Wednesday, 29 July 2015

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies


The Hobbit:
The Battle of the Five Armies
The Hobbit - The Battle of the Five Armies.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed byPeter Jackson
Produced by
Screenplay by
Based onThe Hobbit
by J. R. R. Tolkien
Starring
Music byHoward Shore
CinematographyAndrew Lesnie
Edited byJabez Olssen
Production
companies
Distributed byWarner Bros. Pictures
Release dates
  • 1 December 2014(London premiere)
  • 11 December 2014(New Zealand)
  • 17 December 2014(United States)
Running time
144 minutes[1]
Country
  • New Zealand[2]
  • United States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$250 million[3]
Box office$955.1 million[4]
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies is a 2014 epic fantasyadventure film, directed by Peter Jackson and written by Jackson, Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, and Guillermo del Toro. It is the third and final installment in Peter Jackson's three-part film adaptation based on the novelThe Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien, following An Unexpected Journey (2012) andThe Desolation of Smaug (2013), and together they act as a prequel to Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy.
Produced by New Line Cinema, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and WingNut Films, and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, The Battle of the Five Armies was released on 11 December 2014 in New Zealand, 12 December 2014 in the United Kingdom and on 17 December 2014 in the United States.
The film was a box office success, grossing over $955 million worldwide, surpassing both The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers nominally, making it the second highest-grossing film of 2014 and the 29th highest-grossing film of all time. At the 87th Academy Awards, the film received a nomination for Best Sound Editing.

Contents

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Plot[edit]

Bilbo and the Dwarves watch from the Lonely Mountain as the dragon Smaugattacks Laketown. Bard the Bowman manages to break out of prison, fights Smaug, and eventually kills him with the black arrow given to him by his sonBain. Smaug's falling body crushes the fleeing Master of Laketown, along with his cronies, who were escaping Laketown on a boat with the town's gold. Bard becomes the new leader of the Laketown people as they seek refuge in the ruins of Dale, while Legolas travels to investigate Mount Gundabad withTauriel. Thorin, now struck with "dragon sickness", searches obsessively for the Arkenstone, which was stolen earlier from Smaug by Bilbo. Bilbo learns from Balin that it would be best if the Arkenstone remained hidden from Thorin, who orders the entrance of the Lonely Mountain to be sealed off.
Meanwhile, Galadriel, Elrond and Saruman arrive at Dol Guldur and freeGandalf, sending him to safety with Radagast. They battle and defeat theNazgûl and Sauron himself, banishing them to the East. Azog, marching on Erebor with his vast Orc army, sends Bolg to Gundabad to summon their second army. Legolas and Tauriel witness the march of Bolg's army, bolstered by Goblins and giant bats.
While Bard and the Laketown survivors shelter in Dale, Thranduil arrives with an elf army, supplies and aid, and forms an alliance with Bard, wishing to claim an elven necklace of white gems from the Mountain. Bard attempts to negotiate and reason with Thorin to avoid war, but the dwarf refuses to cooperate. After Gandalf arrives at Dale to warn Bard and Thranduil of the Orc army on the way, Bilbo sneaks out of Erebor to hand the Arkenstone over to Thranduil and Bard. When Bard and Thranduil's armies gather at the gates of Erebor, offering to trade the Arkenstone for Thranduil's gems and Laketown's share of the gold, Thorin nearly kills Bilbo in a furious rage. After Gandalf forces Thorin to release Bilbo, the arrival of Thorin's cousin Dáin with his Dwarf army worsens matters. A battle of Dwarves against Elves and Men is imminent, when Wereworms emerge from the ground releasing Azog's army from their tunnels. With the Orcs outnumbering Dáin's army, Thranduil and Bard's forces, along with Gandalf and Bilbo, join the battle as some of the Orcs attack Dale.
Inside Erebor, initially refusing to fight, Thorin suffers a hallucination before regaining his sanity and leading his company into battle. While the other dwarves of the company aid Dain's forces, Thorin rides towards Ravenhill with Dwalin, Fíli and Kíli to kill Azog and force the Orcs to retreat. Meanwhile, after being banished by Thranduil, Tauriel leaves with Legolas to warn the dwarves of Bolg's approaching army; Bilbo follows them using his invisibility ring. Thorin sends Fíli and Kíli to scout, but they are captured by orcs. Bilbo and the elves arrive too late as Fíli is executed by Azog. Kíli, who is hiding underneath the cliff, sees his brother's body dropping down and attacks some Orcs in a fit of rage. As Thorin battles Azog to avenge Fíli, Bolg knocks Bilbo unconscious, overpowers Tauriel and then kills Kíli who had come to her aid. After Legolas kills Bolg, the Great Eagles arrive with Radagast and Beorn, and the Orc armies are finally destroyed.
Bilbo regains consciousness and finds that Azog has been killed by Thorin, who makes peace with him before succumbing to his own injuries. On Thranduil's suggestion, Legolas leaves to meet with a young Dunedain ranger going by the name "Strider" (Aragorn). Grieved by the deaths of Thorin, Fíli, and Kíli, the people of Laketown, the elves, and the dwarves bury them inside the tombs of Erebor. As a result, Dáin is crowned King Under the Mountain, the citizens of Laketown are given the riches promised to them by Thorin, and Dáin returns to the elves the white elven gems that King Thrór had stolen from them years ago.
Following these events, Bilbo bids farewell to the remaining members of Thorin's company and journeys home to the Shire with Gandalf. As the two part on the outskirts of the Shire, Gandalf admits his knowledge of Bilbo's ring and cautions him against using it. Bilbo returns to Bag End to find his belongings being auctioned off by relatives' family because he waspresumed dead. He aborts the sale but finds his home has been almost totally pillaged.
Sixty years later, Bilbo receives a visit from Gandalf and runs out to greet him, thus setting in motion the events of The Fellowship of the Ring.

