From Wikipedia, so yes it is still far-fetched.

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Fight! Fight to the last man!

If this was to be our end then I would have them make SUCH AN END as to be worthy of remembrance

And so is something the size of Legolas not sinking into snow but walking on top of it. (LOTR reference and its in both the book and Movie)

But I agree with the following Quotes:

Personally I am happy with both, i live the "pureness" of Tolkien, but the PJ/GW version makes more interesting models, also a lot more different models.

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Harfoots-The first of the Hobbit people to cross over the Misty Mountains and enter Eriador.

I agree well said

The film is great as a seperate medium and the changes are mostly positive.

As for the main topic, expect Azog to come out towards the end of the year, as they probably haven't finished sculpting it yet. I don't think there will be any more rulebooks or starter sets for the next films, just journey books and new models. Radagast's slieigh is also likely to be a latecomer.

Furthermore, Smaug will probably not be in the first wave of minis for film 2, but it is quite likey that Beorn will be.

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"I am the Flying Spagetti Monster. Thou shall have no other monsters before me"
-FSM.

Yeah, film is a different medium, and in a complex story that needs telling in 2-3 hour chunks, you need Real Big Obvious markers of who is who and what is what. So you use visual short cuts.

"bloke on elk" distinguishes him nicely from, say, Elrond; whereas "dwarf on boar" distinguishes him from some other ancient weird looking Dwarf.

Tolkien's work is all in words, where he has an easier job distinguishing between people. It's to do with the way the mind works, and its not really a big deal.

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Dreaming of getting back to painting...any month now.

Sooo.... let's see here.

Part 2- Gandalf separates from the Company after meeting with Beorn. Company goes into Mirkwood, captured by spiders, saved by hobbit (and likely) elves, based off a couple of products that were mistakenly released for the first film. So that gives us Legolas, Tauriel, Thranduil, Wood elves, Radagast, Gandalf, Beorn, Company, Spiders.

Gandalf goes to Dol Guldur. I imagine P2 will end with the assault on Dol Guldur, in which if Galadriel and the army of Lorien don't I show up I shall be greatly surprised. Which will give us more elves, possibly a Celeborn and/or Haldir cameo. Another Witch-king, and whatever else PJ decides to cram into Dol Guldur.

Of course, I have no idea what Azog and co will be doing, so who knows about him...

P3- Dwarves make it to laketown, meet everyone, giving us Bard, the Lake people, the Guard, the Master, and etc. Dwarves make their move on the mountain. Wander around mountain for a while, find door, send in Bilbo, Smaug goes nuts, Bard shoots him.

Bolg, Dain, and Thranduil begin their march on the mountain. Have the Battle of the Five Armies.

So... lots of fun stuff upcoming, I imagine (particularly looking forward to the elves, but I imagine Bolg will have some fun stuff- pocketbook is NOT looking forward to Smaug).

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"...in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.”

I don't see anything wrong with Dain, Dwalin was shown as having a Mohawk AND head tattoos in the flashback battle, and Thranduil riding a stag isn't very far fetched considering he's an elf. Dwarf Boar riders is a bit iffy, but so was the rabbit sleigh, until I actually saw it. I also thought Thranduil was a jerk for not at least covering the dwarves while they fled and offering them shelter.

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"Leave Sauron to me."
If you're in the Raleigh, NC area, let me know.

What could Thranduil do?
He came with an army not suppliers.
Also, the dragon would be in the mountain and would smell the elves coming so...
And again Thranduil is Lord of Mirkwood and has a lot off problems since there are spiders running around and Dol Guldur becoming wierd, so pulling his whole army out of Mirkwood woudnt really help the situation.

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If you don't let me in, Frodo, I shall blow your door right down your hole and out through the hill-Gandalf

Then why show up? If he didn't want to endanger his people then why risk having a dragon track them home? It was a stupid ill thought out movie add in that doesn't make sense however you slice it. Did it look cool yes, answered a question for non book readers, but raises a thousand with true fans

One of the most important questions I have is, How did he show up so fast? Mirkwood isn't right across the street and you don't have all your soldiers geared up and supplies packed to march at a moments notice. One of the things that annoys me about PJ version of Tolkien is that he like to shrink the world. Trips that would have normally have taken days to weeks seems to be just outside the door in his movies.

Edit: I know, with the way PJ seems to like to mess up stories, Thranduil was marching his army to invade Erebor but found that the dragon attacked before he could get there.

