So, the other day The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies came out on Blue-Ray and DVD. I am extremely excited about this. Now, I know that the films are different from the book but I still love the films. I have read the book and I know the differences and I separate the films from the book. I treat them as two different things. See, I describe The Hobbit films as based on the books and not true adaptions. The characters and plot are based on the book but nothing more.
Peter Jackson had to get creative because let’s be real people if it was a straight book to film adaption we wouldn’t even have enough for one full film. Tolkein is all about descriptions when it comes to his books. He could spend ten pages describing Fangorn Forest to you and nothing action wise has happened yet. So I am okay with some of the liberties Peter Jackson took. Plus, he does have creative license. Now, on the subject of Tauriel… as a cinema major I understand why she was added but I’m not necessarily happy about it. Anna Beth hates her and seriously wants her to die in the extended edition. I’m not opposed to the idea but I’ve moved on from my dislike of her.
I adore the cast for The Hobbit films, I feel like they were spot on with their casting choices. I particularly loved their choice for Thorin, Bilbo, Fili, Kili, Dwalin. Bofur, Bard, Smaug, Dain, and the Master of Laketown. Now, obviously I love the original cast members like Gandalf, Elrond, Galadriel, and Saruman.
I loved the scene where Galadriel saves Gandalf. That entire scene was amazing. Can we just say that Galadriel is one of the most badass women in all of Middle Earth. She didn’t need to use that much power to take care of that orc who was kicking Gandalf about in the cage, but you messed with her Gandalf and so she’s going vaporize you. You don’t touch her Gandlaf. (And yes they are my OTP and I ship them.)
I’d also like to point out that right before she bound and banished Sauron she said, “You have no power here servant of Morgoth.” For those of you who don’t know, Morogth is Sauron’s master. He’s the one who created the dragons, balrogs, and all the other evil creatures and when he was banished to the void Sauron, his second in command, took over his forces.
In this fan made picture Morgoth is the dark character in black on the top and Sauron is the blond in the bottom. Morgoth was originally called Melkor before he became the first Dark Lord. He rebelled, committed many evil acts, and was then hunted down before being banished to the void. In some of Tolkein’s unpublished works it was stated that Morgoth would return at the end of the world for one last fight against those who fight for good. One last final battle.
Moving on though from that short history lesson. This film had me crying from beginning to end. I did not handle it well at all. I knew going in what to expect because I had read the books. I knew how it would end, and I still wasn’t prepared for it. The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings hold a very special place in my heart as does it’s characters. So when Thorin, Fili, and Kili died I was a mess. I was a sobbing mess. My poor mother had to see this with me twice and deal with my sobbing self, but she’s used to it by now and doesn’t laugh at me for it thankfully. (My mother rocks by the way, she has LOTR and Hobbit marathons with me whenever I’m home.) Thorin’s death hurt me the most. I loved his character. I loved his drive, his passion, his love for his people, his devotion, and even his flaws.
The scene where he was speaking to Bilbo about a traitor and he stated that he would not part with a single gold coin and they overlaid Smaug’s voice over his saying the exact same thing my heart broke. But I loved the part where he’s in the hall, alone, and he’s got all the voices in his head and he sees himself being swallowed up by the gold floor and the one thing that keeps getting repeated is him saying “I am not my grandfather”. Then he casts off his crown and he is Thorin Okenshield once more. I loved his entrance after that. No crown, no majestic clothing, or robes. Just armor and a sword. He was able to die as Thorin Okenshield, the man his people loved and were proud to follow.
His death speech though, telling Bilbo, “Go back to your books, your fireplace. Plant your trees, watch them grow. If more of us valued home above gold, it would be a merrier place.” That just broke me in so many ways. I sobbed so hard and I just couldn’t handle the pain. I was crying like Bilbo in this moment.
By the way, there is a screenshot out there from the extended edition confirming the fact that we are getting the Sons of Durin funeral scene. I’m both excited and dreading it because I really wanted this when I went and saw it in the film but I also know that it’s going to cause me more pain. *Sigh* the life of a fangirl.
The ending to this was painful too. Bilbo has to go back alone, though seeing the hobbits buying all his things and the Sackville-Baggins “making off with the silverware” was rather funny. But when the auctioneer says “Who is this person you pledged your service to? This- Thorin Okenshield?” And Bilbo says, “He was my friend.” I cried again. I didn’t think i could cry any more after Thorin’s death, but apparently I could. And, when they brought it full circle and had old Bilbo sitting there looking over his map of Erebor and Gandalf knocks on the door and the recite the same lines from the beginning of the first Lord of the Rings film I got so many feels. My only problem with the end was that they were off just a tiny bit with the quoting. In BOFTA Gandalf says, “One hundred and eleven years old” but leaves out “You haven’t aged a day” which was in LOTR FOTR. I know it’s it’s tiny and what not but it irks me a bit cos Jackson you bloody wrote it and you two were the ones who originally delivered the lines!
Now, film’s over the credits are rolling, surely there’s nothing left to cry about it. Surely that’s the end of the tears. Wrong! Then the end credit song The Last Goodbye sung by Billy Boyd comes on and we see the classic last film sketch style credits roll across the screen. Cue the tears! The song made me sob and seeing those beautiful sketches just reminded me that this is the end. This is it! Unless the Silmarillion gets made into a film (which is a possibility) we’re essentially done when it comes to films. That song that plays through the credits isn’t just talking about the end of the Bilbo’s journey, or The Hobbit film, or even the The Hobbit series. It’s talking about the end of the entire LOTR and Hobbit series. The end of our journey as fans of the series, “We came all this way, but now comes the day to bid you farewell” and the last line “I bid you all a very fond farewell” speaks to the entire fandom. We’ve come all this way, we saw six theatrical films, five extended, and have one extended left. We came all this way and now it’s time to say farewell. Yes, we can still be a fandom and talk about it, rewatch it, reread it, and what not but it’s still not the same. Even if we get the Simarillion film it won’t have the characters we know and love. It won’t be the same.
Okay, on that sad note I’m going to end this. Overall I love this film, and I love this series. I love The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. I love this fandom. So, with all that being said, until tomorrow I bid you farewell.
We Are The Fandom 