The Hobbit: An Unexpected JourneyMovie Reviews

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Must Go!
Written December 16, 2012
Followed the book pretty close

by val_n_andy

Some literary license was used but it followed the book pretty closely. Definitely not for young children, has same amount of violence and scary monsters as the LOTR trilogy. Fans will enjoy, the movie was entertaining even if some of the action scenes might be viewed as tropes in 5 years (slo mo, "nooooo" etc).
- 4 out of 4 found this review helpful.
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So-so
Written December 14, 2012
The Hobbit - Too Much Like Lord of the Rings

by jonesbfd17

If you've read the book, be ready for some big changes in the story and characters. The Hobbit was written years before Lord of the Rings. Also, it was written for children. This movie contains references to Sauron, Saruman, Galadriel and other characters which, at the time the Hobbit was written, hadn't been invented yet. Azog, the big Orc who fights with Thorin, was only in the Lord of the Rings, Appendix A. He beheaded King Thror during the takeover of Moria. The battle outside Moria happened later and Azog never fought with Thorin. During that battle, Azog killed Náin, and was himself killed by Náin's son Dáin. The dwarves were pursued by a band of Orcs in the Hobbit (no Azog.) They were chased into some woods and they did climb trees but the trees did not ever fall. The orcs set fires and sang a song about roasting a band of "silly birds" with no wings. The Eagles then rescued them. No battle. No Azog. No Bilbo fighting with anyone. This movie is NOT for kids!!!
- 9 out of 14 found this review helpful.
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Must Go!
Written December 16, 2012
Amazing...again.

by jpjohns4429

When I heard that Peter Jackson was making the Hobbit into 3 movies I was very upset. My thinking was how could you take the smallest book and make it into 3 movies? I wanted no detail left out if I had to wait for all the movies to be out. So far Peter has done this. The Unexpected Journey has gone page for page and has been a pleasant surprise. I will go see this as much as I can while it's in the theaters.
- 5 out of 6 found this review helpful.
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Must Go!
Written December 14, 2012
Epically Awesome

by

The cinematography was breathtaking. The dialogue was witty and charming. The battle scenes were epic. And the facial hair was glorious. I loved every moment of its 169 minutes.

Also I'm not sure that I will ever understand how Peter Jackson and Andy Serkis made Gollum so repulsive and evil, yet lovable and empathetic. Every single person in that theater felt Gollum's pain as if it was their own.

Highly recommend it!
- 4 out of 4 found this review helpful.
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Written January 2, 2013
Reserving Judgement

by

I was hoping the movie would be a little more true to the book than it was. The Hobbit is more of a playful, childish story than the Lotr, so it was a little frustrating to see them trying to make it epic in the same way that lotr was. There were some great scenes, particularly the one with gollum, but there were definitely some parts they drew out too long and added more than they needed to with the Necromancer side-story.

That said, it didn't drag as much as I worried it might, and overall I did like it a lot. I feel like I need to see how they pull off the remaining two movies to decide how much I really like it, but I'm cautiously optimistic.
- 4 out of 4 found this review helpful.
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Must Go!
Written December 14, 2012
Total bad*** Bilbo Baggins!

by

It was frickin awesome!, they added stuff that wasnt in the book, and the didnt leave anything out, it is a must see, i enjoyed it very much!
- 4 out of 4 found this review helpful.
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Written December 16, 2012
Quite Good, but Peter Jackson might be stretching too much

by TomHug

Great characterizations. The dovetailing with the events from the Lord of the Rings movies is artfully done as well. Mr. Freeman's Bilbo is great. We get a chance to see a different aspect of Smeagol/Gollum as well.

However, there are a lot of non-canon scenes and sub-plots that have been injected to a) stretch the plot material to last for three movies and b) show off the 3D technology. There are many action scenes that are frenetic and pointless.

It's all well -done and I can't think of anyone who could have done a better job with the story than Mr. Jackson.

