Following on from MrCere’s excellent post yesterday, telling you all about the different formats tempting you to part with your cash and take home The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, here is a ‘mini-review’ of the Blu-ray 3D Combo pack which will be available in the United States. Staffer greendragon was fortunate enough to receive a copy of the Blu-ray/DVD pack in advance of a press junket taking place in London today; here are her thoughts on the precious!
First of all, the packaging is beautiful. The cardboard slip case has the lenticular image of Gandalf which we saw on one of Empire magazine’s covers. Underneath this slip case, the box has the same image on the front, with the back showing a small picture of Bilbo running off from the Shire, contract in hand, above the details of the contents.
This ‘combo pack’ is the five disc version: it contains the movie (over two discs) on 3D Blu-ray; one disc of the movie on 2D Blu-ray; one disc of the 2D DVD version; and one disc of ‘Special Features’. These features are, as MrCere mentioned, the ten Production Videos which Peter Jackson published on his facebook page during the making of the film. I agree with MrCere’s thought that, whilst this may not be adding anything new, it is very nice to have all these videos gathered in one place, where you can easily find them to watch them again and again. One word of caution, however: if you are purchasing a Blu-ray combo pack with the thought that you will get a Blu-ray player ‘one day’ and in the meantime will watch the film on the DVD which comes in the set, note that the Special Features disc is a Blu-ray, not a DVD.
As with all the different versions available for purchase, this pack also comes with details on how to access your ‘UltraViolet’ copy of the movie, so that you can download and stream the standard definition theatrical version of the film to your various devices.
Sitting at my laptop in London, I haven’t been able to try out the Blu-ray discs, but I did watch the DVD last night. The main menu shows footage from the film, playing on a loop; it starts with a zoom in on the map of Middle-earth, a shot of Bag End, and then the dwarves singing part of the Misty Mountains song. Following scenes include Bilbo running to join them on their journey, the trolls gathered around their fire, Radagast and his rabbits fleeing the orcs, and shots in Rivendell, Goblin Town and Gollum’s cave. The montage ends with Bilbo drawing Sting for the first time; and then the loop starts again.
The movie is divided into thirty-two scenes, and the scene selection menu has part of the map of Middle-earth in the background. The other menu choice from the main menu is for languages; the DVD can be played in English, French or Spanish, and has subtitles also in those languages. The background for this menu is a picture of a pensive-looking Gandalf, seated by a tree and smoking his pipe.
As for the film – well, of course I love the film. It thrills me to hear that opening melody and to know I can now watch this movie whenever I like! After all these years of waiting for The Hobbit, it seems even a little surreal to have these discs in my hands. I must confess, though, I rather wish that the home entertainment release could have been a little later; I’d like to have seen An Unexpected Journey in the cinema a few more times before I moved to a smaller screen!
The Blu-ray and DVD of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will be available for you to take home in the US from March 19th; but if you just can’t wait that long, digital download (from retailers such as iTunes, Amazon and Vudu) will be available from March 12th. The hard copies (in whatever format you purchase) and digital downloads from ‘select digital retailers’ will come with a code which will enable viewers to watch the live stream of Peter Jackson’s sneak peek of the next movie, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. This will play live on March 24th at 3pm Eastern/noon Pacific time; so if you’re in the US and eager for a glimpse of the second part of the trilogy, (and let’s face it, if you’re reading TORn, you probably are eager for a glimpse!), be sure to get your copy of An Unexpected Journey before March 24th, so you’ll be ready to watch! (MrCere’s article lists the April release dates for the Blu-ray and DVD in some other parts of the world; I’m told by Warner Bros. that codes for the sneak peek will be available outside the US – for example, possibly given to those who preorder a Blu-ray or DVD – but as yet there’s no confirmation on details for that. We’ll let you know as soon as we hear!)
Finally – as MrCere mentioned yesterday, the press release which came with this Blu-ray pack from Warner Bros. confirmed that this ‘home entertainment release will be followed by an Extended Edition available just in time for the holidays’. Now THAT is something I can’t wait to see!
