The Hobbit (No Spoilers)

[Reaver]

Did they really have to put Legolas in the second movie? My guess is simply to sell tickets:
"Oooh! Lookie here ladies! Orlando Bloom!"

I own the book and I've read it many times over the years. Not once did I see the name Legolas pop up anywhere.

Maybe I should try reading it upside down and facing a mirror.

 

[Gryphos]

Did they really have to put Legolas in the second movie? My guess is simply to sell tickets:
"Oooh! Lookie here ladies! Orlando Bloom!"

I own the book and I've read it many times over the years. Not once did I see the name Legolas pop up anywhere.

Maybe I should try reading it upside down and facing a mirror.

Well, Legolas is the son of Thranduil, so he would be in Mirkwood at this point in time. Tolkien wrote the Hobbit before LotR. Do you think, had it been the other way around, he wouldn't have written Legolas into Mirkwood?

The filmmakers have an advantage in that they can look at the stories as a whole and the way they interconnect. To take advantage of that isn't something to have people turn their noses up at.

And again: "based on"

 

[Philip Overby]

I just watched this (yes, Japan gets almost everything after most other countries, I have no idea why) and I really enjoyed it. As I read the book almost to the end (put it down for some reason, yeah, I do that) I did notice loads of things that must have been added in because I didn't remember them. That said, those added things didn't bug me too much, but it was obviously they were put in to appeal to fans of the Lord of the Rings movies with all the epicness and such. I remember The Hobbit being a pretty straightforward adventure story, but the movies have to add all this build up to Lord of the Rings books because I guess it's like a Hollywood rule or something?

Overall, I really enjoyed it for what it was. Almost no movie is going to be faithful to a book, so I got over that a long time ago. If I want something faithful to the book, I'll go read the book.

P.S. I thought Smaug looked awesome and genuinely terrifying.

 

[Mindfire]

Well, Legolas is the son of Thranduil, so he would be in Mirkwood at this point in time. Tolkien wrote the Hobbit before LotR. Do you think, had it been the other way around, he wouldn't have written Legolas into Mirkwood?

The filmmakers have an advantage in that they can look at the stories as a whole and the way they interconnect. To take advantage of that isn't something to have people turn their noses up at.

And again: "based on"

Plus, seeing Legolas at this earlier point in time, we can tell just how much disdain and contempt he has for dwarves. This makes his later friendship with Gimli all the more touching. Gimli is even mentioned in passing when Legolas meets his father.

 

[Philip Overby]

Yeah, I snickered at that bit.