The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies | |
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File:The Hobbit - The Battle of the Five Armies.jpg | |
Directed by | Peter Jackson |
Screenplay by |
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Produced by |
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Starring | |
Cinematography | Andrew Lesnie |
Edited by | Jabez Olssen |
Music by | Howard Shore |
Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
Release dates |
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Running time | 144 minutes[2] (theatrical edition) 174 minutes (extended edition) |
Countries |
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Language | English |
Budget | $250 million[3] |
Box office | $955.1 million[4] |
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies is a 2014 epic fantasy adventure film, directed by Peter Jackson and written by Jackson, Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, and Guillermo del Toro. It is the third and final installment in the three-part film adaptation based on the novel The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien, following An Unexpected Journey (2012) and The Desolation of Smaug (2013), and together they act as a prequel to Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy.
The film also marked the sixth and final middle earth adaptation of Tolkien's work. Produced by New Line Cinema, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and WingNut Films, and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. The Battle of the Five Armies was released on 11 December 2014 in New Zealand, 12 December 2014 in the United Kingdom and on 17 December 2014 in the United States.
It stars Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, Evangeline Lilly, Lee Pace, Luke Evans, Benedict Cumberbatch, Ken Stott and James Nesbitt. It also features Cate Blanchett, Ian Holm, Christopher Lee, Hugo Weaving and Orlando Bloom.
The film has grossed over $955 million, surpassing both The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers nominally, making it the second highest-grossing film of 2014 and the 26th highest-grossing film of all time. At the 87th Academy Awards, the film received a nomination for Best Sound Editing.
Bilbo and the Dwarves watch from the Lonely Mountain as the dragon Smaug attacks Laketown. Bard the Bowman manages to break out of prison, fights Smaug, and eventually kills him with the black arrow given to him by his son Bain. Smaug's falling body crushes the fleeing Master of Laketown, along with his cronies, who were escaping Laketown on a boat with a supply of gold. Bard becomes the new leader of the Laketown people as they seek refuge in the ruins of Dale, while Legolas travels to investigate Mount Gundabad with Tauriel. Thorin, now struck with "dragon sickness", searches obsessively for the Arkenstone, which was stolen by Bilbo, during his encounter with Smaug. Bilbo learns from Balin that it would be best if the Arkenstone remains hidden from Thorin, who orders the entrance of the Lonely Mountain to be sealed off.
Meanwhile, Galadriel, Elrond and Saruman arrive at Dol Guldur and free Gandalf. When Sauron confronts the group, Galadriel uses Eärendil's light to banish Sauron and the Nazgûl. Azog, marching on Erebor with his vast Orc army, sends Bolg to Gundabad to summon their second army. Legolas and Tauriel witness the march of Bolg's army, bolstered by Goblins and giant bats.
While Bard and the Laketown survivors shelter in Dale, Thranduil and his elf army arrives with supplies and aid, and forms an alliance with Bard, wishing to claim an elven necklace of white gems from the Mountain. Bard attempts to negotiate and reason with Thorin to avoid war, but the dwarf refuses to cooperate. After Gandalf arrives at Dale to warn Bard and Thranduil of the Orc army who will take Erebor as part of a campaign to revive the kingdom of Angmar, Bilbo sneaks out of Erebor to hand the Arkenstone over to Thranduil and Bard. When Bard and Thranduil's armies gather at the gates of Erebor, offering to trade the Arkenstone for Thranduil's gems and Laketown's share of the gold, Thorin is shocked to learn of the Arkenstone in the Elves' hands and he nearly kills Bilbo in a furious rage. After Gandalf forces Thorin to release Bilbo, the arrival of Thorin's cousin Dáin with his Dwarf army worsens matters. A battle of Dwarves against Elves and Men is on the verge of starting, when Wereworms emerge from the ground releasing Azog's army from their tunnels. With the Orcs outnumbering Dain's army, Thranduil and Bard's forces, along with Gandalf and Bilbo, join the battle as some of the Orcs attack Dale.