Cast[edit]

The Battle of the Five Armies panel at 2014 SDCC
Further information: Cast of The Hobbit film series and Casting of The Hobbit film series

Production[edit]

Further information: The Hobbit (film series) § Development
The Hobbit was originally envisioned as a two-part film, but Jackson confirmed plans for a third film on 30 July 2012, turning his adaptation of The Hobbit into a trilogy.[8][9] According to Jackson, the third film would contain the Battle of the Five Armies and make extensive use of the appendices that Tolkien wrote to expand the story of Middle-Earth (published in the back of The Return of the King). Jackson also stated that while the third film will largely make use of footage originally shot for the first and second films, it would require additional filming as well.[10] The third film was titled There and Back Again in August 2012.[11] In April 2014, Jackson changed the title of the film to The Battle of the Five Armies as he thought the new title better suited the situation of the film.[12] He stated on his Facebook page, "There and Back Again felt like the right name for the second of a two film telling of the quest to reclaim Erebor, when Bilbo's arrival there, and departure, were both contained within the second film. But with three movies, it suddenly felt misplaced—after all, Bilbo has already arrived 'there' in the Desolation of Smaug."[13] Shaun Gunner, the chairman of The Tolkien Society, supported the decision: "The Battle of the Five Armies much better captures the focus of the film but also more accurately channels the essence of the story."[14]

Score[edit]

Main article: Music of The Hobbit film series § The Battle of the Five Armies
As with all the previous films, Howard Shore has composed the score. Billy Boyd, who played Peregrin Took in The Lord of the Rings, wrote and recorded the song "The Last Goodbye" to be played over the end credits of the film.[15]

Release[edit]

Marketing[edit]

