Bilbo Baggins is just a simple, well Baggins, with no real desire to go beyond The Shire because everything he needs to life comfortably is right at his home. Little does he know that Gandalf will soon change his life by taking him on a journey to help Thorin Oakenshield and his group of dwarves reclaim the Lonely Mountain that is currently being guarded by the dragon Smaug. Bilbo is about to embark on a journey of a lifetime that he doesn’t know if he will ever comeback, but along the way he find pieces of himself that he does no know exist.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey was to be Peter Jackson’s glorious return to the world of Middle Earth. While it did in fact mark his return to helm another film in the Lord of the Rings world, it was far from glorious. I suppose we can call it bitter sweet return. In part I was extremely curious as to how Jackson was going to tackle the single part literature book The Hobbit, seeing what he had done with the Lord of the Rings trilogy, it just seemed like a walk in the park in comparison. It was surprising to me that he decided to break the story into three different parts: An Unexpected Journey; The Desolation of Smaug; and There and Back Again. That seems like a move that affected the story telling in a negative way since the story had to be padded.
The screenplay was written by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson and Guillermo del Toro (who was originally set to direct The Hobbit in two films only). Naturally by expanding the amount of films from 2 to 3 films the screenplay was going to suffer. The story suffered at times from a very slow pacing. However, I will say this film was mostly entertaining. I did find a few aspects of the film to have been enhanced due to the changes made by the screenwriters. I particularly enjoyed seeing Sauron’s initial presence and the fact that Azog received a bigger role in the film to give the story a direct antagonist. There are also other noticeable changes like Radagast that makes a brief but enjoyable appearance.
As far as casting is concerned I think we can all agree that Martin Freeman as Bilbo was an excellent choice, no? Freeman gave brought Bilbo to life. He impersonates the ever too careful and not too courageous character with ease. He also really showed the way Bilbo changes throughout the first part of the journey. Ian Mckellen, as always was excellent while reprising his role of Gandalf. One of the best casting choices was that of Thorin played by Richard Armitage. Armitage was simply good as the leader of dwarves, there’s really no complaints from my end with his performance. I can’t wait to see what’s coming in the next two installments.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey has really high expectations; however, even though at times it suffered the film was entertaining. Obviously, it hasn’t reached the level of Lord of the Rings, but by the look of things and where it is headed I am looking forward to see what comes next.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey arrives on Blu-ray with a 1080p MPEG4-AVC encode framed at 2.40:1. Considering all the bad publicity and criticism that the filmmakers received over their decision to film The Hobbit at 48fps rather than 24fps, I have to say that the transfer in this release is simply superb. Having seen The Hobbit in a theater equipped with the technology to display HFR I truly enjoyed how The Hobbit looked, obviously the main concern here was how it would affect the transfer on Blu-ray. Well it looks fantastic and the transfer doesn’t appear to be affected by the technique.
The Hobbit delivers a very pristine and highly detailed cinematic picture. Right from the get go we see The Shire filled with incredible array of vivid colors from the green grass to the blue skies and everything in between looks beautiful. Even darker colors are well balanced. Black colors are deep and very inky, but never overwhelm the picture. The shadow reproduction is well delineated. A few scenes appear to have some warmth in the coloring, but that’s really a non-issue.
Detailing is perhaps the best part about The Hobbit. The image is so clear and pristine that detailing just splurges from all directions. The transfer reveals all the little nuances in the landscape. The costumes are all very detailed and viewers will be able to see all their fine stitching and designs. There is a great sense of depth here and on some of the shots we can see far into the picture. There are no signs of any video anomalies or any DNR usage. Definitely The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is a true demo worthy disc.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey arrives on Blu-ray with a 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio lossless track. Boy did someone at Warner really get the memo, because the audio track is simply fantastic. Possibly one of the best I’ve ever heard to date. The dialogue is clean and clear and no matter what it is currently happening on the screen it simply doesn’t get overwhelmed. The fronts are very accurate and the directionality is exceptional.
The rears offer are very active throughout the film and there some moments that they truly help the track shine. The rears provide a great deal of atmospheric and ambient effects with pin point accuracy. A few stand out moments are in Gollum’s cave where echoes and other small little nuances are reproduced with great amount of detail. A few of the battle sequences that feature arrows that just buzz through the speakers. The bass offers thunderous support here as well helping to create a very impressive and immersive soundstage. The score for the film sounds fantastic and it takes complete advantage of the spacious track.
I can’t really find more ways to describe how awesome this track is, so don’t hesitate to pick up a copy of The Hobbit and check it out yourself.
Video Blogs – This is a collection of blogs recorded by Peter Jackson throughout the shooting of The Hobbit. Many of show you some behind the scene footage. Peter Jackson talks a lot of about the different aspects of the film. Definitely worth checking out.
New Zealand: Home of Middle-Earth – Viewers will be taken on a journey across New Zealand as Director Peter Jackson shares some insight into the shooting locations and some information regarding the shooting of The Hobbit.
Sneak Peek for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug – This is a bit lame, viewers have to enter a code to a website where they will air a sneak peek of the second part of the trilogy hosted by Peter Jackson. The reveal will be on March 24.
Trailers
With the first part of The Hobbit out of the way now we can now look forward to what is in store next. I must say that An Unexpected Journey was not what many were hoping for with the return of Peter Jackson to Middle Earth. The film was entertaining but far from reach the heights of Lord of the Rings. However, I have some faith that Peter Jackson will redeem himself with the remaining two parts of the trilogy. The Blu-ray release is phenomenal both visually stunning and an audio track that’s by far one of the best out there. The supplements are actually quite enjoyable so there’s definitely a lot more to see once the movie is over. I am sure fans of the Lord of the Rings won’t hesitate to add this to their collection.