts it back on, and as the goblins swarm around to look for him, he hides behind a barrel. Even invisible, he's afraid one of the milling goblins would bump into him. He eventually runs to the door, but it's too heavy for him to open. He tries to squeeze through the crack as the goblins realize that something is casting a shadow. With one last burst of energy, Bilbo squirms through, bursting off the buttons of his coat. He's escaped.<br />
<br />
<b>What difference does it make?</b> In the end, both versions of events largely show the same things: Gollum tries to attack Bilbo; Bilbo becomes invisible and follows Gollum to the exit; Bilbo decides not to kill Gollum, then jumps over him and escapes. There <i>are </i>a lot of changes, though, some of which really do start to add up: like the omission of Gollum's hut, or the goblins at the end of Bilbo's escape. At a certain point, Peter Jackson is no longer telling Tolkein's story, but his own.<br />
<br />
<b>My Opinion:</b> I was really disappointed to not see Gollum's little hut in the movie. I can understand the desire to streamline this whole scene - cutting out the goblins near the end was probably a good idea - but that little detail could have provided a cool visual, as well as given Gollum a little bit more depth. I'd liked to have seen where he sleeps, what sorts of things he's got stored there, etc. For the most part, though, I was happy with Bilbo's escape. The burst buttons I was particularly looking forward to. It's a good mental image that always stuck with me, years after reading the book for the first time. I don't think it matters if the buttons burst at a different time; it's the fact that they broke off at all that mattered.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkF_Q9GQ_JxaN6G6ARyIz-CNYbrNXZnzoltZ0w7vu6FnR9Hy4D6wsssXCadUKpedwVUTOLCUd5g7LpqzoAqXTdRxkukn2B6WBkXsNu-Qd2UzcXA8r0x2KAjPnx6u9Fr4nDnvpXlbx_j9Uu/s1600/bilboEscapes3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkF_Q9GQ_JxaN6G6ARyIz-CNYbrNXZnzoltZ0w7vu6FnR9Hy4D6wsssXCadUKpedwVUTOLCUd5g7LpqzoAqXTdRxkukn2B6WBkXsNu-Qd2UzcXA8r0x2KAjPnx6u9Fr4nDnvpXlbx_j9Uu/s1600/bilboEscapes3.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Hobbits are fat: now an important plot point!</b></span></div>
<br />
<br />
The only change that may have been important is the "trick" that the ring pulls on Bilbo. It's important that the One Ring's malevolent intelligence is hinted at so early on. This attribute is entirely missing from the movie. And I don't really understand the need to have the ring fall on his finger like it did with Frodo. Is it really just an attempt to shoe-horn another fucking reference? If so, I think we're at like 80 references to the original movie trilogy. It wasn't a necessary departure from Tolkein's writings, and actually pulled me away from the story for a few minutes.<br />
<br />Quoggyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05786575020157595857noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7029252908402120398.post-32562828419492196282013-06-15T14:41:00.000-07:002013-06-18T09:03:17.810-07:00What Have I Got In My Pocket?<b>The Movie:</b> Gollum screams for Bilbo to ask him a question. Bilbo requests a second to think, then, puts a hand in his pocket. He quietly says aloud, "What have I got in my pocket?" Gollum frowns, then grows angry, proclaiming the question to be against the rules. He wants another question. Bilbo refuses: "You said 'ask me a question.' Well that <i>is </i>my question."<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyG3lNay3na9GahTlpvh5gLPCB0TYvOWNzi0rTE8CdXwVwlfo7wP7fBF8A2R6tWiwhPyoG16AzbDW4wGUj7r1UHgUF-jAfAVxIijGnNVaIkW-Rmslx9NxEVFWLQzis9Brb0BW0TuJgic6y/s1600/whatHaveIGotInMyPocket1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyG3lNay3na9GahTlpvh5gLPCB0TYvOWNzi0rTE8CdXwVwlfo7wP7fBF8A2R6tWiwhPyoG16AzbDW4wGUj7r1UHgUF-jAfAVxIijGnNVaIkW-Rmslx9NxEVFWLQzis9Brb0BW0TuJgic6y/s1600/whatHaveIGotInMyPocket1.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>"Who's got the sword, motherfucker?"</b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Gollum wants three guesses, and Bilbo agrees. Gollum's first guess is "handses." Bilbo, having taken his hand out just in time, says, "Wrong." Gollum starts to freak out, and verbally runs through a list of things that he thinks somebody would keep in their pocket: "Fish-bones, goblins'-teeth, wet shells, bat-wing..." before settling on "knife." He tells himself to shut up, and when Bilbo tells him he's down to his last guess, each of Gollum's personalities offers an answer: "String! Or nothing!" Bilbo chides Gollum for using two guesses at once, and tells him that both are wrong. Defeated, Gollum collapses in tears.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b>The Book:</b> Gollum gets out of the boat and sits down next to Bilbo Baggins. He starts pawing and poking the hobbit, badgering him to ask a final question. Bilbo is unable to think of a riddle; he pinches himself, slaps himself, grips his sword, and feels around in his pocket. Only then does he remember the object he had absent-mindedly put there earlier. He says "What have I got in my pocket?", but not to Gollum - he's just wondering aloud to himself. Gollum interprets it as a riddle however, and argues that it wasn't a fair question. Bilbo decides to stick with his question, so repeats the question a little louder. Gollum demands three guesses, which Bilbo grants. He first guesses "handses," and Bilbo, who had "luckily just taken his hand out," says he's wrong. Gollum mentally makes a list of things he keeps in his pockets - fish-bones, goblins-teeth, wet shells, a bit of bat wings, a sharp stone to sharpen his fangs on - before settling on a knife. He's wrong again, so he takes his time coming up with a third answer. He hisses and sputters until Bilbo tells him that his time is up, so Gollum shrieks "String, or nothing!", trying to work two answers in at once. They're both wrong, and Bilbo is relieved. He knows that a riddle game is a sacred thing of immense antiquity, that even "wicked creatures were afraid to cheat." He muses that his last question was not a genuine riddle according to "the ancient laws," and he fears that Gollum will react poorly to being cheated. Instead, however, Gollum says that he will help Bilbo find a way out, but first, he needs to go get something.