A teaser trailer for the film was released on 28 July 2014 attached to Guardians of the Galaxy, Into the Storm, and If I Stay. The second theatrical trailer was released on 6 November 2014 attached to Interstellar and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1.[16][17]
To promote the film's release, Wellington-based association football club, Wellington Phoenix, wore a special designed jersey to commemorate the opening of The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies. The custom, film-themed jersey was worn only once, on 13 December 2014.[18] In the film's Japanese release on 13 December, Warner Bros. collaborated with mobile gaming company A-Lim to bring Bilbo, Gandalf, and Legolas into the game Brave Frontier at the end of December as Vortex Dungeon units. The campaign only runs until February 2015.[19][20][21]
Smaug made a guest appearance, animated by WETA and voiced again by Cumberbatch, on the satire show The Colbert Report on December 12, 2014 to promote the film.[22]

Theatrical release[edit]

The world premiere of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies was held in London at Leicester Square on 1 December 2014.[23][24] The film opened in theatres on 11 December 2014 in New Zealand, on 12 December in the United Kingdom and on 17 December in the United States. Warner Bros released the film on 18 December 2014 in Greece and 26 December in Australia.[6][25] The film was released in China on January 23, 2015.[26]

Home media[edit]

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies was released on March 6, 2015 on Digital Release from digital retailers. The DVD and Blu-ray were released on March 24, 2015 in the United States.[27][28][29][30] It topped the home video sales chart in its opening week.[31]
An Extended Edition of the film is scheduled for release in November 2015 and will be 30 minutes longer than the theatrical cut.[32]

Reception[edit]

Box office[edit]

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies grossed a worldwide total of $955.1 million. Calculating in all expenses,Deadline.com estimated that the film made a profit of $103.38 million.[33] Worldwide, it is the second highest-grossing film of 2014 behind Transformers: Age of Extinction and the 28th highest-grossing film of all time.[34][35] Its grosses exceeded its estimated $250 million production cost 12 days after its release.[36]
The film failed to earn $1 billion at the box office despite various pundits projecting it to reach that milestone. The Hollywood Reporter said that The Battle of the Five Armies was unlikely to gross $1 billion worldwide due to "plunging exchange rates around the globe" witnessed that year and that Warner Bros. and MGM ultimately would take in nearly $90 million less than expected due to rising dollar and plunging foreign currencies.[37] However, despite this failure, Forbes has declared the trilogy "an unmitigated financial grand-slam for all parties."[38]

United States and Canada[edit]

In the U.S. and Canada, it is the lowest grossing of the three films in The Hobbit franchise,[39] and also the lowest grossing of the six Middle-earth adaptations,[40] but the sixth highest-grossing film of 2014.[41] It opened on Tuesday, December 16, 2014 at 7 p.m across 3,100 theaters and widened to 3,875 theaters the following day.[42] It earned $11.2 million from Tuesday late-night shows, which was the second highest of 2014, matching the record previously set by Guardians of the Galaxy and both behind The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 ($17 million).[42][43][44][45] It then topped the box office on its opening day (Wednesday, December 17, 2014), earning $24.5 million (including previews),[46][47] which was the third highest Middle-earth adaptation Wednesday opening behind the Wednesday openings of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King ($34.5 million) and The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers ($26.2 million).[48][49]
In total, the film earned $54,724,334 in its traditional three-day opening and $89,131,544 over its five-day course making it the second biggest five-day opening in the Hobbit trilogy, beating the $86.1 million five-day opening gross of The Desolation of Smaug, but still behind An Unexpected Journey's $100.2 million five-day opening. However, on a three-day basis the film underperformed expectations and fell short of its predecessors.[50][51] The film set a December IMAX opening record with $13.4 million (previously held by Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol).[52] 3D accounted for 49% of the total gross while IMAX generated 15% or $13.4 million over five days, and $7.4 million over three days, and premium large format screens comprised 8% of the total opening weekend gross with $7.2 million from 396 theaters.[42][51] The film passed the $100 million mark on December 23, 2014 – on its seventh day.[53] It became the third film of 2014 to earn $100 million in just under a week following Lionsgate's The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 ($168.7 million in its opening week) andDisney/Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy ($134.4 million in its first week).[54] It was in first place at the North American box office for three consecutive weekends despite facing competition from numerous new releases each weekend,[55][56] but was finally overtaken by Taken 3 in its fourth weekend.[57][58]

