El Hobbit: Un viaje inesperado

A very good start to the series. Very sensitive for the rest of the process, even though the movie was slow for the first half hour, it didn't affect my experience that much. The story is fun and interesting. Most of the film's protagonists were fun and watching Gandalf bring back memories of The Lord of the Rings. Filming and directing dazzles you and makes you wish to live in the world of cinema, especially in the Elf area. Although the film is not at the level of The Lord of the Rings, it is still excellent.

Let me start by saying that i have never watched any of the Lord of The Rings movies before.I was told to start with the hobbit. I was amazed at how cool this franchise must be as i loved every minute of it.I kinda feel ashamed for not giving this series a try earlier. 8/10 from me ,yeah that good.

I never came around to read the LotR books before watching the movies and I actually haven't done that until now (so maybe shame on me), but I did read 30-40 pages of the Hobbit. And it seems, like almost everyone of those pages turns out to be in the movie. It's a big scene and it feels like Peter Jackson put almost everything in it. He apparently also put other Tolkien related stuff in it.

Which he must have done, because how could you make 3 movies/parts out of one book? That is smaller in size than the original Rings trilogy that is. But what about the movie? It feels fun and it looks good (once you get used to the HD framing, which makes a few props look very plastic). Also the very HD 3D (or should I say the extra FPS) we got served made the movie feel like it was on fast forward. I think your eyes have to get used to that (in comparison to normal frames per Second that every other movie uses).

Apart from the technical point of view, this is a well made movie, but it never completely touched me. It is well played and it has the beginning of a great adventure, but it feels a bit over bloated. I will obviously watch the other parts too and I'm pretty sure they will up the ante

Edit: rewatching it a decade later, I realize I may have been a bit too harsh on the rating. I guess I do that with big budget movies. I can attest that I reckon I got used to the Higher Frame Rate the movie uses. Not that many movies have adapted that style (I reckon Avatar 2 will), but it is what it is. Technically you can fault the movie and the extended version was quite nice to see (so I guess it wasn't a literal rewatch - no pun intended).

Firstly, I have to make a statement- the LOTR movies, for me, have set an impossibly high bar both in this universe and within the movie world as a whole. Their cinematic beauty and value cannot be denied.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, however, is an entirely different movie. Sure, it's set in the world of Middle Earth, but that's really about all it holds in common with the aforementioned trilogy, alongside a few familiar faces. Many members of the audience I was in complained that the movie took a long time to get going, but it actually was paced rather well, with a suitably sized introduction with Ian Holm and Elijah Wood making way for the current storyline. The first thing you notice as a viewer is that this movie is notably funnier. Whilst the LOTR trilogy had it's lighter moments, The Hobbit revels in the lighter side of life, with lots of genuinely hilarious moments interspersing themselves with scenes of real peril.The visually stunning moments are still there, and whilst I saw this movie in 2D, some moments would have been absolutely perfect in 3D. At first, it's a little difficult to get into, especially when the light-hearted opening with the countless visiting dwarfs gets underway. However, if you can remind yourself as a viewer that The Hobbit was a book written for a much younger, impressionable audience, then you'll likely have a good time watching this. That said, it is far from childish, and although it is a lighter, more fun affair, there are still many parts within the story that an adult audience can relate to.

Martin Freeman has been a firm favourite of mine since his humble beginnings on British terrestrial television, and seeing him here on the big screen is both a welcome and bizarre experience. That said, his demeanour and technique are perfect for the role of Bilbo Baggins, as he exudes the homely, simple manner of a Hobbit very effectively. Ian McKellen is perfect as everyone's favourite wizard, and Richard Armitage (another former British television star playing his trade to the silver screen)is a brilliant Thorin (son of Thrain!), mixing a toughened heart with a tortured soul. If anything, Thorin may turn out to be the true hero of the piece. The rest of the dwarfs are also brilliant, and many of them are the highlights of the movie.

The special effects are once again spectacular, with the eye wateringly stunning rock giant battle a particularly memorable moment. The makeup effects are up to the job, too, and the attention to detail is ridiculous, right down to the individual scratches and weathered look of the weapons the characters wield. If you enjoyed the LOTR trilogy, then Peter Jackson will have you in awe again, although The Hobbit trilogy looks set to be a much more relaxed and 'fun' adventure. At the end of the day, the only complain to be made about the movie is that it simply isn't LOTR. Those movies set such a high level that even Peter Jackson himself can't seem to top them with this effort, but that's a minor complain for what is otherwise I very well made movie.

Cinematic, adventurous, enjoyable and epic- The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey knows its audience and caters to them very well indeed.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) is a movie I originally saw in theaters, is in my DVD collection and I recently rewatched with my daughter on HBOMAX. The storyline for this picture involves our old friend, Bilbo Baggins, as a youth when Gandalf the wizard shows up at his door about an adventure. Bilbo says no but that night 12 dwarfs show up at his door and tells him a story about a dragon that stole their homeland and gold. They would like to return home, regain their kingdom and need Bilbo's help to make that happen. Bilbo will try to say no, but we all know he can't.

This movie is directed by Peter Jackson (Bad Taste) and stars Martin Freeman (Black Panther), Ian McKellen (X-Men), Andy Serkis (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes), Richard Armitage (Into the Storm), Graham McTavish (Rambo) and James Nesbitt (Match Point).

The settings, cast, special effects, attire and props in this are absolutely out of this world. The introduction of the characters is hilarious and very well done. I adored how well the perception of the characters of each other is depicted and how that evolves over time. There's some war scenes in this that's awesome and every scene with the orcs riding the wolves is tremendous. The goblin king sequence in the cave is well executed and it's impossible not to love the riddle game with Gollum. The final battle at the cliff was perfect.

Overall, this is an underrated gem that gets overshadowed by the greatness of Lord of the Rings. I would score this a 9/10 and strongly recommend it.