The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug Reviews

Rambo Hobbit was more a blow to the source than the extra material imo. That and Thorin acting like Spiderman in the Lonely Mountain. The movie is more or less based on Bilbo's perception of the events, but even so, it just doesn't seem to fit. Oh well.

I still think Jackson was a better choice for the movie in the end that del Toro. That could have turned out weird.

Shellhead wrote: But apparently the majority of the movie-goers don't really want a Bilbo Baggins so much as they want yet another Rambo.

The romance may be something that Jackson had legitimate honest reasons for... story wise that is, even if you don't like it. But Bilbo, sure they made him more cinematic, more aggressive to suite today's world a little better, but comparing him to Rambo is certainly incredibly extreme and probably hurts your argument. I get not liking Jacksons version, his vision, especially if you're a big Tolkien fan, but hyperbole doesn't help your position at all.

What I'm about to say is blasphemous around there, but Tolkien's books are dead to me now. I have no desire to read those books again and in fact I doubt there's anything I'll read from him again. Even his translations of The Green Knight and other old English works have been beaten by newer translators and that was his best work in my opinion. I will, however, be eternally thankful for his vision, his imagination and his creativity. Even if not his technical prowess or out of date prose.

How many people did Rambo kill in First Blood? One. It's a fair comparison, except that Bilbo was quite small compared to his opponents.

Shellhead wrote: How many people did Rambo kill in First Blood? One. It's a fair comparison, except that Bilbo was quite small compared to his opponents.

Number of people killed is not the most important feature for either character.

When was Bilbo a killing machine? He deflected a goblin's attacks with his sword, he killed a warg when it ran head first into his sword, and he killed an orc by blindsiding it when it was about to kill Thorin. All instances seemed more like desperation, lucky breaks, and courage than him being any kind of a killing machine.

He was anything but a robber. His first solution was to kill in many of those skirmishes, whereas Bilbo Baggins is no warrior. he would have tried a few other things first (including, but not limited to, fleeing).

I also think this character had more in common with Stallone's John Rambo than a direct family member, Frodo.

I'm somewhat surprised he stole he key chain to free the dwarves instead of running Sting through those drunk jailer elves.

It's what made Frodo a more solid character. He auto-loses to Witch-King, Watcher in the Water, Cave Troll of Moria, Shelob. Others need to win those fights for him because he's no warrior, it's not his role. It's one of the things that makes Samwise so frickin' awesome is that he is so damn brave that he becomes a pretty tough hobbit. Through all of that, Sam still comes across as vulnerable too.

I just don't get who Bilbo is. I see him as being able to win more fights than some of the dwarf warriors that are accompanying him which makes the whole premise sort of not make sense anymore.

I was planning to see The Desolation of Smaug last week and then report back here, but I still haven't seen it. My girlfriend kept delaying and then talked to some co-workers about it and lost interest in the movie. My local friends who were interested have already seen it, and while they were more positive, none of them want to see it again this soon. Maybe I will go watch it by myself.

tell your girlfriend that girls like this more than guys. Thorin and Legolas are super hawt

I just don't get who Bilbo is. I see him as being able to win more fights than some of the dwarf warriors that are accompanying him which makes the whole premise sort of not make sense anymore.

I don't remember seeing him to win more fights than the "dwarf warriors" (and are they even warriors? All of them?). Refresh me?

i think dwarves are like Klingons. They're all warriors. Those that aren't go back in time to kill themselves to avoid the shame later in life.