The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Starring: McKellen, Ian

Product Description

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 and Orcs, deadly Wargs 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 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.

• Format: DVD
• Language: English
• UPC: 794043165368
• Release Date: September 2013
• Rating: PG-13 (Parents Strongly Cautioned)
• Publisher: New Line Cinema Corporation
• Director: Jackson, Peter
• Starring: McKellen, Ian
• Runtime: 2 hours, 40 minutes
• Number of Disks: 2
• Other Video Info: DVD
• Weight: 0.22 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 7.5" x 5.4"
• Age Range: 11 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 6 and higher

Customer Reviews

Nothing less than expected from “There and Back Again”.

Gandalf visits Young Bilbo. He is invited on an adventure as he is very adventurous (for a Hobbit). After declining the offer, he will be visited by a variety of characters and is coerced into a life of a burglar. Will he survive this life, and will we after going on the journey with them? Watch and find out. This is the beginning of “There and Back Again,” not worth viewing until you have the complete story in hand. The story starts with a token view of our original beloved characters by the original actors. An observation is that the story starts excruciatingly slow and takes a good chunk of time to get off the ground. Yet this may be on purpose; as with any movie, it is best to introduce the characters about to take the journey and their Hobbits… Oops, their habits. For people that are interested in technology as much as the story presented, it may be premature to purchase anything for a while until all the different versions are sorted out. We already have Blu-ray and digital. And by the time you find this review, probably 3D so we can watch a lame rabbit sled. Then there is the denser version of Blu-ray, probably another try of smell-o-vision, seat bottom vibrations, interactive conversations, etc. Avoid using rental services as they are using the crippled (missing all the DVD extras) rental version of the DVD. I can easily go two ways on this presentation. First, it tries to fit the general feel of the LOTR movies and the “Hobbit” book, which is different. So, this is more of a LOTR prequel. Having a lot of the same actors helped with consistency; as always, we must have new actors, yet that splits the viewers into the two camps of one is following the story and the other’s saying this is not the same actors (good or bad). I suggest that it is worth a viewing to decide for yourself. I am glad to have had a chance at seeing this now and will again later after the second half is finished.