Genre: Fantasy | Adventure

Director: Peter Jackson

Writers: Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson, and Guillermo del Toro, based on the novel by J.R.R. Tolkien

MPAA Rating: PG-13

Run Time: 169 minutes

Synopsis:

The adventure follows the journey of title character Bilbo Baggins, who is swept into an epic quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor from the fearsome Dragon Smaug. Approached out of the blue by the Wizard Gandalf the Grey, Bilbo finds himself joining a company of 13 Dwarves led by the legendary warrior, Thorin Oakenshield. Their journey will take them into the Wild, through treacherous lands swarming with Goblins, Orcs and deadly Wargs, as well as a mysterious and sinister figure known only as the Necromancer.

Although their goal lies to the East and the wastelands of the Lonely Mountain, first they must escape the Goblin tunnels, where Bilbo meets the creature that will change his life forever…Gollum. Here, alone with Gollum, on the shores of an underground lake, the unassuming Bilbo Baggins not only discovers depths of ingenuity and courage that surprise even him, he also gains possession of Gollum’s “precious” ring that holds unexpected and useful qualities…A simple, gold ring that is tied to the fate of all Middle-earth in ways Bilbo cannot begin to know.

Ian McKellen returns as Gandalf the Grey, the character he played in “The Lord of the Rings” Trilogy, with Martin Freeman in the central role of Bilbo Baggins, and Richard Armitage as Thorin Oakenshield. Also reprising their roles from “The Lord of the Rings” in “The Hobbit” Trilogy are: Cate Blanchett as Galadriel; Ian Holm as Old Bilbo; Christopher Lee as Saruman; Hugo Weaving as Elrond; Elijah Wood as Frodo; and Andy Serkis as Gollum. The international ensemble cast also includes James Nesbitt, Ken Stott, Sylvester McCoy, Barry Humphries, Aidan Turner, Dean O’Gorman, Graham McTavish, Adam Brown, Peter Hambleton, John Callen, Mark Hadlow, Jed Brophy, William Kircher, Stephen Hunter, Lee Pace, Benedict Cumberbatch, Manu Bennett and Conan Stevens.

Trailer: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
[youtube]http://youtu.be/T8uTF8ZSQ64[/youtube]

This movie truly needs little more to recommend it, at this point. Realizing that maybe not everyone saw it twice in the opening weekend, or watched every video blog, or listened nonstop to the soundtrack, however, I’ll give a brief description. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is heartstoppingly gloriously richly densely beautiful. It is an experience. It takes your heart and mind and flies away with them for the duration of the movie. Exciting and grand and funny and warm and epic. If you loved the Lord of the Rings movies, this will easily stand beside them, not be relegated to the ridiculed realm of other second-series prequel trilogies *cough* Star Wars Episodes I-III *cough*.

The plot contains few real surprises, as long as you’re used to the whole world of Middle-earth, but that is never why I watch such movies. I watch them for the absolute escape. This one completely takes me away.

If you know the source material, do try to let it go and just enjoy this lovely enchanted journey and don’t pick apart what is included, excluded, and changed. The most striking visual adjustment has to do with three of the dwarves. Thorin and his nephews are ridiculously and inappropriately good looking, but in this medium it inevitably adds a layer of grandeur to the older dwarf, and a certain attraction to all three, that can’t help but aid in our subconscious support of them and their quest. In other words, they increase the delicious eye candy that is this movie.

Just as in the Lord of the Rings movies, however, the combination of the special effects and the natural landscape nearly steals the show. In fact, like Brave, this is a movie that I could easily imagine having on with no sound, just to catch glimpses of the stunning views as I go about my day. Sets, costumes, lighting, camera work, creatures… Oh wait, I forgot about the orcs, and especially the goblins. Don’t be eating dinner when you watch the goblin-heavy scenes. The goblin king in particular is extraordinarily nauseating to watch.