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioxYwEMaYJCBpFFEAEAr3ZUk6fg7d64xR3UdVCdoG29RlYGLNEtDVMzUAEpgJPd2vfLiwATThFwLtp_zlGSHuklHXZzloZBfhiNRWxJEsU1oqScxQren5GTgq3pk10JomBPyHFhl6f8c4T/s1600/whatHaveIGotInMyPocket2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioxYwEMaYJCBpFFEAEAr3ZUk6fg7d64xR3UdVCdoG29RlYGLNEtDVMzUAEpgJPd2vfLiwATThFwLtp_zlGSHuklHXZzloZBfhiNRWxJEsU1oqScxQren5GTgq3pk10JomBPyHFhl6f8c4T/s1600/whatHaveIGotInMyPocket2.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Seems legit.</b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b>What difference does it make? </b>In terms of plot, or narrative, the minor changes here make no difference at all. The only real changes are Bilbo's musing over the ring, the book's mention of the riddle game as a thing of sacred antiquity, and Gollum's reaction to losing (which I'll cover in a bit). The differences hardly matter, however; like <a href="http://hobbitdifferences.blogspot.com/2013/06/riddles-in-dark.html" target="_blank">the rest of the riddle game</a>, the book and movie are almost word-by-word the same. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b>My Opinion:</b> I think this scene is really, really good. The only changes that were made are those that are necessary to making a successful movie adaptation. It remained as faithful to the book as possible, even managing to squeeze in a few more references, like Gollum's list of things that go in pockets. I'm not sure this scene <i>could </i>have gone better. However, I'm still a little disappointed in it. It's hard to exactly explain why, but, here goes:</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
There's a facet of Bilbo Baggins' character in this scene, in the book, that the movie fails to convey. In the book, he doesn't know what's in his pocket; his musing "what have I got in my pocket?" is a total non-sequitur that he decides to run with on a whim. His gambit succeeds, but Bilbo then worries that Gollum will grow upset that he was cheated; the sacred riddle game is something that even wicked creatures play fairly. But Bilbo Baggins, an upstanding citizen of the Shire, cheated. This shows some quick thinking and guile that I really appreciated in the little hobbit. It's not what you'd expect from him. This scene, for the first time, is his time to shine.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
The movie doesn't exactly get the character wrong, here. Not at all. Bilbo still shines, and is still a witty, intelligent hero in this scene. But he already <i>knew </i>what was in his pocket, and there's no mention of the riddle game having any sort of inviolable laws that he just broke. The movie version is still great, but there's some depth to Bilbo Baggins that it just didn't get. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<br />Quoggyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05786575020157595857noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7029252908402120398.post-73143762422089904422013-06-15T14:01:00.001-07:002013-06-16T18:26:09.462-07:00The Riddles<b>The Movie:</b> Gollum gives this riddle first:<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>What has roots as nobody sees,</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Is taller than trees,</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Up, up, up it goes!</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>And yet, never grows?</i></div>
<i><br /></i>
Bilbo answers this one quickly and easily: "the mountain" . His response is:<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Thirty white horses on a red hill,</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>First they champ,</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Then they stamp,</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Then they stand still.</i></div>
<i><br /></i>
Gollum has to think for a little while, but he gets it eventually: "teeth."<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-hRaaIRVE_NtfYixjxe47rJsPoKpPn-KvnZqaP5wXYSD6U5-4LgJ94gUUjqYxjSl2hPgG02895ln3ylU9w-tZuzTQMfsh98IMFngbOnRHokqnD67ttKrs9FVdpN-2KIxUiMCqriKl-CIP/s1600/theRiddles1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-hRaaIRVE_NtfYixjxe47rJsPoKpPn-KvnZqaP5wXYSD6U5-4LgJ94gUUjqYxjSl2hPgG02895ln3ylU9w-tZuzTQMfsh98IMFngbOnRHokqnD67ttKrs9FVdpN-2KIxUiMCqriKl-CIP/s1600/theRiddles1.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>It's actually kind of mean for Bilbo to call attention to teeth. It'd be like saying "legs" to somebody in a wheelchair.</b></span></div>
<br />
Then it's his turn:<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Voiceless it cries,</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Wingless flutters,</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Toothless bites,</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Mouthless mutters.</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><br /></i></div>
"Just a minute," Bilbo mutters. He thinks for a moment, then sees ripples on the lake and gets his answer: "wind." He goes next:<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>A box without hinges, key, or lid,</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Yet golden treasure inside is hid</i>.</div>
<br />
Gollum has to think about this for a good long while before he comes to the correct answer: "eggses." He laughs, makes a comment about how his grandmother taught him to suck eggs, then gives his riddle:<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>All things it devours,</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Birds, beasts, trees, flowers,</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Gnaws iron, bites steel,</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Grinds hard stones to meal.</i></div>
<i><br /></i>
Bilbo doesn't know this one. He thinks long and hard about it, and is starting to despair, when Gollum says, "Time's up." That gives Bilbo the answer, however, and he triumphantly cries out, "Time! The answer is time!"<br />
<br />
<b>The Book:</b> Gollum goes first:<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>What has roots as nobody sees,</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Is taller than trees,</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Up, up, up it goes,</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>And yet never grows?</i></div>
<i><br /></i>
