The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey [Extended Edition] [Blu-ray 3D] [2012]

As a fan of J.R.R. Tolkien's works, this extended edition has become a treasured addition to my collection. Quality is paramount when it comes to movie adaptations, and The Hobbit delivers in spades. With stunning visuals, captivating storytelling, and masterful performances, this film transports viewers to a world of magic, adventure, and wonder. The extended edition offers even more depth and detail, with additional scenes that enhance the overall viewing experience. In terms of value, this Blu-ray set offers hours of entertainment and immersion into Tolkien's richly imagined universe. The inclusion of both Blu-ray 3D and standard Blu-ray discs ensures compatibility with a variety of viewing setups, while the UV copy allows for convenient digital access on the go. Design-wise, the packaging is both elegant and practical. The artwork captures the essence of Middle-earth, while the sturdy construction ensures the discs are well-protected. Plus, being region-free, this edition is accessible to fans worldwide, making it a truly inclusive addition to any collection. Watching The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - Extended Edition is an immersive experience that transports viewers to the heart of the adventure. Whether you're revisiting the story or experiencing it for the first time, the extended edition offers new insights and perspectives that deepen your appreciation for Tolkien's timeless tale. In summary, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - Extended Edition is a must-have for fans of fantasy and adventure. Its quality craftsmanship, wealth of content, and inclusive design make it a standout addition to any movie collection. So grab your copy, settle in, and prepare to be whisked away on an unforgettable journey through Middle-earth.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is one of the greatest films of 2013, and while it doesnt follow precisely the much-loved book, it does respectfully weave a story of its own using much of the content from the appendices Tolkien wrote for The Lord of the Rings. While it can feel a little slow- paced at times, particularly the beginning, it does help to set up important characters that influence not only this film but also the next two to come and will more than likely pay off with the next films. It has the difficult task of setting up not only the Hobbit trilogy but also LOTR that comes after, and still manages to have some emotional stand-out moments where you really feel for the characters and their quest and get to know them on a deeper level. The case the DVD's come in looks fantastic, however, the map that is printed inside doesnt have a line shwoing where the company in the film traveled, as it did in the LOTR which isn't that important, but is a little niggle. The special features are some of the best I've ever watched and feel a journey within themselves. Unlike other films, they dont feel slap-dashed together, but made with care and love just as the film was. Overall, great special features, nice casing, and a great film with extended scenes that flesh out the story and leave hints for the LOTR films, dont hesitate to buy it.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is Peter Jackson's return to Middle Earth after a decade away. The extended edition blu-ray package also ontains a 3D blu-ray disc, a downloadable version, and two discs containing extensive extras. The running time is 182 minutes which is just 13 minutes longer than the theatrical release. The discs are reasonably packaged in fairy attractive box. Like most things about The Hobbit, the box is really good just not as great as the Lord of the Rings Trilogy . The differences between the extended version and the original release are pretty slim. There are not really additional scenes, just slight extensions of existing ones. However, a couple of cuts from the theatrical release are added back in which really do add value. The first of these cuts is Bofur singing The Man In the Moon. The second is the Goblin King's song, Goblin Town. It was a mistake to cut these out of the theatrical release as they're both excellent. The film itself is really good quality. The blu-ray looks good. 3D of course requires a 3D TV so will be a minority interest. The audio balance is excellent. The plot of Unexpected Journey tracks parts of the early stages of The Hobbit . It opens with a bit of backstory with the great city of Erebor and its satellite town Dale being destroyed by the dragon Smaug. The subsequent plight of Durin's kin offers pitch battle reminiscent of the great battle sequences of Lord of the Rings. Cate Blanchett offers the narrator to introduce the action. Her beautiful Galadriel voice instantly conjures up memory of the extraordinary experience Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings offered. Hobbit is a lighter-hearted film than the Rings trilogy. The extended edition has a fair amount of Hobbiton before