You can preorder this Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack here; or preorder the digital download here.
Ralph Bakshi, creator of the 1978 animated version of The Lord of the Rings, is using Kickstarter to raise funds for his latest film — Last Days of Coney Island. With 58 hours to go (at time of writing), the film is less than $4,000 short of its $165,000 target.
Bakshi describes it as an animated cop, mafia, horror movie set in the 1960s in Coney Island, with political overtones both realistic and outrageous. Actor Matthew Modine, himself a longtime Bakshi fan, has been cast in the film’s lead role.
In my films I have always discussed America: who we are, what we are, for better and worse, and the ridiculous. I’m here on Kickstarter asking for your support for my newest project, Last Days of Coney Island.
It takes place in a 1960s Coney Island populated with crooked cops, broken hearts, jaded strippers, and singers.
The stories take place on and around Coney’s garish, freaky midways and in it’s dark alleyways. They discuss America: Kennedy’s assassination, the mafia, Bobby Dylan, Vietnam, Dick Tracy, Miss America, and more.
Eric SaindonEric Saindon is a good guy to have on a movie. He is smart but also easy going and is able to manage the balance between doing serious business, like being on set every day of filming three movies based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit,” and creating a good working atmosphere and getting along. An American, he is an important part of one of the elite visual effects houses in Hollywood, New Zealand’s Weta Digital. He is nominated for an Academy Award on “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” facing competition from the same company for work on “The Avengers,” and “Prometheus.” Definitely a friend to TheOneRing.net, he did an interview with FlickeringMyth.com that you can read right here.
Its full of little gems from Saidon like this: A significant innovation was developed by the R&D team. “We came up with a new hair for example on this project,” remarks Eric Saindon. “We call it Barbershop. We always hated the way you have to move pixels around to layout a hair. Grab CDs and move them around on curves to design the way the hair is done; that’s not how you do it in a salon. You would cut the hair, brush, blow dry and gel it, however you would do it in a salon and that’s how we redesigned our hair system. We gave the artists tools such as a blow dryer, gel, comb, brush, scissors and they actually grow the hair on someone or a creature.” The interview digs deep into the world of visual effects. Saindon is one of the interview subjects TheOneRing.net spoke with on our set visit to The Hobbit. That content is expected to see publication in 2013.
As we’ve come to expect, Weta and Harper Collins have produced another sumptuous, richly-bound volume detailing the process of turning words and imagination into the films we see. It’s written by Daniel Falconer, who’s had a hands-on overview of the road to executing Jackson’s vision since the beginning of LOTR. Thus you see many sketches exploring the different concepts that inform the finished designs we see on screen, and a wealth of objects you only dream of studying at leisure and in detail. It’s full of insights into how the film’s creators saw the character and history of The Hobbit’s people, creatures and places. The actors get to speak about their characters too, so we learn for instance that Sylvester McCoy loves animals in real life – he whistles to birds and they whistle back! Definitely a book to treasure. It’s full of spoilers too promising scenes that we can hope to see in the extended edition DVDs if nowhere else – scenes with the Old Took and Belladonna Took, Gandalf’s first meeting with Bilbo when he was a young boy, and a closer look at more Shirefolk such as Lobelia Sackville-Baggins, Old Gammidge and Old Hob. Check out some scans below. [Purchase Today!] Continue reading “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey – Chronicles”
‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey‘ is a fulfilling and entertaining adventure that is sure to please most Middle-earth enthusiasts. Filled with direct book-to-screen moments and some unique new additions, the film stands as a strong first installment of a three-year adventure. If you think of it as a fine art masterpiece in a beautiful museum, it can sit proudly next to its LOTR siblings. Well, sorta. You see, someone chose an overly busy frame with bright colors and fancy patterns that distracts from the essential content. Luckily, in your experience, you can easily swap out the frame.
As you’ll read later, this reviewer suggests this may be the wisest course first-up.