Bilbo calls the riddle easy and guesses it right away.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBfX7fJMI9-WMN_IstIWQPPcreVpn1gpa2jJ-bIp74DkI_ynpDp36LFlETnRR6K7uSppCFIRt5dk5PTgn0n9ZE-eLN2ZSBnqxFOyJWLNSBcMUO1PDcgCtw9TaxoAr6B7H7A162AKI5Fu26/s1600/theRiddles2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBfX7fJMI9-WMN_IstIWQPPcreVpn1gpa2jJ-bIp74DkI_ynpDp36LFlETnRR6K7uSppCFIRt5dk5PTgn0n9ZE-eLN2ZSBnqxFOyJWLNSBcMUO1PDcgCtw9TaxoAr6B7H7A162AKI5Fu26/s1600/theRiddles2.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>"Was that it? Man, I should've put money on this."</b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
All he can think about is the possibility of being eaten, so, the only riddle he can think of is one that involves eating:</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>Thirty white horses on a red hill,</i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>First they champ,</i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>Then they stamp,</i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>Then they stand still.</i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Gollum gets it quickly, then asks his second:</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>Voiceless it cries,</i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>Wingless flutters,</i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>Toothless bites,</i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>Mouthless mutters.</i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Bilbo's heard this one before, so has no trouble answering it. And, having gained a little confidence, thinks of a riddle that a nasty little underground creature would have some difficulty with.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>An eye in a blue face</i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>Saw an eye in a green face.</i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>"That eye is like to this eye"</i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>Said the first eye,</i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>"But in low place</i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>Not in high place."</i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Gollum has a hard time with this riddle, having forgotten many of the things that aren't a part of his underground life. He eventually thinks of his grandmother, whom he once lived with, and that gives him the answer: "sun on the daisies." Being reminded of life above ground makes him angry, so he tries a more difficult riddle next:</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>It cannot be seen, cannot be felt,</i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>Cannot be heard, cannot be smelt,</i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>It lies behind stars and under hills,</i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>And empty holes it fills.</i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>It comes first and follows after,</i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>Ends life, kills laughter.</i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Once again, however, Bilbo Baggins has heard this one, and comes up with the answer quickly: "Dark." He can't think of a difficult riddle, so he asks an easy riddle to buy himself a little more time:</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>A box without hinges, key, or lid,</i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>Yet golden treasure inside is hid.</i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
This proves harder than Bilbo expected, however, and watches Gollum struggle to come up with an answer. Once again, Gollum thinks of his grandmother, and how he once taught her to suck eggs. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQxcWghCCAc4TTg6vyRuBqPO4TMEFXwK4PKXLlmMLWBv-Bts8ihHY3fURvnvvYyJpKYaT5Zm4m-78akTFGPjV76X2MjtGeeavh1kyIU5hqjHVGtT4d5eKwPSO7moOUP3UIyBl2omU7nKG1/s1600/theRiddles3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQxcWghCCAc4TTg6vyRuBqPO4TMEFXwK4PKXLlmMLWBv-Bts8ihHY3fURvnvvYyJpKYaT5Zm4m-78akTFGPjV76X2MjtGeeavh1kyIU5hqjHVGtT4d5eKwPSO7moOUP3UIyBl2omU7nKG1/s1600/theRiddles3.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>I'll <i>bet </i>he taught her to suck... no. No, I can't. I just can't say it.</b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
That's his answer: "Eggses!" He's so flustered by this, that he poses his own easy riddle:</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>Alive without breath,</i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>As cold as death;</i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>Never thirsty, ever drinking,</i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>All in mail never clinking.</i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Similar to Gollum's response to Bilbo's "easy" eggs riddle, however, Bilbo has more difficulty with this one than Gollum expects. It isn't until Gollum makes to get out of his boat, and accidentally scares a fish into jumping at Bilbo's feet, does the hobbit get the answer: "fish." Bilbo, once again in a hurry, gives another quick riddle:</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>No-legs lay on one-leg, two-legs sat near three-legs, four-legs got some.</i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Sure enough, Gollum gets it correct right away: "Fish on a little table, man at table sitting on a stool, the cat has the bones." He comes up with his last riddle:</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>This thing all things devours;</i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>Birds, beasts, trees, flowers;</i> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>Gnaws iron, bites steel;</i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>Grinds hard stones to meal;</i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>Slays king, ruins town,</i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>And beats high mountain down</i>.</div>
<br />
Bilbo is stumped. He can't think of this one at all. He grows frightened, and as Gollum gets out of his boat, he tries to ask for more time. However, he's so afraid that he can only manage to squeak out a word: "time!" By pure luck, he gets the answer right.<br />
<br />