Inside Erebor, initially refusing to fight, Thorin suffers a hallucination before regaining his sanity and leading his company into battle. While the other dwarves of the company aid Dain's forces, Thorin rides towards Ravenhill with Dwalin, Fili and Kili to kill Azog and force the Orc army to retreat. Meanwhile, after being banished by Thranduil, despite her and Legolas warning him of Bolg's army, Tauriel leaves with Legolas to warn the dwarves of Bolg's approaching army, with Bilbo following them using the One Ring. Thorin sends Fíli and Kíli to scout, not knowing they are about to be overrun by a second army of Gundabad Orcs. Bilbo and the elves arrive too late as Fíli is captured by the Orcs and is executed by Azog. Kíli, who is hiding underneath the cliff, sees his brother's body dropping down and battles Orcs in a rage. As Thorin battles Azog to avenge Fili's death, Bolg knocks Bilbo unconscious, overpowers Tauriel and then kills Kili who had come to her aid. After Legolas kills Bolg, the Great Eagles arrive with Radagast and Beorn, and the Orc armies are finally destroyed.
Bilbo regains consciousness and finds that Azog has been killed by Thorin, who makes peace with him before succumbing to his own injuries. On Thranduil's suggestion, Legolas leaves to meet with a young Dunedain ranger going by the name Strider. As Tauriel mourns Kili, Bilbo bids farewell to the remaining members of Thorin's company and journeys home to the Shire with Gandalf. As the two part on the outskirts of the Shire, Gandalf admits his knowledge of Bilbo's ring and cautions him against using it. Bilbo returns to Bag End to find his belongings being auctioned off by relatives' family because he was presumed dead. He aborts the sale but finds his home has been almost totally pillaged.
Sixty years later, Bilbo receives a visit from Gandalf and runs out to greet him, thus setting in motion the events of The Fellowship of the Ring.
Further information: Cast of The Hobbit film series and Casting of The Hobbit film series |
Further information: The Hobbit (film series) § Development |
The Hobbit was originally envisioned as a two-part film, but Jackson confirmed plans for a third film on 30 July 2012, turning his adaptation of The Hobbit into a trilogy.[8][9] According to Jackson, the third film would contain the Battle of the Five Armies and make extensive use of the appendices that Tolkien wrote to expand the story of Middle-Earth (published in the back of The Return of the King). Jackson also stated that while the third film will largely make use of footage originally shot for the first and second films, it would require additional filming as well.[10] The third film was titled There and Back Again in August 2012.[11] In April 2014, Jackson changed the title of the film to The Battle of the Five Armies as he thought the new title better suited the situation of the film.[12] He stated on his Facebook page, "There and Back Again felt like the right name for the second of a two film telling of the quest to reclaim Erebor, when Bilbo's arrival there, and departure, were both contained within the second film. But with three movies, it suddenly felt misplaced—after all, Bilbo has already arrived 'there' in the Desolation of Smaug."[13] Shaun Gunner, the chairman of The Tolkien Society, supported the decision: "The Battle of the Five Armies much better captures the focus of the film but also more accurately channels the essence of the story."[14]
Main article: Music of The Hobbit film series § The Battle of the Five Armies |
As with all the previous films, Howard Shore has composed the score. Billy Boyd, who played Peregrin Took in The Lord of the Rings, wrote and recorded the song "The Last Goodbye" to be played over the end credits of the film.[15]
Callum Hofler of Entertainment Junkie gave the score an overtly positive review, stating, "Shore has had to pull out all the stops to produce something suitably satisfying, to reward fans of the series for their patience, persistence and support. After running through the album numerous times, 'satisfying' is not the term I would assign this; 'emotionally-poignant', 'colossal' and 'monumental' are all far more accurate." Hofler concluded with, "If there was any way this franchise needed to conclude, than this is the picturesque and most desirable variation possible." He awarded the special edition of the score a 9.3 out of a possible 10.[16] Erin Willard of SciFi Mafia was generally positive, except that she noted, "There came a point near the end of the first of the two discs where I finally just had to pull out the earbuds; the constant and increasing dissonance started to actually hurt my ears." She awarded the score a 4 out of 5 stars.[17]
A teaser trailer for the film was released on 28 July 2014 attached to Guardians of the Galaxy, Into the Storm, and If I Stay. The second theatrical trailer was released on 6 November 2014 attached to Interstellar and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1.[18][19]
