The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

[Gorn Captain]

People need to realize that The Hobbit has a much slower pace, and it's not a war story, like a big part of LOTR was. It's an adventure story, mainly aimed at a younger audience. My favorite part of LOTR was the Fellowship, which is a lot like the Hobbit.
Good to see Sylvester McCoy as Radagast, too.

[Nostalgiabuff]

is that who that was? i could not place him.

[Sideshow Spock]

Saw it this afternoon.. I agree with the main critic complaint that the first 1/3 is pretty slow. Yeah, I was a bit bored, but no big deal. Overall the story is not as urgent or compelling, and I wouldn't call this cast nearly as interesting as the Fellowship. Freeman was fine as Bilbo, but he comes off as flat and uptight (yes, I realize the latter is intentional), and the contrast to boyish, charming Frodo is noticeable.

But I still enjoyed a lot of it. Loved Radagast's scenes and the Dwarven (and Thorin's) backstory. This is still a very fine fantasy film!

[Earth 2 Chris]

My son is itching to see this. I promised when would see it sometime over Christmas vacation. Glad to hear you guys are enjoying it!

Chris

[boynightwing]

I opened yesterday. I work at a movie theater. I was scared to death... When the previous Lord of the Rings came out, it seemed that every customer coming in to see it was an a-- hole. That and it was insane busy. But yesterday wasn't that bad at all. And I only had one jerkface to deal with. I suspect it will be busier as we get closer to Christmas. I honestly don't care for Lord of the Rings as a hole. I read the Hobbit in Grade 7. It didn't exactly leave an impression. Then I read Lord of Rings and it felt like pulling teeth. The movies were good but I only ever saw each of them once. So I'm in no hurry for the Hobbit.

[4NDR01D]

Saw it last night and liked it. Definitely felt more "kid friendly" but was enjoyable none the less.

[convoy357]

Good to hear.

Tell me though (without giving anything away) did it get into middle-earth historical lore? More importantly....did anyone get sick and barf?

Saw it this evening and.....Yeah.....and we weren't at the 3D showing, just the regular one. I think after about 1/2 hour I noticed alot of people heading to the restroom. Then about 2/3 way thru the movie there was a lady walking out with her little boy and just as they went past me (I was sitting next to the aisle) he stopped and threw up all over the floor.....yuck! I assume it had something to do with the visual effects, but I had my wife and 2 boys along and none of us were affected. Aside from that......we all really enjoyed it! My favorite part was the battle scenes verses the goblins......awesome! Can't wait till the next installment in this series!

[rche]

Saw it last night and liked it. Definitely felt more "kid friendly" but was enjoyable none the less.

How kid friendly?
I have some young tolkienites in training, and am wondering what the nightmare potential is with this. I figure the trolls and the goblins are my biggest worries.

[Nostalgiabuff]

like LOTR there is violence but very little to no blood. the scenes with the Orcs and Goblins are the most violent with some amputations and beheadings. i did not think twice about brining my kids and did not regeret it.

[drquest]

like LOTR there is violence but very little to no blood. the scenes with the Orcs and Goblins are the most violent with some amputations and beheadings. i did not think twice about brining my kids and did not regeret it.

I agree.... The pale orc is probably the scariest looking thing, and if your kids have seen the LOTR's then they've seen it all.

[Nostalgiabuff]

the Goblin king is scary looking but not really scary as a character once he starts talking. he is even kind of funny

[Bruce Banner]

Definitely going to see this.
Although the book is relatively short, there's more than enough back story and appendices to draw on to encompass three movies.

[madmarva]

he stopped and threw up all over the floor.....yuck!

Wow, you saw it in 3D and smellorama! Pretty cool.

[k2]

i saw it in 3d-hfr and i loved it, there were a few things i didn't like that were kinda cheap Hollywood/george lucas kinda things, but i thought it did fit with the younger feel of the book as compared to the heaviness of lotr
can't wait to see it again, i will opt for reg 3d or 2d just to compare, the hfr was really cool, but will take some getting used to as a movie goer

anybody have thoughts on the hfr, would love to get some discussion going on that

[phil]

I saw the regular version this afternoon and enjoyed it. For a three hour movie I felt it was well paced with the slight exception of the sequence with the Trolls. I think that went on a bit too long. Too bad the next film is year away.