<b>What difference does it make?</b> The riddle game in the book is longer and more nuanced. It allows us to see into the minds of Gollum and Bilbo, and to understand each character a little better. The difficulty they have with riddles that the other thinks easy, for example, and how Bilbo tries to use a riddle that incorporates the above-ground world. The movie version lacks some of the detail that the book provides.<br />
<br />
<b>My Opinion:</b> This is a necessary sacrifice when adapting a book into a movie. As much as I loved the scene, I would have gotten bored if the movie had included every riddle that was in the book. They had to pick and choose which ones to use, and I frankly think they made excellent choices. Some of the riddles they cut out were pretty good (like the "dark" one), but some were just baffling. Like that one about "no-legs laying on one-leg"? That one was just ridiculous! Nevertheless, though, I think Peter Jackson did a great job, and made some necessary changes in a way that kept this important scene largely intact.<br />
<br />
That being said: what was up with the change about Gollum and his grandmother? In the book, he teaches her to suck eggs. In the movie, she teaches him. This is such an unimportant detail that I loathe to even mention it, but, I'm honestly just confused. <i>Why </i>was it even worth changing?Quoggyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05786575020157595857noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7029252908402120398.post-81179207581879345622013-06-15T13:11:00.001-07:002013-06-16T18:03:13.823-07:00Riddles in the Dark<b>The Movie:</b> Bilbo makes his way to a vast underground lake, navigating by the sound of Gollum's voice; Gollum is singing a song in the distance as he beats the goblin with a rock. Hiding behind a rock, Bilbo Baggins watches the glow of his sword flicker and fade as the goblin dies. Gollum swims across the lake with his raft and sneaks up on the hobbit. He calls Bilbo a "meaty mouthful," but Bilbo sticks the point of his sword to Gollum's throat before he can move. Gollum asks Bilbo what he is, and he responds, "My name is Bilbo Baggins... a hobbit from the Shire." When Gollum threatens to eat the hobbit, Bilbo swings his sword around and demands to be shown the way out. Gollum begins to argue with himself - one personality is kind, and wants to help, but the other is cruel and harsh. Bilbo is confused, and says he doesn't have time for games. Perking up at the word "games," Gollum offers Bilbo a riddle, which Bilbo answers correctly. The "angry" personality doesn't want to play the riddle game, and wants to kill Bilbo Baggins immediately.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrPn0GaygUMIIj5pfG7Mlp40JtXmD8NKJr3uKBKVeUwZNPEmZZXF_vJUS1okDDDxBzI8di463ZdUmmAjZbxO2movZC2Sp-CDilQYq40Y8wwtZ4PQBa865S6bqSfvA8b9qvx2cKlrvJWEcb/s1600/riddlesInTheDark1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrPn0GaygUMIIj5pfG7Mlp40JtXmD8NKJr3uKBKVeUwZNPEmZZXF_vJUS1okDDDxBzI8di463ZdUmmAjZbxO2movZC2Sp-CDilQYq40Y8wwtZ4PQBa865S6bqSfvA8b9qvx2cKlrvJWEcb/s1600/riddlesInTheDark1.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>"I am going to get raped to death by a schizophrenic hobo in a <i>fucking </i>cave. This is not how I saw things ending."</b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Bilbo appeals to the kinder personality, begging to play the riddle game, "just you and me." If he wins, Gollum will show him the way out. If he loses (both of Gollum's personalities agree), Gollum will eat him. Bilbo accepts these terms, sheathes his sword, and dives straight into the riddles. They offer each other riddles, each getting progressively more difficult. Gollum continues to grow angry, at one point forcing Bilbo to draw his sword in self defense. He eventually picks up a rock and menacingly says that Bilbo gets one more question. Bilbo is unable to think of anything, so Gollum screams, "Ask us!"</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitM0FjYdGq1IIUbMUrfyaBVzmSd2MY1AgCRP-hb4OlSZUdUlcFEPzEKrJHT2VX6Bs_BQfAxsSBpwUcBW2tN-jRkMAyMKXE5WRH_zbTh8-pwA9NJUpRoii9xxhqZrMcrIUcRrdLD-4nv7Pv/s1600/riddlesInTheDark2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitM0FjYdGq1IIUbMUrfyaBVzmSd2MY1AgCRP-hb4OlSZUdUlcFEPzEKrJHT2VX6Bs_BQfAxsSBpwUcBW2tN-jRkMAyMKXE5WRH_zbTh8-pwA9NJUpRoii9xxhqZrMcrIUcRrdLD-4nv7Pv/s1600/riddlesInTheDark2.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Christ, Gollum, calm down. It's polite of you to let him have some last words and all, but you don't HAVE to wait if you wanna just kill him.</b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b>The Book:</b> Bilbo never follows Gollum to the lake, and never even knows of the creatures existence at first. Bilbo has a seat at the lake's edge, at the end of his wits, while Gollum watches him from a distance. He uses his tiny boat to swim across the lake, and surprises Bilbo, but doesn't leave his raft to do so. In fact, he remains in it for most of the game's duration. He asks Bilbo what he is, to which the hobbit responds, "I am Mr Bilbo Baggins." Gollum, wary of Bilbo's sword, offers a game of riddles in order to get a measure of Bilbo's character. Bilbo agrees, and they go back and forth with their riddles. Gollum eventually starts to get angry and tired of the game, so he gets out of his boat, sits down next to Bilbo Baggins, and says that Bilbo has just one more question. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b>What difference does it make?</b> Bilbo's sword is not a necessary source of light in the movie. In the book, it's his only way to see anything (except for Gollum's eyes); without it, he'd be blind in the dark. Therefore, he keeps it unsheathed at all times. There seems to be a mysterious source of light in the movie that lets Bilbo and Gollum see one another without the sword's glow. This doesn't really make a huge difference in how events play out, however.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
A much more noticeable difference is one I alluded to in <a href="http://hobbitdifferences.blogspot.com/2013/06/gollum.html" target="_blank">my post about Gollum</a>; specifically, his split personalities. They not only bicker with one another in the movie in a way that is obviously not in the book, but it's an important part of the movie. The reason Bilbo agrees to the game of riddles is an attempt to pacify Gollum, to placate the "good" side in the hopes that he'll be offered a way out, instead of being attacked by the "bad" side.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF4jNvt-FHvu-VNo5M7bZAuAFrtxcbbwhbcWUoJW4xQjHweoighQK-YTVN9w8LxZYDSWCDa85vrg1F7YWhCjUEHisM2cM2X2zGKA8Gzhi0YCjw1YfycmB9PxkrrRcLZGSHQ6x_4SiB7ov0/s1600/riddlesInTheDark3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF4jNvt-FHvu-VNo5M7bZAuAFrtxcbbwhbcWUoJW4xQjHweoighQK-YTVN9w8LxZYDSWCDa85vrg1F7YWhCjUEHisM2cM2X2zGKA8Gzhi0YCjw1YfycmB9PxkrrRcLZGSHQ6x_4SiB7ov0/s1600/riddlesInTheDark3.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>...or whatever is up with <i>this </i>side.</b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b>My Opinion:</b> The inexplicable source of light in the cave is kind of annoying, but it's the sort of thing that plays out often enough in movies that it doesn't matter much; it's not like it's necessary for Bilbo to only be able to see Gollum by the light of his sword (and, in fact, when he <i>does </i>sheathe his sword in the book, there is no explanation for how he is able to see then, either!). It was worth it to see the light flicker as the goblin died; that was a neat touch that I was happy to see. The split personalities weren't a problem, either; they're part of the overall <u>Lord of the Rings</u> canon, and added a nice bit of depth to both Gollum and Bilbo. I'm always annoyed that the movie cuts out various scenes or lines of dialogue that portrayed Bilbo as a good person; I can't have too much of a problem with a scene that serves the same purpose!</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
It's important to stress, by the way, exactly how <i>pedantic </i>I am being right now. This is not only one of the best scenes in the movie, but it's also the most faithful as well. It's obvious that Peter Jackson went to a great effort to keep this as close to the source material as possible, and it really shows; you can almost follow their dialogue, word for word, in the book. </div>
Quoggyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05786575020157595857noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7029252908402120398.post-40363887726460114502013-06-13T10:24:00.002-07:002013-06-13T15:51:06.992-07:00Gollum<b>The Movie:</b> Gollum is humanoid, emaciated, with large pale eyes. He has nine teeth, and only a few strands of hair. He is naked save for a loincloth. He occasionally makes a coughing noise that sounds like <i>"gollum."</i> He is clearly mentally ill, and has at least two personalities - one fawning and obsequious, the other cruel and cunning. The two personalities argue, and call each other, as well as the ring, "precious."<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLSrHqvb4m7ROG0KkRlx_Ur6hLOEhBy_-fJWRhhdlnf1Uh1wKZeV5-wwq-VpNCov3mxigEtyvCPeQC4HioRTVydwQQrUKOaCsI7PlNkNxZ9GXuJgQ8SvS3ZHb0TozRQU0ZA3P4lZ3EEs8H/s1600/gollum1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLSrHqvb4m7ROG0KkRlx_Ur6hLOEhBy_-fJWRhhdlnf1Uh1wKZeV5-wwq-VpNCov3mxigEtyvCPeQC4HioRTVydwQQrUKOaCsI7PlNkNxZ9GXuJgQ8SvS3ZHb0TozRQU0ZA3P4lZ3EEs8H/s1600/gollum1.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Here he is doing his best Gabourey Sidibe impression.</b></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<b>The Book:</b> He is described as a "small slimy creature," who is "dark as the darkness." Only his eyes stand out - large and pale. He sees in the dark with eyes that shine like lanterns. His feet are webbed, and he has <i>six </i>teeth. He calls himself and the ring "precious," but does not appear to have a split personality; he simply has picked up a habit of talking to himself after years of isolation. He does not cough, but instead makes a disgusting swallowing noise that sounds like <i>"gollum."</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<b>What difference does it make?</b> None at all. The movie version is almost exactly like the book version.<br />
<br />
<b>My Opinion:</b> It's pretty hard to have anything bad to say about Andy Serkis' Gollum. The movie version not only fits with what's in the book, but adds depth and characterization that Tolkein himself never had. The "split personality" aspect of Gollum is not in <u>The Hobbit</u>, but it <i>is </i>in the trilogy (if not quite as pronounced as the movies make it out to be). I have absolutely no problem with the film showing this side of the character; it fits the scene, and keeps continuity intact. The change to the eyes is a good one, too. How is Gollum supposed to sneak around in the dark with eyes that explicitly act as lamps? How does an eye that <i>acts </i>as a source of light actually let one see? Peter Jackson's version makes more sense.<br />
<br />
I was a little disappointed that Gollum's<i> </i>eponymous <i>"gollum" </i>noise was changed from a weird swallowing noise to a cough. The book's version makes him look disgusting and gross, whereas the movie just makes him look like he's got a cold or something. The swallowing noise might have sounded odd, but, that's kinda the point. That's... pretty much the only flaw I can find, here.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc2-0iC_46dusdN7MU4YIPoMQGjumHC4egkCkRy0WPQBpyG2CE7ZvIfoDW5nvWJHWVL1zBG5AOFf2CPfIiPXLiXXrbcdFHXi9vyiuPT6jCzHnzFjZZVv2Wu8xUh7Bt7F0_UoUNZP1hw3Ok/s1600/gollum2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc2-0iC_46dusdN7MU4YIPoMQGjumHC4egkCkRy0WPQBpyG2CE7ZvIfoDW5nvWJHWVL1zBG5AOFf2CPfIiPXLiXXrbcdFHXi9vyiuPT6jCzHnzFjZZVv2Wu8xUh7Bt7F0_UoUNZP1hw3Ok/s1600/gollum2.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>"I like Andy Serkis' portrayal of Gollum" may be the least controversial opinion about <u>Lord of the Rings</u>, ever.</b></span></div>
<br />Quoggyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05786575020157595857noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7029252908402120398.post-34018232773911461862013-06-13T09:53:00.002-07:002013-06-13T15:57:51.520-07:00Bilbo Finds the Ring<b>The Movie:</b> Bilbo wakes up in a patch of large mushrooms. The goblin he had fought with earlier is with him, but unconscious. Hidden in the mushrooms, he watches as a rasping creature slinks out of the shadows - it's Gollum. Gollum, pleased with the prospect of having so much fresh meat, begins to drag the goblin away. It struggles, so he beats it with a rock until it stops moving. As a result, a golden ring falls out of Gollum's pocket. He drags the goblin away, leaving the ring behind. Bilbo Baggins waits until Gollum has left, then crawls out of the mushrooms. He finds his sword under some mushrooms, then picks up the ring and pockets it.