Middle Earth Is Ravaged By War In 'The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies' [Trailer + Pictures]
As promised by the release of Smaug from Eribor, war has descended upon Middle Earth and threatens to strip landscape of peace, serenity and beauty. The Hobbit: The Battle of The Five Armies finally has its first full trailer.
In this trailer, a despondent Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) speaks solemnly of what he’ll remember of his incredible journey to Eribor and the consequences of his actions. "One day I'll remember. Remember everything that happened here - the good, the bad, those who survived and those that did not.”
More: 'The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies' Gets a Facebook Photo Tease
In fact, despite the overtones of war – Thorin (Richard Armitage) unoquivically chooses conflict over peace when the question is posed to him – we primarly see separate armies gearing for battle; the eerie silence before bloodshed, the proverbial calm before the proverbial storm. It's all rather haunting.
“I think Pete has done for the dwarves what he did for the elves in The Lord Of The Rings, he’s very much focused on them,” explained Armitage in a recent interview with Empire, detailing the role his character and his character’s kind play in the Hobbit Trilogy.
Watch the trailer for 'The Hobbit: The Battle of The Five Armies'
Your browser doesn't support HTML5 video.
“The Hobbit looks very much at the world through the eyes of the dwarves, with, I suppose, a little more energy and a little more comedy. The dwarves live a bit more, I don’t know, working-class — especially our dwarves,” he continued.
Peter Jackson has also described the last film in the trilogy as being darker than the previous two films. And that trajectory is present in both ‘An Unexpected Journey’ and “The Desolation of Smaug’. It feels natural for the last film to delve into darker terratories, especially considering what comes next in the lore of Tolkien’
More: 'The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies': What We Know, So Far
Also starring Benedict Cumberbatch as Smaugh, Evangeline Lilly, Cate Blanchett, Orlando Bloom, Andy Serkis and arguably the most iconic of all Tolkien characters, Sir Ian McKellen as Gandalf, ‘The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies' opens in cinemas on 12 December. And don’t forget to check out our gallery of stills for the film below!
And now, the film's new poster...