the action kicks off. When it does really begin it is largely comedy to open. The Dwarves descend on Bag End, bringing chaos and disorder to Bilbo's meticulously planned home. The extras describe the sequence at Bag End as being an old fashioned comedy of manners. The Dwarves are crude and a bit reckless but Bilbo does not feel in any position to exclude them from his homestead. It is a fun and interesting way to open because it brings a little bit of character to the dwarf group. In the original tale it was only really Thorin Oakenshield who was a distinct and pathos inducing character. Peter Jackson's biggest contribution to Tolkien's work is to personalise Thorin's companions. In particular, large warrior Dwalin, advisor Balin, fat Bombur, and jester Bofur fill the screen well. Where Peter Jackson errs though is often in trying to bulid beyond the original Tolkien work. The extras detail the difficulty the team had with the villanous character of Azog the Defiler. It was an entirely unnecessary addition to the film. Azog's scene on Weathertop just looks like a weak version of the encounter with the Ringwraiths in Fellowship of the Ring. Jackson's change to the scene between Gollum and Bilbo in which Bilbo escapes with The One Ring is disappointing. The explicit description of Gandalf's time with the Grey Council is a bit unnecessary. The scene has quality thanks to Cate Blanchett's Galadriel but the contirbution of Christopher Lee's Saruman foreshadows that character's future a bit too obviously. Other additions though work really well. The addition of Radagast is great fun. Played by Sylvester McCoy, Radagast is an addled druid more at home with animals than people. McCoy is hilarious, his combination of earnest and confused is terrific. The scene with his rabbit-drawn sleigh racing across the background as the dwarves escape is poor quality graphics. In the main the graphics are fantastic. The CGI characters look beautiful. The denizens of Goblin Town look great, and the extended fight sequence through a largely CGI generated location is one of the highlights of the film. Gollum is of course a work of art, somehow even more sinister here than in Rings. Visually Unexpected Journey is a treat. The thirst for 3D has not really harmed the imagery so familiar from Rings. The natural beauty of New Zealand is again in evidence. The lush greenery of Hobbiton still looks fantastic. The scenery around Mount Cook is just stunning. The combination of fertile grassland and rugged mountains makes NZ a great place to watch a Middle Earth adventure take place. The outstanding attention to detail adds to the natural beauty. Bag End is fantastic. The home the dwarf company turns up at is excellent. The various sized characters roam about in it seamlessly. Rivendell looks perhaps even better than it did in Rings. The scene with the moon rune with the waterfall is just outrageously beautiful. Many of the inhabitants of these places are already well known. Ian McKellen's Gandalf remains magesterial. The amiable English old man routine combines so well with McKellen's authority and simmering gravitas when the power is turned on. Cate Blanchett's Galadriel is as eye-wateringly gorgeous as ever, dressed in a sublime piece with a ridiculously long train. Elrond is again the weakest link of the elite characters, Hugo Weaving just being a bit boring. The extras show Weaving to be hilarious but he is much more Smith from Agent Smith from Matrix than a Middle Earth denizen. Cameos from Christopher Lee and Ian Holm are both great if a bit hard to watch this fantastic pair in the twilights of their lives. Elijah Wood's cameo is unbelievable because he looks exactly the same as he did over a decade earlier. The new cast for Unexpected Journey includes some real excellence. The star of the show is Richard Armitage as dwarf leader Thorin Oakenshield. Armitage is perhaps best known for his stint in Spooks and his portrayal of Thorin Oakenshield is a bit reminiscent of Lucas North. Armitage is a born leader, Oakenshield seems like someone the dwarves really might charge into battle behinid.. Armitage also has an intensity that makes his true intentions a bit harder to discern. There is no other actor like him in being able to play the hero embodying a sense of potential threat. It turns out he is also an excellent singer and a pretty decent swordsman. When Armitage steps into shot, everything becomes more serious, more urgent, more intense.. Thorin is not the only excellent dwarf. The surprising casting of Jimmy Nesbitt as Bofur is a stroke of genious. Nesbitt is a very familiar face from British television but as Bofur the range of his talent is on display. He is a naturally funny guy with an endearing charm. Turns out he's a fine tin whistle player as well. His song Man in the Moon is a highlight of Unexpected Journey. Bofur is probably the most likeable character on show, his cheery line to Bilbo when it looks as though the Hobbit is abandoning the company is pitch perfect. Dwalin played by Graham McTavish is just