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It’s hard to believe that The Return of the King came out 11 years ago. At that time I was sad to see Peter Jackson’s epic saga come to an end. I loved his version of Middle-earth and the grand scale of The Lord of the Rings.
I have enjoyed Jackson’s return to Middle-earth in The Hobbit movies. I know a lot of people have been disappointed with Bilbo’s adventure, but it has thoroughly entertained me. I was never a huge fan of The Hobbit novel so I haven’t been offended by the changes and additions to the movies.
I know it’s been getting lukewarm reviews, but I enjoyed The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. There were major changes from the book, but I’ve decided to enjoy the movies independent of the book. And, as a movie, I thought The Battle of the Five Armies was great.
Here are some other thoughts I had while watching The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies.
Home
I preferred the original title for this movie: There And Back Again. The Battle of the Five Armies definitely highlights the main conflict of the movie but the idea of home plays a huge role. In An Unexpected Journey Bilbo couldn’t wait to leave the Shire and see the big world. In The Battle of the Five Armies Bilbo can’t wait to get back home. Home carries with it feelings of acceptance and security. Home is my favorite place to be. Regardless of what I’m facing at work, I know that my home is a safe place of unconditional love. And whether we’ve faced down orcs and dragons or just a long day at the office, it’s always good to come home.
Greed
In Wall Street Gordon Gekko exclaimed, “Greed is good.” Thankfully Tolkien had a different view of greed, a view Jackson transferred from the book to the movie. Smaug was a great example of the impact greed could have as it eats away at a person or dragon. In The Battle of the Five Armies Thorin takes up that greedy mantle. Greed is insidious because it makes us insatiable. No matter how much we have or how much we get, greed always wants more. We need to strive to be happy with what we have if we want to avoid the greed of Smaug. I know that I could be happy with a cavern full of gold, I’m happy without it, but all things being equal…
Friendship
I’ve loved seeing the friendship among Thorin’s band of treasure hunters. I actually got a little teary eyed at the end of The Battle of the Five Kings because I had invested so much in the friendships among the dwarves and Bilbo. I still don’t know all of the names of the dwarves but I like how committed they were to each other. We probably won’t have an unexpected journey filled with death and adventure, but it’s still better to go through life with some good friends.
The Hobbit movies weren’t as great as the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but I still enjoyed my second trip to Middle-earth. Peter Jackson hasn’t ruled out a return to Middle-earth but I don’t know how exciting a trilogy based on The Silmarillion would be. Until then, though, we have almost 20 hours of Middle-earth movies to enjoy.
What did you think of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies?
The Christian Nerd 
“Greed is insidious because it makes us insatiable.” Like movie studios wanting 3 movies instead of 2. Flibbedy floo.
I am not looking forward to Five Armies, but I’m sure I’ll see it, and it will probably be better than I expect. In any event, as ever, I enjoyed reading your review and reflections!
Greed may not be good but movie studios arent non-profits either.
Hopefully you can at least be entertained.
Oh – and happy millennial post!
Thanks, Mike! And thanks for all of your supports.
It’s fine. Just like the rest of the trilogy. As unnecessary as it may have been. Good review.
Unnecessary is a great way to describe The Hobbit trilogy. Unnecessary but ultimately entertaining.
I watched the movie last week and I have to admit that I was rather disappointed.
However, I loved the stereotypical Middle-earth moments – The dwarves’ reunion (cheerful, loud, over the top), the Shire (nothing ever changes), the Hobbit next to Gandalf on the horses etc.
As a result, as you put it, it was ultimately entertaining. I do look forward to the extended edition too. I hope it fills up the plot a little.
Congrats on your 1000th post Scott!