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnVNZVi537hVWkh6nN2I6Ax83FT8zOsdv_HiejvjZco0yQRqR3eYsBYykKs5ce0oVhDt6NfPn6dS_886Mr0Y95PT3HBJK9h1VKlC_wc8kr-pi66SuZhvzXzSk6KJ2HIVzCHAIKEuJF6RVc/s1600/bilboFindstheRing1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnVNZVi537hVWkh6nN2I6Ax83FT8zOsdv_HiejvjZco0yQRqR3eYsBYykKs5ce0oVhDt6NfPn6dS_886Mr0Y95PT3HBJK9h1VKlC_wc8kr-pi66SuZhvzXzSk6KJ2HIVzCHAIKEuJF6RVc/s1600/bilboFindstheRing1.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>"I cannot <i>wait </i>to go home and pawn this."</b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b>The Book:</b> Bilbo awakens in total darkness; it's so dark he literally cannot tell the difference between having his eyes open or closed. He gropes around on all fours, and his hand accidentally brushes against a small ring of cold metal. He puts it in his pocket without thinking and continues on his way. He sits down for a moment. He feels for his pipe, then for his tobacco, but cannot find a match. That's the last straw for Bilbo Baggins' hopes, and he despairs for a moment. He draws his sword, and noticing that it "shone pale and dim before his eyes," found enough hope to continue. Using his sword as a source of light, he trots along.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b>What difference does it make?</b> This is actually a pretty big difference. In the book, Bilbo just tosses the ring in his pocket while he's freaking out in the dark, and never gives it a second thought until the game of riddles (I'll discuss how this actually affects that game later). He doesn't know that it belongs to Gollum, that it's made of gold, or anything about it. In the movie, he deliberately steals a precious object from an unhinged cave-dweller, after stopping to give it a close look.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b>My Opinion:</b> I do like this change, honestly, though there is both good and bad to it. The book keeps Bilbo's morality and good character intact by having him pocket an object he finds abandoned in some cave without a second thought. He forgets he even has it until he puts his hand in his pocket later. In the movie, he sees that it belongs to somebody, but still takes it. Furthermore, it's so incredibly unlikely for Bilbo to have found the ring in the book - it almost makes it look like he found it by some force of fate, as if the ring <i>wanted </i>to be found.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
However, both problems can be easily explained in the framework of the movie. If the ring did indeed want a new owner, then having it "luckily" fall out of Gollum's pocket at the right moment serves the exact same purpose as having Bilbo stumble upon it by blind luck. Furthermore, Bilbo Baggins is a <i>burglar</i>. Having him steal things is pretty much par for course. It's all honestly worth it, in my opinion, to answer the question I've had for so long: if Gollum loves the ring so much, why would he keep it in a pile of garbage in his little hut? How can he go so long without noticing its missing? The movie, at least, provides an answer.</div>
<br />Quoggyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05786575020157595857noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7029252908402120398.post-9935982642807178652013-06-11T22:31:00.002-07:002013-06-11T22:31:26.057-07:00Glowing Swords<b>The Movie:</b> Bilbo's sword glows bright blue whenever orcs or goblins are nearby. This is a plot point - it warns him when an attack is imminent. He uses it to gauge if a nearby goblin is alive or dead, and it's bright enough that he can hold it in front of him like a torch when it's dark out.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6iJSXNbmHW048ytdi9KQsozPSdMIAnQ-0XGeqEWOGWnskQA5rVgvorKhSfhw3HnJCvIlpElP7iqw8bbpSPUGJ9RXAnzRZRl9cKujqzxzXkjt3ZUNzc4V0nqhyZH2p1zUoTUyau4ut95uJ/s1600/swords3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6iJSXNbmHW048ytdi9KQsozPSdMIAnQ-0XGeqEWOGWnskQA5rVgvorKhSfhw3HnJCvIlpElP7iqw8bbpSPUGJ9RXAnzRZRl9cKujqzxzXkjt3ZUNzc4V0nqhyZH2p1zUoTUyau4ut95uJ/s1600/swords3.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Gandalf makes it clear to Bilbo that this is because of the elvish make of the blade. His sword, however, does not glow blue in the presence of orcs or goblins.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3nvHbz_VydvOygU2LHmhpCDnu-R9HJDqA5lFJr92vflVdNNKSqvcIoYbJX6jjjmkvfAqvmeXK1wYqOeT0Hv6D33oG8tGFbpOHOovmiAQtvwON5po1DQy7wixfYfiJxRt2arrhUdW_ggQl/s1600/swords2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3nvHbz_VydvOygU2LHmhpCDnu-R9HJDqA5lFJr92vflVdNNKSqvcIoYbJX6jjjmkvfAqvmeXK1wYqOeT0Hv6D33oG8tGFbpOHOovmiAQtvwON5po1DQy7wixfYfiJxRt2arrhUdW_ggQl/s1600/swords2.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Neither does Thorin's.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbkUSTDFMfbaTwOkrUAZnHNxTsuisy08XlymkcnONhVT8216Wi0_zp810-IliW-XoBSr0k5anUgWfkdTtY6XWz4aJ1gEMthZXjh3BUCD3Fm0FHavXRpAueACtS9ygyf4Uqt-K0uwDVr2J1/s1600/swords1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbkUSTDFMfbaTwOkrUAZnHNxTsuisy08XlymkcnONhVT8216Wi0_zp810-IliW-XoBSr0k5anUgWfkdTtY6XWz4aJ1gEMthZXjh3BUCD3Fm0FHavXRpAueACtS9ygyf4Uqt-K0uwDVr2J1/s1600/swords1.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b>The Book:</b> There is explicit mention of both Orcrist and Glamdring "shining cold and bright" in the presence of goblins. Bilbo actually notices the glowing of his own blade <i>after </i>the glowing of theirs. Only then does he piece together that his sword must have been made in the same place as Thorin's and Gandalf's.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b>What difference does it make?</b> As far as details go, this is about as minor as it gets. Showing Orcrist and Glamdring glowing would have been a nice touch, but otherwise would have contributed nothing to the story.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b>My Opinion:</b> Alright, I know this makes me one of <i>those </i>people, but the sword thing really bothered me. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
On the one hand, it was made pretty clear in the books that the swords glow. It's not super important for Orcrist and Glamdring to glow - unlike Bilbo's, where it's a necessary part of the story - but it's still a detail that is specifically mentioned, and one that should have been visually communicated in the movie. Like Gandalf's beard or pointy hat; technically neither are necessary for the character, and don't do anything to the plot, but they were <i>mentioned </i>in the book and <i>deserve </i>to be in the movie! Similarly, there's no reason <i>not </i>to have the swords glow.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
