Gondor59
Beacon Keeper
The fact is, just based on the differences in books, I think public perception will be that The Hobbit is a lesser work, which it is.
Whatever happens to The Hobbit, it'll never change the fact that together they all made three amazing films that work seemlessly together to become one superb adaptation of one of the greatest books ever written. Next to that accomplishment, The Hobbit could never be on equal ground.
I kinda, sorta disagree on those two points. The Hobbit is a rich, interwoven story unto itself. Putting The Hobbit on the big screen would be just as daunting, if not more so, than LOTR was. You'd have to put the Rivendell and Hobbiton sets back up as well as create new sets for Laketown, Mirkwood, The Lonely Mountain / Smaug's Lair, the troll encounter in the Old Forest, the Hall of the Wood Elves, as well as incorporate the Battle of Five Armies just to name a very few. Add the balancing act of a convincing talking dragon into that mix and you can see that if done right, this will not be considered a "lesser work." I do however think the story is simpler. That could be a good thing though in that it will allow a deeper immersion into the atmosphere, or feeling of Tolkien's Middlearth that I experienced the first time I read the books. It is hard to explain, but as much as I loved Jackson's work on the films, at times it just did not seem like Middlearth to me. The simpler story line of The Hobbit may help solve that. We will see.
Whatever happens to The Hobbit, it'll never change the fact that together they all made three amazing films that work seemlessly together to become one superb adaptation of one of the greatest books ever written. Next to that accomplishment, The Hobbit could never be on equal ground.
I kinda, sorta disagree on those two points. The Hobbit is a rich, interwoven story unto itself. Putting The Hobbit on the big screen would be just as daunting, if not more so, than LOTR was. You'd have to put the Rivendell and Hobbiton sets back up as well as create new sets for Laketown, Mirkwood, The Lonely Mountain / Smaug's Lair, the troll encounter in the Old Forest, the Hall of the Wood Elves, as well as incorporate the Battle of Five Armies just to name a very few. Add the balancing act of a convincing talking dragon into that mix and you can see that if done right, this will not be considered a "lesser work." I do however think the story is simpler. That could be a good thing though in that it will allow a deeper immersion into the atmosphere, or feeling of Tolkien's Middlearth that I experienced the first time I read the books. It is hard to explain, but as much as I loved Jackson's work on the films, at times it just did not seem like Middlearth to me. The simpler story line of The Hobbit may help solve that. We will see.
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