Honestly, this is a really depressing watch. The behind the scenes footage for LOTR had such energy. Such zeal. You really got a sense that they had a grand old adventure together. To see the same team here tired, stressed and not having any fun. It's really quite unpleasant. Huge kudos to them though. Particularly Peter. That must have been a nightmare but he made the right call and steered that ship out of the storm.
Well, I don't think he really steered the ship out. Just managed not to have it sink in the process. Peter hasn't been active in the film spotlight ever since these films.
How about shooting your own damn video you lazy rodent (or whatever the f*ck a womble actually is). Don't tell me you need another 2 weeks of preproduction.
@@JordiMaquiavello Because they pretty much forced him I think. If he wouldnt do it a lesser director would almost certaintly screw it up. Now I might be wrong but seeing the LotR behind the scenes I get the feeling that he really loves this universe and would have hated it to be treated badly. So he pretty much had to step in.
I never blame artists like Peter. Those studios screwed him over. If they are going to propose 3 movies, they mind as well give him the time to make the movies right. Greedy bastards, those studios! It's all their fault!
@Rodzilla Del Toro was being forced to do a trilogy rather than the 2 movie version he was originally pitched by WB at the time. The first movie was supposed to be strictly Del Toro's vision,the second was supposed to mimic Jackson's vision. Del Toro's movie was shot to crap because WB wanted to extend the franchise with three movies, basically $$$$$$$$$, rather than substance. No doubt Del Toro's version would've been amazing. See Pan's Labyrinth for details.
I don’t understand people’s dislike, it’s my favourite film. Beautifully crafted, sure there were problems but they were amazing films and will forever be part of my childhood that inspired me to make films
@@maxy4965 Return of the King had lots of CGI. Even Viggo Mortensen complained about it during production that it had more CGI focus than the previous 2.
agree. i remember peter planned for only 2 films to finish hobbit. but warner insisted on a trilogy. and that is why battle of five armies existed. TUJ & TDOS was actually good to watch but the last one, i remember i got so frustrated watching in on the first day show in IMAX...
@@chrisv384 similar here. I've seen them, but they lack all the things that make Lotr untouchable. They look like a studio didn't give a fuck vs a director that really gave a fuck but studio called the shots.
Yeah Peter Jackson wanted nothing to do with his project. He only did it because he was contractually obligated too if he wanted to receive his money from LOTR. Yeah he wasn't actually paid for LOTR, he had to sue to get it. Part of his settlement was that he would consult on the Hobbit, but when Del Toro left he was thrust in the Director's chair.
Oh dear. Peter Jackson working 21 hours and getting only three hours sleep. That is no way to live. Considering the issues that Jackson had to work through, he did a great job.
@@firebearva is money really all that matters? As an artist, I wouldn't care if a painting I despised, a painting I was forced to make in a short amount of time, forced to sell no matter if it's only 10% complete... I wouldn't care if that painting made me millions. Especially with people constantly blaming me for it being a crap painting rather than whoever was forcing me to make it so they could get rich. You can't put the quality of 3+ years of work into a few months. It'll never be the same. And artists care about their CRAFT, not about the monetary gain it can bring them. The films will haunt him for the rest of his career as the project he didn't get to perfect, as a project that went wrong. People criticise him instead of WB and it's a shame because he isn't responsible for this mess, he just saved it in any way he could and it shows.
I honestly think he's a really good visual director, has an eye for the camera and can make his film very grandeur like. But he always seems to struggle what story he actually wants to tell though (which is why his movies are always long for over 3 hours or more when it comes to theater releases). TLOTRs books already had the sources to help him which stories were important and a guide for him to follow. But ever since after TLOTRs, his films have been less story wise and more so lends his films as a more visual fest (CGI and practical effects). But his earlier films were interesting in my opinion, you can look them up (especially Heavenly Creatures). Maybe storytelling isn't his strongest suit? I think he has yet to really find any fictional source materials he really cares about or the passion like he did with TLOTRs.
@@marleymarss He was given very little time to prepare for The Hobbit. Compare his preparation with this and LOTR. He's a fantastic storyteller, LOTR was amazing because he was given like 2 years to prepare for all three movies and it worked. Here, he didn't like parts of the script, he had to rewrite scenes on set, it was the studio's fault that truly stab him in the back. It's all on rushed time, i believe Jackson could've made a better Hobbit movie, WB and MGM should've gave him more time. He even wanted to do Hobbit first and then LOTR but changed his mind due to him securing LOTR rights earlier, from what i know the Hobbit rights were on that Weinsteins and Miramax until 2006, Jackson can't regain that because the Weinsteins have so much power and the fact that he rightfully so, hates them
@@BryanCostner I'm well aware that he and practically everyone had little to no time to really understand what they needed to do and to properly make the the Hobbit film. Even came to the point when Peter, speculations, that Peter took his frustrations out on his actors and crew members. Because of the stress he was under in. As far as I remember there were three studios that were involved with the project as well and all were equally wanted Peter to hurry to meet the deadline. It was New Line Cinema that really pushed Peter cause at some point as a studio they were losing money and close to shutting down that they needed the Hobbit films to succeed to generate them money. So i think no one is denying the films weren't his fault in any way. But what I'm talking about is his films that aren't Middle-Earth related, it his films after TLOTRs that seem to lack or struggle any storytelling sense. Even on TLORs set, Peter and the writers were too rewriting and adding additional scenes or dialouges almost every day during production. Many of the cast members will tell you that. But also, it is normal during production for rewiting scenes on set even though a script is done and ready to go into production process. And for that, he wasn't winging it, but because he was trying t perfect the scenes. Recently in the years he seems to be focusing on documentary films and he seems to be very passionate about those so far and I can feel the love for him trying to create a narrative with documentary.
Man, I feel so sorry for Jackson after watching this. That and, how much better would the films have been if Peter had been given the prep time he had for Lord of the Rings?
+RollOnToVictory Hi there! thinking about your comment.. The Hobbit book was at a different kind of 'level' compared too the Lord of the rings books, those were alot more mature. Thats what made them so good, what was less mature, by example where the ghosts of the mountain (remember? quality downgraded alot when they came up in the third movie). I think, the hobbit movies could have been better, but the more childish setting of the book story, probably wouldnt made them as good as the lord of the rings movies. Which is, almost impossible in my opininon. (Y) p.s. srry if bad english
Gullermo del Toro had been planning to make the movie for 1-2 years, this should have been his movies. Peter Jackson turned in a pile of shit that stole pretty much everything from the lord of the rings and was still terrible.
If they were given just one more year of pre-production and not forced to stretch at most two movies into three strictly for the sake of money, they could have been an absolute masterpiece.
Id say they both fucked up. There’s loads of bs scenes that he didn’t have to add that were never in the book and that do nothing to improve the movie. He should have scaled down and made the important stuff better
I liked most of the hobbit I did not really like the second film I think if peter had more time that one would have been better, but I loved the 1st and last movies of the hobbit it shows how good of a director he is.
The Lord of the Rings trilogy having 3 and a half years of pre-production kinda explains why these films feel absolutely perfect and will seemingly forever remain as timeless masterpieces. Nothing beats preparation.
It's insane that he only had 5 months to prepare for everything before shooting. I feel so sorry for him, he was trying to save it with the limited time he had. Not ruin it
How on earth was it allowed to get to this state?! The Lord of the Rings made so much money that it was just guaranteed that the Hobbit films could be allowed the extra years of prep and sill make a shit ton of money. It's just such a shame.
Greed. It was always going to sell tickets and dvd sales aren't worth much because of piracy. Why wait a few years for 2 good films when you can split it into 3 and start cashing in immediately?
I would blame Del Torro more than Warner. You don’t walk away from a one lifetime chance to adapt a Tolkien story. The fact he abandoned put Jackson in this situation: deadline without prep. I guess Warner could have pushed later the release but it must be a nightmare to produce and reserve the release date. Plus Warner played its reputation on the trilogy. RE-EDIT: it was more a Metro Goldwyn Mayer financial situation that delayed the shootings, but they gave the green light merely several months after Del Torro left. If only could he have stayed a little bit more... he lost a one time project. That’s for sure.
@@Sotanath86q Turning in late but there could be one reason. I went to the first move, as soon as tickets came out. I went with a bunch of friends, in my armour, ready to dive into Middle earth. At the point when the party were surfing down the platform plummeting to the rocky bottom I just wanted to leave. They missed out on my tickets on the next two films. Apparently, the movies made a lot of money but I have a suspicion that they might have missed out on a substantial amount of revenue.
