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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? subscribe | newsletter | deals Home News Latest Stories Victorious Raiders parade trophy through downtown Ashland State police search for pursuit suspect near Hyatt Lake Police Reports Cheering on the champs Ashland's Safeway part of Haggen acquisition Education For a friend: AHS seniors team up to help former fellow student Ashland builds a bridge across the STEM gap Chicken pox hits Ashland Middle School AHS speech and debate team to compete in Medford Ashland: Lions Club steps up for vision tests Environment New TAP pumps bolster Ashland's options Most residents speak against gas pipeline proposed for Southern Oregon Home Help: Make your new house feel like home ‘Tis the season — for wild mushrooms Business Ashland's Safeway part of Haggen acquisition The Playwright pub will be serving again Saturday Mt. 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State police search for pursuit suspect near Hyatt Lake ... Raiders bring it home ... Victorious Raiders parade trophy through downtown Ashland ... State police search for pursuit suspect near Hyatt Lake ... Raiders bring it home ... Movie review: Exiting Middle-earth with a triumphant flourish Comment By Ed Symkus More Content Now DailyTidings.com By Ed Symkus More Content Now Posted Dec. 17, 2014 @ 12:01 am By Ed Symkus More Content Now Posted Dec. 17, 2014 @ 12:01 am » Social News The series is done. And it was done just about perfectly. Peter Jackson’s adaptations of J.R.R. Tolkein’s “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit” have come full circle and are now neatly joined together into one epic six-part story. As fans of the books and the films know, Jackson made them out of order, along the lines of the “Star Wars” saga, starting with the central triad of films, then working back to the origin. And I’ve gotta say, without a hint of a spoiler, Jackson and company have put a flawless ending on this third Hobbit film, one that seamlessly blends into the beginning of the Rings trilogy. I’d even suggest hitting YouTube to watch the opening scene of “The Fellowship of the Ring” before settling down to “Five Armies,” just to see how cool the transition is. A year ago, “The Desolation of Smaug” ended with the angry, vengeful, gold-loving titular dragon being awakened from a long sleep in Lonely Mountain, then setting out to wreak havoc on nearby Lake-town. “The Battle of the Five Armies” opens with Smaug (voice of Benedict Cumberbatch) flying in, gushing fire, carrying out that wreaking. It’s a spectacular beginning to a film that delivers both eye-popping visuals and dramatic satisfaction all the way through. Now, no moviegoer in their right mind will be buying a ticket for this film without seeing all of the previous ones. But for those rare few who do, a primer: Bilbo (Martin Freeman) is our Hobbit hero; Gandalf (Ian McKellen) is a virtuous but tough wizard; Thorin (Richard Armitage) is a Dwarf king; Thranduil (Lee Pace) is the Elvenking; Legolas (Orlando Bloom) is Thranduil’s son; Bard (Luke Evans) is a human archer; Tauriel (Evangeline Lilly) is an Elf warrior; Saruman (Christopher Lee) is another, probably more powerful wizard (and, man, this guy knows how to swing a sword!). With the truly frightening Smaug being dispatched only a few minutes into “Five Armies,” the film quickly gets around to all of the problems between the disparate factions of Middle-earth. The Dwarves don’t like the Elves, the Elves don’t give a damn about the Dwarves, the humans are kind of caught in the middle of everyone else’s crises, the Hobbit – yes, there’s only one Hobbit here – is a hairy footed fish out of water, and the Orcs, who are the most hideous of the villains, just want to stomp on or decapitate everybody else. The story moves its focus around from heroism to cowardice, from love to hate, from greed to mistrust to madness. But check out the title. It was originally going to be “The Hobbit: There and Back Again” (the actual subtitle of Tolkien’s book), but it was changed, partly due to what this last third of the film trilogy was leading up to: war, massive war, lengthily fought out on an immense battlefield with participants including members of every faction already mentioned, along with big bats, big birds, and something that looked like a big bear. For extra measure, those sequences are complemented by magnificently choreographed, gravity-defying scenes of one-on-one fights. Jackson has delivered a top-notch conclusion to a great trilogy that stays loyal to the book, while filling in some of that source material’s holes by including pieces of Tolkien’s own appendices to it. It’s a film that astounds in areas of both interior and exterior production design, and while it’s very violent, it comes to a surprisingly warm and comfy conclusion. Be warned, though, on the way there, the story kills off more major characters than on a typical season of “Downton Abbey.” Ed Symkus covers movies for More Content Now. THE HOBBIT: THE BATTLE OF THE FIVE ARMIES Written by Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Guillermo de Toro; directed by Peter Jackson With Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, Luke Evans, Evangeline Lilly, Lee Pace, Orlando Bloom, Christopher Lee Rated PG-13 By Ed Symkus More Content Now DailyTidings.com By Ed Symkus More Content Now Posted Dec. 17, 2014 @ 12:01 am » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. calendar Connect with DailyTidings.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Alerts Email alerts RSS feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. 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