That’s also, on the other hand, when we meet Gollum, who was an exceptional creation in the Lord of the Rings movies, and is now even better in this first Hobbit movie. The special effects combined with Andy Serkis‘s motion-capture acting have reached a new pinnacle and I find the result, I find him, completely mesmerizing.

Not every effect is perfection, but when taken as a whole, the glow of the successes far outshines the minor problematic issues. It’s sort of a package deal; put up with the few small missteps to gain the overwhelmingly beautiful, wonderful presentation.

The natural landscape is breathtaking, and surprisingly, is more present in this movie than I had thought. But more about that in the discussion of the special features below.

I had said I would considering playing this Blu-ray with the sound off, just for the visuals, but of course I would never do such a thing because Howard Shore’s exceptional soundtrack cannot be missed, it is part and parcel of the experience of the movie. If you don’t yet own the soundtrack, check out the SciFiMafia.com December 2012 review, but you can probably guess the rating without peeking.

As for the actual Blu-ray presentation… It is the most beautiful Blu-ray movie I own. Easily. I saw the movie in the theater in IMAX HFR 3D, then in standard format, and now in Blu-ray, and each format change was clearly a step down in the experience. Yet even on my not-giant-screen no-special-sound-system setup at home, I was still transported by the movie. Crispy clear, vivid, with absolutely astounding detail, much of which I missed in my theater experiences. It is wonderful.

Now for the special features. It’s my only disappointment, but only because there isn’t anything new. If you saw all of Peter Jackson‘s video blogs here on SciFiMafia.com, you’ve seen most of the special features. The only other feature included is a featurette about the location shoot, and another about the game based on the movie.

But here’s the interesting thing about the video blogs and the location featurette. They are the first special features that I would recommend watching before seeing the movie, even if you’ve never seen the movie before. First of all, since they were made available before the movie even hit the theaters, they are not spoilery. But second of all, they will give you an appreciation of, in the case of the video blogs, all that went into the creation of the movie, and in the case of the location, the shocking fact that what was easily thought to be matte painting masterpieces in the background of these shots is actually New Zealand. Seriously, you must check out that featurette in particular.

The packaging is standard clamshell with slipcover, so we won’t feel so bad buying another copy of it in the inevitable special edition packaging of the trilogy that is sure to come once the third movie has finished its theatrical run.

Here are the details of the various formats available for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey:

Blu-ray and DVD Elements:

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Blu-ray Combo Pack, Blu-ray 3D Combo Pack and DVD Special Edition contain the following special features:
Full Suite of Peter Jackson’s Production Videos. Enter Middle-earth of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey as Academy Award-winning Director Peter Jackson takes you behind the scenes, on location and amidst the star-studded cast in a series of video journals that puts you in the forefront of latest in filmmaking with more than two hours of additional content. Highlights of the journals include:
Start of Production
Location Scouting
Filming in 3D
Post-production Overview
Wellington World Premiere

Digital Distribution Elements:

On March 12, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will be available for download from online retailers including iTunes, Xbox, PlayStation, Amazon, Vudu and CinemaNow.

On March 19, the film will also available digitally in High Definition (HD) VOD and Standard Definition (SD) VOD from cable and satellite providers, and on select gaming consoles.

UltraViolet

UltraViolet allows you to collect watch and share movies and TV shows in a whole new way. Available with the purchase of specially marked Blu-ray discs, DVDs and Digital Downloads, UltraViolet lets you create a digital collection of movies and TV shows. Services such as Flixster and VUDU allow you to instantly stream and download UltraViolet content across a wide range of devices including computers and compatible tablets, smartphones, game consoles, Internet-connected TVs and Blu-ray players. Restrictions and limitations apply. Go to Ultraviolet.Flixster.com for details. Learn about VUDU compatible devices at VUDU.com.

This Blu-ray is my instant favorite of my entire collection. I couldn’t be happier to have it in my home, and I expect to have it playing over and over again for some time to come. It is a magical, transporting, delightful treasure.

I give The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (Blu-ray/DVD + UltraViolet Digital Copy Combo Pack) Five Out of Five Stars.

 

 

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