Imagine being head of a department at a company, and suddenly you are given full control over a project you know very little about, with little time to get
I kinda had the same problem with Peter in 2015. I was shooting a web series I had planned a year prior, and days after shooting some of it, my initial actors had quit. I then kept the old script, and then wrote some differing scenes and dialogue. Mostly made it on the spot. I was amazed that to this day, I am working on the bible, pilot, and other things hoping to send them out later this year. Yet those on the spot story elements and even characters stayed and its what I’m working on right now. I wished and hoped to have finished my show. I didn’t sadly. But I hope the material I’ve accumulated through these 5 years pays off. And I can get it officially made.
I feel like this is a prime example of film today. Everything is rushed for money. Another example is the writers of GOT rushing the end to go do Star Wars
The two posers of Weiss and Benioff ran out of material because the fat writer wanted more money to finish the remaining books. I am completely disappointed with the entire circus they’ve made.
The thing was that D&D wanted GOT to be over, so that they can start the Star Wars Trilogy. But HBO said that they have money to renew for Season 9 and 10. Unfortunately, D&D didn't do that, they just screwed it up and rushed it. In PJ's case, the Studios had control of what deadlines were and gave PJ only a tiny amount of time to finish these movies, which is sad. If PJ had alot of time, The Hobbit would've been almost as amazing as LOTR
Feels like its the same with video games also. Media Technology has come very far but thanks to Studios and publishers rushing projects, writing/planning/polishing has all taken a nosedive and has significantly damaged the quality of entertainment & storytelling. It is such a loss. Just imagine what we could have.
He is partially to blame. He could have said “no”, he could have said “ we don’t have time so we are gonna keep Del Toro vision”, he could have keep it in 2 movies (like it was intended) instead of 3.
Extremely brave of Peter Jackson to admit this. As a filmmaker to some extent, this admission was eye opening and self reflecting. I admire Peter Jackson immensely for this.
I was horrified when I learned that The Hobbit was being stretched to 3 movies. The story just couldn't go that far. But I never blamed Peter Jackson. I knew it had to be the studio. Even with all the problems the movies are still worth watching, and there are scenes of such beauty that rival scenes of LoTR. And that is all because of Peter. He's an amazing director. If only they'd given him more time.
Why did they do this to Sir Peter Jackson?!? This makes me extremely sad to watch. I do love the Hobbit films, but I had no idea the director, writer, crew, producers, everyone was suffering to this degree? It looks so depressing and painful. I don’t know the history, but that was very cruel to do this to all of them. Someone please enlighten me as to why this happened 😢
i think it can handle it very well - of course there are some scenes where i feel they skip things a bit fast - but the extended versions do catch up for that a bit (thorin's funeral is an examble) - In 3D the movie looks better
I really enjoyed The Hobbit movies! I do not like how people compare the LOTR Trilogy to the The Hobbit Trilogy. They are both great trilogies in their own ways
SomeRandomGuy Yeah honestly, Hobbit was still better than most fantasy movies and movies in general. It’s not going to be remembered like the LOTR trilogy (but that’s a once in forever type of creation), but especially given what Peter Jackson worked with, he did great.
Just rewatched the new 4K remasters of the Extended Editions. I enjoyed each movie more than the previous. The Hobbit works when you watch it before LOTR.
This is basically the Jackson curse - in Meet the Feebles he had to break into the editing studio at night to finish it, Kong didn't even finish editing and ended up 20 mins longer than intended. And of course, there was the "blow drying the film reels in the airport" thing for return of the king. This just shows how great a filmmaker Jackson really is- most directors could never pull that off. I'd just wish they stopped screwing him over every damn movie.
It's painful to see such a talented team self-psychoanalyzing their work like this, while also low-key apologizing for their end result and passing the blame up to the studio. It's a miracle that the Hobbit movies came out the way they did, even if they aren't on par with the LOTR Trilogy, and that's a testament to this fine team of professionals.
@@Tawadeb I'm glad you t think like that. The movies have their flaws but they are overall really entertaining. And the special editions do add a couple of scenes that are much required and should have been in the Theatrical cut (Gandalf vs Thrain and Thorin's funeral).
so its ok for james cameron to take 5 years to do post production of a movie and its not ok for peter jackson? Fckin studio destroyed this beautiful story.
WB probably had a set budget for pre-production when Guillermo del Toro was the director and wasn't willing to pony up the additional money to pay for the time PJ would need to reset the pre-production clock. When he said that he only had several MONTHS to plan three movies... it's an impossible task. I would have taken a gun to my head if I was forced to work 21 hour days for years because of the studio's stupid-ass decision.
Man, the thumbnail alone along with this video is so depressing to see Peter Jackson go through this, little to no sleep, always feeling tired, no motivation, instead of how much preparation & ideas he had for the original trilogy. This made me want to give him a hug. I’m hoping he’s doing well right now.
The more I learn of The Hobbit's production, the more I'm reminded of Alien 3. It is a testimony to both Jackson's and Fincher's talent and dedication that they were able to make even serviceable films under such circumstances.
Peter Jackson never should have agreed to make the movie unless Warner Bros. agreed to give him the time necessary for the preproduction of the film. They would have caved eventually.
From interviews I've seen there were threats to take the movie out of nz if he didnt step in (ironically these threats came back later anyway). Jackson has a huge passion for lotr and the iconic connection of NZ as middle earth. While new zealanders are sometimes embarrassed about how we are really only associated as hobbits etc, losing this movie would have been a blow to part of our national identity. Lotr was a huge success worldwide, but it was a huge point of pride to the country of then 4 million. You can see this during Elijah woods statements about how insane the NZ premiere of lotr films were. So Jackson felt like he had no choice. You only have to see his weight gain over these films to see how much this hurt him
You have no idea...studio heads are businessmen. They would've gone forward without him at that point - 18 months of pre-production, legal battles settled, financial situation of the studio improved and then Del Toro leaves. From a pure business standpoint, it was harsh, but it made no sense to put off Hobbit for another year, or more. The studio was actually at least somewhat benevolent when they gave Jackson extra 6 months to prepare, but it's impossible to completely prepare a trilogy of epic three hour movies in 6 months.
I really feel sorry for Peter. Even though i really like The Hobbit movies, he never got the year and a half of pre-production on The Hobbit like he had wanted to, and plan everything together before starting to shoot the movie after Guillermo del Toro had to leave after multiple delays, and on top of that he gets sick for 6 weeks so he misses out on the production. The very same team who made Lord of the Rings clearly was passionate about making The Hobbit, but because of the finance problems and the problems with the studio they had to make up most of the movie as they were filming it
I enjoyed Hobbit movies, sure they're not as great as LOTR but at least they're still enjoyable and entertaining. I still have the Blu Ray collection of it
It's actually pretty wild that New Line & MGM allowed this on their own DVD/Blu-Ray release. These are the kinds of things that everyone feels, but you rarely see a studio come out and admit that a project was so critically flawed. I mean, you won't find a video like this anywhere in the extra features of the Disney Star Wars trilogy, where they admit they had no firm grasp on what they were doing or where they were taking the story. The honesty is refreshing here. Then again, Jackson's Hobbit trilogy is one of the most ridiculous, undeniable cases of unpreparedness in cinematic history, so not including something like this would've just been laughable.
I don't think New Line and MGM really cared all that much putting this commentary in the DVD as the Hobbit trilogy earned a lot of money for them. They succeeded in what they're trying to do and move on, so i'm sure they saw the production footage and was like "just release it, don't care, we got the money"
As someone who worked on movie and TV sets for 3 years, none of the productions were this scale, but they all had their days when things didn't quite go to plan. To think that they did this for YEARS is absolutely unreal, and not a surprise Peter Jackson now seems to actively avoid directing.
@Litshttam But they are wrong, they have literally been proven to be wrong, by multiple games. For example, No Man's Sky. And many delayed games have ended up being shite as well.
@@williamsutton6866 I guess it now needs the qualifier "when there is a talented, motivated creator behind it [such as Miyamoto or Jackson]". Miyamoto did say it though- www.nintendo-insider.com/shigeru-miyamoto-reflects-on-his-most-famous-quote/
Thank you Peter Jackson and the crew for still delivering, for me, is a great trilogy of films. I enjoyed them so much even though they did not have as much preparation like LotR.
I’m sure that if they had an extra year or two to plan everything out, “The Hobbit” trilogy could’ve been on par with the “LOTR” films. Such a shame it went the way it did...
