10. There Will Be Battles
Taking a leaf out of The Fellowship Of The Rings book, An Unexpected Journey made up for its lack of actual large scale battles with a mixture of well choreographed small scale sequences and flashbacks to important epic fights; sure the fall of Dale was more bothered with avoiding the dragon than showing the action, but the Battle of Moria was extended spectacle at its best. Desolation Of Smaug has the same lack of big fights - the only full scale battle in The Hobbit, the Battle of the Five Armies, will come in There And Back again - and yet the trailer has multiple shots that give a sense of large scale; theres a few shots of what looks like a showdown in Dale, but what really piques my interest is the moment above from the middle of the trailer. Thats an army to rival Saurons from the opening of The Lord Of The Rings in a film devoid of war. Ive no idea what were seeing here and that sense of unpredictability really has me excited. Is this an expositional flashback or a tease for Five Armies? Either way I cant wait.