{"id":82664,"date":"2013-11-19T05:00:04","date_gmt":"2013-11-19T10:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/?p=82664"},"modified":"2013-11-19T13:59:31","modified_gmt":"2013-11-19T18:59:31","slug":"review-the-hobbit-an-unexpected-journey-extended-edition-among-best-home-video-editions-ever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/2013\/11\/19\/82664-review-the-hobbit-an-unexpected-journey-extended-edition-among-best-home-video-editions-ever\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey’ Extended Edition among best home video editions \u2014\u00a0ever"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Extended<\/a>
Extended Edition national Blu-ray 3D<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The home video market is dead or dying \u2014 so they say.\u00a0 The digital age has brought on massive changes on how we view movies and in a relatively short time.\u00a0 The ways we consumed the \u201cLord of the Rings\u201d movie trilogy is vastly different from how we tackle \u201cThe Hobbit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many consumers actually jumped to the DVD format from VHS tapes with \u201cFellowship of the Ring.\u201d\u00a0 But in the digital revolution, that was ages ago, back when everybody bought movies for home use and there was seemingly ever growing stacks of money to be made from that market.<\/p>\n

Studios once had a cash cow in DVDs but the milk has dried up now.\u00a0 Once, extravagant DVDs and box sets ruled store shelves while today we visit Red Box and Netflix.<\/p>\n

So when a Blu-ray like \u201cThe Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Extended Edition,\u201d comes to market it is going against the grain, against conventional wisdom and against market trends.\u00a0 It\u2019s also the best home release of 2013.<\/p>\n

The film is still the film.\u00a0 If you loved it you will love it more.\u00a0 If you had problems with it, you will still have problems with it.\u00a0 The added time didn\u2019t fix what people say is broken.\u00a0 But if you haven\u2019t seen the film, for the home experience, I do recommend the Extended Edition.\u00a0 The length includes some character moments that make the film more a little more satisfying but not in a major way.\u00a0 A bathroom break is close to mandatory and while you can\u2019t pause a theater, its easy from your own couch.<\/p>\n

But while many think about the movie, make no mistake, the real prize here are The Appendicies content; Those who are only looking at this for the film are missing the point entirely.\u00a0 In fact, this collection, is itself a tremendous film that would be worth buying even without the cinema release.\u00a0 The movie itself is essential in the package, but what launches these discs into rare air is everything else that comes with it.<\/p>\n

Prone to exercise laudatory caution because I write for TheOneRing, and I realize too much praise causes readers to become dismissive and classify the writer as a fan boy, I still proclaim with no hesitation that this is among the finest home video releases in history.\u00a0 It sits on a shelf in rarefied air with a very few discs that can even compare.\u00a0 Among those are the Extended LOTR editions, of which this is a companion piece.<\/p>\n

While we are here talking credentials, let me fully disclose that I was on set to witness \u201cThe Hobbit,\u201d being filmed for five weeks and I know (and like) many on all sides of the camera.\u00a0 More than that, I also interned for a couple of weeks with the producers of the behind-the-scenes content.\u00a0 I am even credited for extra interviews, so take my perceptions as you wish.<\/p>\n

Even if you didn\u2019t love the movie, the exploration of the process is a wonder to behold and the whole is a triumph.\u00a0 And, this triumph comes with WB and MGM financing this content behind-the-scenes content.\u00a0 This level of excellence doesn\u2019t just happen and it isn\u2019t cheap.\u00a0 It takes financial commitment, planning and time.\u00a0 With rumors of late delivery circulating, creating a shortage of discs in some places, I believe I speak for many fans who emphatically say, \u201cSo what?\u00a0 The wait is worth it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite all the greatness on the discs, there are a few things that are disappointing, so lets start with those.<\/p>\n

PACKAGING<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Hobbit:<\/a>
Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Extended Edition<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There is nothing about these covers that are exceptional or especially tasteful to tell consumers that these aren\u2019t just another release on a store shelf.\u00a0 For some reason, with few exceptions, the marketing at Warner Bros. insists on slapping a bunch of floating character mugshots in a college for these films at every opportunity.\u00a0 More isn\u2019t better and especially when even the casual audience knows what \u201cThe Hobbit,\u201d is.\u00a0 Nobody is saying, \u201cWhat? Gandalf is also in this movie?!\u201d<\/p>\n

A cover with a central visual idea would be a vast improvement and for these discs, there should be a graceful, classic cover, not a garish collection of floating heads.\u00a0 Better still would have been a style match with the LOTR EEs. The back of the 3-disc Blu-ray is actually great and would serve as a nice cover.<\/p>\n

While we are here, the Bilbo in front of Erebor \u201cDesolation of Smaug,\u201d poster was infinitely more powerful that the nightmare LSD trip of Middle-earth\u2019s usual suspects in the latest one.\u00a0 Boo.\u00a0 Very much related, if the Hobbit home video release couldn\u2019t be a stylized match with the LOTR releases, at least we could have had a strong central character instead of a collection of them that says nothing.<\/p>\n

Gollum and Bilbo exchanging riddles in the dark might be a place to start.\u00a0 The film\u2019s strongest sequence, virtually perfect even, highlights a key moment in Middle-earth, sells us a familiar character and gives us an absolute iconic moment from literature.\u00a0 If things were right in the world, WB would issue an inexpensive replacement slip cover for a couple of dollars that ties this release back to the LOTR EEs.\u00a0 Seriously.<\/p>\n