I doubt it. Better than they were probably, but not on par with LotR. The basic story isn't as interesting or gripping and the wealth of material that LotR had to draw on just isn't there. The Hobbit story really suffers in adaptation from having too many dwarves with no real distinguishing characteristics, unlike the Fellowship who are all different and richly drawn. I mean it's possible that they could have created interesting characters and arcs for them all out of basically nothing, but it's not an easy task at all to make that work, and my guess is that the films still would have leaned towards action over character. LotR was wonderful in large part because of the source material being wonderful. The Hobbit is a lesser book and was always going to make a lesser set of films, barring some kind of miracle.
Maybe not quite on par but certainly better movies objectively and more in sync with LOTR's greatness. The Hobbit trilogy still had flashes of sheer brilliance like the Riddles in the Dark etc. thanks to great blocking of a scene they followed quite closely from the book.
Yeah, I don't think I it was needed to be stretched out into 3 movies. The hobbit is shorter than the return of the king that was made into only one movie, albeit a long one. Probably a studio decision to make more money. They should've treated the hobbit more as a one off prequel, maybe 2 movies but definitely not 3 kinda like what happened with rogue one. However I have to say Peter Jackson and Co did a great job considering what they had to go through
Man I used to be really disappointed with how the Hobbit films turned out, but now that I've seen this, I'm amazed by how well Peter Jackson pulled this off with the little time he was given to work everything out.
This is why I can't be mad at Peter he did the best he could with what he had and they still ended up being fun. Wasn't anything grand like Lord of The Rings but they were still fun especially the extended editions.
@@BryanCostneragreed. But the first also really captured that deep mythical Dwarfish crusade adventure vibe extremely well. To stand still at who the dwarves have become and what they have lost, it becomes clear what moves all of them deeply. But Desolation was EVEN more epic
I understand that for oldschool Tolkien fans, Peter Jackson compromised a lot of things that made the original books so special. But, there's no denying that he did an excellent job for what it was worth. Every 'behind the scenes' of these movies you see him in there, doing the hard work and working with everyone on set too. He put a lot of heart into these projects. I love the the books a lot, but they wouldn't have been read by me if it wasn't for Peter and these movies. He helped a lot of us fall in love with Middle Earth.
This is why I consider Peter Jackson one of the greatest directors of all time. He knows what people want to see. He even knew that what he had made wasn't up to his usual standard. He's a fan of his own work as much as we are, and that's why he understands when it's not right.
Even with all the problems, the Hobbit was still better than most movies. Props to Peter Jackson. He proved he can deliver under good circumstances, and when stuff goes wrong
The Hobbit was one medium length book made into Nine Hours of movie. [Filler Required] LOTR was three large books made into 12 hours of movie. [Ax Required] Opposite problems. LOTR should have been 16 hours and The Hobbit 4 hours. [Bombabil, Glorfindel, Barrow Wights, in, Faramir and the Hobbits "corrected". Scouring of the Shire included.]
I would have loved to have seen how it would have worked out if Jackson and his team had more time to prep. Having One or two Hobbit movies at most spread out between 4-6 hours at most with a stronger script, more of the same old zeal and passion we saw from the Lord of the Rings and more real set pieces and practical effects to go along with the movie would have gone a long way. It would have also been nice to have Thorin and several of the other Dwarves either recast or completely redesigned in terms of clothing and makeup to make them look more like actual Dwarves and less like fan service pretty boys. We could have had another masterpiece on our hands.
Agree, the Dwarfs look grotesque or too human. I wanted Dwarfs that look like Ghimli. I thought Tolkien envisioned them to all look alike, with minor changes in face and beards.
SHAME on the studio for putting the film crew, and mainly Peter Jackson through this. Completely appalling. 21 hour work days? Are there no labor laws in New Zealand or the film industry?
That's the first thing I noticed - as the shoot went on, you could see him putting on more weight. No surprise - his sleep cycle was destroyed for years. Combine that with eating "on the go" all the time... I feel so bad for the guy,
As an avid Tolkienist who has read the novels, I still appreciated the Hobbit and thought it was still memorable in cinematic history, despite the flaws. It is amazing that Peter was able to pull through and still produce a film, greater than most others in Hollywood, for us. Hats off to you, Peter.
Peter Jackson made the best of the Hobbit he could. And I actually enjoyed it. But when you do not have a Peter Jackson, you get Cats or Dr Dolittle remake
@@alexanderzerka8477 And the vast majority of people would be wrong. It failed as an adaptation, and was mediocre as a film set- doubly so, if you compare them to the LotR movies.
@@joelhenderson3723 even if you don't compare to LOTR and just judge Hobbit of its own. It's not too bad, there are some action set pieces that are alright. People downgrade Hobbit a lot because they kept comparing it to LOTR when as a trilogy itself without thinking of LOTR. It's not too bad, it doesn't ruin the rewatchabilty either. I could still watch Hobbit and LOTR back to back. It's not as bad as Game Of Thrones season 8 whatsoever
@@sirspongadoodle no it's not, there are few entertaining scenes that I can watch. And watching The Hobbit and LOTR back to back isn't an issue either. It started out rough with An Unexpected Journey and ended beautifully with Return of the King
This clipped really helped me through my film course. I used the production blogs to keep my spirits up and remind me why I was doing the course during long lonely nights in the edit suite or researching nonsense essays on filler material modules. It was seeing that a hugely successful experienced director can still face similar issues I was facing (obviously minus the multi-million dollar investments and people's livelihoods) was actually encouraging. Years later I still look this clip up
The filming of the first Star Wars was so bad that George Lucas was rushed to the hospital for fear of a heart attack. You can’t always have a flawless production. Some of the most classic movies were made under terrible circumstances.
Poor guy is seriously defeated. No prep time; no storyboards. Peter was basically flying blind throughout the trilogy. If WB gave him enough time, the trilogy would’ve parred with LOTR
I really admire the honesty from everyone. It's so refreshing instead of the gaslighting for years from lotr-fans trying to convince me that they Hobbit movies were great.
I just re-watched the Hobbit trilogy after re-reading the book, and I have to admit I've largely reconsidered my prior negative assessment of the films. I think they would have been better received had they been made first. As prequels, they were bound to be disappointing, especially after the insane amount of hype they received. I think everyone involved tried too hard to make these movies more than they needed to be, but they do have a certain charm of their own. Yes, they are unfocused, but the studio's decision to make a trilogy out of a 200 page book made that inevitable. Yes, the characters are less fully realized, but that is true of the book as well. The often cartoonish nature of some of the action scenes, I now can see as reflecting the story's origin as a children's novel which often makes light of the characters' peril. And the added material involving the Necromancer actually does a decent job of foreshadowing LOTR without quite beating you over the head with it, while also explaining Gandalf's extended absence from the quest. My biggest complaint now is that the action sequences are all too long, which was obviously done to pad out the running time to turn what was meant to be two movies into three. My other complaint is that the star-crossed elf/dwarf romance is completely unnecessary, and probably only there out of studio insistence on the inclusion of a love interest. But taken on their own terms (and if watched before, rather than after, watching LOTR), I would say the movies serve as a good (though not necessarily great) appetizer for the grand epic to come later, just as the book does. I can see where all the production problems hampered the final product, but I can now enjoy them for what they are. Even with their flaws, they are better than 90% of the comic book movies Hollywood churns out these days.
If would have been so cool if the LOTR team had 5 years of prep time and released The Hobbit Trilogy and the Lord of the Rings Trilogy in 6 years with 1 movie each year. That would have been so incredible to see and the transitions from movie to movie
Totally disagree. They're overall pretty bad movies. They're bloated, over long, over stuffed and badly paced. They seem bad because they *are* bad, not because they seem bad compared to their predecessors. If the Hobbit trilogy came first, I think they would have massively flopped and we would have never got LOTR!
I recently rewatched the making of the LOTR trilogy on dvd and seeing this compared to how the LOTR was made is madness. Full blame is at the studio for obviously changing directors and not given a proven Oscar winning director the time to deliver yet more success to the studio.
I JUST finally watched the Hobbit films (I watched the extended editions), and I ADORE them. It’s wild to see this after being so obsessed with these films. To me, they are perfection.
Wow this is crazy. He did amazing to produce the films he did with such little prep. Thank god he had the passion to take it on or there wouldn't be a hobbit film at all. The films i find are still really enjoyable and have alot of emotion in them.
