Much better trailer than the first one. This one has me excited beyond words.

I'll stick to the con's:
-Tauriel's quote: "This is our fight." Another SUPERobvious LOTR reference that's more ridiculous than fun.

-CGI-overkill, but as said before, it always improves dramatically in theater.

-Please kill off Azog.

-Smaug's eyes are way too bright. Looks very cartoonisch.

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I guess who you mean is Bard the bowman, played by Luke Evans. But yeah, he looks a bit like Will TUrner from Pirates of the Carribean

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All that is missing is the voice of Richard Boone
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Or8G_jDcLNo

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"the same as a duck you must be made of wood"

Indeed, he does look and sound very much like Will Turner.

Radegast has elven bunnies, only the best for him. They hop just like elves.

The Will Turner thing is a bit strange.

Idk about anyone else but I think I'm most excited about Gandalf and Radagast at Dol Guldor! To see the two wizards in action together should be epic.

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I'm really looking forward to seeing elven armies with their full potential. We really only got that at Helm's Deep and the Last Alliance in LOTR which wasn't a huge amount. The only thing I'm not so keen on is Tauriel, but I will keep an open mind until I see the film. Actually I'm mostly looking forward to the spiders, I really hope they are scary!

I second that.

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Imho there arent that many deviations from the book! In contrary I think the trailer (and hopefulkly the film as well) hits just the tone of the book. Most of the "changes" are completely correct lore-wise, although I have to agree that Azog is a bit unnecessary but we can't change it anymore. I look forward to the new adventures in middle earth nevertheless! And I loved the trailer!

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Azog's role should have been taken by his son Bolg. It would have made more sense for Bolg to be pursuing the Company throughout the trilogy, culminating with him leading the Goblin and Warg army at the Battle of Five Armies.

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I like it a lot, at first I was a bit put off by the CGI (not Smaug incidentally, all the unnecessary CGI orcs and elves) but having watched it a few times it doesn't trouble me that much. I'm sure all the CGI will look much better in the finished film and when viewed in the context of longer scenes/shots. It's all the in your face shots being thrown at you at the same time that really draw attention to it.

I love the look of the landscapes, Mirkwood, Laketown, Thranduil's Hall and Dale all look gorgeous, Thranduil gave some really good narration and I like what we see of Leggy and Tauriel (who doesn't remind me of Lost's Kate TBH, I think it's been off screen long enough).

The trailer did strike me as coming from an odd perspective, no lines for Bilbo or Thorin and one from Gandalf in favour of lots of dialogue from elves seemed like an odd choice, made it harder to connect with the first film.

I like that they've expanded the barrel sequence and, as unpractical as it is, having them sticking their heads out makes sense - can you imagine how visually exciting it would be seeing 13 sealed barrels float down a river for 10 minutes? Looks to me like the elves chase after them as they escape and are then attacked by Azog, eventually leading to the scene with Leggy and Tauriel at the 'edge of their realm' as the barrels escape into the Long Lake (you can see Laketown in the background).

As for Azog, I don't really see the problem, after all, if we're taking the Hobbit as the true source material then we don't know that he's dead and he could well be alive and kicking during the time of the Hobbit.

Also intrigued that the elves look quite like Warhammer Glade Guard at this stage, they should make for some awesome minis.

EDIT: Just seen there is one line in the BOFA about Dain killing Azog, ah well, it still doesn't bother me, change is fine, I'd happily exchange the talking purse and dogs laying the table for keeping an orc alive

All in all I think there's a lot to like, nice to get excited about the next movie and hopefully it marks the start of 6 months of speculation

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The Hobbit 2 - Now with more CGI!

There are. Awful lots. Please rewatch/reread, it feels like almost every scene was changed.

I'm not against changes if they show understanding/respect of the story and the characters. PJ has a trackrecord of not respecting the characters, best example is Denethor in Lord of the Rings. As hope dies last I was still hoping for a better second Hobbit, but the trailer makes me very nervous.

Thao


You are correct there are countless changes.

I don't think that is fair. I do not agree with many of the decisions PJ makes. I don't feel he does not respect a character because I feel he made a wrong decision. The Hobbit is one of my favorite books I am very happy PJ adapted it to the screen. It could have been far, far worse.

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Indeed, Ifeel that PJ has done a good job so far, if not perfect. Also, I thought that he portraid Denethor well, how do you think that he messed him up?

I can (grudgingly) accept introducing a new female character in a mostly male cast, but Tauriel strikes me rather Mary Sue-ish. Hope it won't be too blatant in the final product.

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Yes "The Hobbit in the orginal Klingon"
Good Point
Red Shirt too?

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I agree with you. If she was just a friend of Legolas who went on patrol with him, I would be ok with it, but she seems like she's being all rebellious just to make her stand out.

As for the trailer, I am stoked beyond belief. It looks great. Everyone seems to be ragging on the special effects, but I think they look great considering it's just a trailer. I'm wary about what they'll be doing with Beorn, and not sure about Tauriel, but I'm ok with Azog. They needed another bad guy, and they're obviously saving Bolg for something awesome.

As for the other changes made to the Hobbit, I'm ok with them. Changing Faramir, Théoden, Aragorn and Frodo's personalities is nigh inexcusable, and is one of the reasons why I dislike Two Towers so much, because LotR is so well written and fleshed out. They didn't need to make changes, but they did. The Hobbit lacked in the details department, so I don't mind it being changed.

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I have a theory about the Azog in the films, just a guess based on the music played when Thorin confronted him at the burning glade and the fact that he scares the heck out of everything: I think Azog has been taken over somehow by one of the Nine.
(hunkers down awaiting scorn from the audience).

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If you need that fairy tale by all means keep it. Azog is the same as Gothmog they are both orcs who've grown old amidst a lifetime of fighting. Orcs survive by winning their fights so an orc that lives 60 to 100 years is a creature to be feared.