The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

[jye4ever]

That's the same ****** from Bo Mojo that told me it wouldn't make more than 230 million domestic and 1 wasn't happening. I told him I'd remind him when it crosses 1 billion and he said he would admit he was wrong. He told me he takes great pride in being right. So needless to say if it does I'll be reminding him of his pride.

yup, that's him.

 

[The Josh]

All our theaters around here are closed and probably will be the next 3 days. It's a mess right now and will only get worse.

It's supposed to be -25 to -30 below zero with the wind chill. So I expect most businesses will be open but not too busy. Most schools are closed. Mine isn't because the kids don't go back until Tuesday and tomorrow is just a pd day.

yup, that's him.

 

[The Chev]

Yup, really liked Lake Town as well. I loved the realistic, grittiness of it. It'll be interesting to see some aerial views of the town in the third film from Smaug.

Bard was a great character.

I didn't take the film too seriously due to my disappointment of AUJ, so I didn't care much about Legolas "not belonging" in The Hobbit. Regardless, he was incredibly badass and kept my eyes glued to the screen.

Of course he's going to look older, but I was actually surprised at how young he still looks. I don't think he was "fatter" at all, but it looks like Orlando's jaw has become more defined over the years.

I am dying for some Legolas and Smaug collectibles now.

Damn Straight.

I think Bard may be my favorite character besides Balin.

 

[wchen34]

I didn't like Legolas in this at all. He felt out of place and shouldn't belong. Other than Gandalf, the Fellowship pretty much consists of a new generation of fresh faces from different races. Throwing Legolas into the Hobbit just didn't feel right in my opinion. Not to mention he looked older and fatter than he did in LOTR. The little winks to the audience also felt forced as well like, "that's my boi Gimli" and Legolas' expression.

The one character that really surprised me was Tauriel. Last year I thought including a "made up" Elf character was lame, but she actually turned out really well. I liked her way more than Legolas and I can see the potential of this "Dwarf/Elf" relationship with Kili. I can see it having an almost Shakespearean tragedy feel to it in the next one, adding to the tone that the battle is going to inevitably have.

I don't think he is fat, just stronger, and more badass than usual.

 

[ExMem-LarjaThwei]

Anyone know why PJ decided to make Smaug a wyvern in DOS?

In AUJ he has forelegs like a traditional dragon, but in DOS he only has hind legs.

You can see that they altered the forelegs to clawed wings in the EE.

From AUJ:

From AUJ Extended Edition:

 

[Irvy]

Anyone know why PJ decided to make Smaug a wyvern in DOS?

In AUJ he has forelegs like a traditional dragon, but in DOS he only has hind legs.

You can see that they altered the forelegs to clawed wings in the EE.

From AUJ:

From AUJ Extended Edition:

Because Peter Jackson can't seem to lock down on a design for more than ten minutes, hence why Azog looks kinda crappy and rushed in AUJ.

 

[The Josh]

Ive not heard at all why he made the change. I would be curious why. I'd imagine we'll hear about it on either the TE or EE (most likely).

 

[Khev]

Anyone know why PJ decided to make Smaug a wyvern in DOS?

In AUJ he has forelegs like a traditional dragon, but in DOS he only has hind legs.

You can see that they altered the forelegs to clawed wings in the EE.

From AUJ:

From AUJ Extended Edition:

Ha, I thought people were wrong about Smaug's design changing because a few weeks back I checked the AUJ EE Blu-ray and saw that he had wings attached to this forelegs. Didn't realize it was different in the TE.

I'm glad he made the change. The most evil and badass dragons always seem to have the attached wings. Dragonslayer, Reign of Fire, Sucker Punch, and now Smaug.

 

[greygoose]

Anyone know why PJ decided to make Smaug a wyvern in DOS?

In AUJ he has forelegs like a traditional dragon, but in DOS he only has hind legs.

You can see that they altered the forelegs to clawed wings in the EE.

From AUJ:

From AUJ Extended Edition:

I never noticed that but I'm glad they changed the design. The attached wings looked great.

 

[ExMem-LarjaThwei]

I've always preferred dragons with four legs myself.

Wyverns might naturally have a more evil/sinister look to them, but I think four-legged dragons are far more imposing and intimidating.

Draco from Dragonheart always has and most likely always will be the defenitive dragon design for me. He was a friendly dragon, but he could look very menacing when he wanted to.

Odd that PJ decided to change it so far into the series, especially considering the fact that Tolkien (I believe) always intended for Smaug to have four legs. He has four legs in every illustration I've seen too.

Wyvern or not, his design still rocks.

 

[Khev]

I've always preferred dragons with four legs myself.

Wyverns might naturally have a more evil/sinister look to them, but I think four-legged dragons are far more imposing and intimidating.

Draco from Dragonheart always has and most likely always will be the defenitive dragon design for me. He was a friendly dragon, but he could look very menacing when he wanted to.

That's funny because when I was thinking of screen dragons I realized that all the badass ones had attached wings and all the sissy ones (Dragonheart and Eragon) had four legs. Emmerich's Godzilla even gives the vibe of a lame four legged dragon without wings. The 90's really ruined that look for dragons on screen.

Odd that PJ decided to change it so far into the series, especially considering the fact that Tolkien (I believe) always intended for Smaug to have four legs. He has four legs in every illustration I've seen too.

Wyvern or not, his design still rocks.

I am not surprised that PJ tweaked his design, DOS did feature his first "full" appearance after all. He's done that before; when he teased Gollum in FOTR that shot of his eyes looking through the grate at Gandalf and Frodo in Moria is different than how he finally appeared in TTT.

But yeah, as far as I know Tolkien and all major artwork has always depicted Smaug with four full legs. I'm guessing PJ looked at the finished novel accurate Weta Smaug and decided he didn't want him to be cute and cuddly like all the previous four legged movie dragons and decided to just make him badass instead.

 

[TURINS~BANE]

Smaug is still the best looking dragon ever put on film. such a bad-*** beast.

 

[Khev]

Smaug is still the best looking dragon ever put on film. such a bad-*** beast.

I agree. And there have been some awesome dragons. I read recently that Tolkien's Smaug is the definitive icon of all dragonkind. It would have been a disappointment if when we finally saw him he wasn't quite as cool as what we'd seen before.

I think he's the new king of all movie monsters. Alien Queen, Jurassic T-Rex, Kong, Godzilla (we'll see how the new one compares,) etc. All hail Smaug the Stupendous. Bravo PJ, Cumberbatch and Weta.

 

[ExMem-LarjaThwei]

That's funny because when I was thinking of screen dragons I realized that all the badass ones had attached wings and all the sissy ones (Dragonheart and Eragon) had four legs. Emmerich's Godzilla even gives the vibe of a lame four legged dragon without wings. The 90's really ruined that look for dragons on screen.

How dare you. Draco was no sissy!

 

[hoodonit00]

Smaug is still the best looking dragon ever put on film. such a bad-*** beast.

If you're talking about looks alone I still have to give the edge to the dragon from Reign Of Fire.

 

[ExMem-LarjaThwei]

If you're talking about looks alone I still have to give the edge to the dragon from Reign Of Fire.

Yeah, they had great designs as well.

 

[Khev]

Yeah, they had great designs as well.

Too bad they were wasted in such a crappy movie.

 

[Njits]

Reign of Fire was awesome, I have no idea what you're talking about.

 

[TURINS~BANE]

yes the Reign of Fire dragons are probably the best looking ones until smaug. also lets not forget the Game of thrones dragons which look great.

 

[ExMem-LarjaThwei]

Reign of Fire was awesome, I have no idea what you're talking about.

Yeah...

yes the Reign of Fire dragons are probably the best looking ones until smaug. also lets not forget the Game of thrones dragons which look great.

I think when the Game of Thrones dragons are full grown they'll have the potential to be the most well-designed wyverns out there.