Pete got a perforated stomach ulcer, and ended up in Wellington Hospital the same week as I had a stroke on the same production, same hospital! It really took a massive toll on all of our lives!
The Hobbit movies, well extended versions as no one watches the theatrical cuts, were amazing. They did a great job. Very good movies. What's amazing is that they winged it.
Honestly this just increases my appreciation for those movies. They're perfectly solid fantasy films and to see that they were essentially thrown together (the punk follow up to the original trilogy's prog rock, if you will) really displays the filmmaking virtuosity of everyone involved.
I guarantee you that if Peter had the time like he had for LOTR, The Hobbit would have been on that level. But don’t blame him. Blame Warner Bros for lying to Del Torro, causing him to bail, forcing Peter into directing a trilogy from scratch, and working him down to a near break down. Fuck Warner Bros
... and yet, the Hobbit movies are excellent! It's incredible knowing that he pulled something like that the way he did. Peter Jackson is super talented director!
Another thing that doesnt get mentioned in the Video is, that Guillermo del Toro was hired to direct The Hobbit in 2008 and also worked as a screenwriter on it, but left in 2010. His visual approach would have been something previously unseen in the World of Middle-Earth. more resembling a fairy tale than what came before. In doing so, the story kept constantly evolving - and grew to being a two-part endeavor - which kept pushing back the tentative production schedule. An Peter Jackson also had to redesign quite a lot. + Because of Short time at making more practial effects, costumes, and settings they had to use much more CGI than they wanted to. I wish Peter Jackson would have done the Hobbit alone from the Beginning, with enough production time.
This is extremely appalling that Peter had to go through with this nightmare. Couldn't he just let the studio know that he needs time to finish these movies?
Hobbit, Justice League, Cyberpunk 2077, Rise of Skywalker (and ST as whole)... So many potential masterpieces ruined by the studio's desicion to speed up the process...
Really touching seeing all of us side with the creative. Peter Jackson really is a madman of a genius for being short-prepped and still pumping these out and still adding gems of scenes and ideas in them to keep em fresh. Best sequences of all time were the "Riddles in the Dark", the log boat ride, and the scene w Smaug!!
Peter Jackson, along with Philippa Boyens and all the screenwriters have amazing talent. I really love the Hobbit movies and think they're beautiful. I would have had no idea they went through all this hardship behind the scenes.
Peter Jackson is one of the most extraordinary filmmakers, this is present in the hobbit films. I think this is a really great two part movie that got stretched into three bloated messes. I really don’t understand the mentality of studios. If you rush the movie, it’s probably going to suck and then you piss people off. Why bother? You would think someone as good as Peter Jackson should be able to take the time he needs to get the film right.
This is how I feel when I put off an important essay until a few days before the deadline. Yet somehow, despite not quite capturing what I had envisioned in my mind, I still managed to pull off something quite special.
Speaking of Cameron, James Cameron after seeing this video, i appriciate the fact that he delayed the Avatar sequels for more prep time and more time in developing the visuals.
I remember reading Ian Mckellin was depressed and suicidal because he spent 99% of his time on the film on a green screen just by himself pretending to talk to the other actors for scenes
Honestly, this is a really depressing watch. The behind the scenes footage for LOTR had such energy. Such zeal. You really got a sense that they had a grand old adventure together. To see the same team here tired, stressed and not having any fun. It's really quite unpleasant.
Huge kudos to them though. Particularly Peter. That must have been a nightmare but he made the right call and steered that ship out of the storm.
Ayyy Womble, on showerthoughts?
Damn, did not expect to see you here.
I wouldn't have minded waiting longer for the following releases, if it meant knowing the people who were making the film weren't being tortured..
Well, I don't think he really steered the ship out. Just managed not to have it sink in the process. Peter hasn't been active in the film spotlight ever since these films.
How about shooting your own damn video you lazy rodent (or whatever the f*ck a womble actually is). Don't tell me you need another 2 weeks of preproduction.
Thanks a lot Warner Bros for running a great film maker into the ground for money
@@JordiMaquiavello Because they pretty much forced him I think. If he wouldnt do it a lesser director would almost certaintly screw it up. Now I might be wrong but seeing the LotR behind the scenes I get the feeling that he really loves this universe and would have hated it to be treated badly. So he pretty much had to step in.
I never blame artists like Peter. Those studios screwed him over. If they are going to propose 3 movies, they mind as well give him the time to make the movies right. Greedy bastards, those studios! It's all their fault!
@Rodzilla
Del Toro was being forced to do a trilogy rather than the 2 movie version he was originally pitched by WB at the time. The first movie was supposed to be strictly Del Toro's vision,the second was supposed to mimic Jackson's vision. Del Toro's movie was shot to crap because WB wanted to extend the franchise with three movies, basically $$$$$$$$$, rather than substance. No doubt Del Toro's version would've been amazing. See Pan's Labyrinth for details.
TheCinematicbandicoot Hear hear
Welcome to Hollywood. The land of "money grabbers" they don't care about the artistic point of view
Peter Jackson didn't ruin The Hobbit. He actually was trying to save it. Blame the studio for rushing everything.
He tried to put out a fire with gasoline.
I don’t understand people’s dislike, it’s my favourite film. Beautifully crafted, sure there were problems but they were amazing films and will forever be part of my childhood that inspired me to make films
Alexander Supertramp cgi is fast he needed more time the Lotr had 3 years of production del toro left and wb told Jackson to hurry up
@Alexander Supertramp thank God, he didn't... I always used to love the fact that LOTR had so much practical effects
@@maxy4965 Return of the King had lots of CGI. Even Viggo Mortensen complained about it during production that it had more CGI focus than the previous 2.
the fact these films were at least watchable is a testament to how good of a director peter really is
agree. i remember peter planned for only 2 films to finish hobbit. but warner insisted on a trilogy. and that is why battle of five armies existed. TUJ & TDOS was actually good to watch but the last one, i remember i got so frustrated watching in on the first day show in IMAX...
I have seen lotro like 200 times, still haven´t managed to eat myself through this garbage.
@@chrisv384 similar here. I've seen them, but they lack all the things that make Lotr untouchable. They look like a studio didn't give a fuck vs a director that really gave a fuck but studio called the shots.
Dont mean to be mean but if you respect the book they are not watchable at all.
Watchable? That's debatable
he looked so miserable.
beerasaurus No fucking wonder
@@VicenzoV what? Peter clearly ended up being the fall guy for a production where everyone was at fault to at least some degree, but mostly the studio
Yeah Peter Jackson wanted nothing to do with his project. He only did it because he was contractually obligated too if he wanted to receive his money from LOTR.
Yeah he wasn't actually paid for LOTR, he had to sue to get it. Part of his settlement was that he would consult on the Hobbit, but when Del Toro left he was thrust in the Director's chair.
@@VicenzoV We have a Cave Troll..
@@servebotfrank4082 He was paid plenty, but he sued for more that he was owed (royalties).
I always felt the movies were rushed, and now I know they were. Deadlines are going to be the end of quality entertainment.
watch movies with jackie chan as director, or many foreign movies in general where the content is in the first place not the money
+King thrd That's why he doesn't even bother with Hollywood and does his own thing.
Master of Reality absolutely.
Never rush the art
Frank Castle The Lotr trilogy was perfect. The Hobbit was most definitely not.
Oh dear. Peter Jackson working 21 hours and getting only three hours sleep. That is no way to live.
Considering the issues that Jackson had to work through, he did a great job.
He was well compensated. LOTR and The Hobbit made him a Very, very, rich man.
@@firebearva Money means nothing if you're not fit to spend it.
@@firebearva Such a stupid commentary. Really, STUPID.
@@dr.feelgoodmalusphillips2475 his decision to accept it in the end.
@@firebearva is money really all that matters? As an artist, I wouldn't care if a painting I despised, a painting I was forced to make in a short amount of time, forced to sell no matter if it's only 10% complete... I wouldn't care if that painting made me millions. Especially with people constantly blaming me for it being a crap painting rather than whoever was forcing me to make it so they could get rich. You can't put the quality of 3+ years of work into a few months. It'll never be the same. And artists care about their CRAFT, not about the monetary gain it can bring them. The films will haunt him for the rest of his career as the project he didn't get to perfect, as a project that went wrong. People criticise him instead of WB and it's a shame because he isn't responsible for this mess, he just saved it in any way he could and it shows.
No one is blaming you Peter. The world knows what magic you're capable of, and we will never forget it.
