The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

United States, New Zealand

2012

169 Min

Color

2.40:1

English

Currently 3.4/5 Stars.
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EXEC Callum Greene, Ken Kamins, Zane Weiner

PROD Carolynne Cunningham, Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh

SCR Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson, Guillermo del Toro

CAST Cate Blanchett, Luke Evans, Elijah Wood, Martin Freeman, Benedict Cumberbatch, Andy Serkis, Hugo Weaving, Orlando Bloom, Stephen Fry, Christopher Lee, Evangeline Lilly, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, Ian Holm, Lee Pace, Aidan Turner, Bret McKenzie, James Nesbitt, Mikael Persbrandt, Barry Humphries, Graham McTavish

Bilbo Baggins is swept into a 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 thirteen dwarves led by the legendary warrior, Thorin Oakenshield. Their journey will take them into the Wild; through treacherous lands swarming with Goblins and Orcs, deadly Wargs and Giant Spiders, Shapeshifters and Sorcerers. 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 guile 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. —IMDb

Director

Peter Jackson

Peter Jackson made history with The Lord of the Rings trilogy, becoming the first person to direct three major feature films simultaneously. The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and The Return of the King were nominated for and collected a slew of awards from around the globe, including 17 Academy Awards®, 12 British Academy of Film and Television Awards and four Golden Globes.

It was for The Return of the King that Jackson received his most impressive collection of awards. This included three Academy Awards® (Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Director and Best Picture), two Golden Globes (Best Director and Best Motion Picture-Drama), three BAFTAs (Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Film and Audience Award), a Directors Guild Award, a Producers Guild Award and a New York Film Critics Circle Award.

As a follow-up to The Lord of the Rings trilogy, in 2005 Jackson directed, wrote and produced King Kong for Universal Pictures. The film grossed over $500 million and won three… read more

As a follow-up to The Lord of the Rings trilogy, in 2005 Jackson directed, wrote and produced King Kong for Universal Pictures. The film grossed over $500 million and won three Oscars®.

Jackson previously received widespread acclaim for his 1994 feature Heavenly Creatures, which received an Academy Award® nomination for Best Original Screenplay. Other film credits include The Frighteners, starring Michael J. Fox; the adult puppet feature Meet the Feebles; and Braindead, which won 16 international science fiction awards, including the Saturn. Jackson also co-directed the television documentary Forgotten Silver, which also hit the film festival circuit.

This past summer, Jackson produced the worldwide sci-fi hit District 9. He is currently serving as producer on Steven Spielberg’s The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn, the first of a planned trilogy, one of which he plans to direct. He has co-written the screenplays and will serve as executive producer on Guillermo del Toro’s two-film adaptation of Tolkien’s The Hobbit. He is also producer of the remake of the WWII film Dambusters.

Born in New Zealand on Halloween in 1961, Jackson began at an early age making movies with his parents’ Super 8 camera. At 17, he left school and, after purchasing a 16mm camera, began shooting a science fiction comedy short which, three years later, had grown into a 75-minute feature called Bad Taste.

Jackson works closely with partner Fran Walsh, with whom he shares his writing and producing credits, as well as a family. Jackson has a special interest in WWI memorabilia and is the proud owner of a number of aircraft from that era.—Paramount Pictures

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Howard Orr

15Jun13

Entertaining and frightening and funny in its predictably gallumphing, CGI-bloomed sort of way, but it lacks the suffocating sense of impending evil Jackson's "Lord Of The Rings" adaptations had. But the biggest fault is that there is so much music, and the wrong kind of it, that it smothers everything with loud and shmaltzy overemphasis.

Seth Farmer

1Jun13

Jesus Christ you people are cynical.

Malcolm Tent likes this

dusl

5May13

sometimes i felt like lost in a computer game... in which the characters get lost, too, btw. plus, it's not like the content of the book wouldn't have fit into one normal length movie... he actually had to invent or broaden some subplots to bore... erm... make three movies out of it. i can't see what's amazing about that. money making, nothing more.

Amy likes this

Stu Witmer

18Apr13

Plenty of tedious & overblown CGI and action /adventure clichés but where is the literate wonder and growing import of the story that I remember from reading the book? I'm glad I didn’t see this in 3D (or even at a theater) all the swooping around at high speed made me dizzy even on the home screen. It just churns ahead like a high-octane ride on a flash new motorcycle driven by a madman.