On the other hand... it violates the movie's own internal logic! If only Bilbo's sword is meant to glow, for some reason, then you need to give us a reason for that. "It belonged to a sorcerer who cast a spell on it" or something. Saying that it will glow blue because "it was made by elves" would be fine if you didn't present two other swords, say they were made by elves, and not have them glow! If your movie is going to set rules, it has to follow them. Especially if they violate what's in the fucking book.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
Quoggyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05786575020157595857noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7029252908402120398.post-45670914342345804162013-06-11T22:00:00.001-07:002013-07-02T19:30:38.114-07:00Goblin Town<b>The Movie: </b>The dwarves are presented to the Goblin King. He is enormous, as large as a troll, and covered in sores and pustules. He demands that they explain their presence, afraid that they might be spies or thieves. When they refuse to talk, he threatens to torture them, starting with the youngest, Ori. Thorin speaks up and steps forward. The Goblin King recognizes the King Under the Mountain, insults him a little, then mentions that "a pale orc, astride a white warg" has placed a bounty on his head. He turns to what appears to be his royal scribe/messenger... thing, and asks him to relay the message to Azog.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1BGHOBJNGV7YrcZc3w-og7yd9XEaF6WI0w6AcZi6GmCGaIbQmDSI-N90Usd84Pc6PiSaa3u0xW6TOG1ydXst-BISmqO1iPLUwBq-AMev9Ylz7RYe6kqPTVhzXwHT0j40dFL8bNzTe-2cw/s1600/goblinKing1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1BGHOBJNGV7YrcZc3w-og7yd9XEaF6WI0w6AcZi6GmCGaIbQmDSI-N90Usd84Pc6PiSaa3u0xW6TOG1ydXst-BISmqO1iPLUwBq-AMev9Ylz7RYe6kqPTVhzXwHT0j40dFL8bNzTe-2cw/s1600/goblinKing1.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>This fucking guy's got more screentime than half the dwarves.</b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
The Goblin King then inexplicably breaks out in song. One of the goblins hisses at the sight of Orcrist and throws it to the ground. The Goblin King recognizes it as the Goblin Cleaver and freaks out, calling it "Biter" and "The Blade That Sliced a Thousand Necks." He demands the dwarves all be killed, and Thorin beheaded. They are saved by a flash of a light and an explosion. Gandalf is here to save the day.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT87RGOko3BtRuJaLJEIuGqYGFWqwk8J3oIK1dhdvaF2eCVITTRN_a8SzN7L2s7sS7CVJkV8Se4aOp_INAHEljNLODgfSyr8V6gio51BRSVnodPnRTDPwyH9eUR-aMaG9B9szIAISLF2T3/s1600/goblinKing2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT87RGOko3BtRuJaLJEIuGqYGFWqwk8J3oIK1dhdvaF2eCVITTRN_a8SzN7L2s7sS7CVJkV8Se4aOp_INAHEljNLODgfSyr8V6gio51BRSVnodPnRTDPwyH9eUR-aMaG9B9szIAISLF2T3/s1600/goblinKing2.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Spoiler alert: this plot device ain't getting old anytime soon.</b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
He calls for the dwarves to take up arms and fight. The Goblin King is knocked off the platform by Thorin. After an extended action scene, Thorin's Company fights its way through Goblin Town. The Goblin King blocks their exit, and snarls "What are you going to do now, wizard?" After Gandalf disembowels him, he says, "That'll do it," and dies. The bridge collapses, and the Company fall several hundred feet to safety. Bofur opines that the situation could have gone worse, then the Goblin King collapses on them.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b>The Book:</b> The Goblin King, who is described as "a tremendous goblin with a huge head," demands to know who the dwarves are and what they are going in his kingdom. Thorin immediately offers up his name, then tries to assure the Goblin King that they meant no harm, and were simply seeking shelter from a storm. He goes on to say that they are on a trip to visit family that reside east of "these truly hospitable mountains." One of the goblins calls him a liar, holding up Thorin's sword. The Great Goblin, recognizing Orcrist, gives a howl of rage and orders their deaths, rushing forward to kill Thorin himself. Just then the cavern goes dark, and a great fire explodes into a tower of sparks that sends the goblins running. Gandalf's sword strikes the Great Goblin dead, and Thorin's Company takes the opportunity to escape. Dori carries Bilbo on his shoulders as they follow Gandalf. Gandalf and Thorin fight a few guards during their escape, but never quite reach the "epic battle" scale of the movie. The goblins then decide to try something different; they snuff out their torches and sneak up on the dwarves. This is how they snuck up on Dori and grabbed him, causing Bilbo to fall into blackness.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b>What difference does it make?</b> The motivations of the goblins are quite different in book and film. In the novel, they're simply suspicious of the dwarves at first. They may be rough with their prisoners, but they only become truly violent when they realize that the leader of the Company is wielding a sword that is known for killing goblins. The Great Goblin decides to kill them much quicker in the book, due to the bounty placed on their heads by Azog the Defiler. This, of course, is not present in the novel at all, since Azog isn't in the novel. There is no "final fight" with the Goblin King; he dies pretty early, and pretty easily. The goblins never try to change their tactics. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Thorin is treated a little more differently, too. In the movie he is obstinate, refusing to talk at all until Ori (who, it's worth noting, is <i>not </i>the youngest dwarf - Fili and Kili are younger) is threatened. In the book he is not only a great deal more meek, but kind of a coward, too - he lies to the Goblin King to avoid his wrath, and makes a fawning comment about the hospitality of the Misty Mountains. </div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<b>My Opinion:</b> I'm not going to get into the details of the action scene that bothered me, like Gandalf's "sword so sharp you won't even know I beheaded you until your head rolls off your shoulders" anime bullshit, but the sheer length and silliness of it was somewhat tiring. Yeah, it was exciting, but it was so painfully unnecessary that I was really starting to feel like the story was just dragging on at this point. It wasn't technically a change from the book - they did escape, and they did have to fight their way through at times - but it was pretty exhausting. And once again, the lack of danger to the dwarves kind of cuts away all of the tension - if they can fight through an army of goblins without any one of them getting injured or separated, and then fall several hundred feet, why should I feel <i>any </i>suspense?<br />