I honestly think he's a really good visual director, has an eye for the camera and can make his film very grandeur like. But he always seems to struggle what story he actually wants to tell though (which is why his movies are always long for over 3 hours or more when it comes to theater releases). TLOTRs books already had the sources to help him which stories were important and a guide for him to follow. But ever since after TLOTRs, his films have been less story wise and more so lends his films as a more visual fest (CGI and practical effects). But his earlier films were interesting in my opinion, you can look them up (especially Heavenly Creatures). Maybe storytelling isn't his strongest suit? I think he has yet to really find any fictional source materials he really cares about or the passion like he did with TLOTRs.
@@marleymarss He was given very little time to prepare for The Hobbit. Compare his preparation with this and LOTR. He's a fantastic storyteller, LOTR was amazing because he was given like 2 years to prepare for all three movies and it worked. Here, he didn't like parts of the script, he had to rewrite scenes on set, it was the studio's fault that truly stab him in the back. It's all on rushed time, i believe Jackson could've made a better Hobbit movie, WB and MGM should've gave him more time. He even wanted to do Hobbit first and then LOTR but changed his mind due to him securing LOTR rights earlier, from what i know the Hobbit rights were on that Weinsteins and Miramax until 2006, Jackson can't regain that because the Weinsteins have so much power and the fact that he rightfully so, hates them
@@BryanCostner I'm well aware that he and practically everyone had little to no time to really understand what they needed to do and to properly make the the Hobbit film. Even came to the point when Peter, speculations, that Peter took his frustrations out on his actors and crew members. Because of the stress he was under in. As far as I remember there were three studios that were involved with the project as well and all were equally wanted Peter to hurry to meet the deadline. It was New Line Cinema that really pushed Peter cause at some point as a studio they were losing money and close to shutting down that they needed the Hobbit films to succeed to generate them money. So i think no one is denying the films weren't his fault in any way. But what I'm talking about is his films that aren't Middle-Earth related, it his films after TLOTRs that seem to lack or struggle any storytelling sense. Even on TLORs set, Peter and the writers were too rewriting and adding additional scenes or dialouges almost every day during production. Many of the cast members will tell you that. But also, it is normal during production for rewiting scenes on set even though a script is done and ready to go into production process. And for that, he wasn't winging it, but because he was trying t perfect the scenes. Recently in the years he seems to be focusing on documentary films and he seems to be very passionate about those so far and I can feel the love for him trying to create a narrative with documentary.
I do have mad respect for Peter but he obviously didn’t know what he was doing with the hobbit.
@@pastafarian_priest139 and wasn't his fault
Man, I feel so sorry for Jackson after watching this. That and, how much better would the films have been if Peter had been given the prep time he had for Lord of the Rings?
+RollOnToVictory Hi there! thinking about your comment.. The Hobbit book was at a different kind of 'level' compared too the Lord of the rings books, those were alot more mature. Thats what made them so good, what was less mature, by example where the ghosts of the mountain (remember? quality downgraded alot when they came up in the third movie). I think, the hobbit movies could have been better, but the more childish setting of the book story, probably wouldnt made them as good as the lord of the rings movies. Which is, almost impossible in my opininon. (Y) p.s. srry if bad english
He probably coul've done another masterpiece
@Frank Castle Bleach is NOT a drink my friend. Just stop.
Gullermo del Toro had been planning to make the movie for 1-2 years, this should have been his movies. Peter Jackson turned in a pile of shit that stole pretty much everything from the lord of the rings and was still terrible.
If they were given just one more year of pre-production and not forced to stretch at most two movies into three strictly for the sake of money, they could have been an absolute masterpiece.
Warner fucked up. Not Peter Jackson. If anything, it's a miracle and evidence of his talent that the Hobbit movies had some good stuff in them.
MrJedabak That's what happens when you rush your director and give him no freedom
Id say they both fucked up. There’s loads of bs scenes that he didn’t have to add that were never in the book and that do nothing to improve the movie. He should have scaled down and made the important stuff better
@@ryanbailey3176 he could have said no. He created a masterpiece with lotr, he didn't need the money. He should have told them: my way or nothing.
@@babbonatale276 the studio would have have found someone else and made the films anyway. Too much money at stake.
I liked most of the hobbit I did not really like the second film I think if peter had more time that one would have been better, but I loved the 1st and last movies of the hobbit it shows how good of a director he is.
The fact that the Hobbit films still turned out fairly decent is a testament to Peter Jackson's skill as a director.
The Lord of the Rings trilogy having 3 and a half years of pre-production kinda explains why these films feel absolutely perfect and will seemingly forever remain as timeless masterpieces. Nothing beats preparation.
We don't see such preparation and enthusiasm for the craft of making movies anymore 😢
It's insane that he only had 5 months to prepare for everything before shooting. I feel so sorry for him, he was trying to save it with the limited time he had. Not ruin it
@@KanohiVahi The latest I can think of is Dune by Denis Villeneuve, but that's about it.
@@KanohiVahi go watch '1917' , and let me know :)
How on earth was it allowed to get to this state?! The Lord of the Rings made so much money that it was just guaranteed that the Hobbit films could be allowed the extra years of prep and sill make a shit ton of money. It's just such a shame.
Greed. It was always going to sell tickets and dvd sales aren't worth much because of piracy. Why wait a few years for 2 good films when you can split it into 3 and start cashing in immediately?
maybe some big ceo needed a private jet asap
I would blame Del Torro more than Warner. You don’t walk away from a one lifetime chance to adapt a Tolkien story. The fact he abandoned put Jackson in this situation: deadline without prep.
I guess Warner could have pushed later the release but it must be a nightmare to produce and reserve the release date. Plus Warner played its reputation on the trilogy.
RE-EDIT: it was more a Metro Goldwyn Mayer financial situation that delayed the shootings, but they gave the green light merely several months after Del Torro left. If only could he have stayed a little bit more... he lost a one time project. That’s for sure.
@@Sotanath86q Turning in late but there could be one reason. I went to the first move, as soon as tickets came out. I went with a bunch of friends, in my armour, ready to dive into Middle earth. At the point when the party were surfing down the platform plummeting to the rocky bottom I just wanted to leave. They missed out on my tickets on the next two films. Apparently, the movies made a lot of money but I have a suspicion that they might have missed out on a substantial amount of revenue.
@@frenchcoupon3391 Watch the stuff about del Toro. He was torn up about leaving. He was pushed out by the studio.
Wow he actually did a really good job for someone putting together random footage.
Imagine being head of a department at a company, and suddenly you are given full control over a project you know very little about, with little time to get
I kinda had the same problem with Peter in 2015. I was shooting a web series I had planned a year prior, and days after shooting some of it, my initial actors had quit.
I then kept the old script, and then wrote some differing scenes and dialogue. Mostly made it on the spot.
I was amazed that to this day, I am working on the bible, pilot, and other things hoping to send them out later this year.
Yet those on the spot story elements and even characters stayed and its what I’m working on right now.
I wished and hoped to have finished my show. I didn’t sadly. But I hope the material I’ve accumulated through these 5 years pays off. And I can get it officially made.
@@ThatCreeNative1 what is it called? I am kind of interested
The moral of the story is; never rush art.
True but it wasn't Peter's fault it was Warner brothers fault for giving a deadline
I always rush art. Because you know you’re forced to
@Tru Lord Kasinova 95 yea I don't understand why he quit hes brain dead
>Disney Star Wars has entered the chat
It's movie industry not art
5:44 "I think the 2nd unit were quite shocked" *Orc face: :O*
I had to laugh so hard! :D PERFECTLY CUT! WELL DONE!
Hilarious. I thought the same thing
Damn I literally just made this same comment. DELET
gabzito?????/ didnt know u liked lotr and the hobbit?
Suddenly the Hobbit movies doesn't seem so bad... I take my hat off for Peter Jackson for making this through.
sorry - I love Peter, but to many The Hobbit movies still seem bad given the greatness of LOTR - don't let the studio machinery off the hook
They should not have proceeded in this way to bring a masterpiece like the Hobbit to life. Shame on them all!!
I really like the hobbit almost as much as lotr
@@dotdot3842 same i watched all 3 in the theatres theyre my favourite movies i didnt know they were so hated
@@addy1294 same
I feel like this is a prime example of film today. Everything is rushed for money. Another example is the writers of GOT rushing the end to go do Star Wars
Primarily big studio tent pole films.