In hindsight though, I think making only 2 movies and sticking more closely to the book would have been best.
- 4 out of 4 found this review helpful.
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Must Go!
Written December 31, 2012
Praise for the Hobbit

by jinxedcynder

The Hobbit was wonderful and very accurate to the book. The added story line of Gandalf vs. the Necromancer (simply stated) was written by Tolkien in one of his other works. The songs were in the books, the characters don't "randomly break out in song". Peter Jackson thought it would be good to add these elements into the movie. And yes the Hobbit was originally a children's book but the Hobbit was still part of Middle Earths story and thus does not make it a childrens tale, but the movie does bring out the lightheartedness of the book. It's funnier than LotR certainly. And no the eagles could not fly anyone closer to their destination. The enemy would kind of notice. On the excess of character development: as a childrens book the Hobbit couldn't really bring out everything Tolkien wanted out of the characters. Jackson and the other couple writers tried to show what Tolkien wrote in all of his works. Personally i respect all of the decisions made by the writers of the Hobbit.
- 4 out of 4 found this review helpful.
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Must Go!
Written January 26, 2013
Amazing!

by piccolopeg40

I really wish more had been said to explain that this isn't just The Hobbit, but includes a lot of Middle Earlh folklore from other books. The parts of the movie that are not in The Hobbit do come from Tolkien's wirtings so it was not just made up to make the movie longer or turn one book into 3 movies. It will fill in the blanks between The Hobbit and LOTR that will make you say, "Oh, I get it now!" Knowing that, watch it again and see how amazed you will be. Well done.
- 4 out of 4 found this review helpful.
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Must Go!
Written December 28, 2012
Rating "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"

by SEC_SAM

I liked the movie a lot. It was well tied to the other three movies. The acting was excellent with all of the characters returning for this run. The cinematography was outstanding, the special effects amazing and those characters incredibly lifelike.

Great movie for adults, not so much for under 13.

In terms of the movie it moved rapidly for something lasting almost three hours. It got a bit slow in parts but nothing to worry about because it would quickly pick up again.

I would rate it 4.5 out of 5 stars. It is a must see for all Tolkien fans.
- 4 out of 4 found this review helpful.
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Written January 2, 2013
Liked It

by hopeismyweapon

I didn't get quite as much out of this movie as I expected. For one thing, I expected there to be more singing but eh, such is life. The movie was still fun and I may even go see it again. I'm really looking forward to the next two movies.
- 4 out of 4 found this review helpful.
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Must Go!
Written December 31, 2012
There and back again worth the trip.

by Rcoppertop

Quite action-packed and technically excellent. I shall have to reread Hobbit as there were one or two things I didn't remember (stone mountain men transformers?). I was glad I knew how the book ended, though, because otherwise I would have thought they were going to bite the dust in the Orc city (which I found more visually facsinating than even Rivendell). The music contained references to the original trilogy that tie the movies together but mostly original material. Love the dwarf song. By the end of the movie, I was beginning to wonder how Jackson could fit one more fight in, there were so many! But, even so, one could begin to see Bilbo grow as a hobbit. Bilbo may be starting out on a road that goes ever on and on, but for me, it felt like I was coming back home again.
- 4 out of 4 found this review helpful.
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Must Go!
Written December 31, 2012
A great adventure

by tracylynh

My family and I were really looking forward to his movie and it didn't disappoint. An almost 3 hour movie moved swiftly taking us along for quite the adventure. My 13 year old daughter enjoyed it as much as the adults. Great story, great actors and Gullom is better than ever. Can't wait for the 2nd and the 3rd!! Must see in theater to really appreciate the sounds and visuals!
- 4 out of 4 found this review helpful.
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Must Go!
Written December 14, 2012
Great movie!

by pruettmj

Overall, I really enjoyed the movie. The Orcs and Goblins were different than in LOTR; not sure of the reason for that. My main dissatisfaction is that some of the dwarves are just plain goofy, so it's hard to take them seriously. I'd say the movie is a step down from any of the LOTR Trilogy, but still definitely a great movie.
- 5 out of 6 found this review helpful.
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Written January 20, 2013
Enjoyable, interesting; worth seeing

by Ms Wizard

I echo much of what others have said. Great performances and visuals. Great story; the movie was too long. I'd say 2 hours and 25 minutes instead of 2 hours and 49 would have done the trick. If you liked LOTR you must see this. It is just too long.
- 4 out of 4 found this review helpful.
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WoottenSam The Hobbit was awesome!

6 hours ago.

caoimhefcooke Today. 2.00pm. Sainsburys. Decided to treat myself to the Hobbit on DVD. After being unable to prove I was over 12, I was denied. #Whyme

7 hours ago.