From: mr@sandman.net   
      
   Tonight's the night. I haven't watched any trailers so I don't know what to   
   expect. I'm assuming that part 2 will be the last trek towards Erebor, and   
   what I expect on the way is:   
      
   - Beorn   
   - Spiders (action)   
   - Captured by the elves, escape by barrel (some action)   
   - Dale   
      
   I'm assuming, given the title of the movie, that we're going to see Smaug   
   as well. I'm a bit excited about that. The voice and the character of the   
   dragon.   
      
   As for the white council - Gandalf will surely leave the company right in   
   the beginning of the movie to go to Dol Goldur, and perhaps a first   
   skirmish with Sauron will take place, but I'm still assuming that the grand   
   battle of Dol Goldur will coincide with the battle of the five armies in   
   the third movie.   
      
   As I've said in the past, Tolkien wasn't very good at describing action.   
   Not that he only disliked war and battles and didn't want to "glorify" it,   
   but rather that he didn't seem all that interested in the actual battles,   
   they were more of a necessity in the scope of the story.   
      
   For all the detractors of the amount of "action" in the Middle Earth   
   movies, I still think that it's a much better description of how these   
   things would have transpired (all but the "wave of ghosts" in ROTK).   
      
   The battle of the five armis is a good examples, it is very loosely   
   described with words such as "It was a terrible battle" and not much more.   
   It is summarized in one short chapter and Bilbo is knocked unconscious by a   
   stone and the battle is over in the next chapter.   
      
   I sure hope that the moviemakers aren't true to the books in any capacity   
   when it comes to events such as these. The events when Bilbo is running   
   around in the Elvenking's cave is FAR longer than the action-fileld events   
   of the battle and with the spiders.   
      
   Well, we'll see tonight!   
      
      
   --   
   Sandman[.net]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)