The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

Martin Freeman Director: Peter Jackson Peter Jackson

Overview

Peter Jackson takes cues from the appendices of The Lord of the Rings to expand New Line Cinema's Hobbit adaptation with this third film completing the epic tale of Bilbo Baggins, as played by Martin Freeman. The story opens to find the vengeful dragon Smaug (voice of Benedict Cumberbatch) decimating the peaceful hamlet of Laketown as Bilbo, Thorin (Richard Armitage) and the rest of the dwarves lay claim to the Lonely Mountain. But their celebration is short-lived as Thorin grows obsessed with finding the Arkenstone. Meanwhile, Galadriel (Cate Blanchett) Elrond (Hugo Weaving) and Saruman (Christopher Lee) battle the Nazgul in an attempt to free Gandalf (Ian McKellen), and get some unexpected help from eccentric wizard Radagast (Sylvester McCoy). Unfortunately for all involved the struggle has only just begun, because as armies of dwarves, elves, orcs, humans and goblins converge at the base of the Lonely Mountain, the fight for the future of Middle Earth begins.

Product Details

Release Date:	11/17/2015
UPC:	0883929477142
Original Release:	2014
Rating:	R
Source:	New Line Home Video
Time:	2:44:00
Sales rank:	1,696

Special Features

- Extended Edition includes 20 minutes of never-before-seen film footage and hours of fascinating in-depth looks at the production including
- Commentary with Peter Jackson, Director/Producer/Screenwriter and Philippa Boyens, Co-Producer/Screenwriter
- The Appendices – The Appendices Parts XI and XII showcase a chronological history of the filming of The Battle of the Five Armies, documenting the work done on set chronologically through the three shooting blocks and in the world of its digital effects
- New Zealand: Home of Middle-earth – Part 3

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Martin Freeman	Bilbo Baggins
Ian McKellen	Gandalf
Richard Armitage	Thorin Oakenshield
Elijah Wood	Frodo Baggins
Ian Holm	Bilbo Baggins (old)
Cate Blanchett	Galadriel
John Callen	Oin
Stephen Hunter	Bombur
Mark Hadlow	Dori
Peter Hambleton	Gloin
James Nesbitt	Bofur
Adam Brown	Ori
Aidan Turner	Kili
Graham McTavish	Dwalin
Bret McKenzie	Lindir
Dean O'Gorman	Fili
Lee Pace	Thranduil
Stephen Fry	Master of Laketown
Orlando Bloom	Legolas
Luke Evans	Bard the Bowman
Benedict Cumberbatch	Smaug/Necromancer
Evangeline Lilly	Tauriel
Barry Humphries	Goblin King
Ken Stott	Balin
William Kircher	Bifur
Jed Brophy	Nori
Hugo Weaving	Elrond
Christopher Lee	Saruman
Mikael Persbrandt	Beorn
Ryan Gage	Alfrid
John Bell	Bain
Peggy Nesbitt	Sigrid
Mary Nesbitt	Tilda
Manu Bennett	Azog
John Tui	Bolg
Billy Connolly	Dain
Mark Mitchinson	Braga
Kelly Kilgour	Soury
Sarah Peirse	Hilda Bianca
Nick Blake	Percy
Simon London	Feren
Conan Stevens	Keeper of the Dungeons
Allan Smith	Ragash
Miranda Harcourt	Olga
Thomasin McKenzie	Astrid
Erin Banks	Lobella Sackville Baggins
Brian Hotter	Otho Sackville Baggins
Timothy Bartlett	Master Worrywort
Merv Smith	Tosser Grubb
Martin Kwok	Voice Of Ragash
Dee Bradley Baker	Voice ore
Olof Johnsson	Voice of Creature
Jon Olson	Voice of Creature
Otep Shamaya	Voice of Creature
Debra Wilson	Voice of Creature
Sylvester McCoy	Radagast