The two posers of Weiss and Benioff ran out of material because the fat writer wanted more money to finish the remaining books. I am completely disappointed with the entire circus they’ve made.
Now they don’t have a Star Wars project AND they ruined GoT. Congrats D&D!
The thing was that D&D wanted GOT to be over, so that they can start the Star Wars Trilogy. But HBO said that they have money to renew for Season 9 and 10. Unfortunately, D&D didn't do that, they just screwed it up and rushed it. In PJ's case, the Studios had control of what deadlines were and gave PJ only a tiny amount of time to finish these movies, which is sad. If PJ had alot of time, The Hobbit would've been almost as amazing as LOTR
Feels like its the same with video games also. Media Technology has come very far but thanks to Studios and publishers rushing projects, writing/planning/polishing has all taken a nosedive and has significantly damaged the quality of entertainment & storytelling. It is such a loss. Just imagine what we could have.
This is so heartbreaking to watch. I hope everyone who blames Peter Jackson for the quality of the Hobbit watches this before casting blame.
He is partially to blame. He could have said “no”, he could have said “ we don’t have time so we are gonna keep Del Toro vision”, he could have keep it in 2 movies (like it was intended) instead of 3.
@@awesomereviews1561 true, but he felt like it was his responsibility after all.
I don't blame him at all for the quality. I thought the quality was amazing. What I blame him for is completely destroying the story.
@@woody5476 you mean all the garbage additions the studio forced into the movie?
@@BatBreaker007 If it's true the studio forced that stuff, then they're the ones to blame.
Extremely brave of Peter Jackson to admit this. As a filmmaker to some extent, this admission was eye opening and self reflecting. I admire Peter Jackson immensely for this.
They nearly killed the man
No wonder why PJ doesn’t seem to desire doing more blockbusters. They burnt him out.
I was horrified when I learned that The Hobbit was being stretched to 3 movies. The story just couldn't go that far. But I never blamed Peter Jackson. I knew it had to be the studio. Even with all the problems the movies are still worth watching, and there are scenes of such beauty that rival scenes of LoTR. And that is all because of Peter. He's an amazing director. If only they'd given him more time.
Why did they do this to Sir Peter Jackson?!? This makes me extremely sad to watch. I do love the Hobbit films, but I had no idea the director, writer, crew, producers, everyone was suffering to this degree?
It looks so depressing and painful. I don’t know the history, but that was very cruel to do this to all of them. Someone please enlighten me as to why this happened 😢
i think it can handle it very well - of course there are some scenes where i feel they skip things a bit fast - but the extended versions do catch up for that a bit (thorin's funeral is an examble) - In 3D the movie looks better
Considering how he had to wing the whole operation, it is really impressive that the movies turned out the way they did.
I really enjoyed The Hobbit movies! I do not like how people compare the LOTR Trilogy to the The Hobbit Trilogy. They are both great trilogies in their own ways
SomeRandomGuy Yeah honestly, Hobbit was still better than most fantasy movies and movies in general. It’s not going to be remembered like the LOTR trilogy (but that’s a once in forever type of creation), but especially given what Peter Jackson worked with, he did great.
Schnitzel Filmmaker Agreed!!!
My thoughts exactly.
Just rewatched the new 4K remasters of the Extended Editions. I enjoyed each movie more than the previous. The Hobbit works when you watch it before LOTR.
This is basically the Jackson curse - in Meet the Feebles he had to break into the editing studio at night to finish it, Kong didn't even finish editing and ended up 20 mins longer than intended. And of course, there was the "blow drying the film reels in the airport" thing for return of the king. This just shows how great a filmmaker Jackson really is- most directors could never pull that off. I'd just wish they stopped screwing him over every damn movie.
What happened in the "blow drying the film reels in the airport" story?
INSTINCT I wanna know too.
I'd like to hear this too, please.
It's painful to see such a talented team self-psychoanalyzing their work like this, while also low-key apologizing for their end result and passing the blame up to the studio.
It's a miracle that the Hobbit movies came out the way they did, even if they aren't on par with the LOTR Trilogy, and that's a testament to this fine team of professionals.
Yo me the Hobbit films are nearly perfect snd I’m so glad PJ directed them.
@@Tawadeb I'm glad you t think like that. The movies have their flaws but they are overall really entertaining. And the special editions do add a couple of scenes that are much required and should have been in the Theatrical cut (Gandalf vs Thrain and Thorin's funeral).
@@thestarkknightreturns hobbits pretty bad, but its like giving a director 0 time to prep.. oh wait thats exactly what it was.
so its ok for james cameron to take 5 years to do post production of a movie and its not ok for peter jackson? Fckin studio destroyed this beautiful story.
WB probably had a set budget for pre-production when Guillermo del Toro was the director and wasn't willing to pony up the additional money to pay for the time PJ would need to reset the pre-production clock. When he said that he only had several MONTHS to plan three movies... it's an impossible task. I would have taken a gun to my head if I was forced to work 21 hour days for years because of the studio's stupid-ass decision.
My man Peter sacrificed his health to make this trilogy as good as possible, we appreciate you mate, can’t say the same for the studio
Man, the thumbnail alone along with this video is so depressing to see Peter Jackson go through this, little to no sleep, always feeling tired, no motivation, instead of how much preparation & ideas he had for the original trilogy. This made me want to give him a hug. I’m hoping he’s doing well right now.
Mr. Jackson is a legend. Considering the circumstances it was a miracle the movies were as good as they were. LEGENDARY
This video felt more suspenseful than the whole freaken hobbit movie trilogy LOL
They had to try a way to justify the crap.
lol true
Jajajaja
And this basically all came down to some executive saying “But we want the money THIS quarter instead of next.”
Warner Bros., always rushing a potentially great franchise out immediately like as if there is no tomorrow.
The more I learn of The Hobbit's production, the more I'm reminded of Alien 3. It is a testimony to both Jackson's and Fincher's talent and dedication that they were able to make even serviceable films under such circumstances.
Peter Jackson never should have agreed to make the movie unless Warner Bros. agreed to give him the time necessary for the preproduction of the film. They would have caved eventually.
From interviews I've seen there were threats to take the movie out of nz if he didnt step in (ironically these threats came back later anyway).
Jackson has a huge passion for lotr and the iconic connection of NZ as middle earth. While new zealanders are sometimes embarrassed about how we are really only associated as hobbits etc, losing this movie would have been a blow to part of our national identity.
Lotr was a huge success worldwide, but it was a huge point of pride to the country of then 4 million. You can see this during Elijah woods statements about how insane the NZ premiere of lotr films were.
So Jackson felt like he had no choice. You only have to see his weight gain over these films to see how much this hurt him
Ya I don't understand WB's logic here honestly.
You have no idea...studio heads are businessmen. They would've gone forward without him at that point - 18 months of pre-production, legal battles settled, financial situation of the studio improved and then Del Toro leaves. From a pure business standpoint, it was harsh, but it made no sense to put off Hobbit for another year, or more. The studio was actually at least somewhat benevolent when they gave Jackson extra 6 months to prepare, but it's impossible to completely prepare a trilogy of epic three hour movies in 6 months.
You are correct but this comment is Captain Hindsight to the letter lol
@@Dragonk116 The logic is: Safe money, quickly.
It takes a far braver man than I'll ever be to admit that you have no idea what you're doing.
The moral of the story is, take your time. You hear that WB and Disney? Let them take their time to do it right.
TheAgentTexas Justice League: hold my beer
Well the thing is:why take your time if you can earn money the way you are?
Adam Alucard but what’s the point of the money if the product is garbage thanks to the studio?
Also adding on: passion and preparation are everything.
Disney's problem was not letting Dave Filoni be in charge of Star Wars and they're finally coming around to that.
I really feel sorry for Peter. Even though i really like The Hobbit movies, he never got the year and a half of pre-production on The Hobbit like he had wanted to, and plan everything together before starting to shoot the movie after Guillermo del Toro had to leave after multiple delays, and on top of that he gets sick for 6 weeks so he misses out on the production. The very same team who made Lord of the Rings clearly was passionate about making The Hobbit, but because of the finance problems and the problems with the studio they had to make up most of the movie as they were filming it
He can only do so much.
I loved the hobbit and I'm glad he actually managed to make the movies good
@@ytn675 But imagine what the movies could have been with ample prep.
I enjoyed Hobbit movies, sure they're not as great as LOTR but at least they're still enjoyable and entertaining. I still have the Blu Ray collection of it
@@Gray.12 They would have been masterpieces!!!