hard. McTavish is tall but not especially muscular. As Dwalin he has a physicality beyond anyone else on the screen. The way he carries himself and the presence he offers is just imposing. Dwalin's brother Balin is a class act. In a cast of quality, Ken Stott provides a credible offer as being the best. Balin is the voice of wisdom. Somehow through the large prosthetics and the wig, Stott is able to exude such a range of emotions, offering sage advice with a knowing look. As Thorin Oakenshield's counsel, Stott is able to portray the reading of emotion in Oakenshield's eyes. Some of the other dwarves just do not get enough screen time to shine. Gloin in particular is a non-entity which is a shame as Gimli's father. Fili and Kili do not have much to offer in this first part of the trilogy. The others do not stand out. The axe embedded in Bifur's head is not funny and is that rarity in a fantasy film - a breach of suspended disbelief. The nominal main actor is Martin Freeman as Bilbo. Freeman made his name in The Office as the everyman. Freeman's portrayal of Bilbo is very reminiscent of Tim from The Office. He is often wrongly credited as being very likeable. That just isn't right, Bilbo is not amazingly likeable here, he is sharp at times and a bit unfriendly. What Freeman brings though to many of his better known roles is that his reaction to the bizarre is so realistic. Bilbo is thrust into so many extraordinary locations, meeting people way beyond the normal. He reacts by trying his best to cope. Just as Tim coped with David Brent by getting through the ridiculous while recognising just how bizarre Brent was, Bilbo copes with the magnificent weirdness of Middle Eart. It is that struggle to cope and get through that in retrospect makes Freeman perfect for Bilbo. In the extras Ian McKellan credits Freeman with the rare skill of being able to potray thinking two things at once. As an ensemble it is of course magnificent. Films with a sizable cast are just more often better than those with a few characters. The band of adventurers works so well together. That the dwarves come with a range of accents from the British Isles seems odd at first but it is soon easy to forget. Of course it helps that the characters look so good. The superb Weta Workshop who had fame thrust upon them after the Rings films were released again do great work. The costumery is fantastic, the prosthetics impressive, the equipment the team carry looks the business. The score of Unepected Journey is dominated by the theme song, Misty Mountain. It is hauntingly beautiful. The deep register is really good for the dwarves. The closing credits version by Neil Finn is vastly inferior. The various background iterations of Misty Mountain through the film are catchy. As well as that song, the performaces of Man in the Moon by Jimmy Nesbitt and Goblin Town by the Goblin King are also quality. The Goblin King is played by Barry Humphries and he is so funny. His performance of the song is just genious. It is so good that when the King meets his end, it is actually a bit sad. Humphries saw his character as a vile villain but the off-key singing works so well in just making him a bit pathetic enough to garner some sympathy. Aside from the three plot-driven songs, the score is not anywhere near the same quality as Lord of the Rings. One step up from Rings is the relative role of Elves and Dwarves. In Rings, Peter Jackson made the mistake of over-emphasising their almost Aryan perfection while the one Dwarf was generally a laughing stock. This time round the Dwarves mock the Elves and offer a gritty counterpoint to the diffident super race. The extras on the Blu Ray last about 9 hours over 2 discs. They're absolutely excellent, taking the viewer behind the scenes through pretty much the entire film. The extras offer a range of comments from everyone on screen as well as a huge number of behind the scenes people. The filming of the scenes being filmed shows a journey being undertaken by everyone involved. The physical training, the hijinks on set, the creation of weird and wonderful effects and creatures are all quality. Of most value though is that it adds so much depth to the understanding of the film. Lots of more subtle features become obvious through the extras. The extras do go into a bit of detail of the difficulties using the 3D with the size differential technology, in particular the impact on Ian McKellan. They also describe the difficulties with Azog, presumably with the root cause of it being a mistake to include Azog in the plot. There is almost no reference to why Rob Kazinsky really left the production. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is really good and the Blu Ray comes with Peter Jackson's industry leading extras. This is not as good as the Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit probably could have been less than a trilogy or a bit shorter in parts but for the return to Middle Earth after those years away it is a great way to immerse once again in the ultimate epic fantasy world.

