I have read the book, and there was pretty long fight with giant spiders. I have a huge phobia of spiders, and I'd like to know how much of the movie involves spiders, and if I could watch it.
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3Related: movies.stackexchange.com/q/11239/49 (too bad it isn't really a duplicate since that one is about the previous movie, so we'll probably have to endure a third arachnophobia question next year) ;-)(– Napoleon Wilson ♦Dec 12, 2013 at 19:46
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1I want an answer from someone who has watched the movie and can tell for sure how much of it is spider-ish.. @coleopterist– MickeyDec 12, 2013 at 19:50
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See also Does “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” have spiders in it? and Do the spiders return in The Hobbit - Battle of the Five Armies?– WrathchildJan 22, 2015 at 2:10
2 Answers
Yes - there are giant spiders in the film for a decent length of time.
For a more detailed account (which contains some spoilers) see this IO9 article which sums up the first 20 minutes of the film.
Despite your phobia, it would appear that these beasties are fantastic enough for you to brave them. After all, they don't really have any bearing on everyday spiders here in the real world.
Good luck.
EDIT:
I saw the film last night, and although I didn't have a stopwatch going at the time, I didn't feel that the spider sequence went on for much more than 12 minutes tops. It is actually pretty surreal and really well done, and adds a lot to Bilbo's character - however, the spiders themselves are brilliantly rendered and creepy, so if you really do have a strong phobia about them I would suggest just skipping the film.
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4A good way to gauge the duration and importance of any scene in the Hobbit films is to see how big their Lego set is. I just made that up - but I think I might be onto something.– NobbyDec 12, 2013 at 20:11
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3Oh, the irony of this question being answered by someone with such a horrifically spider-like avatar :) Jan 5, 2014 at 13:44
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2Having seen the film recently, I cannot imagine anyone with a spider phobia being able to cope with the "Giant Spider" scene. They may be "surreal" (to some) but they were believable and creepy enough to raise my heart rate/blood pressure/neck hairs... Jan 6, 2014 at 22:43
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1Yeah, I agree. While I wouldn't go as far as calling myself arachnophobic, that spider scene was really a bit disturbing (while quite well-done) and I clearly wouldn't recommend this scene to any one with a serious arachnophobia.– Napoleon Wilson ♦Jan 7, 2014 at 23:25
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2It might be possible to watch the film with a friend, and just not watch the forest scene, or look away when it becomes uncomfortable and have your friend tell you when to look. (Make sure it's a friend who won't think it's funny to tell you to look in the middle of the scene! :) )– JohnPJan 8, 2014 at 22:32
I saw the film on the 15th of December, and I have arachnophobia as well. I thought the spider scene was really no problem for me.
At some scenes I laughed at the spiders and how Bilbo becomes more brave and confident as the incident with the spiders progresses.
There is a moment were Bilbo drops the ring he goes to pick it up, but then a weird withered giant bug appears from the ground. At first I thought it was a beetle of some sort but as I remembered in the book I thought that it could have been the elder spider.