The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

From Tolkien Gateway
The name Battle of Five Armies refers to more than one character, item or concept. For a list of other meanings, see Battle of Five Armies (disambiguation).


The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies is the third of Peter Jackson's The Hobbit film trilogy based on J.R.R. Tolkien's 1937 novel The Hobbit. It premiered in London on 1 December 2014, and saw release in most of Europe on 10 December and North America on 17 December. It was preceded by An Unexpected Journey in 2012 and The Desolation of Smaug in 2013.

Synopsis

From Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson comes “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies,” the third in a trilogy of films adapting the enduringly popular masterpiece The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien.


“The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies” brings to an epic conclusion the adventures of Bilbo Baggins, Thorin Oakenshield and the Company of Dwarves. Having reclaimed their homeland from the Dragon Smaug, the Company has unwittingly unleashed a deadly force into the world. Enraged, Smaug rains his fiery wrath down upon the defenseless men, women and children of Lake-town.

Obsessed above all else with his reclaimed treasure, Thorin sacrifices friendship and honor to hoard it as Bilbo’s frantic attempts to make him see reason drive the Hobbit towards a desperate and dangerous choice. But there are even greater dangers ahead. Unseen by any but the Wizard Gandalf, the great enemy Sauron has sent forth legions of Orcs in a stealth attack upon the Lonely Mountain.

As darkness converges on their escalating conflict, the races of Dwarves, Elves and Men must decide – unite or be destroyed. Bilbo finds himself fighting for his life and the lives of his friends in the epic Battle of the Five Armies, as the future of Middle-earth hangs in the balance.

Cast

See also:The Hobbit (film series)#Cast
Actor Role
Richard Armitage Thorin
Dee Bradley Baker Creature Voices
Erin Banks Lobelia Sackville-Baggins
Timothy Bartlett Master Worrywort
John Bell Bain
Manu Bennett Azog
Nick Blake Percy
Cate Blanchett Galadriel
Orlando Bloom Legolas
Jed Brophy Nori
Adam Brown Ori
John Callen Óin
Billy Connolly Dáin Ironfoot
Benedict Cumberbatch Smaug
The Necromancer
Luke Evans Bard
Martin Freeman Bilbo Baggins
Stephen Fry The Master of Lake-town
Ryan Gage Alfrid
Mark Hadlow Dori
Peter Hambleton Glóin
Miranda Harcourt Olga
Ian Holm Older Bilbo Baggins
Brian Hotter Otho Sackville-Baggins
Stephen Hunter Bombur
Olof Johnsson Creature Voices
Robin Kerr Elros
William Kircher Bifur
Kelly Kilgour Soury
Martin Kwok Ragash (voice)
Christopher Lee Saruman the White
Evangeline Lilly Tauriel
Simon London Feren
Sylvester McCoy Radagast the Brown
Ian McKellen Gandalf the Grey
Thomasin McKenzie Astrid
Graham McTavish Dwalin
Mark Mitchinson Braga
James Nesbitt Bofur
Mary Nesbitt Tilda
Peggy Nesbitt Sigrid
Dean O'Gorman Fíli
Jon Olson Creature Voices
Lee Pace Thranduil
Sarah Peirse Hilda Bianca
Mikael Persbrandt Beorn
Otep Shamaya Creature Voices
Allan Smith Ragash
Merv Smith Tosser Grubb
Conan Stevens Keeper of the Dungeons
Ken Stott Balin
John Tui Bolg
Aidan Turner Kíli
Hugo Weaving Elrond
Debra Wilson Creature Voices

Deviations from the source material

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies covers the final seven chapters of The Hobbit with a few elements added from the Appendices from The Lord of the Rings. While it generally follows the story, a number of liberties were still taken:

  • There is no thrush telling Bard of Smaug's weak point while trying to kill him (having been replaced by the legend that Girion had loosened a scale on the Dragon' breast in the previous film). Also, his son, Bain, helps Bard by getting him the last Black Arrow.
  • The Master of Lake-town dies by Smaug falling on his boat while trying to escape Lake-town.
  • The storyline concerning Legolas and Tauriel (who is an original character) both riding to Gundabad (where they discover a second Orc army is headed to Erebor along with thousands of bats) is invented for the movie.
  • As all of the members of Thorin and Company reach the Lonely Mountain in the first place, in the books Óin, Bofur, Fíli and Kíli are not coming to the Mountain later alone.
  • Galadriel does not free Gandalf in Dol Guldur in the books, as he doesn't get captured at all in the first place.
  • In the books, there is no hint that the Nazgûl are present at the Attack on Dol Guldur launched by the White Council. Furthermore, in The Fellowship of the Ring, Gandalf points out at the Council of Elrond that the victory was thanks to the devices of Saruman the Wise, while in the movie it is chiefly Galadriel who expells Sauron with her phial.
  • Thranduil wishes to claim an particular Elven necklace of white gems from the Mountain.
  • Gandalf says that Sauron wants to conquer the Lonely Mountain because of its "strategic position". In the books, Gandalf indeed fears that Sauron could ally with the Dragon, but the Dark Lord isn't concerned with the Battle of Five Armies or Erebor.
  • Azog isn't present in the books, as he is already dead during the events of The Hobbit.
  • The Orcs have a watchtower with a construction giving signals.
  • The huge animals called "Were worms," which burrow tunnels to Erebor through which the Orc armies travel, never appear in any of Tolkien's writings.
  • Since Bilbo is unconscious for most of the battle in the book, most things in the movie's battle are invented, e.g. the Trolls being part of the Orc Army, the war machinery of the Orcs.
  • Instead of dying while defending their mortally wounded uncle, Fíli and Kíli are slain by Azog and Bolg, respectively, at Ravenhill before Thorin ever receives such injury.
  • Legolas - not Beorn - kills Bolg.
  • Thorin kills Azog after the Pale Orc mortally wounds him.
  • Thorin dies there on Ravenhill without Beorn ever taking him to safety.
  • In the book, Orcrist is put in Thorin's tomb by Thranduil. In the movie he receives it from Legolas throwing it at an Orc meaning to kill Thorin.
  • When Legolas informs his father he will not be returning to Mirkwood, Thranduil urges him to find Aragorn, although Thranduil had little to nothing to do with the Rangers of the North in the books, and Aragorn is at the events of The Hobbit a mere 10 years old.

Gallery

See also: Category:Images from The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Pictures from The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Bard and Legolas  
Gandalf and Bard  
The Company inside Erebor  

Trailers

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See also

External links

Reviews

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 "Titles and Release Dates Announced" dated 31 May 2011, The Hobbit Blog (accessed 21 December 2011)
  2. "Andy Serkis to serve as Second Unit Director" dated 8 April 2011, The Hobbit Blog (accessed 21 December 2011)
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 Peter Jackson, "Production begins in New Zealand on The Hobbit" dated 20 March 2011, Facebook (accessed 21 December 2011)

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