The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies is a 2014 fantasy film directed by Peter Jackson from a screenplay by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Jackson, and Guillermo del Toro. It is based on the 1937 novel The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien. The sequel to 2013's The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, the film is the final instalment in The Hobbit trilogy, acting as a prequel to Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001–2003). The film's story concludes the adventure of the titular hobbit Bilbo Baggins and Thorin Oakenshield's company of dwarves, who take possession of the treasure within the Lonely Mountain as factions of dwarves, elves and men clash over it, while the orc Azog the Defiler and his forces make their move upon them.
The film stars Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, Evangeline Lilly, Luke Evans, Lee Pace, Benedict Cumberbatch, Ken Stott, Aidan Turner, Dean O'Gorman, Billy Connolly, Graham McTavish, James Nesbitt, Stephen Fry, and Ryan Gage. The ensemble cast also features Cate Blanchett, Ian Holm, Christopher Lee, Hugo Weaving, and Orlando Bloom.
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies premiered in London on 1 December 2014, and was released on 11 December in New Zealand and on 17 December in the United States, by Warner Bros. Pictures. The film received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $962.2 million worldwide, making it the second-highest-grossing film of 2014. It received numerous accolades, including being nominated for Best Sound Editing at the 87th Academy Awards.
Plot
Bilbo and the Dwarves watch from the Lonely Mountain as the dragon Smaug sets Laketown ablaze. Bard breaks out of prison and kills Smaug with the black arrow. Smaug's falling body crushes the Master of Laketown and his cronies, who were escaping on a boat with the town's gold. Bard becomes the new leader of Laketown and guides its people to seek refuge in the ruins of Dale. Thorin, now possessing the vast treasure in the mountain, searches obsessively for the Arkenstone, which Bilbo had previously found but kept hidden. Upon hearing that Laketown survivors have fled to Dale, he orders the entrance of the Lonely Mountain sealed off.
Meanwhile, Galadriel, Elrond, and Saruman arrive at Dol Guldur and free Gandalf, sending him to safety with Radagast. They battle and defeat the Nazgûl and then face a formless Sauron, whom Galadriel banishes to the East. Azog, marching on Erebor with his vast Orc army, sends his son Bolg to Mount Gundabad to summon their second army. Legolas and Tauriel witness the march of Bolg's army, bolstered by Orc berserkers and giant bats.
Thranduil and an Elf army arrive in Dale to reclaim treasure held by Dwarf king Thrór. To avoid war, Bard attempts to negotiate with Thorin, asking him to share the gold previously promised to Laketown, but Thorin refuses. That night, Gandalf arrives to warn Bard and Thranduil of Azog's army, but Thranduil dismisses him. Bilbo sneaks the Arkenstone out of Erebor and gives it to Thranduil and Bard to trade for treasures and prevent war.
The next morning, a combined army of Elves and Lake-town men approaches the Lonely Mountain, and Thranduil and Bard reveal that they have the Arkenstone. Thorin believes it to be a ruse, but Bilbo reveals the truth, at the same time reprimanding Thorin for his greed. Thorin nearly kills Bilbo but is stopped by Gandalf. Thorin's cousin, Dáin arrives with his Dwarf army, and a battle looms until Azog's forces arrive. As Dáin leads his forces to face the Orcs, Gandalf convinces Thranduil to join forces against Azog's army. Azog splits his army, sending some of his forces to attack Dale, so Bard and Lake-town army return to the city to defend it.
Inside Erebor, Thorin, realising his greed and selfishness, regains his sanity and leads his company to join the battle. He rides with Dwalin, Fíli, and Kíli to Ravenhill to kill Azog. Meanwhile, Tauriel and Legolas arrive to warn the Dwarves of Bolg's arrival, and Bilbo volunteers to relay the news to Thorin, using his magic ring to move through the combat unseen. Azog kills Fíli as Bilbo and the other Dwarves are forced to watch. Bolg overpowers Tauriel and kills Kíli, who has come to her aid. Legolas battles Bolg and eventually kills him. The Great Eagles arrive with Radagast and Beorn, and the Orcs are finally defeated. In the climax, Thorin engages Azog in a duel and kills him, but is fatally wounded. Bilbo reconciles with the dying Thorin, while Tauriel mourns Kíli. Thranduil advises Legolas to seek out a ranger in the north who goes by the name Strider.
Thorin's company settles back into Erebor with Dáin as their new king. Bilbo bids farewell to the company's remaining members and journeys home to the Shire with Gandalf. As the two part ways on the outskirts of the Shire, Gandalf admits his knowledge of Bilbo's magic ring and warns him of it, although Bilbo assures him that he had lost the ring. Bilbo returns to Bag End to find his belongings being auctioned off because he was presumed dead. He stops the sale and tidies up his home, revealing he still possesses the ring. Sixty years later, Bilbo happily receives a visit from Gandalf on his "111th" birthday.