As an adaptation and expansion on Tolkien’s 75-year-old children literature classic — emphasis on children — this film is more fantastic and at times more ‘cartoony’ than its trilogy predecessor. A quick example… while in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring we see the four Hobbits trying to escape Farmer Maggot and falling down a long slope with nothing but a broken carrot, in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey we see the Company of Thorin falling down a 1000-foot crevasse (multiple times) and simply dusting themselves off.
That theme permeates the film. The ‘bad guys’ are not quite horrible monstrosities that cause death and destruction but instead are similar to villains in an episode of the A-Team. You know, where no matter how many times they shoot at our heroes, they never actually hit their mark. It ultimately makes for exciting confrontations, but no real concern the heroes will meet their doom. Some who are not familiar with the childish nature of The Hobbit might find this a bit odd when they compare the drama to the LOTR films.
The acting by the core cast was astoundingly good. Martin Freeman IS Bilbo Baggins and as expected delivers an amazing performance with true emotion, humor and feeling. Ian McKellen is a less serious version of his LOTR-self and in many ways a lot more likable. His sense of humor comes across more in the performance and it is very endearing. Richard Armitage delivers a dead-on performance of Thorin. For those of us who know what the future holds for Thorin, I can clearly state the casting was perfect. Andy Serkis returns as Gollum and provides yet another amazing performance. ‘Riddles in the Dark’ will be one of your favorite scenes — guaranteed!
The dwarves were always a bit of a concern for me because I thought we’d be spending a lot of time getting to know each and dealing with lot of childish humor. This is not the case. They do all get introductions and each has their own distinct and unique contribution to the film. There is of course some ‘potty’ humor, but nothing that is overdone or inconsistent. Ken Stott as Balin delivers a stand-out performance — one that does not go unnoticed and puts him on par with the other key players.
The rest of the cast provide strong performances but some are a bit constrained by the visual performance that accompanies their acting. If you are looking for the awesomeness of The Goblin King from Rankin/Bass, I fear you will be a bit disappointed. And Radagast, while semi-interesting and fun in a childish sense (which is okay!), seems to be just thrown in to have another wizard.
Some of the folks I saw the film with had issues with the ‘slowness’ of the story, but I did not. I was surprised how fast the film felt – when it ended I was surprised at the time.
To avoid major spoilers, I’ll just say that there were definitely a few points where I felt the small things were ‘overdone.’ Take Elrond’s reading of the moon-letters on the map.
The book: …The moon was shining in a broad silver crescent. He held up the map and the white light shone through it. “What is this?” he said. “There are moon-letters here…
In the movie it’s not nearly so simple. You see, apparently the Elves in Rivendell have painstakingly built a ledge on a massive cliff-face complete with a special moon-table. To read moon-letters, you must gather around this table and place the suspected moon-letter document on the table. The table then glows with moon-light and reveals what is on it. I can’t imagine this ledge gets much use — typical of the wealthy elves to be so wasteful with space and function. Heh — yeah, I had a bit of a chuckle at that point.
There is one BIG negative from my viewing of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. It has nothing to do with the plot, acting, score or any other aspect of the actual content of the film. It has to do with wrapping this masterpiece in the inappropriate frame of HFR 3D. It was quite simply unnecessary to saddle this film with this presentational wizardry.
And it’s something I had hoped that was not going to be the case.
In fact, I was very excited to see this new technology and experience the ‘future of film.’ I was ready for it! Even with the uproar from those crusty cinema owners last year, I figured that was a bunch of old fogeys who simply didn’t want to update their equipment. I was fully expecting to be blown away and fall in love with this next evolution in film. I felt this way right up until the opening scenes of the movie. Then it happened…
I told myself: ‘Oh Chris, your eyes will get used to it… just a bit longer.‘
Nope — never got used to it. I couldn’t help but think, ‘Why does this look like some highly produced BBC TV drama?‘ In fact, about every 10 minutes or so (or maybe whenever something was particularly bright on screen) I found myself being literally drawn out of Middle-earth and back into the present — the theater. And therein lies the issue. I was constantly taken out of the story and performance because my brain was distracted by the ‘bells and whistles’ on screen. I was jolted out of the content of the film and noticed the tech behind it. That is unfortunate.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is a great movie that is saddled with this unnecessary mission to advance the future of film. So here’s my slightly controversial suggestion: Watch this film first in good ole fashioned 24fps. Then, for your second viewing, go and see it in HFR. This way your initial experience won’t be compromised by the tech and second-time-round you may actually be able to enjoy the high frame rate as well!