Totally agree with those here who say: what extra are we getting? And why mix reviews of Hobbit 2012 with Hobbit 2013? It's such a daft system. All this waffle and as you all say - the basics - how much longer is the movie + is it worth it - are completely ignored. It's pretty important as no doubt in Feb 14 we'll be invited to fork out £20 for Part 2 theatrical, then in Nov 14 another £18 for Part 2 extended and the same again in 2015. What exactly has been added? Well not much as far as I can deduce excluding all the studio interviews etc (9 hours they boast) which I can live without. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey [DVD + UV Copy] [2013] [NTSC] shows 166 minutes according to Amazon The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - Extended Edition [Blu-ray 3D + Blu-ray + UV Copy] [2012] [Region Free] shows 182 minutes So another near £20 for 15-16 minutes. This is not an extra hour ... and judging by the 40-50+ extra titles in the list, are we looking at a few seconds extra in existing scenes we'll hardly notice? Me - I'm not pre-ordering. I'll wait and see what EXACTLY we're getting for our money. I love LOTR, truly one of most magical, extraordinary films ever made, and was blown away by the Hobbit. But I'm not a "completist at all costs". And I don't like the uneasy feeling I'm getting here of being ripped off. Why on earth couldn't they simply have released all this last spring? Talk about "double dipping". I bought LOTR in its various "incarnations" at least 3 maybe 4 times over. Looks like they're up to the same antics with the Hobbit. Well once bitten, twice shy. I'm "watching this space"

We very much enjoyed The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey after seeing it again, now with our young daughter. The extended version of these movies are highly recommended as it allows you to immerse yourself deeper into beautiful Middle Earth and its lore. And even though some of the critics labelled An Unexpected Journey too long we loved the extended version and some of the extra material. We would have gladly taken more of the added scenes. If anything, the last 45 minutes of this movies is a brilliant rollercoaster. Yes, the 13 minutes of added scenes add to an pacing issue that the movie already had in its original form, essentially a stretched-out version of Tolkien’s children’s book. The issue might be that the story that was meant as a children book perhaps doesn’t lend itself as much as a 9 hour experience. To deal with this many characters like the dwarves get backstories. And new interesting characters are introduced. I still think that the overall story line doesn’t compare well with the gravitas of the Lord of the Ring story line. The Hobbit movies lean more on action and slapstick. Yet we were thrilled to see the movie again and the extended version particular. So watching the Unexpected Journey on our fairly high-end Oled screen with proper surround sound was a delight; the picture is fantastic and of high quality with the colours looking vibrant and bright. The blu ray does do a lot of justice to all the detail of the movie. The audio is equally great with the dialogue, score, and sound effects very well balanced. Such audio visuals combined into an experience that could hardly be better. The Hobbit visuals are much better than the 1st LOTR The Fellowship of the Ring that we now started to watched again in blu ray. LOTR looks more blurry and dated, with some scenes clearly relying on 1990’s movie technology. Some of the old LOTR trilogy effects, apart from the Gollum scenes, start to look noticeably off - comparable to the issues that Star Wars A New Hope had vs its later trilogy movies. Where possible we buy the 3D version of movies, I even prefer it over the cinema 3D experience. The Unexpected Journey looks very crisp and immersing in 3D. An unexpected Journey tells the story of dwarf prince Thorin Oakenshield’s quest to drive the dragon Smaug from his ancient dwellings in the Lonely Mountain (Erebor). For the main character it’s a story about accepting new challenges and finding new friendships. The confrontation between Bilbo and Andy Serkis’ Gollum are particularly notable. And the scenes with the