I don’t think it was the tax beaks, it has something to do with their unions, or preventing them from unionizing. It sounds a lot more nefarious than they invited a company over with some tax breaks.
She didn’t do a good job explaining exactly what concessions the government made but there was footage of the PM saying they had committed $7.5m in breaks to Warner for filming the Hobbit in NZ. They also got rid of collective bargaining apparently.
But you can bet the reason big international films were being shot in NZ in the first place was because it was cheaper, for whatever reason, than the US or other countries. You take that away and of course the companies will shoot someplace else. That is why so many things sold in America are made in third world nations.
But as she hinted at there are many things people enjoy as they ignore the stories behind the scene. I really don’t see why a movie is any different that anything else.
Entertainment is, after all, the ultimate escapism.
I answered your question. I didn’t really make a statement about entertainment in doing so. I simply clarified I don’t believe she is talking about tax breaks but the anti-unionism that The Hobbit brought with it. There was probably very little risk of them not filming the Hobbit there and they didn’t really need to go anti-union to do it. The tax breaks could still be offered without doing… that.
No, but the person who made the video did.
Laughing at the uni-brow guy who was in the movie for no discernible reason.
Those movies were such a dreadful waste of time and resources.
There were some cute men in it I guess… it was so non-sensical. I am still annoyed that people told me I need to watch the longer version of a ridiculously long movie to figure out why the goats are there. I have not done this yet.
Battle of Five Armies is an awesome standalone movie! It starts with a dragon fucking up a village and then it’s just two hours straight of of bad-ass CG fantasy battles, including an elf riding a reindeer and a dwarf riding a pig and a crazy Legolas videogame fight and some action on a frozen lake or something. It’s everything I want in a fantasy movie and I’m not even joking.
-Tom
It should have been sold as a DLC then and not as part of the actual movie. :)
And microtran the worms because once you know those are there why are any of the other armies there? Eagle aren’t going to do anything against something that can take out cities above and below ground like those things should be able to do.
Fellowship of the Ring - 5/5
The Two Towers - 4/5
Return of the King - 4/5
An Unexpected Journey - 2/5
The Desolation of Smaug - 2/5
Battle of the Five Armies - 3/5
The only thing I didn’t care for in the LOTR trilogy was the Gimli humor and Legolas surfing. Absent that it’s a damn near perfect trilogy with just the right amount of quiet introspective moments and fast paced action scenes.
The Hobbit trilogy was just misguided. He missed opportunities for important character development and instead opted to develop unimportant, made-up characters. It’s also too long, and relies too heavily on CGI.
Having said that, Smaug was phenomenal, and the casting was pretty much spot on.
I LOL’d.
I’ve said this before, and will say it forever : I consider the LotR movie trilogy to be near-perfect film-making. Sure, there were some comedy bits that could have been left out, and sure it’s not a perfect scene-by-scene re-enactment of the incredible book trilogy, but the care, craftsmanship and reverence for the source material that went into making those movies really shines on screen, and watching them it was like Peter Jackson, WETA Workshop and the actors had reached into my mind and recreated the images that appear there whenever I read the books. The Shire, Rivendell, Gondor, Rohan, Mordor, Moria, etc. all looked exactly as I’d pictured them, and many of the characters were designed and played so well that now it is those actor’s faces I see when I read the books as well. As a fan of the series since I was 10 years old, the movies are the perfect compliment to the books for me. I consider it all part of the Extended Lord of the Rings Universe so to speak.
The Hobbit movies are a marvel in film-making as well, but not for the same reasons. Visually and sound design-wise they are incredible. They also carry over the same attention to detail in things like setting and costuming that the original trilogy had, obviously because mostly the same folks (WETA, etc.) worked on them as well. The difference is in the scripting. Turning a single book that was meant to be a younger reader’s primer to the full LotR trilogy (I started with The Hobbit at 9 years old, I think I had it checked out from my school library continuously for most of my 3rd grade school year) into 3 full length movies required a lot of additional content. Jackson and company also wanted to work fan favorite Legolas into the movies, and weave more action and comedic segments into the script to appeal to younger viewers. The result is a trio of movies that don’t quite capture the magic of the original trilogy, but still stand as quite capable fantasy action movies on their own. I enjoy them whenever I see them because once again I am transported back to the wonder I felt as a child reading about Bilbo, Gandalf and the dwarves.
I understand why many people didn’t like the Hobbit trilogy, and I even see why some purists were not thrilled with the original trilogy as well. Those are valid opinions and people have a right to hold them, even if they are totally misguided and wrong. ;-)
I never got around to watching BotFA, but based on this kick-ass bite-sized review I will this week!
It’s been long enough where I’ve pretty much forgotten the first hobbit movie anyhow. I never saw the 2nd. I’m hankering for a humongous fantasy smorgasbord.
Maybe I’ll recognize some places from LOTRO.
The Hobbitt movies might have been fine if they weren’t based on an actual book that everyone had already read.
I somehow doubt Jackson and company winging it would’ve been better. I mean I’ve seen King Kong too.
I did say “might have”. :)
Thank you. Not enough people make fun of King Kong. It’s one of the most ridiculous movies I’ve ever seen, and yet people treat it like it’s any other movie. It makes me feel like I’m going crazy.
The big problem with the movies version of Battle of Five armies is one of the armies is noticeably missing.
Completely agree. And “ridiculous” is really the right adjective, more than just “bad”