The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Directed by Peter Jackson
Written by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson
Starring Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Evangeline Lilly, Lee Pace, Luke Evans, Benedict Cumberbatch, Cate Blanchett, Ian Holm, Christopher Lee, Hugo Weaving, Orlando Bloom
Warner Brothers
Release Date: December 17, 2014

In what I like to call a “see it while you still can” style of reviewing movies before they leave theaters, I finally got around to catching Peter Jackson‘s final film in the The Hobbit trilogy: The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies.

And honestly, I can say that if you loved the Lord of the Rings movies of Jackson’s, then you might indeed wanna catch this before it leaves theaters. And you need not worry if you skipped the second movie in the trilogy, The Desolation of Smaug, or even the first movie, An Unexpected Journey, at this point. But I would never recommend a fan of the original book to ever see this particular film. The first two…sure…but this one, not so much. It’s complicated. Let me explain.

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Director: Peter Jackson
Writers: Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson
Cast: Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Evangeline Lilly, Lee Pace, Luke Evans, Benedict Cumberbatch, Cate Blanchett, Ian Holm, Christopher Lee, Hugo Weaving, Orlando Bloom
Warner Bros. Pictures
Rated PG-13 | 144 Minutes
Release Date: December 17, 2014

“In all the mountains there was a forging and an arming. Then they marched and gathered by hill and valley, going ever by tunnel or under dark, until around and beneath the great mountain Gundabad of the North, where was their capital, a vast host was assembled ready to sweep down in time of storm unawares upon the South.” – J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit

Co-written and directed by Peter Jackson, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies is the third and final chapter in a trilogy of films based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s 1937 fantasy novel, The Hobbit.

At the conclusion of 2013’s The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman), Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage), and the Dwarves reclaimed the Lonely Mountain, but failed to kill the dragon Smaug (Benedict Cumberbatch). Unable to reclaim his precious treasure, the dragon fled the mountain and set his sights on laying waste to Lake-town.

The Battle of the Five Armies picks up only moments after, with Bard the Bowman (Luke Evans) defending his home against the “Chiefest and Greatest of Calamities.” Meanwhile, Sauron sends forth legions of Orcs to the Lonely Mountain to attack Bilbo and the Dwarves. With Gandalf the Grey (Ian McKellen) at their side, the races of Men, Elves, and Dwarves must unite to save Middle Earth from the Dark Lord and his minions.

On last night’s episode of The Colbert Report, host Stephen Colbert got to interview the mighty dragon Smaug, star of Peter Jackson’s Hobbit film trilogy.

The CGI dragon burst into the studio to give a lengthy interview that was both terrifying and entertaining.

Check out the video of the segment here below.

Last month we found out that Billy Boyd, who starred as Pippin in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy and sang a memorable song in the third movie, The Return of the King, would be singing the end credits song for the final movie in Jackson’s Hobbit trilogy, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies.

The song is titled “The Last Goodbye,” and not only can you listen to it right now but there’s an official video for it as well you can watch below. The video is all about giving fans the warm fuzzies, as footage of Boyd singing is mixed with clips from both trilogies and behind the scenes footage of the actors having a merry old time on the set.

Back in July we saw the first teaser trailer for The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, the final film in the Hobbit trilogy and director Peter Jackson‘s lengthy stay in Middle-earth.

Now Warner Brothers Pictures has released the main trailer for the movie, which runs about two-and-a-half minutes. You can read a synopsis and watch the new trailer below.