To promote the film's release, Wellington-based association football club, Wellington Phoenix, wore a special designed jersey to commemorate the opening of The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies. The custom, film-themed jersey was worn only once, on 13 December 2014.[20] In the film's Japanese release on 13 December, Warner Bros. collaborated with mobile gaming company A-Lim to bring Bilbo, Gandalf, and Legolas into the game Brave Frontier at the end of December as Vortex Dungeon units. The campaign only runs until February 2015.[21][22][23]
Smaug made a guest appearance, animated by WETA and voiced again by Cumberbatch, on the satire show The Colbert Report on December 12, 2014 to promote the film.[24]
The world premiere of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies was held in London at Leicester Square on 1 December 2014.[25][26] The film opened in theatres on 11 December 2014 in New Zealand, on 12 December in the United Kingdom and on 17 December in the United States. Warner Bros released the film on 18 December 2014 in Greece and 26 December in Australia.[6][27] The film was released in China on January 23, 2015.[28]
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies was released on March 6, 2015 on Digital Release from digital retailers. The DVD and Blu-ray were released on March 24, 2015 in the United States.[29][30][31][32]
Prior to its North American release, analysts predicted the film would be a box office success, citing effective marketing, good word-of-mouth publicity, a solid release date, and the fact that series conclusions tend to draw more audiences. Early critics and box office trackers predicted that the film could earn $70–$80 million in its opening weekend[33][34][35][36][37] while Box Office Mojo estimated a $91–100 million five-day opening and a $235 million total domestic gross could be attainable.[38][39][40] Based on digital tracking done by Moviepilot, data obtained from social sites like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Google showed that the film was heading towards #1 at the box office ahead of newly released Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb and Annie, both of which were on par with each other.[41]
As of 26 March 2015[update], The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies has earned a gross of $255,071,340 in the North America and $700,000,000 in other territories for a worldwide total of $955,071,340. Calculating in all expenses, Deadline.com estimated that the film made a profit of $103.38 million.[42] Worldwide, it is the second highest-grossing film of 2014 behind Transformers: Age of Extinction[43] and the 26th highest-grossing film of all time.[44] Its grosses exceeded its estimated $250 million production cost 12 days after its release.[45]
The film failed to earn $1 billion at the box office despite various critics projecting it to reach that milestone. The Hollywood Reporter said that the possibility of The Battle of the Five Armies grossing $1 billion worldwide was extremely low due to "plunging exchange rates around the globe," that were witnessed in that year and that Warner Bros. and MGM ultimately will take in nearly $90 million less than they planned on receiving due to rising dollar and plunging foreign currencies.[46] However, despite this failure, Forbes has declared the trilogy "an unmitigated financial grand-slam for all parties."[47]
In the U.S. and Canada, the film is the sixth highest-grossing film of 2014.[48] The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies opened in North America on Tuesday, December 16, 2014 at 7 p.m across 3,100 theaters and was widened to 3,875 theaters the next day.[49] It earned $11.2 million from Tuesday midnight shows which was the second highest of 2014, matching the record previously set by Guardians of the Galaxy and both behind The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 ($17 million).[49][50][51][52] It then topped the box office on its opening day (Wednesday, December 17, 2014), earning $24.5 million (including previews),[nb 1] which was the third highest middle-earth adaptation Wednesday opening behind the Wednesday openings of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King ($34.5 million) and The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers ($26.2 million).[35][54] In total the film earned $54,724,334 in its traditional three-day opening and $89,131,544 over its five-day course making it the second biggest five-day opening in the Hobbit trilogy, beating the $86.1 million five-day opening gross of The Desolution of Smaug, but still behind An Unexpected Journey's $100.2 million five-day opening. However, on a three-day basis the film underperformed expectations and fell short of its predecessors.[55][56] The film set a December IMAX opening record with $13.4 million (previously held by Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol).[57] 3D accounted for 49% of the total gross while IMAX generated 15% or $13.4 million over five days, and $7.4 million over three days, and premium large format screens comprised 8% of the total opening weekend gross with $7.2 million from 396 theaters.[49][56] The film passed the $100 million mark on December 23, 2014 – on its seventh day.[58] It became the third film of 2014 to earn $100 million in just under a week following Lionsgate's The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 ($168.7 million in its opening week) and Disney/Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy ($134.4 million in its first week).[59] It was in first place at the North American box office for three consecutive weekends despite facing competition from numerous new releases each weekend,[60][61] but was finally overtaken by Taken 3 in its fourth weekend.[62][63]
The film began its international roll-out a week prior to its wide North American release.[64] The film was released on December 10, 2014 in 11 European markets and on December 11, 2014 in 17 additional markets, and grossed $11.3 million and $13.7 million respectively for a two day total of $26.6 million as well as topping the charts in each of the territories.[64][65][66]
The Battle of the Five Armies was released internationally across 15,395 screens.[67] In its second weekend of release overseas (December 12–14), the film performed well, earning $122.2 million from 37 markets (including the revenue it earned from its first two days of release)[68] topping the box office and outperformed the previous two installments on a local currency and admissions basis.[67] 71% of the total gross came from 3D showings, which was $86.7 million.[67] However, the overseas opening weekend was still lower than the openings of An Unexpected Journey ($138 million)[69] and The Desolation of Smaug ($135.4 million)[70] – both on a dollar basis. It set a December IMAX opening record with $6.4 million across 160 IMAX screens, previously held by An Unexpected Journey with $5.03 million.[67] The film opened to an additional 59 countries in its second weekend and earned $109 million from 19,315 screens still holding the top spot and fell gradually by 13% as a result of facing minor competitions.[57][71] It passed the $200 million mark in its second weekend ($269 million in 12 days).[72] In its third weekend the film added a further $89 million abroad, remaining at number 1 and passed the $400 million mark.[73] It passed the $500 million mark in its fourth weekend[74] and $600 million in its seventh weekend.[75] It was in first place at the box office outside North America for four consecutive weekends[74] and five in total.[75]
In Australia, the film was released on December 26, 2014 and set an opening day record with $5.59 million, which is the biggest of 2014, the second biggest Boxing Day gross, and the fourth biggest ever in Australia[76] behind Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 ($7.092 million), The Avengers ($6.004 million) and The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug ($5.9 million).[77] It went on to earn $10.1 million in its opening weekend.[73] The film set an all time opening record for Warner Bros. in China where it earned $49.84 million in its opening weekend (a record previously held by Pacific Rim).[75][78][79] IMAX generated $6.8 million of the total gross which is the second-highest IMAX three day gross in China behind Transformers: Age of Extinction's $10 million gross.[75] In just 10 days of release, the film earned over $92.92 million in China.[80]
The film achieved numerous records in international markets during its opening weekend. It set an all-time Warner Bros. opening record in Russia ($13.75 million),[68] in Argentina ($2.1 million),[74] and in Sweden and Finland.[68] It also set a 2014 opening record in Germany ($20.5 million),[68] France ($15.05 million)[68] and in Spain ($6.5 million).[72] It also had the best Middle-earth saga opening in the UK ($15.2 million)[68] and in Mexico ($6.3 million).[68] In Brazil, the film scored the second biggest Warner Bros. opening of all time with $6.8 million (behind Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2).[68] Other high openings were recorded in Korea ($10.3 million), Poland ($5.3 million), Italy ($6.05 million), Malaysia ($2.85 million) and Taiwan ($2.75 million).[72][73] In total earnings, its largest markets are China ($121.7 million), UK, Ireland and Malta ($61.3 million) and Australia ($27 million).[81]
MTV reported that reviews for The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies have been "generally positive" with critics praising the film "for its energy, shorter running time and satisfying closure."[82] According to IBT reviews for the film have been positive, with critics "praising director Peter Jackson's effort at transforming J.R.R Tolkien's fantasy novel into an epic adventure film trilogy."[83] Critics say that the film "will satisfy" fans but "otherwise, it may be worth waiting until it's available to rent," according to CBS News.[84] The Los Angeles Times said the critical consensus is that the film is "a flawed but fitting finale to the Hobbit trilogy."[85] Template:Rotten Tomatoes score. However, among top critics, the film earned a 49% "Rotten" rating. The film also holds a Metacritic score of 59 out of 100, based on 45 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[86] In CinemaScore polls conducted during the opening weekend, cinema audiences gave the film an average grade of "A-" on an A+ to F scale.[56]
