XPost: rec.arts.books.tolkien   
   From: mr@sandman.net   
      
   In article ,   
    Paul S. Person  wrote:   
      
      
   > Just a few notes on an excellent summary   
      
   I'm just amazed that you even watched this "adaptation" :)   
      
   > MUSIC   
   >   
   > Except for the songs, of course, the music is very nice.   
      
   I really like Misty Mountains, and it is presented in the movie almost   
   word by word as it is in the book. Not the lyrics, mind you, but how   
   and when it is sung:   
      
       "The dark filled all the room, and the fire died down, and the   
        shadows were lost, and still they played on. And suddenly first   
        one and then another began to sing as they played, dee-throated   
        singing of the dwarves in the deep places of their ancient homes;   
        and this is like a fragment of their song"   
      
   Fragment indeed. But a very very good fragment.   
      
   > It is also very familiar: we heard it in /LOTR/.   
      
   Surprisingly few compositions carry over from lotr. Naturally the   
   soundscape should be similar, but it's mostly when we meet known   
   characters and settings, like Rivendell and such.   
      
   > SONGS   
   >   
   > The film starts well, with /both/ of the songs in /TH:1/, but that is   
   > pretty much it, at least for on-screen songs. No singing Goblins,   
   > neither in the cave nor at the burning trees.   
   >   
   > In a sense, of course, this mimics /FOTR/: the initial setup is done   
   > in great detail, and then the details tend to vanish. Except, of   
   > course, that this isn't the initial setup.   
      
   Ah well, while some really like the songs on TH/LOTR, they say more   
   about a person/groups history than the story currently unfolding. For   
   instance, I would argue the detailed thought that went into the   
   different people, races and groups clothing, weaponry and apparel says   
   just as much about that person as does the songs, only one works   
   better in writing and one better on the silver screen.   
      
   > INITIAL SETUP   
   >   
   > We are supposed to believe that Bilbo begins writing the true story of   
   > /TH/ for Frodo on the very day on which /FOTR/ starts -- no,   
   > literally: Frodo posts the notice on the gate, picks up a book, and   
   > heads off to surprise Gandalf on the day of the Party! So we are to   
   > believe that Bilbo /finished/ the story on that day also because, of   
   > course, the next morning he is halfway across the Shire on his way to   
   > Rivendell.   
      
   Well, it's not like we see Bilbo giving Frodo the finished book,   
   right? I mean, to me it's obvious that he brought it with him to   
   Rivendell. We know Bilbo spent much of his time in Rivendell writing   
   (mostly poems and music, but still).   
      
   > TENSION RELIEF   
   >   
   > In addition to the Giant Spiders noted below by Sandman, the Dragon   
   > appears at the very beginning.   
   >   
   > Well, of course he does. Does anybody think that PJ could do a film   
   > featuring a Dragon destroying a town and driving Dwarves out of their   
   > treasure-hord without showing it to us in some detail?   
      
   Well, he didn't show much detail. The script writers surely felt the   
   Erebor story to be an important setup piece to the Hobbit. In the   
   book, 13 dwarves comes to Bilbo and say they will go to a mountain.   
   Neither Bilbo nor the reader knows anything about the mountain and   
   never does - Erebor is of course not even mentioned in the book!   
      
   It's like complaining about showing Sauron and the ring in the   
   beginning of Fellowship, but the tension in TH or LOTR isn't whether   
   there is a dragon or not, or what this ring really is. The tension is   
   a result of the journey.   
      
   > Not excessive detail, but not just a brief look either! He even   
   > shows what I suspect will turn out to be the Wood-Elves refusing to   
   > help the Dwarves, the better to explain Thorin's attitude problem.   
   > And the film ends with Smaug being made to wake up in his treasure   
   > trove by a finch cracking snails against the side of the mountain,   
   > making it clear what the Moon Runes were referring to.   
      
   Well, that's just hints for us that has read and knows the book.   
      
   > DWARVES   
   >   
   > Well, they all made it into the film! That's a good thing, surely.   
      
   Yeah, why not just have five dwarves, slimmer cast, less makeup :-D   
      
   > >AZOG   
   > >Well, one of the biggest changes are that Azog weren't killed in the   
   > >battle of Moria, and is thus the "enemy" of the movie. THe original   
   > >book had no enemies of the company really, they journeyed from place   
   > >to place finding obstacles and making enemies along the path. In the   
   > >movie, Azog lives and is a huge albino Orc (yet not as misfigured as   
   > >Gothmog in Return of the King)   
   >   
   > Making them, to me, rather reminiscent of the Black Riders.   
      
   Indeed - and they have the same function - that all-present danger of   
   being followed by a group that wants you dead. TH doesn't have this,   
   and I'm not sure I mind it being added.   
      
   > >In the battle of Azanulbizar, Azog doesn't slay Nain, but instead   
   > >slays Thrain (by taking his head, much like his actual slaying of   
   > >Thror) and Thorin gains his surname Oakenshield in this battle by   
   > >battling Azog and chopping off his arm.   
   >   
   > Which he has grown back by the time he appears in the main part of the   
   > film.   
   >   
   > So, PJ's Orcs, like jellyfish, can regrow their arms!   
      
   Uh, no he hasn't. In the place of his arm, he has a iron claw.   
      
   > >I can see why they made him survive and be the arch nemesis of Thorin   
   > >(who thinks him dead) and throughout the moive, Azog is on the heels   
   > >of the dwarves, and a scene where orcs attack them at the hidden   
   > >passage and is slain by elves is also added to add some tension and   
   > >action presumably.   
   >   
   > A scene which reminded me of the Riders of Rohan performing a similar   
   > service.   
      
   Indeed.   
      
   > >Story-internal, it kind of works. Azogs son Bolg is a survivor of the   
   > >battle, and he is subsequently slain in the battle of the five armies   
   > >- a pinnacle point in the book. And to have these armies on the move   
   > >or building up throughout the course of the story just seems logical.   
   > >So instead of adding Bolg, they choose to stay with Azog which made a   
   > >storywise more interesting character given the grudge against Thorin.   
   > >Having him pursue Thporins company instead of the Lonely Montain is   
   > >also logical as well.   
   >   
   > Well, logical if you have to impose the /FOTR/ theme of "hero pursued"   
   > to /TH/, anyway. I found this the second-weakest theme in the film ...   
      
      
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