Anyone else know that the extended edition of BoFA is rated R? I'm not sure how I feel about that - Middle-earth films are violent enough as they are.

*raises brow* Wow. That's sorta surprising. Well, I guess my list of R movies watched will go up by one now.

I missed this discussion before, but Fili and Kili's deaths were a big disappointment to me. I literally CRIED at Fili dying, and I don't cry easily. It was mostly because how traumatizing it was—Middle Earth deaths usually give you time to pause, this was so unexpected and so....degrading!

I did see that BOTFA extended edition was rated R. I almost found that strange. I don't remember BOTFA really being as violent as I had expected in itself.

It could be that the volume, rather than the intensity, of the violence is what's given the EE an upped rating.

(sorry if I've given my thoughts before I don't remember.)

I liked Tauriel pretty much (I expected to hate her) even in the begining in of BotFA (except I do think she became a plot piece.) It's sad because Evangeline Lily didn't want to be part of another love triangle (I guess she was in the show she was part of before?) and that's what it ended up as. I didn't like legolas as much (he was good just not as great as LotR Legolas...) Fili should have still had commitment to his brother and Uncle over Tauriel. (Fili makes me so sad. He became my top favorite dwarf.) Still even though I didn't expect to enjoy BotFA because I found it enough parts that I enjoyed. It was still a moving movie for me, but I'm still sad that Fili and Kili didn't die defending their uncle "with Shield and body."

(I'm still surprised how much darker the Hobbit movies seemed than LotR which I had trouble with I first began LotR) I started reading the book again and it made it so much sadder when Kili and Fili and Thorin died.

I think part of TH's being darker than LotR (films, obviously) is that standards are a little different ten years later. When LotR came out, they purposely pushed it that close to the R rating. (Heard that in some behind-the-scenes video, but don't remember which.) Standards seem to have lowered at least a little in the meantime.

I think part of TH's being darker than LotR (films, obviously) is that standards are a little different ten years later. When LotR came out, they purposely pushed it that close to the R rating. (Heard that in some behind-the-scenes video, but don't remember which.) Standards seem to have lowered at least a little in the meantime.

So the first Hobbit was great the first time I saw it (though as I say I was surprised by it.) however for current rewatchings I might skip the dragon attack in the begining. It's very well done, but it's hard for me to watch all the fire and pillars burning down and people running around screaming (like even I think little kids? before his momma finds him) and it's a little more desolation than I prefer in my movies. Still as an adult, I find some parts of LotR still bother me too

Desolation is always worse when there are kids involved.
I know what you mean. I've slowly become used to LotR's stuff, but the one bit that still will bother me is the heads over the walls of Minas Tirith. I mean, no wonder that tactic worked so well in dis-spiriting the people within! *shudders*

The theatrical release of BotFA was PG13, but the EE is rated R. Apparently it's due to violence, which makes me a little wary. How can it be any more violent than it was in theatres?

I would much rather watch LotR than the Hobbit - because LotR is more intense. It was gritty and didn't rely on as many special effects as Hobbit did. The stakes were higher, and the plot moved much faster (well, somewhat faster). I can't tell if one is more violent than the other.

Coping with violence - in one of my drama classes, we learned how to stage fight scenes (both armed and unarmed), so I learned how to put together a swordfight for a performance. I also ended up learning how to do gore makeup (cuts, bruises, impalings, the like) - which is immensely fascinating, to be honest. So when I see a violent movie (like LotR), I tend to see the choreography and the skillmanship involved in putting together a fast-paced and complicated fight instead of the violent outcome. [Fun fact: for every minute of on-stage/screen fight, the actors have to rehearse an hour.] Same with gore - I focus more on /how/ the filmmakers created the gore instead "oh that person is seriously injured and it's super gross."

Ditto on preferring LotR to TH.
Fight scenes fascinate me too, so long as they don't get too icky. The choreography, the training, the timing, the camera's view, the fact that they're (usually) not actually hurting each other, /plus/ acting in the midst of it... wow. Even better when it's hand-to-hand combat. 😛
Again, though, I suspect that BoFA: EE got bumped up for sheer volume. There's already a whack-load of fighting in the theatrical and the EE would only add more.