Technical Credits

Peter Jackson

Philippa Boyens

Guillermo del Toro

Fran Walsh

Peter Jackson	Director,Executive Producer,Screenwriter
Gino Acevedo	Art Director
Nino Kristoffer C. Aniceto	Animator
Sven Assmuss	Animator
Emil Bidiuc	Animator
Carolyn Blackwood	Executive Producer
Richard Bluck	Cinematographer
Moragot Bodharamik	Animator
Brendan Body	Animator
Scott Boland	Casting
Michael Bomagat	Animator
Philippa Boyens	Co-producer,Executive Producer,Screenwriter
Bob Buck	Costumes/Costume Designer
Victoria Burrows	Casting
Francesco Canonico	Animator
Marco Capparelli	Animator
David Caeiro Cebrian	Special Effects Supervisor
Peter Chen	Animator
Eddie Chew	Animator
Mike Clark	Animator
Erin Collins	Set Decoration/Design
Ryan Cronin	Animator
Will Crooks	Set Decoration/Design
Carolynne Cunningham	Asst. Director,Producer
Weta Digital	Animator
Matthew Dravitzki	Associate Producer
Bruno DuBois	Asst. Director
George Dunn	Special Effects
Karen Elliott	Musical Direction/Supervision
Toby Emmerich	Executive Producer
David Farmer	Sound/Sound Designer
Camilo Duarte Franco	Animator
Guillermo del Toro	Screenwriter
Dan Hennah	Production Designer
Chris Hiles	Sound Mixer
Jennifer Hitchcock	Set Decoration/Design
Belinda Lee Hope	Production Manager
Alan Horn	Executive Producer
John Hubbard	Casting
Amy Hubbard	Casting
Tony Johnson	Sound Mixer
Ken Kamins	Executive Producer
Peter King	Makeup
Jason Lazaroff	Special Effects Supervisor
Andrew Lesnie	Cinematographer
John Lott	Set Decoration/Design
Ann Maskrey	Costumes/Costume Designer
Brian Massey	Art Director
Peter McCaffrey	Camera Operator
Andy McLaren	Art Director
Cameron McLean	Camera Operator
Ronnie Menahem	Special Effects Supervisor
Brad Mill	Art Director
Eileen Moran	Co-producer
Sarah Morris	Production Manager
Liz Mullane	Casting
Colette Mullin	Set Decoration/Design
Alex Nowotny	Special Effects Supervisor
Jabez Olssen	Editor
Miranda Rivers	Casting
Ann Robinson	Casting
Sam Baker	Animator
Howard Shore	Score Composer
Mark Stephen	Set Decoration/Design
Helen Strevens	Set Decoration/Design
Liz Tan	Asst. Director
Richard Taylor	Costumes/Costume Designer,Makeup Special Effects
Gavin Urquhart	Set Decoration/Design
Amanda Walker	Associate Producer
Fran Walsh	Executive Producer,Screenwriter
Zane Weiner	Producer
Dave Whitehead	Sound/Sound Designer
Richard Wiles	Set Decoration/Design

Editorial Reviews

Peter Jackson's equally exhilarating and exhausting Hobbit trilogy comes to a rousing, if not totally satisfying, conclusion with The Battle of the Five Armies, a war-ravaged adventure that is by turns breathtaking, beautiful, brutal, and boring. The movie gets off to a great start with a pre-title sequence that picks up where The Desolation of Smaug ended, as the malevolent dragon Smaug (voiced with great menace by Benedict Cumberbatch) descends upon Lake-town and sets it ablaze. As the residents attempt to flee the burning carnage, Bard the Bowman (Luke Evans) confronts the swooping dragon, who now has his sights set on incinerating Bard's young son. Thankfully, he finds the dragon's weak spot and brings him down. With the village in ruins, Bard leads the townspeople to find shelter at Erebor, the Lonely Mountain. Unfortunately, the mountain is now controlled by the greedy Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage), the dwarf prince who is the presumed heir to Erebor's throne. Thorin is obsessed with keeping its treasure trove of gold and the power it brings, even if it means going to war. Of course, everyone else wants his or her share of the riches as well, including the dwarfs, Dark Lord Sauron and his battle-ready orcs, the woodland elves, and General Dain Ironfoot's contingent of Iron Hills dwarves. The story bogs down a bit as we wait for the armies to descend upon the mountain for the climactic battle, and then it's all-out war for the last hour. No one does CGI warfare quite like Peter Jackson, but one gets a sense of déjà vu watching the action unfold in The Battle of the Five Armies. Jackson's craftsmanship is undeniable, yet it feels like a rehash of the fiercer combat in The Return of the King. Also, the orcs and most of the other warriors, while terrifying to look at, collapse like building blocks if struck but once with a sword or a mighty blow. One never gets a sense that these monsters will ever be a match for our heroes, which saps the action of any real suspense. The highlight of this clash comes when Thorin decides to "cut off the head of the snake" by facing the merciless orc commander. Their duel, fought on an ice-covered river, is thrilling, unpredictable, and emotionally jarring. If only Jackson could have brought the immediacy of their small-scale fight to his larger canvas. And what of Bilbo Baggins? He's reduced here to a supporting player, spending most of his time secretly guarding the precious Arkenstone and making sure Thorin doesn't get it. But, as always, Martin Freeman is superb as the "master thief" who provides the movie's heart and soul. Another standout is Armitage, who plays Thorin with Shakespearean majesty. Blinded by the lure of great wealth and power, Thorin is a raging king willing to sacrifice his own honor and the friendship of his closest allies to gain the throne. He's the only fully developed character on display, and Armitage takes full advantage of his screen time to make Thorin both repulsive and relatable. Whenever he's offscreen, the movie suffers. Appearing once again, in reduced but still rich roles, are Ian McKellen as Gandalf, Cate Blanchett as Galadriel, Orlando Bloom as Legolas, Lee Pace as Thranduil, Evangeline Lilly as Tauriel, and Christopher Lee as Saruman. Also returning are composer Howard Shore, whose ever-present but never intrusive score proves to be timeless and energizing, and cinematographer Andrew Lesnie, whose darker-than-normal lensing fills the screen with frightening and majestic images that are truly awe-inspiring. All in all, The Battle of the Five Armies delivers enough bone-crunching action to please devoted fans, and like its two predecessors, it looks to reap huge profits for Jackson and company. But as his monumental but bloated vision finally comes to an end, even die-hard fanatics will likely be glad that Jackson's unexpected journey is over.

All Movie Guide - Tim Holland