Unpopular Geek Media Opinions

[Ruin Explorer]

And, for the record, I saw the first Hobbit movie in a theatre. The second on streaming. I haven't made it even an hour into the third yet, despite several attempts. Very similar to my viewing of the Star Wars prequel series.

I saw all three at the cinema, but literally only because they were free to us and the free tickets were use 'em or lose 'em on a weekly or monthly basis, I forget which. You did well to even get an hour into the third, we just kept hoping it would improve and it just kept getting worse.

 

[Ryujin]

I saw all three at the cinema, but literally only because they were free to us and the free tickets were use 'em or lose 'em on a weekly or monthly basis, I forget which. You did well to even get an hour into the third, we just kept hoping it would improve and it just kept getting worse.

The series would have made one nice, 90 minute movie. I really want to see Topher Grace's stripped down version, if it ever becomes available.

 

[Riley]

The best Hobbit film IMO is Rankin-Bass’s.

The one other Hobbit film I enjoy is “M4’s ‘The Hobbit’ Book Edit.”

M4 did a fabulous job crafting a good, modern Hobbit movie. To do so, they used about half of Peter [fixed] Jackson’s three official Hobbit films, and did some very clever editing, including digitally-altering a few ridiculous-but-irreplacable scenes to remove their ridiculous elements. (Most essentially: they removed Smaug’s transient molten gold sheen in one shot, and removed Bard’s son from that rooftop ballista shot).

 

[Ryujin]

The best Hobbit film IMO is Rankin-Bass’s.

The one other Hobbit film I enjoy is “M4’s The Hobbit Book Edit.”

M4 did a fabulous job crafting a good, modern Hobbit movie. To do so, they used about half of Robert Jackson’s three official Hobbit films, and did some very clever editing, including digitally-altering a few ridiculous-but-irreplacable scenes remove the ridiculous elements. (Most essentially: they removed Smaug’s transient molten gold sheen in one shot, and removed Bard’s son from that rooftop ballista shot).

Too bad they couldn't remove the whole Ballista thing.

 

[Riley]

Too bad they couldn't remove the whole Ballista thing.

Yes.

Though I long-ago found Bard and his Black Arrow one of the more implausible, sudden, weak, and/or disappointing parts of the book - and esp. of Rankin-Bass’s film and the storybook album(!) which were my first exposures to The Hobbit. It seemed so quick and easy.

 

[Ryujin]

Yes.

Though I long-ago found Bard and his Black Arrow one of the more implausible, sudden, weak, and/or disappointing parts of the book - and esp. of Rankin-Bass’s film and the storybook album(!) which were my first exposures to The Hobbit. It seemed so quick and easy.

An "Arrow of Dragon Slaying" that was a singular ancient relic, that still needed to hit in order to be effective. Enter, stage right, "A little bird told me."

 

[DrunkonDuty]

I get it re: judging decisions, but what made it a bit weird re: the Hobbit movies is that there was a lot of active messing around with fancy technology going on with them, like the 48 FPS thing, and then they cheap out on the cameras for that bit? Weird man. Especially as Jackson apparently was pretty micromanage-y about that sort of thing. And that is one of the worst-looking scenes in fantasy history, which is saying something! Even my wife, who is incredibly tolerant and kind to bad FX and the like was like "Why did that look like a Road Runner cartoon?".

The cartoonishness of the look probably comes down to post processing. I don't know what resolution the GoPros shot in. But it's quite probable that a lot of blowing up was required to make the GoPro footage match the I assume 4K that they shot the rest of the movie in. Add that to all the post-processing that inevitably goes on, cartoons is what you get.



I've had a quick look at the Black Magic Pocket Cinema. Looks nice. Black Magic do make good products. But I'd say it's too big to strap to an actor's head and then throw them in a river. Nor can I see anything saying the thing is water proof. So, assuming there is a water proof case, you have to account for the size of that too. So on my first 2 minute comparison* GoPro is looking like the more practical choice. I am also wondering if the BM Pocket Cinema existed back when they shot the movie.

This is all starting to feel too much like work. I'm gonna check out on the technical considerations of various cameras.


*I would normally spend days doing the research. And I'd do a side-by-side tests if budget allows; it never allows.

 

[Ryujin]

The cartoonishness of the look probably comes down to post processing. I don't know what resolution the GoPros shot in. But it's quite probable that a lot of blowing up was required to make the GoPro footage match the I assume 4K that they shot the rest of the movie in. Add that to all the post-processing that inevitably goes on, cartoons is what you get.



I've had a quick look at the Black Magic Pocket Cinema. Looks nice. Black Magic do make good products. But I'd say it's too big to strap to an actor's head and then throw them in a river. Nor can I see anything saying the thing is water proof. So, assuming there is a water proof case, you have to account for the size of that too. So on my first 2 minute comparison* GoPro is looking like the more practical choice. I am also wondering if the BM Pocket Cinema existed back when they shot the movie.

This is all starting to feel too much like work. I'm gonna check out on the technical considerations of various cameras.


*I would normally spend days doing the research. And I'd do a side-by-side tests if budget allows; it never allows.

Unfortunately, no, the Cinema wasn't released in time for "The Hobbit." I should have checked that before making that statement. It was released the same year that the movie was which would have made it too late to have been used, unless it was a preproduction version. Then again I believe it was produced in Australia, so that might have been a possibility. It was also 2.5K, so would have been a better choice in resolution when put against the GoPros of the time. Red would have been more than feasible. In 2010 an entire episode of "House" was shot with Canon 5D Mk II. Full dive housings exist for that camera.

Needing a water resistant camera is only an issue if your choice of filming is to just slap cameras on the actors and throw them in the water. There are many other things that could be done.

 

[trappedslider]

There are four Hobbit movies.

Of the hobbit movies, I have watched....The three were good Hobbit movies.

I should note that I am not a geek who went all in on Tolkien, I never heard of the animated hobbit movie I barely knew of the existence of Lord Of the Rings prior to the movies.