One of the most pivotal scenes in An Unexpected Journey, the escape from Goblin-Town scene, was one of the most dramatic changes that Jackson made. As Christopher Tolkien himself once said, they eviscerated the book by making it an action movie for young people 15 to 25. The extra-long scene seemed more like a video game than a film, and reached cartoonish levels of ridiculousness at some points. Thorins company was literally surrounded by goblins, yet these were easily vanquished while the protagonists didnt suffer any injuries whatsoever. Moreover, the more outlandish parts of this scene, particularly the falling scaffold, truly demonstrated Jacksons approach of action and violence over keeping to the original story. As for the barrel escape scene in The Desolation of Smaug, it is a repetition of this same theme. Instead of simply floating down towards Laketown in sealed barrels, the Dwarves escape is nearly thwarted by a sudden Orc attack. The almost completely CGI scene is one of the most un-realistic scenes in a story that did have a sense of realism to it. From open barrels not sinking after filling with water, to the dwarves somehow perfect aim with weapons, to Bomburs own ridiculous defeating of several orcs, this scene just screamed over-the-top action. Though this was good for the films pacing, there was no reason to add it. The film couldve simply had the dwarves escape in sealed barrels, thus shortening the eventual lead-up to the confrontation with Smaug, which was what viewers were waiting for in the first place. Ultimately, Peter Jackson took a short story written by Tolkien and made several unnecessary changes. He added too many new elements, extended pre-existing ones, and left fans waiting and waiting for the main storyline elements that made the original story great. In the end, the Hobbit films wouldve been a much better story if it was condensed into a single film. What do you think of the Hobbit films? Share your thoughts below in the comments thread.
Alexander Podgorski is a writer for WhatCulture that has been a fan of professional wrestling since he was 8 years old. He loves all kinds of wrestling, from WWE and sports entertainment, to puroresu in Japan.
He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Queen's University in Political Studies and French, and a Master's Degree in Public Administration. He speaks English, French, Polish, a bit of German, and knows some odd words and phrases in half a dozen other languages.