Other territories[edit]

The film began its international roll-out a week prior to its wide North American release.[59] It opened Wednesday, December 10, 2014 in 11 European markets, earning $11.3 million and December 11, 2014 in 17 additional markets, earning $13.7 million, for a two day total of $26.6 million and topped the charts in each of the territories.[59][60][61] Through Sunday, December 14, 2015, it had an openening weekend total of $122.2 million from 37 countries in 15,395 screens[62][63] topping the box office and outperforming the previous two installments on a local currency and admissions basis.[63] 71% of the total gross ($86.7 million) came from 3D showings.[63] However, the overseas opening weekend was still lower than the openings of An Unexpected Journey ($138 million)[64] and The Desolation of Smaug ($135.4 million)[65] – both on a dollar basis. It set a December IMAX opening record with $6.4 million across 160 IMAX screens, previously held by An Unexpected Journey with $5.03 million.[63] The film opened to an additional 59 countries in its second weekend and earned $109 million from 19,315 screens still holding the top spot and fell gradually by 13% as a result of facing minor competitions.[52][66] In its third weekend the film added a further $89 million abroad, remaining at No. 1.[67] It was in first place at the box office outside North America for four consecutive weekends[68] and five in total.[69]
In Australia, the film was released on December 26, 2014 and set an opening day record with $5.59 million, which is the biggest of 2014, the second biggest Boxing Day gross, and the fourth biggest ever in Australia[70] behind Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 ($7.092 million), The Avengers ($6.004 million) and The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug($5.9 million).[71] It went on to earn $10.1 million in its opening weekend.[67] The film set an all time opening record for Warner Bros. in China where it earned $49.84 million in its opening weekend (a record previously held by Pacific Rim).[69][72][73] IMAX generated $6.8 million of the total gross which is the second-highest IMAX three day gross in China behind Transformers: Age of Extinction‍‍ '​‍s $10 million gross.[69]
The film achieved numerous records in international markets during its opening weekend. It set an all-time Warner Bros. opening record in Russia ($13.75 million),[62] in Argentina ($2.1 million),[68] and in Sweden and Finland.[62] It also set a 2014 opening record in Germany ($20.5 million),[62] France ($15.05 million)[62] and in Spain ($6.3 million).[74] It also had the best Middle-earth saga opening in the UK ($15.2 million)[62] and in Mexico ($6.3 million).[62] In Brazil, the film scored the second biggest Warner Bros. opening of all time with $6.8 million (behind Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2).[62] Other high openings were recorded in Korea ($10.4 million), Poland ($5.6 million), Italy ($5.6 million), Malaysia ($3 million) and Taiwan ($2.75 million).[74][67] In total earnings, its largest markets are China ($121.7 million), UK, Ireland and Malta ($61.3 million) and Australia ($27 million).[75]

Critical response[edit]