It's actually pretty wild that New Line & MGM allowed this on their own DVD/Blu-Ray release. These are the kinds of things that everyone feels, but you rarely see a studio come out and admit that a project was so critically flawed. I mean, you won't find a video like this anywhere in the extra features of the Disney Star Wars trilogy, where they admit they had no firm grasp on what they were doing or where they were taking the story. The honesty is refreshing here.
Then again, Jackson's Hobbit trilogy is one of the most ridiculous, undeniable cases of unpreparedness in cinematic history, so not including something like this would've just been laughable.
I don't think New Line and MGM really cared all that much putting this commentary in the DVD as the Hobbit trilogy earned a lot of money for them. They succeeded in what they're trying to do and move on, so i'm sure they saw the production footage and was like "just release it, don't care, we got the money"
As someone who worked on movie and TV sets for 3 years, none of the productions were this scale, but they all had their days when things didn't quite go to plan. To think that they did this for YEARS is absolutely unreal, and not a surprise Peter Jackson now seems to actively avoid directing.
"A delayed game is eventually good, but a rushed game is forever bad" - Shigeru Miyamoto
(just swap in "film" for "game")
Why do people still use this quote lol, it's not a good quote.
@Litshttam But they are wrong, they have literally been proven to be wrong, by multiple games. For example, No Man's Sky. And many delayed games have ended up being shite as well.
@@williamsutton6866 I guess it now needs the qualifier "when there is a talented, motivated creator behind it [such as Miyamoto or Jackson]". Miyamoto did say it though- www.nintendo-insider.com/shigeru-miyamoto-reflects-on-his-most-famous-quote/
Sadly this quote isn’t absolutely true. Cyberpunk 2077 was crap even without the bugs.
@@williamsutton6866 right?! Cyberpunk2077 was delayed how many times and it flopped hard. Lol
5:45 he does look quite shocked
Thank you Peter Jackson and the crew for still delivering, for me, is a great trilogy of films. I enjoyed them so much even though they did not have as much preparation like LotR.
I’m sure that if they had an extra year or two to plan everything out, “The Hobbit” trilogy could’ve been on par with the “LOTR” films. Such a shame it went the way it did...
I doubt it. Better than they were probably, but not on par with LotR. The basic story isn't as interesting or gripping and the wealth of material that LotR had to draw on just isn't there. The Hobbit story really suffers in adaptation from having too many dwarves with no real distinguishing characteristics, unlike the Fellowship who are all different and richly drawn. I mean it's possible that they could have created interesting characters and arcs for them all out of basically nothing, but it's not an easy task at all to make that work, and my guess is that the films still would have leaned towards action over character. LotR was wonderful in large part because of the source material being wonderful. The Hobbit is a lesser book and was always going to make a lesser set of films, barring some kind of miracle.
Maybe not quite on par but certainly better movies objectively and more in sync with LOTR's greatness. The Hobbit trilogy still had flashes of sheer brilliance like the Riddles in the Dark etc. thanks to great blocking of a scene they followed quite closely from the book.
Yeah, I don't think I it was needed to be stretched out into 3 movies. The hobbit is shorter than the return of the king that was made into only one movie, albeit a long one. Probably a studio decision to make more money. They should've treated the hobbit more as a one off prequel, maybe 2 movies but definitely not 3 kinda like what happened with rogue one. However I have to say Peter Jackson and Co did a great job considering what they had to go through
@@H_WLL If one day they make a Silmarillion movie, I really hope the work will be more valued...
This compared to the LOTR behind the scenes...it's so depressed
Man I used to be really disappointed with how the Hobbit films turned out, but now that I've seen this, I'm amazed by how well Peter Jackson pulled this off with the little time he was given to work everything out.
This is why I can't be mad at Peter he did the best he could with what he had and they still ended up being fun. Wasn't anything grand like Lord of The Rings but they were still fun especially the extended editions.
I'd say The Desolation of Smaug is as close to as good as the LOTR movies, hats off to him for that.
@@BryanCostneragreed. But the first also really captured that deep mythical Dwarfish crusade adventure vibe extremely well. To stand still at who the dwarves have become and what they have lost, it becomes clear what moves all of them deeply. But Desolation was EVEN more epic
I understand that for oldschool Tolkien fans, Peter Jackson compromised a lot of things that made the original books so special. But, there's no denying that he did an excellent job for what it was worth. Every 'behind the scenes' of these movies you see him in there, doing the hard work and working with everyone on set too. He put a lot of heart into these projects. I love the the books a lot, but they wouldn't have been read by me if it wasn't for Peter and these movies. He helped a lot of us fall in love with Middle Earth.
This is why I consider Peter Jackson one of the greatest directors of all time. He knows what people want to see. He even knew that what he had made wasn't up to his usual standard. He's a fan of his own work as much as we are, and that's why he understands when it's not right.
Even with all the problems, the Hobbit was still better than most movies. Props to Peter Jackson. He proved he can deliver under good circumstances, and when stuff goes wrong
Not really, it was so bloated and pointless.
nah it was shit series
The Hobbit was one medium length book made into Nine Hours of movie. [Filler Required] LOTR was three large books made into 12 hours of movie. [Ax Required] Opposite problems. LOTR should have been 16 hours and The Hobbit 4 hours. [Bombabil, Glorfindel, Barrow Wights, in, Faramir and the Hobbits "corrected". Scouring of the Shire included.]
@@deckardcain9789 hear hear
@@xxsaruman82xx87 still think its good and enjoyable
I never knew how hard this was, Peter is a genius and deserves all the respect, also, much respect to the hard working team
Peter Jackson nailed it! The Hobbit Trilogy is very underrated.
I would have loved to have seen how it would have worked out if Jackson and his team had more time to prep. Having One or two Hobbit movies at most spread out between 4-6 hours at most with a stronger script, more of the same old zeal and passion we saw from the Lord of the Rings and more real set pieces and practical effects to go along with the movie would have gone a long way. It would have also been nice to have Thorin and several of the other Dwarves either recast or completely redesigned in terms of clothing and makeup to make them look more like actual Dwarves and less like fan service pretty boys. We could have had another masterpiece on our hands.
....TWO films max!..even that woulda been pushing it ..but 3 was absurd and filled with too much "huh?" ..
Yea, a beatiful thought. But its just dreams and reality nowadays sucks, Hobbit compared to lotr is like shit to chocolate.
I wish the studio just let Del Toro do his thing...
I'm so sad :(
Agree, the Dwarfs look grotesque or too human. I wanted Dwarfs that look like Ghimli. I thought Tolkien envisioned them to all look alike, with minor changes in face and beards.
@@Kerbalf It was Del Toro who pulled out. He didn't want to commit to a 2 year stay in New Zealand.
SHAME on the studio for putting the film crew, and mainly Peter Jackson through this. Completely appalling. 21 hour work days? Are there no labor laws in New Zealand or the film industry?
The fact that I still adore the Hobbit movies is a testament to everyone who worked on both trilogies.
well, the trilogy came out AMAZING. well done!
Peter lost all his weight then gained it all back due to the stress. Poor guy.
That's the first thing I noticed - as the shoot went on, you could see him putting on more weight. No surprise - his sleep cycle was destroyed for years. Combine that with eating "on the go" all the time... I feel so bad for the guy,
As an avid Tolkienist who has read the novels, I still appreciated the Hobbit and thought it was still memorable in cinematic history, despite the flaws. It is amazing that Peter was able to pull through and still produce a film, greater than most others in Hollywood, for us. Hats off to you, Peter.
Peter Jackson made the best of the Hobbit he could. And I actually enjoyed it.
But when you do not have a Peter Jackson, you get Cats or Dr Dolittle remake
The Hobbit is far from enjoyable.
@@alexanderzerka8477 And the vast majority of people would be wrong. It failed as an adaptation, and was mediocre as a film set- doubly so, if you compare them to the LotR movies.
@@joelhenderson3723 even if you don't compare to LOTR and just judge Hobbit of its own. It's not too bad, there are some action set pieces that are alright. People downgrade Hobbit a lot because they kept comparing it to LOTR when as a trilogy itself without thinking of LOTR. It's not too bad, it doesn't ruin the rewatchabilty either. I could still watch Hobbit and LOTR back to back. It's not as bad as Game Of Thrones season 8 whatsoever
@@BryanCostner its quite bad..
@@sirspongadoodle no it's not, there are few entertaining scenes that I can watch. And watching The Hobbit and LOTR back to back isn't an issue either. It started out rough with An Unexpected Journey and ended beautifully with Return of the King
I still loved the Hobbit movies.
most children do.
