Chatterbox: Pudding's Place

LotR vs. Hobbit.

I have probably watch the LotRs trailers about...oh, three dozen times, maybe more, even after watching the films a half dozen times each just to listen to the music and watch Aragorn and Legolas be awesome and hear Elrond's doomsday prophecies. It is my opinion that is the best film trilogy EVER, even more so than Star Wars. What I like most is how Peter Jackson captured the spirit of the book when bringing it to life, and even though he changed minor things, you still get the infinite awesomness of Tolkien's creation. The characters are all true to the books, and (in my opinion) made even better by the actors performances.

Now, about the Hobbit films...I did not like the Unexpected Journey. Okay, it was fine as films go, but Thorin was utterly wrong, and there were waaaay too many additions and changes to the plot. Bilbo would never have saved Thorin from an orc. He might have tried, but I think he would have failed. Gandalf would have saved Thorin, yes, but not Bilbo. He has courage, but he's not the typical hero.

The Desolation of Smaug may be better (since there are elves again and Mirkwood was always interesting what with spiders and elf-kings and so forth) but there are again too many changes, including an elf-warrior named Tauriel (a girl) who never even had a shadow of a mention in the book, and the actress of whom is not even British. Sad. Very sad.

All in all, a bit of an anticlimax from LotR. There is a sense that you can't believe what's going on in the Hobbit, you don't get that feeling of sympathy for the characters (mainly because you can hardly tell the dwarves apart and Thorin's a real pain the neck for nearly all of the film). Also, I've always like Gandalf the White more than Gandalf the Grey. Gandalf in all colors is quite a good character, but there you are. I always thought that if they were going to make a Hobbit movie at all, two would be plenty. Three gets tiresome. But I'll see it anyway, because I still have a great respect for Peter Jackson and because Bilbo is hilarious, even though a bit bumbling.

What do you prefer, LotR or Hobbit?
I think it is redundant to say that I think LotR is the champion by about fifteen miles.