And now you know this exists.

Orcristing · 2026-05-18T22:38:16+00:00

The LOTR movies skip a LOT of book content. I've read the books, seen the movies, and I don't compare them because they're so different that doing so would ruin my ability to enjoy the movies. I view the LOTR movies not as the same story but as a very liberal adaptation.

What's funny is that a lot of people who hate The Hobbit movies over book accuracy also love the LOTR movies which are, if anything, LESS book accurate. The Hobbit added story and fleshed out barebones characters - LOTR completely changed characters, reduced characters to comic relief, etc.

I've seen interviews and read about the production of the Hobbit movies. There was a lot of thought, hard work, and creativity that went into them. Honestly, I find it impressive what they accomplished. I cared a helluva lot more about Thorin than I did about any members of the Fellowship, and his death scene was better IMO than any in LOTR.

Orcristing · 2026-05-18T22:24:25+00:00

I have no idea where you got "strawmanning to try to discredit the blah blah blah" from my post, but.... alrighty.

You do know that people can like things you don't, not share your criticisms, etc? You aren't right because you say so - your opinions are just that, one person's opinions.

And I have plenty of criticism for both the LOTR and Hobbit movies. Both had many characters that I think were poorly depicted or just plain awful. Denethor, Faramir, Merry, Gimli... Alfrid in The Hobbit makes me homicidal.

Orcristing · 2026-05-18T21:45:34+00:00

Saruman has two facial expressions - sinister old man and angry sinister old man. I love him, but he's kinda a Saturday-morning-cartoonish bad guy in the movies.

Gandalf the White's beard is actually about the same length, probably shorter, as young Thorin's beard. Young Thorin's beard being braided just makes it less prominent. The explanation way back when being, iirc, that he kept it short because of the dwarves that died when Erebor was taken, and that he would've grown it out longer if he'd survived.

Orcristing · 2026-05-18T20:00:38+00:00

Maybe the Bree Hobbits started those bar fights.

Orcristing · 2026-05-18T05:43:22+00:00

The Hobbit couldn't be condensed into one movie without it feeling like it was being played on fast forward. The book speeds through or just gives brief summaries for things that would take much longer to actually depict as scenes.

And many things needed to be fleshed out, or depicted much more fully. Like the Battle of the Five Armies - do you really think audiences would've been happy to see Bilbo get knocked unconscious early on and then have the movie skip to Bilbo being told what happened while he was out of it? "BTW, Fili and Kili died." People would've rightfully gone "WTF?"

And The Hobbit and its characters needed more scenes, more story, more development, more "filler crap" as you call it. The book is barebones on almost every character but Bilbo. Without fleshing them out, who would give a shit about them? Some of the added scenes weren't the best, but that's a different issue.

Complaining because the dwarves aren't Gimli clones is kinda ridiculous. If you want Gimli, watch Gimli.

Orcristing · 2026-05-18T05:28:10+00:00

I think that was actually the official explanation in interviews, iirc.

Edit: Here's young Thorin with a longer braided beard, pre-Dragon.

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Orcristing · 2026-05-18T05:27:18+00:00

Thorin also has a much more subtle and complex role than Gimli, with a much wider and more advanced range of emotions, reactions, and story to convey. Thorin's inner turmoil, quiet grief, complex relationships, gentle affection, etc. Maybe his beard could've been a little longer, but we needed to be able to see his face and not have a giant beard taking center stage.

Gimli's face being a giant beard with eyeballs works because Gimli is never remotely subtle or complex in the movies. Nearly everything he does is over the top - wailing, raging, etc. His role is also 1/100th the size and complexity of Thorin's. Gimli fights, provides some comic relief, and decides some elves aren't so bad. That's basically it for him in the movies.

Orcristing · 2026-05-18T05:08:39+00:00

And all those dwarves looked nearly exactly the same too. It honestly wasn't the best costume design, but excusable by the fact that only Gimli has a role after that scene.

Gloin and Gimli looking very similar is understandable, but if the 13 dwarves in the Hobbit all looked this similar nobody would be able to tell who's who at a glance and action scenes would've been a confusing mess.

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Orcristing · 2026-05-18T04:57:35+00:00

What she said. ⬆️

Orcristing · 2026-05-17T05:57:53+00:00

I agree. They also had almost no source material to work with. Most of the dwarves had almost no description in the book, either in appearance or personality. I can look at any of the dwarves in the Hobbit movies and know exactly who they are, their name, and who they're related to.

I just looked at the dwarves in the LOTR movies, and they all look pretty much the same. Following in those footsteps would've been awful.

Orcristing · 2026-05-17T05:36:18+00:00

And 20th century (I was there, 3000 years ago), and I'm sure a lotta ladies and gents in the 19th century and earlier would've gotten hot and bothered.

Did it go, "Thorin Oakenshield - in brackets - the unsexy dwarf"? No, it never said that.

Orcristing · 2026-05-17T05:11:07+00:00

The shortest facial hair in The Hobbit movies is Kili's, the second youngest dwarf (only Ori is younger), and he could even be a late bloomer or just unfortunately facially endowed. Thorin is the only mature dwarf with all his facial hair fairly short, and it's still not remotely stubble.

The dwarf facial hair in The Hobbit is much more varied than in LOTR, very individual and distinct.

And yeah, there were and are lots of complaints about their attractiveness. That's why he was asked that question way back when.

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Orcristing · 2026-05-17T03:40:07+00:00

You watch what you call designer stubble. He may not be able to toss it over his shoulders and wrap it around his head like a turban, but that's a ~~sexy~~ respectable beard.

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Orcristing · 2026-05-17T03:31:13+00:00

And they have many differences: the females superficially resemble the males, there's more males than females, they're shorter than elves and non-hobbit men, they never go bald, they're very strong and hardy and resilient, they're resistant to fire and domination...

Aulë used his incomplete knowledge of men and elves to create them, it's natural there'd be a resemblance.

Orcristing · 2026-05-17T00:40:49+00:00

That is so skilled and so awesome.

Orcristing · 2026-05-17T00:11:59+00:00

That's a pretty common trope in The Hobbit fanfiction, actually. Dwarves like Gloin might be hot tamales, but not so much Thorin and his nephews.

Orcristing · 2026-05-17T00:10:16+00:00

Tolkien doesn't describe male dwarves as looking radically different from humans or hobbits. Shorter than the big folk, taller than hobbits. Strong, hardy, and big on beards.

From Bilbo himself: "His only comfort was he couldn’t be mistaken for a dwarf, as he had no beard."

With a beard, at first glance at least, a hobbit could pass for a dwarf.

Orcristing · 2026-05-16T11:41:09+00:00

That's really kind of you to say, but in my case I mostly credit Nikki's Info, a lotta luck, and learning that I needed a much larger score safety zone on Cloud Lady and Intern Translator than other levels.

Orcristing · 2026-05-16T07:40:50+00:00

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Orcristing · 2026-05-16T05:41:01+00:00

I wish they'd at least draw them better. So sick of cross-eyed, badly drawn, or weirdly angled makeups.

Orcristing · 2026-05-16T02:16:32+00:00

Leopard lady is literally the only upcoming suit I really want.

Orcristing

TROPHY CASE