MTV reported that reviews for The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies were "generally positive" with critics praising the film "for its energy, shorter running time and satisfying closure."[76] According to IBT, reviews for the film were mostly positive, with critics "praising director Peter Jackson's effort at transforming J.R.R Tolkien's fantasy novel into an epic adventure film trilogy."[77] According to CBS News, critics said the film "will satisfy" fans but "otherwise, it may be worth waiting until it's available to rent."[78] The Los Angeles Times said the critical consensus was that the film is "a flawed but fitting finale to the Hobbit trilogy."[79] The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 61% approval rating with an average rating of 6.3/10 based on 219 reviews. The website's consensus reads, "Though somewhat overwhelmed by its own spectacle, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies ends Peter Jackson's second Middle-earth trilogy on a reasonably satisfying note."[80] The film also holds a Metacritic score of 59 out of 100, based on 45 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[81] In CinemaScore polls conducted during the opening weekend, cinema audiences gave the film an average grade of "A-" on an A+ to F scale.[51]
Scott Foundas of Variety said, "The result is at once the trilogy's most engrossing episode, its most expeditious (at a comparatively lean 144 minutes) and also its darkest - both visually and in terms of the forces that stir in the hearts of men, dwarves and orcs alike."[82] Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter said, "After six films, 13 years and 1031 minutes of accumulated running time, Peter Jackson has concluded his massively remunerative genuflection at the altar of J.R.R. Tolkien with a film that may be the most purely entertaining of any in the collection."[83] Andrew Pulver of The Guardiansaid, "This film is a fitting cap to an extended series that, if nothing else, has transformed Tolkien's place in the wider culture."[84] Chris Tilly from IGN Movies said, "There's a little too much padding in the final Hobbit flick, and the best sequence is without doubt the film's first. But the central battle is indeed spectacular, and as 'The Age of Orc' approaches, it rounds out this particular story in stirring and emotional fashion."[85] Russell Baillie of The New Zealand Herald said The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies is "something less than the supposed 'defining chapter' of Jackson's time in Middle-earth as it's been billed. But action-wise, it certainly goes out with a very pleasing bang."[86]
Conversely, Inkoo Kang of TheWrap said, "The 144-minute running time showcases Jackson's worst tendencies: eons-long battle scenes, sloppy and abrupt resolutions, portentous romances, off-rhythm comic timing, and, newly in this case, patience-testing fan service."[87] Tim Robey of The Daily Telegraph described the film as "a paragraph on steroids" that was "neither very terrible nor remotely unexpected. It's a series of stomping footnotes in search of a climax."[88] The BBC's Nicholas Barber wrote that with the Hobbit series Jackson had succeeded in bridging the gap between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and that The Battle of the Five Armies was a "colossal technical achievement", but he also criticised that the film as such was not compelling because of its repetitive battle scenes and a lack of plot.[89] Nicolas Rapold of The New York Times said, "Bilbo may fully learn a sense of friendship and duty, and have quite a story to tell, but somewhere along the way, Mr. Jackson loses much of the magic."[90]

Accolades[edit]

Main article: List of accolades received by The Hobbit film series
YearAwardCategoryRecipientResultRef.
2014Heartland Film FestivalTruly Moving Picture AwardThe Hobbit: The Battle of the Five ArmiesWon[91]
Phoenix Film Critics Society AwardsBest Visual EffectsJoe Letteri, Matt Aitken, Eric Saindon, Scott ChambersNominated[92]
2015Academy AwardsBest Sound EditingBrent Burge and Jason CanovasNominated[93]
Screen Actors Guild AwardsOutstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion PictureThe Hobbit: The Battle of the Five ArmiesNominated[94]
Critics' Choice Movie AwardsBest Hair & MakeupThe Hobbit: The Battle of the Five ArmiesNominated[95]
Best Visual EffectsThe Hobbit: The Battle of the Five ArmiesNominated
British Academy Film AwardsBest Special Visual EffectsJoe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton, R. Christopher WhiteNominated[96]
Denver Film Critics SocietyBest Original SongBilly Boyd, Philippa Boyens, Fran WalshNominated[97]
Empire AwardsBest FilmThe Hobbit: The Battle of the Five ArmiesNominated[98]
Best DirectorPeter JacksonNominated
Best ActorRichard ArmitageNominated
Best Sci-Fi/FantasyThe Hobbit: The Battle of the Five ArmiesNominated
Saturn AwardsBest Fantasy FilmThe Hobbit: The Battle of the Five ArmiesWon[99]
Best WritingFran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson and Guillermo del ToroNominated
Best Supporting ActorRichard ArmitageWon
Best Supporting ActressEvangeline LillyNominated
Best MusicHoward ShoreNominated
Best Make-upPeter King, Rick Findlater and Gino AcevedoNominated
Best Special EffectsJoe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton and R. Christopher WhiteNominated
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