The entire point of the scene with Thranduil and his army showing up right after the desolation of Erebor is entirely for the point of emphasizing why Thorin doesn't like elves- there is no other reason, period. Basically, to sum up the argument- Thorin thought the elves could help (put elves on hilltop), Thorin asks for help (waving of hand and shouting from Thorin), Thranduil says no (turns away), Thorin now hates elves. Movie drama, pure and simple.

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"...in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.”

Of course that is the reason they did it but part of telling a good story (IMHO) is to suspend disbelief. But instead of doing that they used cognitive estrangement which doesn't work for me and weakens the story, once again IMHO.

Just wasn't necessary, you could have had a more trusting Thorin, winglingly come to Rivendell, feel good about Elronds help, and then have the woodelves do what they do, and all would be normal, and Thorin would go to his grave hating those elves, in this case follow the damn book! Or how about introduce the Ravens, Thorin could have sent one after they fled and got a message back from Thranduil that no help would come for fear of luring the dragon close to his halls.

That wouldn't really work for a film. It wouldn't give a good enough visual representation to the average viewer. In my opinion, what they did in the film was fine. Yes it was a bit unrealistic, but it was entertaining, which is what a film is supposed to do

But I still have the whole problem with his hatred of Elrond. Why would he hate him when he isn't a Mirkwood Elf anyway. It would be like me hating the Germans because a Frenchman slighted me. The Elves of Rivendell were mostly from Eregion which had an open door policy with Khaza-dum until Sauron destroyed it to try and get the 3 rings Celebrimbor made and he had not despoiled (Most were Noldor). While the Mirkwood Elves where Silvan Elves (of the group Nandor). The Dwarfs themselves draw distinction between themselves as well. Thorin prides himself of being one of Durin's Folk. But then again, in Peter Jackson's Hobbit and LOTR he seems to have removed any distinction between the groups after all he gave Legolas and now Thranduil Golden Hair which is a trait unique to the Noldor.

For theatrical purposes it just works better that dwarfs dislike elves, it's seen in the LOTR also. The most common viewer isn't able to discern the different types of elves, it's not communicated in the Hobbit.

Thranduil had golden hair in The Hobbit book also, Legolas has always been a point of contention.

"The feast that they now saw was greater and more magnificent than before; and at the head of a long line of feasters sat a woodland king with a crown of leaves upon his golden hair, very much as Bombur had described the figure in his dream."

The reason he hates Elrond so much is because he hates all elves. It's like say when you were a child, you were bitten by a dog, lets say a Pitbull. If you develop a hatred/fear because of that incident, it won't just be aimed at pitbulls, it will be aimed at all dogs.

Thanks for pointing that out as I seem to have overlooked that. Its one of those points that Tolkien contradicts himself but then again the hobbit was originally supposed to be a separate work from Middle-Earth, so my guess is that itself was an oversight when he reworked it.

LoL this thread has gone way off topic. Guys c'mon, the film may have tinkered with elements of the plot here and there, but i for one am over the moon that there are more middle earth films being made! One of the few negatives i can think of is that once the hobbit is done, what will be next? Is there any logical direction to take. This will make me sound like such a mindless consumer; but i will literally watch/buy anything PJ does because no-one will ever make fantasy films of this scale in the near future

EDIT: Also, in regards to all this about PJ changing things merely for 'CASH' or 'Movie Magic', i think we all have to take into account that he is a film-maker and the vast majority of lotr fans have likely not read the books, and it is entirely likely PJ is trying to appeal to a larger audience. If i was a tolkein noob watching the hobbit and mid-way through the film, in a flashback about this thorin bloke, some other dwarf turns up, kills thorins rival and doesn't appear again, i wouldn't feel closer to the characters, i wouldn't feel like i'd learnt anyhting worthwhile, i would just be confused and not as enthralled as if i had seen pj's thing.

I personally hope that Peter Jackson and Co. can't force anymore movies out of the Tolkien family. While they do make good fantasy movies they don't do the works justice. Now if they made their own fantasy movies, I would gladly give them a try. EDIT: I have seen every one of the LOTR movies and now The Hobbit in the theature and I will see the other 2 as well. As I've said in other threads I feel that as their own works they are entertaining movies just can't stand them when thought of as Tolkien's works.

Okay so taking the thread back on track, I'm guess movie two will Start with them coming to the Carrock and meeting Beorn and end with them Escaping down the river. I'm not sure what Peter Jackson & Co. will do with the party scene but I'm guessing Legolas and Tauriel will make an appearances to arrest Thorin and then later the rest of the Dwarves. To make things more dramatic we will maybe have more scuffles with the spiders or Azog and the Wargs might even enter the forest and harass them along the road perhaps forcing them off the road and making them stubble into the Party.