This Scene Encapsulates Everything Wrong With The Hobbit

When Peter Jackson's The Hobbit Trilogy was finally announced, we knew going in it would be hard to recreate the magic of the original Lord of the Rings Trilogy. And after seeing the first Hobbit film released, audiences knew it wouldn't. There is a lot to dive into as to why The Hobbit Trilogy failed to connect with audiences, but this scene in the first Hobbit movie encapsulates everything that's wrong with the Trilogy and why it was never going to come close to the original Lord of the Rings

#lordoftherings #hobbit #nerdstalgic

Written by Ash Mitrano
Edited by Nick Murphy

[oh_heeeyyy]

"I feel... thin... like one book spread across three movies."

[eminkilicaslan]

At the end of the second movie when I saw their entire plan of capturing Smaug in vain, he shook off the gold dust, flew to the Dale saying "I am fire... I am death" it really gave me chills. Then he died in 15 minutes into next movie.

[wafflingmean]

It's honestly a huge testament to Peter Jackson's talent that the Hobbit movies weren't a thousand times worse. The studio screwed him over from the very beginning.

[guardianofthetoasters]

*Rings of power aired*
Most of the fans: *perhaps I've treated you too harshly*

[TonyLeonhardt]

Man, watching Bilbo come home to a ransacked Bag-End gets me every time. What a well-crafted, superbly acted, utterly devastating moment.

[tspoon]

Correction; Bolg isn’t a movie only character, he’s actually mentioned in the book as leading the goblin forces at the Battle of the Five Armies

[shuacliff_]

Another big miss is Bilbo's bravery in the passage on Erebor. The mighty dwarves, for good reason, are hesitant to go through and therefore call on Bilbo to fulfill his duties as burglar. Inside the passage, in my opinion, is Bilbo's greatest moment of internal struggle and personal courage. He knows that if he goes any further he'll come face to face with an actual carnivorous fire breathing dragon. The terror of that realization paralyzes him. But only for a moment. In that moment Bilbo strengthens his resolve and presses on. In fact this is what Tolkein himself wrote
"It was at this point that Bilbo stopped. Going on from there was the bravest thing he ever did. The tremendous things that happened afterward were as nothing compared to it. He fought the real battle in the tunnel alone, before he ever saw the vast danger that lay in wait."
When I read this as an 11 year old this passage had a profound effect on me. The film seems to have just glossed over this.

[cynfaelalek-walker]

After being force fed the rings of power, I see this trilogy as a masterpiece.

[natethebass-man]

I find it kind of sad how obvious it was that the Hobbit movies COULD have been great. Smaug and Gollum were fantastic in appearance and writing, but they were overshadowed by bad plots and writing.

[nickklavdianos]

The hobbit movies aren't bad as a whole. They do have bad elements definitely. They also have some very good moments. The backstory of the Dwarves, the Riddles in the dark part, Beorn and the Mirkwood sequence, Bilbo's interaction with Smaug and making Bard an actual charachter instead of a guy who just randomly shows up and kills the dragon and some more stuff.

[flipmash]

The sadest part for me is that Martin freeman made the acting performance of a life time. Had it been done properly with one or two films and a single tone and style it could have been in league with LOTR

[Tiparium_NMF]

What kills me is that some parts of The Hobbit were still genuinely fantastic. The dwarves at Bilbo's are fantastic, Riddles in the Dark is superb, and... well actually that's about it, but still. Those two scenes were fantastically well done.

[Myr]

There’s certain aspects left out in the barrel scene that, I feel, take something away from Bilbo’s character before the fighting even starts. The barrel scene is one of the scenes that highlights Bilbo’s compassion. In the novel, he makes sure he puts the cell keys back on the guard so the guard doesn’t get in too much trouble, and when helping the dwarves into the barrels, Bilbo tries to make them more comfortable by shoving hay in the barrels to cushion the dwarves. These were just such vital moments that showed Bilbo’s character, and I have a hard time watching the barrel scene in the movie because of those missing aspects.

[nickcage]

Bolg was not movie-only. He was in the battle of five armies and I'm pretty sure it was said that he killed thorin, fili, and kili, before Beorn carried them off and then came back to merc Bolg. The movies expanded on his character, but he was absolutely in the book.

[optimusprinceps]

Why does everyone talk about the barrel scene? The Legolas running on the falling bricks was way way way worse.

[Maerahn]

The Barrel Scene just reminded me of a video game level. The CGI is shockingly obvious, particularly in relation to Legolas - he just looked like a videogame avatar bouncing around. If they'd replaced the soundtrack with the Mario theme tune the effect would've been complete.

[keithtorgersen]

Bolg was not a movie-only character, he lead the attack of the battle of 5 armies. Azog never appeared in the book, but was mentioned.

[JustJessee]

I'll never stop reminding people that Jackson took over DelToro's groundwork. Had it been prepped the same way as LOTR, I'm certain it would've been more coherent. Still would've had issues, butter being spread over too much bread and all, but it would've been slightly better...

[eliali]

Completely agree. It's a very frustrating trilogy, considering how much I love the book and the good performances that feel overshadowed by incomprehensible decisions.
Definitely Martin Freeman is among the best of the film. Seeing behind the scenes and understanding that a lot of his performance was inside a green room, with very little to interact with, is admirable.

[SpishyProductions]

I have no idea why I just sat there and watched this dude roast the hobbit for nine minutes straight.