Scott Foundas of Variety said, "The result is at once the trilogy's most engrossing episode, its most expeditious (at a comparatively lean 144 minutes) and also its darkest - both visually and in terms of the forces that stir in the hearts of men, dwarves and orcs alike."[87] Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter said, "After six films, 13 years and 1031 minutes of accumulated running time, Peter Jackson has concluded his massively remunerative genuflection at the altar of J.R.R. Tolkien with a film that may be the most purely entertaining of any in the collection."[88] Andrew Pulver of The Guardian said, "This film is a fitting cap to an extended series that, if nothing else, has transformed Tolkien's place in the wider culture."[89] Chris Tilly from IGN Movies said, "There's a little too much padding in the final Hobbit flick, and the best sequence is without doubt the film's first. But the central battle is indeed spectacular, and as 'The Age of Orc' approaches, it rounds out this particular story in stirring and emotional fashion."[90] Russell Baillie of The New Zealand Herald said The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies is "something less than the supposed 'defining chapter' of Jackson's time in Middle-earth as it's been billed. But action-wise, it certainly goes out with a very pleasing bang."[91]
Conversely, Inkoo Kang of TheWrap said, "The 144-minute running time showcases Jackson's worst tendencies: eons-long battle scenes, sloppy and abrupt resolutions, portentous romances, off-rhythm comic timing, and, newly in this case, patience-testing fan service."[92] Tim Robey of The Daily Telegraph described the film as "a paragraph on steroids" that was "neither very terrible nor remotely unexpected. It's a series of stomping footnotes in search of a climax."[93] The BBC's Nicholas Barber wrote that with the Hobbit series Jackson had succeeded in bridging the gap between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and that The Battle of the Five Armies was a "colossal technical achievement", but he also criticised that the film as such was not compelling because of its repetitive battle scenes and a lack of plot.[94] Nicolas Rapold of The New York Times said, "Bilbo may fully learn a sense of friendship and duty, and have quite a story to tell, but somewhere along the way, Mr. Jackson loses much of the magic."[95]
Main article: List of accolades received by The Hobbit film series |
Year | Award | Category | Recipient | Result | Ref. |
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2014 | Heartland Film Festival | Truly Moving Picture Award | The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies | Won | [96] |
Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards | Best Visual Effects | Joe Letteri, Matt Aitken, Eric Saindon, Scott Chambers | Nominated | [97] | |
2015 | Academy Awards | Best Sound Editing | Brent Burge and Jason Canovas | Nominated | [98] |
Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture | The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies | Nominated | [99] | |
Critics' Choice Movie Awards | Best Hair & Makeup | The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies | Nominated | [100] | |
Best Visual Effects | The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies | Nominated | |||
British Academy Film Awards | Best Special Visual Effects | Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton, R. Christopher White | Nominated | [101] | |
Denver Film Critics Society | Best Original Song | Billy Boyd, Philippa Boyens, Fran Walsh | Nominated | [102] | |
Empire Awards | Best Film | The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies | Pending | [103] | |
Best Director | Peter Jackson | Pending | |||
Best Actor | Richard Armitage | Pending | |||
Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy | The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies | Pending | |||
Saturn Awards | Best Fantasy Film | The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies | Pending | [104] | |
Best Writing | Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson and Guillermo del Toro | Pending | |||
Best Supporting Actor | Richard Armitage | Pending | |||
Best Supporting Actress | Evangeline Lilly | Pending | |||
Best Music | Howard Shore | Pending | |||
Best Make-up | Peter King, Rick Findlater and Gino Acevedo | Pending | |||
Best Special Effects | Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton and R. Christopher White | Pending |