Battle of the compression codec
Yes, it’s too long. No, it did not need to be three movies. But, The Hobbit is no less fun. Bilbo may be almost a side character in this final chapter yet this allows for a wide range of action, battles, and fantasy wartime craziness. In terms of (bloated) escapism, few do it better than Peter Jackson and this plucky finale proves it yet again.
Read our theatrical review of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies for more.
[xrr rating=4/5 label=Movie]
This is an unquestionably digital production. The signs are everywhere, not only for the masses of special effects, but the post-production tinkering as well. Five Armies is heavy on bloom. If it’s bright, it blooms; that’s the rule. At least it’s consistent and the effect adds a perceived layer of further fantasy over each shot. Color grading favors a now tired orange and blue palette, more so in the first half. Locations vary things as the story moves forward.
And still, that’s not it. Five Armies appears artificial and glossy. That’s the digital stamp. Signs of sharpening are evident. Faces are smeared, some with intent (Blanchett), others not. Epic pans across landscapes are soured, holding to the needed definition but doing so rigidly. It’s never natural.
Is Warner’s encode an issue? Maybe, or likely. This would not be the first questionable Hobbit on Blu-ray, and bitrates are often dipping lower than they arguably should be – again. There is a slew of space left unused. Muddy fine detail is an irritant, far too common to be excusable. Facial clarity is noted but unclean. The second go-round for this compressed look is equally as irritating as the first. The same complaints apply. Purity. That is what’s missing.
Other intangibles are fine. Black levels are precise and shadow details are great. Imagery is noise free. When it comes together, the spectacle is intact and resolution is firm. Yet, the satisfaction is still missing considering where the fault lies. [xrr rating=3/5 label=Video]
Open with a dragon spitting fire onto a town in ripe 7.1 and chances are the movie in question will do okay sonically. No surprises here. Smaug unleashes his fury with vibrant LFE and his flame breath does well as it pans across the soundstage. His voice – or Benedict Cumberbatch’s rather – rattles the sub. He feels enormous in scale.
This energy dips a bit afterward. There is a story to tell, after all. Space is sold via echoing voices inside of the mountain. Thorin’s conscious makes an especially vivid spinning trek through the channels late. Marching armies take up positions with footsteps hammering the sub in unison. They pass through each channel with grace.
Then it’s war for over an hour.
Swords clash, people/elves/dwarves/orcs scream. Chaos ensues. Nothing is restricted. Trolls bash through walls and dwarves break ribs with thundering hammers. Better still, the tracking of the action is stupendous. Pick any moment, although an orc spinning a heavy chain while isolated on a block of ice is more than enough to sell this track’s ability to entertain. Stereos and surrounds work in tandem without fault. [xrr rating=5/5 label=Video]
The first disc houses New Zealand: Home of Middle Earth, the third in a series of these featurettes which began, of course, with the first Hobbit.
Disc two is pretty much a waste of an entire disc. Given the space left on the first, much of this could have fit there. But hey, marketing, right? Recruiting the Five Armies is a fun look at being an extra in one of these movies, running 11:39. Completing Middle Earth splits into two parts for 20 total minutes, pointing out all of the connecting story threads and how they’re fed into the different Peter Jackson sagas. The Last Goodbye details the songwriting process and the resulting music video which serves as the send-off (15:39 in all). That’s it, outside of some trailers. A little over 45-minutes when added up, even less than Smaug. This has “wait for a special edition” written on the cover, it’s just hidden. Really (not really, but it should). [xrr rating=2/5 label=Extras]
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Click on the images below for full resolution screen captures taken directly from the Blu-ray. Images have not been altered in any way during the process.
- In close @ 1:46
- His kingdom @ 5:55
- Bilbo detailed @ 5:56
- That’s… all kinds of awesome @ 8:45
- Best close-up on the disc @ 10:08
- To the cave @ 19:01
- He should totally Scrooge McDuck that gold @ 21:29
- The MacGuffin stone @ 23:13
- He does not look like a nice man @ 24:50
- They probably have a pill for that @ 27:24
- Blanchett smooth @ 28:45
- Muddy, poorly defined @ 38:46
- The beard army @ 46:57
- Nice close-up, touch rigid @ 52:08
- Peter Jackson bloom is the new lens flare @ 1:08:33
- Into the town @ 1:14:09
- A look of horror @ 1:33:12
- Well, you’d probably have your arm if you weren’t a jerk @ 1:39:02
- And you’d still have your jaw. Jerk. @ 1:49:23
- Peace @ 2:01:02
- If you can get past the green, it’s muddy @ 2:06:56
- Old Bilbo @ 2:11:01
the first two are 100 times better than this shit,both as movies and as a blu-ray.the post production and the vfx crew got lazy with this one…and Jackson lost his it.i hope he gets better
Given that I’m a fairly minimal LOTR fan, I enjoyed everyone of these for what they were – completely zany, wild, and a bit more laid back.
That said, the transfer work is inexcusable. I’ve been told the 3D version may have a different and better one, but I’ll have to wait until the actual release to know.
i hope so
I couldn’t disagree with you more regarding sharpening and smearing, as well as your comments on details in general and facial details. I found this outing to better than its two predecessors, with amazing sharpness, clarity, black levels and details. The first two installments had intruding soft shots and faltering black levels, but this one was nearly flawless.
I forgot to mention that my comments pertain to the 2D version.
I should be giving the 3D version a spin soon. I don’t know if it will improve or not, but the 2D Hobbit reminds me of Half Blood Prince – another Warner encode – but to a lesser extent. No doubt Hobbit has some incredible close-ups. But medium shots and those massive pans Jackson is fan of did nothing for me.
I saw this one in theaters as well I noticed no such issues at the time. I can only assume it’s the encode which would be par for the studio – on occasion anyway.