The desolation of a smug man

More like Peter Jackson being unable to cut a scene (or at worst leave it out of the extended version).

Not to question your stance, but have you also chosen to boycott Michigan athletic events?  Don't think this 'shameless greed' is solely found Hollywood.

I do agree with your agnst at the makers turning it into a trilogy, I just don't have your fortitude to not bend over and take it... three times!

Was a single volume before the publisher put it out in 3 installments. This kind of thing isn't new. But yeah, agreed. Smacks of money grab.

Big Hollywood productions repeatedly let me down. Family of 5 is more than $100 to see a movie with food, and I live in a low cost of living part of the country. I'll wait for it to drop on netflix.

But I actually look at it a bit differently . . . I wish they had stretched LOTR out to four movies, and included more with the flight out of Hobbiton, and the Old Forest, and Tom Bombadil, and on, and on, and on. But I get that they did what they had to do. I am an addict:  I've probably read the LOTR 5 or 6 times over the last 30 years.

Here's a LOTR trivia question:  there's a 3 letter word used twice in the trilogy which almost no one knows the meaning of. The most common usage today is completely, totally wrong (as well as being politically incorrect. The word? Fey. It is used when Frodo sets his face out of Shelob's lair resolutely for Mordor. See if you know the word.

I don't consider myself a purist; I understand that in order to make a novel into a film a lot of things get cut and that minor changes here or there may be necessary in order to eliminate an unneeded subplot, etc.

However I cry foul when the changes consist of adding long sequences that in the book were only a sentence or two, or when things are added as major plot points that aren't even in the book.  Then it smells like they are just trying to extend the story as much as possible in order to make more money.

The Hobbit was a shorter, simpler story than LOTR.  I think the film version should have been shorter and simpler as well.

If you love Middle Earth and Tolkien's work as much as I and others, you want as many hours of it as possible.  I was thrilled they extended it to 3 movies so they could provide more details and dialogue, and in truth, the first two haven't done enough to build characters if you ask me.  Saw it today and it was awesome.  The only downer was the way Smaug battled the dwarves started to get a little cartoony and reminded me of the Godzilla movie where Matthew Broderick and the taxi cab could bob and weave under Godzilla's feet and never get stomped.  Regardless, it was still an awesome movie and some of the special effects, especially the flight path shots of Legolas's arrows, were incredible.

I thought she was Bilbo's GF, Bimbo TwoBags?

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I was kind of in a debate on the whole up votes and down votes thing.  BUT, then I saw you were only 10 more down votes away from not being able to vote or create a new post.  I am now 100% behind it.

Slight character development. Rings corruption of Bilbo (killing for the ring), growth of evil, corruption of Thorin , etc. it was more like a chess match where the master sets you up to beat you in the next 8 moves.

I honestly must say I feel sorry for you man.  If you don't appreciate the ability to gain immersion into Middle Earth - the mother of all fantasy worlds - with these incredible graphics and story lines, for an extra few hours, then that is your loss.  And these comments about nothing happening are absurd.  We learn that Sauron has returned and he takes Gandalf captive.  How is that not something happening?  We learn the wood elves want the treasure of Erebor as well.  We learn there is a town of humans in harm's way in the event the dwarves disturb the dragon, we see incredible fight scenes with the river fight, the spider fight and what about the dragon?  How sad is it that we take such insanely good special effects for granted now?  I remember 20 years ago when the first Jurassic Park came out and no one could fathom how incredible those graphics were.  And this dragon?  It will be the best and most realistic dragon we'll ever see in our lifetimes.  How you don't appreciate this, if you're even remotely a Tolkien fan, is beyond me.

is illogical.

That is exactly my situation. My 9 yr "drags" me to Avengers, IM3, Thor etc. Those I like. This... its like Installment No 5 of LOTR. Pretty much same thing over and over with less interesting characters. The ONlY saving graces are the hot badass Elf chick, and Khan the Dragon (if you know the reference). But if you arent really intothese movies... you still wont be after this one.

I for one am far more looking forward to seeing Ultron.