If you are familiar with Tolkien&#39;s &quot;the Hobbit&quot; <wbr />and go expecting this to be a film version of th<wbr />at book, you will be disappointed.
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<br />Instead, t<wbr />his film is a prequel to &quot;The Lord of the Rings&quot;<wbr />, adding material from the appendices and from &quot;<wbr />The Silmarillion&quot; to pad out the story (to three<wbr /> films!) with events which, while they would hav<wbr />e occurred during the time frame covered by &quot;the<wbr /> Hobbit&quot;, are not mentioned in &quot;The Hobbit&quot; at a<wbr />ll.  Meanwhile certain events in &quot;the Hobbit&quot; ar<wbr />e deleted, added to and, rather arbitrarily, cha<wbr />nged.
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<br />I enjoyed the film, but it&#39;s not &quot;The H<wbr />obbit&quot; and look forward to when all three &quot;Hobbi<wbr />t&quot; films have been released on video so someone <wbr />can edit it down to one film which will be as cl<wbr />ose to &quot;The Hobbit&quot; as we can get.
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<br />The first <wbr />40 minutes of the film are superb.
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