The art on the discs are quite good.<\/p>\n

COMMENTARIES<\/strong><\/p>\n

The commentaries with Philippa Boyens (writer, producer) and Peter Jackson (writer, director, producer) are good, but again, this is meant to be a companion disc and viewers really want more commentary perspectives as they were given in the LOTR discs.\u00a0 Obviously the filmmaker\u2019s take are essential but including cast or key figures like Dan Hennah or Richard Taylor might be expensive, and not financially viable by the studios, but they are sorely missed.\u00a0 An unrealistic dream commentary might be to have all 13 main dwarf actors on one track or two tracks with half on each.\u00a0 Careful sound editing would be needed but Jed Brophy, Mark Hadlow, Graham McTavish, John Callen and William Kircher and all the rest, would be brilliant.\u00a0 There are two movies left to get this right.<\/p>\n

I am sure there are many who will take exception to comparing the discs but for certain, many consumers are doing it. These are intellectually built to go together.<\/p>\n

But, lets move on to the good (great) with a look at what is included on most versions of the film.\u00a0 It is worth noting that there is a Wal-Mart version of the Extended Editions available with minimal extras. (Hate to call them extras because they are main featured content.)\u00a0 Even if consumers think they want to save a few dollars and get that version, they actually don\u2019t.\u00a0 There is no circumstance where that option is a wise choice.\u00a0 Any viewer willing to commit to a three-hour Extended Edition deserves to have the story of the film as well for a few dollars difference.\u00a0 Friends don\u2019t let friends buy foolishly.<\/p>\n

\"Cate<\/a>DISC 1<\/strong><\/p>\n

Extended Edition of the film with filmmakers\u2019 commentary and
\n\u201cNew Zealand: Home of Middle-earth\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

The commentary is mentioned above but the video feature sounds like it might be a commercial for New Zealand.\u00a0 It is actually, with celebrity endorsements.\u00a0 Newsflash: New Zealand is amazing.<\/p>\n

DISC 2<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Appendices Part 7: A Long-Expected Journey –<\/em><\/p>\n

This is a timeline of the movie that breaks down into parts how it was made, more or less, following the chronology of the film.\u00a0 Of course films aren\u2019t made chronologically, but following the organization of the film is helpful.\u00a0\u00a0 And the docs aren\u2019t strictly about \u201chow we did this,\u201d as much as they highlight interesting stories from a particular segment of the production.<\/p>\n

The beefiest is the first, \u201cThe Journey Back to Middle-earth,\u201d which also happens to be excellent.\u00a0 It follows the almost absurd series of roadblocks that threatened to keep this film from being made.\u00a0 Viewers who followed TheOneRing will recall those days when it seemed time and again, fate had conspired to kill the film.\u00a0 This is excellent content that wouldn\u2019t be included on many DVDs of other films.<\/p>\n

The studios bravely allowed the team to tackle subjects like the financial problems that almost derailed the films and the hiring and departure of Guillermo del Toro.<\/p>\n

It would have been much safer to sanitize these events and it happens on many Hollywood \u201cextras\u201d projects but here they are addressed head on \u2014 an impressive inclusion.\u00a0 That first documentary is a definite highlight but every single one of them holds up high standards of storytelling and visuals that feel as though the essential moments were not only talked about but captured.<\/p>\n

\"Christopher<\/a>It is in fact the best big-story view on this topic available in either print or film.\u00a0 To better understand sitting down and watching \u201cThe Hobbit,\u201d in the cinema, this is essential viewing.\u00a0 It is also great not to start with the first day of pre-production but to have a wider view of the whole works.<\/p>\n

One of the best segments, perhaps my favorite, is \u201cA Short Rest: Rivendell and London.\u201d\u00a0 The fact that the production went to London to film Sir Christopher Lee and Ian Holm is common knowledge.\u00a0 A lesser documentary might spend its time making just the fact of traveling from New Zealand to London to shoot the focus of the story.\u00a0 Instead, that is established and then the focus is placed on something far more interesting than it just happening: Lee and Holm.<\/p>\n

Jackson and Lee are on camera holding up production so those gathered around can listen to Lee remember parts of his life that are legendary on the silver screen.\u00a0 He also gives Jackson some good-natured crap and it is respectfully returned.\u00a0 Graham McTavish and Adam Brown are also on hand, despite not filming, to listen to Lee and help the storytelling by putting his presence in perspective.\u00a0 It is gold and in fact, it is a pity somebody doesn\u2019t produce an entire film based on the man behind Saruman.<\/p>\n

Included in the same section is a pretty incredible give-and-take between Jackson, Cate Blanchett,\u00a0Fran Walsh on a telephone and Ian McKellen.\u00a0 They discussed character motivations and all the bigger questions behind the dialog on the script page.\u00a0 It is pretty incredible.\u00a0 There are some excellent moments with Hugo Weaving.\u00a0 It all felt intimate, rare and was fascinating.<\/p>\n

There are a lot of bright spots here and in fact they are more or less all bright spots, or will be to somebody.\u00a0\u00a0 The producers and director Michael Pellerin seemingly pushed for excellence and achieved it.<\/p>\n

\"HobbitEE_1400x2100_US\"<\/a>Chapters include:<\/p>\n