Official Synopsis
“The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies” brings to an epic conclusion the adventure of Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman), Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage) and the Company of Dwarves. The Dwarves of Erebor have reclaimed the vast wealth of their homeland, but now must face the consequences of having unleashed the terrifying Dragon, Smaug, upon the defenseless men, women and children of Lake-town.
As he succumbs to dragon-sickness, the King Under the Mountain, Thorin Oakenshield, sacrifices friendship and honor in search for the legendary Arkenstone. Unable to help Thorin see reason, Bilbo is driven to make a desperate and dangerous choice, not knowing that even greater perils lie ahead. An ancient enemy has returned to Middle-earth. Sauron, the Dark Lord, has sent forth legions of Orcs in a stealth attack upon the Lonely Mountain.
As darkness converges on their escalating conflict, the races of Dwarves, Elves and Men must decide – unite or be destroyed. Bilbo finds himself fighting for his life and the lives of his friends as five great armies go to war.
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The third part in the The Hobbit trilogy comes to a close with The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. The last time we left our adventurers, they had just unleashed Smaug the dragon upon hapless Lake-town. And as its fitting, the third film starts with Lake-town residents panicking because of an impending dragon attack, a dragon that has every intention to burn their poor town into smoldering ashes. Of course, as people are trying to escape, our newly crowned hero from the previous Hobbit installment, Bard (Luke Evans), comes to the rescue and takes care of the old dragon in one giant sting to the heart with a black arrow.
To say that The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies opens up intensely is a gross understatement. The opening delivers what it teases from the last movie, though the moment doesn’t last as long as it should. If you’re a purist of the book, it makes sense, but with all the liberties Peter Jackson has taken in regards to the story it seems like a moment he would draw out just a bit. And don’t get me wrong, what Jackson delivers to the audience is good, but the length isn’t great. I wanted more Smaug and more brutality to the poor folks of Lake-town, which sounds sick, but it feels appropriate. What we get is quick, violent and over much too quickly.
Upon the death of Smaug, the story shifts from fifth to second gear. The story pulls back from Lake-town and gives you a wide shot of everyone involved and their literal stake in the dwarven claim under the mountain. The story of a greedy Thorin (Richard Armitage) kicks into gear and how his greed almost starts a war between men and elves. On the side, there is also Gandalf’s (Ian McKellen) rescue from the orcs by his elvish friends (and fellow wizard), which not only hints at the upcoming orc involvement in the third act, but also connects the Lord of the Rings saga to the story timeline.
The second act is almost entirely dedicated to the building of Thorin’s situation. Jackson and crew desperately wanted to concentrate and develop Thorin’s internal struggle and how affects everyone around him, which is understood in a few scenes, but it never properly goes into full bloom. It stagnates after 10-15 minutes and by the boiling point the message about Thorin seems to repeat itself over and over again. In short, the middle of the second act just seems to sit there waiting for the third act to begin, though having 30 more minutes to play with before that happens. It does help that Bilbo (Martin Freeman) becomes a bit more involved in how the story shifts, but doesn’t do enough to make himself stand out like he should in this situation.
The third act is by far the most entertaining of the trio. Just on the brink of war between two companies of dwarves, elves and men — the orcs show up. What erupts in act three is a large scale battle that sees the end of some important characters (and their stories), while igniting the beginnings of other important players in the Tolkien story arc. While the battle is pretty cool to watch unfold, the best part is Bilbo’s conclusion in the movie.
Overall, The Battle of the Five Armies does its best to conclude a story that might have been better off in two parts rather than three. As it stands, it has enough content for two parts to make it respectful to the book. Sadly, it feels like the story gets stretched and parts seem to be left out of the mix (some even put in for no reason at all — a certain love story to be exact). Because of this, The Battle of the Armies doesn’t match the emotional investment that the Lord of the Rings trilogy required from its audience, and whom most gladly gave. That’s not to say that the third movie isn’t entertaining and worth your time and money, especially if you’re a fan of the first two. It might have been concluded better if Jackson had condensed some parts, focused on others and nixed material that never was in the original story.
Story aside, I think that the Blu-ray version of this film is gorgeous. It’s clean and crisp with the visuals, while still keeping the graininess and artifacts out of the equation. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that the tone of the film is a bit more filtered (almost a gray/blue tint) than the previous films in the trilogy. It’s not a bad thing, but it does bring out some obvious special effects moments visually. Anyway, Warner Home Video makes yet another jewel for its royal Blu-ray crown.
On the audio side of things, the sound comes to you in DTS-HD 7.1 (as it should be). The aspect ratio of the film is 2.4:1.
In terms of special features, here’s what you’re getting with this release:
· Recruiting the Five Armies
· Completing Middle-earth
· The Last Goodbye: Behind the Scenes
· The Last Goodbye Music Video
· New Zealand: Home of Middle-earth, Part 3
While there will most certainly be an ‘extended version’ of this movie coming out later in the year (well, I hope), what you get with this release is enough to tide you over until that happens. There are some good features, especially the recruiting feature and the retrospect featurette. Overall, not a bad set of features for a good film. The release definitely follows the same pattern as the previous two.
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies arrives onto Blu-ray 3D Combo Pack, Blu-ray Combo Pack, 2-Disct DVD Special Edition and Digital HD on March 24th from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment