The Hobbit: The Art of War: The Battle of the Five Armies: Chronicles

Weta is an amazing company that does most of the design work on the "Hobbit" films. They do everything from practical effects (prosthetics and miniatures) to digital effects (CGI simulations and character animation). It's important to note that the people that work on these films are not only master technicians, but they are very creative artists as well. "The Art of War" is the final book in the Chronicles of the Hobbit trilogy. It contains art and designs from the final Hobbit film, "The Battle of the Five Armies". In particular, the focus is on the big battle that is the centerpiece of the movie - the characters and creatures involved; their weapons and armor; as well as discussions about fighting styles and battle formations. But it's not all about the battle: also included are several pages on Smaug's attack on Lake Town; as well as Bilbo's return to the Shire. As has been the case with all of these books, "The Art of War" is sure to cover every key item within the film - the Arkenstone, the black arrow, the white gems of Lasgalin, etc. Plus there are close-up pictures of the costumes of every major character in the film; as well as details on the armor of each army (the dwarves, the elves, the orcs). At the end of the book, there is a nice bonus: a fold-out battle map of the Siege of Erebor. Overall, this Hobbit Chronicles series is one of the greatest collections of books on my shelf. I'm happy to have them, and for those who love Middle Earth they are a must-own. Congrats to author Daniel Falconer and Harper Design for publishing such a fantastic collection.

The sixth and final Hobbit: Chronicles book also happens to be the most dense. The Art of War, just as it sounds delves into all the battles and major fights that occur in the film and as you can tell from the title, "The Battle of Five Armies" contains quite a few of them. As in the other books in the series the detail included here is quite impressive. It covers things like how they made the weapons and armor, the sets, the characters, all the digital techniques used and much more. You also get tons of commentary from the actors and artists. In the end, did The Hobbit films really need 6 books worth of behind the scenes and making of material? Probably not, but I'm glad it got them.

I thoroughly enjoyed this entry into Daniel Falconer's 6-volume documentary of the making of the Hobbit films. Of course, I am a serious fan of Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit" movies, and always eager to see more of the settings, props, and costumes as well as learning how they made all the magic happen. Even though I've read several books and watched all the documentaries and interviews I can find, I still learned new things on nearly every page of "The Art of War." (Clever title, that. Look up Sun-Tzu.) I do wish many (perhaps all) of the pictures were larger. If Weta were to publish a DVD with high-resolution stills of all the photos from Daniel Falconer's books, I'm be in the front of the line to buy it.

I love this book (I have all of them) but this one is close to my heart--though I love the one on Smaug, too. WETA designs are awesome and so much goes into them it's beyond amazing. This is awesome for film collectors and (like me) collectors of film SPX/FX (huge Cinefex fan). I like how they involved the cast, as well.

I fell in love with The Hobbit movies and especially the character Thranduil so when I saw this book I decided to buy it and read about the behind the scenes on the last movie. This is an impressive book. Lovely photos of the costumes, armory, and behind the scenes. What I really like are the actors talking about their characters and how they collaborated at times with the costume department and Weta workshop who did the armory and other special props. There is also input from Art Department, Costume Department and Weta Workshop as they explain how they made decisions on the costumes and props. Beautiful embossed cover that makes this a great coffee table book and conversation piece. In the back of the book is a fold out map of the Siege of Erebor . Some art drawings are in the book too. I was so impressed I've started buying all the books in this series.

We collected all the books in the series and without a doubt they enhanced the classic book as well as the movies. Our grandkids use the books when we watch the movies to dive deeper into the fantasy and to help them understand some aspects. The books will be passed down the family line child to child for generations to come.

PJ overdid it with the CGI and goofiness in the movie, but this book is awesome.

The only sad thing about this book is there won't be a sequel. Weta does such fine work, whether it is on the screen or on the page. I just hope that the continue to create such excellent work.

Get them all if you are a Hobbit fan!

If you're Tolkien fan, then you'll love this book. And if you're an artist, it's a great book for a reference for sketches. I wish they also had this style for the LOR series, too bad.

Weta is an amazing company that does most of the design work on the "Hobbit" films. They do everything from practical effects (prosthetics and miniatures) to digital effects (CGI simulations and character animation). It's important to note that the people that work on these films are not only master technicians, but they are very creative artists as well. "The Art of War" is the final book in the Chronicles of the Hobbit trilogy. It contains art and designs from the final Hobbit film, "The Battle of the Five Armies". In particular, the focus is on the big battle that is the centerpiece of the movie - the characters and creatures involved; their weapons and armor; as well as discussions about fighting styles and battle formations. But it's not all about the battle: also included are several pages on Smaug's attack on Lake Town; as well as Bilbo's return to the Shire. As has been the case with all of these books, "The Art of War" is sure to cover every key item within the film - the Arkenstone, the black arrow, the white gems of Lasgalin, etc. Plus there are close-up pictures of the costumes of every major character in the film; as well as details on the armor of each army (the dwarves, the elves, the orcs). At the end of the book, there is a nice bonus: a fold-out battle map of the Siege of Erebor. Overall, this Hobbit Chronicles series is one of the greatest collections of books on my shelf. I'm happy to have them, and for those who love Middle Earth they are a must-own. Congrats to author Daniel Falconer and Harper Design for publishing such a fantastic collection.

The sixth and final Hobbit: Chronicles book also happens to be the most dense. The Art of War, just as it sounds delves into all the battles and major fights that occur in the film and as you can tell from the title, "The Battle of Five Armies" contains quite a few of them. As in the other books in the series the detail included here is quite impressive. It covers things like how they made the weapons and armor, the sets, the characters, all the digital techniques used and much more. You also get tons of commentary from the actors and artists. In the end, did The Hobbit films really need 6 books worth of behind the scenes and making of material? Probably not, but I'm glad it got them.

I thoroughly enjoyed this entry into Daniel Falconer's 6-volume documentary of the making of the Hobbit films. Of course, I am a serious fan of Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit" movies, and always eager to see more of the settings, props, and costumes as well as learning how they made all the magic happen. Even though I've read several books and watched all the documentaries and interviews I can find, I still learned new things on nearly every page of "The Art of War." (Clever title, that. Look up Sun-Tzu.) I do wish many (perhaps all) of the pictures were larger. If Weta were to publish a DVD with high-resolution stills of all the photos from Daniel Falconer's books, I'm be in the front of the line to buy it.

I love this book (I have all of them) but this one is close to my heart--though I love the one on Smaug, too. WETA designs are awesome and so much goes into them it's beyond amazing. This is awesome for film collectors and (like me) collectors of film SPX/FX (huge Cinefex fan). I like how they involved the cast, as well.

I fell in love with The Hobbit movies and especially the character Thranduil so when I saw this book I decided to buy it and read about the behind the scenes on the last movie. This is an impressive book. Lovely photos of the costumes, armory, and behind the scenes. What I really like are the actors talking about their characters and how they collaborated at times with the costume department and Weta workshop who did the armory and other special props. There is also input from Art Department, Costume Department and Weta Workshop as they explain how they made decisions on the costumes and props. Beautiful embossed cover that makes this a great coffee table book and conversation piece. In the back of the book is a fold out map of the Siege of Erebor . Some art drawings are in the book too. I was so impressed I've started buying all the books in this series.

We collected all the books in the series and without a doubt they enhanced the classic book as well as the movies. Our grandkids use the books when we watch the movies to dive deeper into the fantasy and to help them understand some aspects. The books will be passed down the family line child to child for generations to come.

PJ overdid it with the CGI and goofiness in the movie, but this book is awesome.

The only sad thing about this book is there won't be a sequel. Weta does such fine work, whether it is on the screen or on the page. I just hope that the continue to create such excellent work.

Get them all if you are a Hobbit fan!

If you're Tolkien fan, then you'll love this book. And if you're an artist, it's a great book for a reference for sketches. I wish they also had this style for the LOR series, too bad.

This book is really cool. Not as good as the one from Lord of the Rings, but still a great book.

Excellent product

Good condition

Brilliant master piece for personal collection though some information and photos are missing.

Been collecting each of these Chronicles as they've become available, and, to be honest, I wasn't certain what my reaction would be to this one while awaiting it's publication. It's probably one of my favorites in the collection of books that Weta has lovingly put together. The third HOBBIT film has a lot going on, and the 250 or so pages here are just chock full of details. It reminded me a bit of the WEAPONS AND WARFARE volume for the LORD OF THE RINGS films with the emphasis on armor and weapons, but, it's very well balanced in other respects. Costumes, creatures, commentary from those involved in the production, lots of photographs and art. I was surprised by the visual details - wouldn't have minded a book twice as tall, even, just to properly take in the workmanship on the costume construction - perhaps one day Weta can tackle a costume book specifically ala STAR WARS: DRESSING THE GALAXY. Overall, paging through this volume is just chewy as heck. As someone who very much enjoys getting a look behind-the-scenes of movie-making, I'd like to commend the designers of this book for shoehorning so much material between the cover. It's a comprehensive effort and carefully laid out.

Beautiful book.

real nice

I love this art book. every penny was worth it.

Love this

Great art work in this book!

gorgeous artwork and layout

Awesome book, it was everything that I had hoped for!

Loved it

What a wonderfully crafted book with amazing details.

I really enjoy it. If you like the Hobbit movies, I'm sure you will love it too.

I'm not writing a review. If i wanted to write reviews, I would be a writer, not one who reads.

Completes my set. Just as beautiful as the previous books. It's fun to look through and learn all that went through to make these wonderful films.

Its a nice book and very well done but not really what i wanted. It is more of a making of the film book, lots of crew and cast quotes and content. I wanted historical middle earth information not so much making of the film stuff, in the end making the film is a job not really about what the film is portraying or what it is based on. I love all the tolkien films so this isnt a critical complaint review about how it differs. WE ARE LUCKY TO HAVE SUCH GOOD FILMS. I wished that there were more statistics, weapons and armor, military orders of battle which it is only moderately addressing. Still its very good, lots of pics, and a high quality printing. Happy but not completely satisfied. I dont thonk most of the tolkien fans will care too much about what cast and crew think so get ready for too much of that if your a diehard, but you will be completely snagged by the pics. Smaug should have stayed with 2 wings and 4 legs. Azog shouldnt have been white and his dialog was often irrelevant or just plain obvious ... Telling orcs to slay everyone is kind of a stupid redundent order after all. But not a bad book for its pics.

I have to say for my first coffee table book this one is beautiful. The illustrations are amazing and the story behind everything is just so awesome to read. You find out about the Elven rings of power, the different costumes used, the different weapons. The actors and the people behind the scenes weight in on everything. A lot of the actors put so much into their characters and it was just so beautiful to read about.

Bought for my grandson for Christmas.... He loves it. He is 14!

Mais um ótimo título da Weta dentro da série "Chronicles". Aqui há várias artes, diagramas, fotos, comentários dos envolvidos na produção e detalhes sobre as batalhas do terceiro filme da trilogia. Pra completar, vem com um mapa do cerco de Erebor! É um complemento ideal para aqueles apaixonados pelo trabalho de Peter Jackson e da Weta!

OK.

O livro que falta na sua coleção de Tolkien sobre o Hobbit. Excelente material, tudo que eu queria saber está ali. Prólogo de Lee Pace e Epílogo de Richard Armitage. Excelente. Altamente recomendado para todos os fãs.

Parfait, merci. Bon vendeur, envoi rapide et soigné. Livre comme sur la photo et sans problème.

I love it. It is full of amazing arts, details, pictures... For a costume fanatic this book is a delight. The only little thing that bothers me is the lack of Nazguls and Sauron arts. When we know how much the dark world's arts are amazing. I wish their was the same books for the Lord Of The Rings !