Cast
Additionally, Peter Jackson's and Andy Serkis's daughters made cameo appearances as girls rowing away during Smaug's attack; movement coach Terry Notary and stand-in Jamie Haugh appear as Laketown refugees after the destruction; Conan Stevens, who was to play Bolg, appears as the Keeper of the Dungeons, an Orc captain holding Gandalf hostage; and the sons of key second assistant director Guy Campbell, casting director Miranda Rivers, and Weta Workshop founder Richard Taylor appear as Hobbit children during the auction scene.
Production Development
The Hobbit was originally planned as a two-part film, but Jackson confirmed plans for a third film on 30 July 2012, turning his adaptation of The Hobbit into a trilogy. According to Jackson, the third film would contain the Battle of the Five Armies and make extensive use of the appendices that Tolkien wrote to expand the story of Middle-earth (published in the back of The Return of the King). Jackson also stated that while the third film would largely make use of footage originally shot for the first and second films, it would require additional filming as well. The third film was titled There and Back Again in August 2012. In April 2014, Jackson changed the title of the film to The Battle of the Five Armies as he thought the new title better suited the situation of the film. He stated that, had he adapted The Hobbit as a two-part film, the original title may have felt right for the second part which would have included both Bilbo's arrival in Erebor and departure, but after the decision to adapt the novel as a three-part film, it felt misplaced as Bilbo had already arrived at Erebor in the second part. Shaun Gunner, the chairman of The Tolkien Society, supported the decision: "The Battle of the Five Armies much better captures the focus of the film but also more accurately channels the essence of the story."
Score
As with all the previous films, Howard Shore composed the score. Conrad Pope (who conducted the orchestra) and James Sizemore orchestrated the music for the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and for two Gamelan orchestra, while the London Voices and Tiffin boys’ choir were recorded in AIR Lyndhurst, London. The score featured a few new themes for Dain, Gundabad (featuring a "chorus" of didgeridoos) and the Dwarves' war preparations, but focused more on blending and clashing the themes against one another, eventually bringing the themes to a resolution.
Billy Boyd, who played Peregrin Took in The Lord of the Rings, wrote and recorded the song "The Last Goodbye" for the end credits of the film.
Distribution Marketing A teaser trailer for the film was released on 28 July 2014 attached to Guardians of the Galaxy, Into the Storm, and If I Stay. The second theatrical trailer was released on 6 November 2014 attached to Interstellar and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1. To promote the film's release, Wellington-based association football club, Wellington Phoenix, wore a special designed jersey to commemorate the opening of The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies. The custom, film-themed jersey was worn only once, on 13 December 2014. In the film's Japanese release on 13 December, Warner Bros. collaborated with mobile gaming company A-Lim to bring Bilbo, Gandalf, and Legolas into the game Brave Frontier at the end of December as Vortex Dungeon units. The campaign only ran until February 2015. Smaug made a guest appearance, animated by WETA and voiced again by Cumberbatch, on the satire show The Colbert Report on 12 December 2014 to promote the film..
Video games Two video games were developed to coincide with the theatrical release. A tie-in fighting video game The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies – Fight for Middle Earth was released simultaneously with the film for Android and iOS platforms to negative reviews from critics and users. An action-adventure video game Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 & Xbox One in October 2014 and for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on 21 November, nearly a week prior to the world premiere in London, on 1 December. The events of the game take place directly after Sauron fled to Mordor, escaping The White Council, which was shown at the beginning. The game was planned to act as an overlap between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings film series.
Theatrical release Initially the film was set for a 18 July 2014 release; however, it was later pushed back to 17 December. The world premiere of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies was held in London at Leicester Square on 1 December 2014. The film opened in cinemas on 11 December 2014 in New Zealand, on 12 December in the United Kingdom and on 17 December in the United States. Warner Bros released the film on 18 December in Greece and 26 December, in Australia. The film was released in China on 23 January 2015. An extended edition of the film had a one-night-only re-release on 13 October 2015, accompanied by a special greeting from Peter Jackson.
Home media The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies was released on 6 March 2015 on Digital Release from digital retailers. The DVD and Blu-ray were released on 24 March 2015 in the United States. It topped the home video sales chart in its opening week. The film earned a revenue of $70.3 million with 3.4 million copies sold, making it the ninth best-selling title of 2015. An Extended Edition of the film, with 20 minutes of additional footage and original music was released on Digital HD on 20 October and on DVD, Blu-ray, and Blu-ray 3D on 17 November 2015 in the United States and on 23 November 2015, in the United Kingdom.greendragon (17 November 2015). "‘The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies Extended Edition available TODAY." TheOneRing.net. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
The Battle of the Five Armies was released in Ultra HD Blu-ray on 30 November 2020 in the United Kingdom and on 1 December 2020 in the United States, along with the other films of the trilogy, including both the theatrical and the extended editions of the films.
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