Differences Between The Hobbit Book And Movie

Peter Jackson recently directed a trilogy of movies that are an adaptation of the book The Hobbit. There are some disappointments in the films such as the additional characters and storylines. Some of the supplementary storyline does help to serve as a backstory and shed light on why the characters are undertaking what they are on the expedition. However a majority of the additions to the movie only function to confuse the watcher on what was happening and generate action for the spectators when the story lulled. Examples of these unnecessary additions are the love triangle between Legolas, Tauriel, and Kili as well as the Pale Orc. They detract from the actual storyline composed by Tolkien, but also help hold the audience’s attention for a total of over six hours of film. However these revisions that made the film easier to watch subtly undermined the original storyline from the books.
Another downfall to the movies is the method in which they are set up and narrated. The book is supposed to originally be written by Bilbo but what the reader comprehends is Tolkien’s translation of Bilbo’s escapades. In this style of narration the reader does get some additional observations from the narrator that not only enhance the story but furthermore give indications of foreshadowing. In the movies though it is Bilbo narrating the story as he writes it. While
this is closer to what Tolkien is depicting of the hobbit’s story a lot of the nuances are lost due to the slight change in the style of narration.
However, there were also things the Peter Jackson did well with the films.
One of which is Bilbo’s encounter with Smaug. Jackson made Smaug sly and clever also keeping true to the dialogue in the book. The acting on both parts of Smaug and Bilbo highlights how intimidating and truly magnificent, and terrifying the dragon is. Conversely, it also shows Bilbo’s character and how brave he is in this situation, but also how terrified he is. Due to this juxtaposition, the particular scene was done very well and it does the book justice; it encapsulates the terror, tension, and the intimidation that the scene is really
about.
Another thing that was depicted really well in the films was the power of the ring and the gold. The ring has Bilbo hearing what seem to be voices telling him he shouldn’t let anyone know about the ring. While this does differ from the book as the dwarves find out about the ring when the whole debacle with the spiders occurs, the ring still has fearsome power over Bilbo and what he does with it, which is exaggerated in the movie for effect, but it still works extremely well. To go hand in hand with this is the treasure inside the mountain and the extreme influence it has over Thorin’s decision making. The best example of this is in the film when Thorin knows that his kin are dying. He has what best could be described as a hallucination which really shows his madness and greed, and that the power of the gold has taken him over, but also pushes him to act and help out his brethren that are getting slaughtered in the battle raging on outside the mountain.