<br />
I'll say this: the Goblin King's "That'll do it!" is the worst part of this movie. It's cringeworthy, painful, stupid, and makes me squirm uncomfortably every time I see it. I honestly can't decide why it's in this fucking movie, or what Peter Jackson was thinking. He is literally changing the works of esteemed author J.R.R. Tolkein and replacing them with <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaqOPPowh_E" target="_blank">lines out of fucking Jason X.</a><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFdrx4GNGkdcu4fNa-YLUHAiEpYHlhZyqAvRI2Z7lpeazspCRrx9dD9G-Qk7j6hpCPXnFPm5yX2ThR5Tn0OsK0dYQSDs9tUSrVpY99yUPEiVZdEJtEq32rkjWekvedmb3eDxTNZA6-hOfM/s1600/goblinKing3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFdrx4GNGkdcu4fNa-YLUHAiEpYHlhZyqAvRI2Z7lpeazspCRrx9dD9G-Qk7j6hpCPXnFPm5yX2ThR5Tn0OsK0dYQSDs9tUSrVpY99yUPEiVZdEJtEq32rkjWekvedmb3eDxTNZA6-hOfM/s1600/goblinKing3.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Clearly, that's just the Great Goblin's favorite movie. </b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
While I didn't mind the change in how Bilbo got separated from the rest of the group, I have to say, a small part of me was disappointed that the movie didn't have any scenes of him being carried on Dori's shoulders. It's not a big detail, and honestly may have been difficult to pull off on film (especially if we're to take Bilbo Baggins seriously as a helpful member of the group), but I was kind of hoping to see it. Oh, well.</div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />Quoggyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05786575020157595857noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7029252908402120398.post-49220322756542564482013-05-26T16:20:00.001-07:002013-05-26T16:20:23.239-07:00The Goblin's Song<b>The Movie:</b> The goblins do not sing while transporting the dwarves. The Goblin King, however, sings a song to taunt Thorin and his Company. It goes like this:<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Bones will be shattered.</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Necks will be wrung,</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>You'll be beaten and battered,</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>From racks you'll be hung.</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>You will die down here and never be found!</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Down in the deep of Goblin-town!</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b>The Book:</b> The goblins sing on their way to Goblin-town, keeping time with the flap of their feet on the stone. The song they sing in the novel is much different from the movie:</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Clap! Snap! the black crack!</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Grip, grab! Pinch, nab!</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>And down down to Goblin-town</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>You go, my lad!</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Clash, crash! Crush, smash!</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Hammer and tongs! Knocker and gongs!</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Pound, pound, far underground!</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Ho, ho! My lad!</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Swish, smack! Whip crack!</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Batter and beat! Yammer and bleat!</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Work, work! Nor dare to shirk,</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>While Goblins quaff, and Goblins laugh,</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Round and round far underground,</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Below my lad!</i></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b>What difference does it make? </b>It doesn't really matter. The song the goblins sing is not important to the novel. It is a change, however, and one that did not need to be made.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b>My Opinion:</b> This is an awful change. Aside from the fact that this was my <i>favorite </i>song from the book, there wasn't any purpose to this change! This isn't like with the elves, where Peter Jackson decided that everybody's singing might change the tone of the movie. He's having the goblins sing either way. But instead of using the actual song from the novel, he's just made one up himself! Peter Jackson has literally looked at the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien, said "I could do better," and made a pointless alteration to the source material. There is no reason not to have used the book's song. You can still have the Goblin King sing it to taunt the dwarves, it works just as well for that. Make the changes you need to make so that the story works in a new medium, but you're not allowed to just rewrite parts that you think you can do better. The new lyrics fucking suck, anyway.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOt6_KHV3F20ls3zHZXdzKoD7dg4W6OmTvMbv5M4GIh1aeucI0gc1npyQox0Szf0IOOenXZDQmWsJS3AKpev3N7VnDf9WZBxpcI8QM5q-Rwn36Sc3X40FAC93DYwQYd36niuT3ZH5BhENp/s1600/goblinsSong1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOt6_KHV3F20ls3zHZXdzKoD7dg4W6OmTvMbv5M4GIh1aeucI0gc1npyQox0Szf0IOOenXZDQmWsJS3AKpev3N7VnDf9WZBxpcI8QM5q-Rwn36Sc3X40FAC93DYwQYd36niuT3ZH5BhENp/s1600/goblinsSong1.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Maybe the point was to make the audience feel the suffering of the dwarves?</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
Quoggyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05786575020157595857noreply@blogger.com7