@reds head same, I enjoy too! The extended versions are good!!!
They were good. Some of the CGI looked funny but I liked them all just fine. I only have minor complaints.
Same
@@mutabore7 okay big guy
This clipped really helped me through my film course. I used the production blogs to keep my spirits up and remind me why I was doing the course during long lonely nights in the edit suite or researching nonsense essays on filler material modules. It was seeing that a hugely successful experienced director can still face similar issues I was facing (obviously minus the multi-million dollar investments and people's livelihoods) was actually encouraging. Years later I still look this clip up
The filming of the first Star Wars was so bad that George Lucas was rushed to the hospital for fear of a heart attack. You can’t always have a flawless production. Some of the most classic movies were made under terrible circumstances.
Poor guy is seriously defeated. No prep time; no storyboards. Peter was basically flying blind throughout the trilogy. If WB gave him enough time, the trilogy would’ve parred with LOTR
I really admire the honesty from everyone. It's so refreshing instead of the gaslighting for years from lotr-fans trying to convince me that they Hobbit movies were great.
I love the timing of Andy saying that the second unit was quite shocked, and then having a shot of an orc with its mouth wide open.
I just re-watched the Hobbit trilogy after re-reading the book, and I have to admit I've largely reconsidered my prior negative assessment of the films. I think they would have been better received had they been made first. As prequels, they were bound to be disappointing, especially after the insane amount of hype they received. I think everyone involved tried too hard to make these movies more than they needed to be, but they do have a certain charm of their own. Yes, they are unfocused, but the studio's decision to make a trilogy out of a 200 page book made that inevitable. Yes, the characters are less fully realized, but that is true of the book as well. The often cartoonish nature of some of the action scenes, I now can see as reflecting the story's origin as a children's novel which often makes light of the characters' peril. And the added material involving the Necromancer actually does a decent job of foreshadowing LOTR without quite beating you over the head with it, while also explaining Gandalf's extended absence from the quest. My biggest complaint now is that the action sequences are all too long, which was obviously done to pad out the running time to turn what was meant to be two movies into three. My other complaint is that the star-crossed elf/dwarf romance is completely unnecessary, and probably only there out of studio insistence on the inclusion of a love interest. But taken on their own terms (and if watched before, rather than after, watching LOTR), I would say the movies serve as a good (though not necessarily great) appetizer for the grand epic to come later, just as the book does. I can see where all the production problems hampered the final product, but I can now enjoy them for what they are. Even with their flaws, they are better than 90% of the comic book movies Hollywood churns out these days.
If would have been so cool if the LOTR team had 5 years of prep time and released The Hobbit Trilogy and the Lord of the Rings Trilogy in 6 years with 1 movie each year. That would have been so incredible to see and the transitions from movie to movie
How u doing these days Jack?
Totally disagree. They're overall pretty bad movies. They're bloated, over long, over stuffed and badly paced.
They seem bad because they *are* bad, not because they seem bad compared to their predecessors. If the Hobbit trilogy came first, I think they would have massively flopped and we would have never got LOTR!
I recently rewatched the making of the LOTR trilogy on dvd and seeing this compared to how the LOTR was made is madness. Full blame is at the studio for obviously changing directors and not given a proven Oscar winning director the time to deliver yet more success to the studio.
I JUST finally watched the Hobbit films (I watched the extended editions), and I ADORE them. It’s wild to see this after being so obsessed with these films. To me, they are perfection.
A good film is never late.
It arrives precisely when it means to.
Should have been two films. Absolutely blew it.
That was actually Del Toro's plan for his The Hobbit but since the studio is greedy for money, they want to make a trilogy instead
Wow this is crazy. He did amazing to produce the films he did with such little prep. Thank god he had the passion to take it on or there wouldn't be a hobbit film at all. The films i find are still really enjoyable and have alot of emotion in them.
Cannot believe that Warner Brothers did not give Peter Jackson the time to prep for these films. If they did, these movies would've been so good.
Pete got a perforated stomach ulcer, and ended up in Wellington Hospital the same week as I had a stroke on the same production, same hospital! It really took a massive toll on all of our lives!
I'm sorry to hear that...
Peter's physical transformation during these films is shocking
Pretty damn good job for just "Winging it" Pete.
God man , I still think you guys all did a wonderful job.
Grace under pressure.
I loved the Hobbit.
The Hobbit movies, well extended versions as no one watches the theatrical cuts, were amazing. They did a great job. Very good movies. What's amazing is that they winged it.
Honestly this just increases my appreciation for those movies. They're perfectly solid fantasy films and to see that they were essentially thrown together (the punk follow up to the original trilogy's prog rock, if you will) really displays the filmmaking virtuosity of everyone involved.
I guarantee you that if Peter had the time like he had for LOTR, The Hobbit would have been on that level. But don’t blame him. Blame Warner Bros for lying to Del Torro, causing him to bail, forcing Peter into directing a trilogy from scratch, and working him down to a near break down. Fuck Warner Bros
I appreciate the honesty here, from everyone (including the studio, who could have pulled this or not shown it).
... and yet, the Hobbit movies are excellent! It's incredible knowing that he pulled something like that the way he did. Peter Jackson is super talented director!
The Hobbit movies has a lot of heart, even with their flaws. Incredible work given the circumstances.
Peter saved The Hobbit from being a complete disaster.
What di mean it was a disaster but wasnt his fault
Another thing that doesnt get mentioned in the Video is, that Guillermo del Toro was hired to direct The Hobbit in 2008 and also worked as a screenwriter on it, but left in 2010.
His visual approach would have been something previously unseen in the World of Middle-Earth. more resembling a fairy tale than what came before. In doing so, the story kept constantly evolving - and grew to being a two-part endeavor - which kept pushing back the tentative production schedule. An Peter Jackson also had to redesign quite a lot. + Because of Short time at making more practial effects, costumes, and settings they had to use much more CGI than they wanted to.
I wish Peter Jackson would have done the Hobbit alone from the Beginning, with enough production time.
This is extremely appalling that Peter had to go through with this nightmare. Couldn't he just let the studio know that he needs time to finish these movies?
After spending years of preproduction with Del Toro, they didnt really give him any time to restart
Amazing how they were able to churn out those pre-production video blogs
Hobbit, Justice League, Cyberpunk 2077, Rise of Skywalker (and ST as whole)... So many potential masterpieces ruined by the studio's desicion to speed up the process...
This is like when Stanley Kubrick directed Spartacus, but in reverse.
It hurts my soul to see how much pressure was on these people.
Art should never be rushed
This was Warner Bros's fault; not Peter Jackson's.
The Hobbit movies are amazing and really special to me.
Really touching seeing all of us side with the creative. Peter Jackson really is a madman of a genius for being short-prepped and still pumping these out and still adding gems of scenes and ideas in them to keep em fresh. Best sequences of all time were the "Riddles in the Dark", the log boat ride, and the scene w Smaug!!
Peter Jackson, along with Philippa Boyens and all the screenwriters have amazing talent. I really love the Hobbit movies and think they're beautiful. I would have had no idea they went through all this hardship behind the scenes.
Peter Jackson is one of the most extraordinary filmmakers, this is present in the hobbit films. I think this is a really great two part movie that got stretched into three bloated messes. I really don’t understand the mentality of studios. If you rush the movie, it’s probably going to suck and then you piss people off. Why bother? You would think someone as good as Peter Jackson should be able to take the time he needs to get the film right.
This is how I feel when I put off an important essay until a few days before the deadline. Yet somehow, despite not quite capturing what I had envisioned in my mind, I still managed to pull off something quite special.
Absolutely incredible the Peter and the rest of the cast and crew could still make films as good as they did given the circumstances.
Jackson is a genius for pulling it off.
+ 3 billions at box office. Wow!
Only maybe Spielberg, Scott or Cameron could do the same.
Speaking of Cameron, James Cameron after seeing this video, i appriciate the fact that he delayed the Avatar sequels for more prep time and more time in developing the visuals.
The fact they even finished these movies is a miracle. Supreme kudos to Jackson
I remember reading Ian Mckellin was depressed and suicidal because he spent 99% of his time on the film on a green screen just by himself pretending to talk to the other actors for scenes
I don't care about Hobbit,I thanks Peter Jackson for masterpiece trylogy of all time
Peter Jackson you are a Titan, such awesomeness exist in this world❤️