As an aside, I did consider that I’m simply too old for this type of presentation. I’m 38. I don’t play video games and don’t run out to see IMAX or 3D viewings of films on a regular basis. So maybe the thirteen-year-olds of the world will love it.
To summarize, rush out and see The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and enjoy the ride! As long as you bring along your inner child you’ll have a wonderful time. If you have a choice, DO NOT see it in 48fps for your first viewing.
Are you looking for a way to help end poverty and hunger worldwide? Do you love books? Do you love modern fantasy authors in addition to Tolkien? If you said yes to these questions, you should check out Worldbuilders. The short of it is that Worldbuilders is a team contributing to Heifer International, but by donating to Heifer through their team page, you get the opportunity to have your contribution matched and to win some incredibly cool items from some of the best authors and artists producing work today. Included in Worldbuilders sponsors are TORn regulars like Badali Jewelry and Donato Giancola. If you are feeling charitable this holiday season, you should check out Worldbuilders. You can read the full press release after the cut. Continue reading “UPDATED: Worldbuilders 2012”
Following on from MrCere’s excellent post yesterday, telling you all about the different formats tempting you to part with your cash and take home The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, here is a ‘mini-review’ of the Blu-ray 3D Combo pack which will be available in the United States. Staffer greendragon was fortunate enough to receive a copy of the Blu-ray/DVD pack in advance of a press junket taking place in London today; here are her thoughts on the precious!
Ralph Bakshi, creator of the 1978 animated version of The Lord of the Rings, is using Kickstarter to raise funds for his latest film — Last Days of Coney Island. With 58 hours to go (at time of writing), the film is less than $4,000 short of its $165,000 target. 
‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey‘ is a fulfilling and entertaining adventure that is sure to please most Middle-earth enthusiasts. Filled with direct book-to-screen moments and some unique new additions, the film stands as a strong first installment of a three-year adventure. If you think of it as a fine art masterpiece in a beautiful museum, it can sit proudly next to its LOTR siblings. Well, sorta. You see, someone chose an overly busy frame with bright colors and fancy patterns that distracts from the essential content. Luckily, in your experience, you can easily swap out the frame.
That theme permeates the film. The ‘bad guys’ are not quite horrible monstrosities that cause death and destruction but instead are similar to villains in an episode of the A-Team. You know, where no matter how many times they shoot at our heroes, they never actually hit their mark. It ultimately makes for exciting confrontations, but no real concern the heroes will meet their doom. Some who are not familiar with the childish nature of The Hobbit might find this a bit odd when they compare the drama to the LOTR films.
The dwarves were always a bit of a concern for me because I thought we’d be spending a lot of time getting to know each and dealing with lot of childish humor. This is not the case. They do all get introductions and each has their own distinct and unique contribution to the film. There is of course some ‘potty’ humor, but nothing that is overdone or inconsistent. Ken Stott as Balin delivers a stand-out performance — one that does not go unnoticed and puts him on par with the other key players.
In the movie it’s not nearly so simple. You see, apparently the Elves in Rivendell have painstakingly built a ledge on a massive cliff-face complete with a special moon-table. To read moon-letters, you must gather around this table and place the suspected moon-letter document on the table. The table then glows with moon-light and reveals what is on it. I can’t imagine this ledge gets much use — typical of the wealthy elves to be so wasteful with space and function. Heh — yeah, I had a bit of a chuckle at that point.
In fact, I was very excited to see this new technology and experience the ‘future of film.’ I was ready for it! Even with the uproar from those crusty cinema owners last year, I figured that was a bunch of old fogeys who simply didn’t want to update their equipment. I was fully expecting to be blown away and fall in love with this next evolution in film. I felt this way right up until the opening scenes of the movie. Then it happened…