dwarves are quite pleasing. But you only get glimpses of Smaug, most as he flies over burning battlements and city ruins. The extra 13 minutes are scattered throughout the movie. You’ll get a few more dwarf songs, naked dwarfs in an Elf fountain (!) more elaborate gatherings and an extended Goblin-king scene. And perhaps most importantly you finally begin to understand why these particular Dwarves and Elves do not see eye-to-eye, and why Thranduil coldly refused to help the Erebor exiles after Smaug’s attack. The 3 discs contains about 9 (!) hours of extra’s and the list of included extra material is impressive (if you are into it); - The Filmmakers Commentary, - New Zealand: Home of Middle-Earth - about the location with cast interviews. - The Chronicles of The Hobbit – Part 1 – a very extensive documentary about the film production. - The Appendices, Part 8: Return to Middle-Earth – another extensive documentary about character and set design So it’s a lengthy movie and we watched it in 3 parts, we treated the remainder of the trilogy in the same manner and it got us into a similar mode as with a streaming tv series. The set also includes a digital copy. Nice in a sense. But I get very frustrated by the fact that I now have to run 4 different apps from movie studios each filled with their own digital copy format; iTunes, Flixster/Ultraviolet, Googleplay ect. And so far there is no proper way to integrate my collections of digital copies. Moreover, most will require wifi, which is not always available when travelling. Until this is being addressed these digital copies remain a half-baked freebie in support of self-copies.

The film (5/5): I really enjoyed this film a lot, I have seen it 4 times now at the time of writing (2 times in theatres (3D and 48 FPS 3D, 1 time theatrical on Blu-ray (2D), 1 time extended (3D)) and I still find the film to be incredibly entertaining. As a huge fan of the Lord of the Rings original films (those are my all time favourites), I am very pleased with how the team decided to make The Hobbit. It's very similar to the Lord of the Rings films in style and feel, but of course the stories are quite different. While The Hobbit may not be as epic and deep as the Lord of the Rings and not have the same grand scale, the team still did an amazing job at expanding the original story so it would be more in tone with the Lord of the Rings. If you're familiar with the source material and you're not expecting a second "The Lord of the Rings" (but did enjoy the original films), you'll likely also enjoy this film a lot. Personally I can't wait for the next two films! The Blu-ray: The Blu-rays themselves are very much like the Lord of the Rings Extended versions, similar packaging, art work on discs, content on discs, etc. Good choice! The extended scenes (4/5): There are about 12 minutes of extra footage. I enjoyed most of them and I have decided this will be the version I'll watch on future occasions. Like with the Lord of the Rings, there are some scenes where you completely understand why they were cut, but they're not that distracting and if you're like me and can't get enough of Middle-earth, more content is mostly preferred! I don't feel that the extended scenes hurt the pacing of the film. Video (5/5): The video quality is simply amazing, as is the 3D. At this moment it is probably the best-looking Blu-ray film in my collection and I really did enjoy the 3D in this film (I have to admit I am a fan of 3D in general) Audio (5/5): The audio track is very good, it's quite pleasing to hear on a surround system. Extra's (5/5): Over 9 hours of extra's, what more could you ask for? General information about the discs: 3D Disc 1 & 2: Languages: English, French, Italian, Portuguese Subtitles: English SDH, French, Italian SDH, Dutch, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Korean, Spanish (Latin), Portuguese, ???* 2D Disc 3: Languages: English, French, Italian, Spanish (Castellano), Subtitles: English SDH, French, Italian SDH, Spanish (Castellano), Dutch Appendices (Extra's) Disc 4 & 5: Languages: English Subtitles: English SDH, French, German, Italian, Spanish (Castellano), Dutch, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Korean, Spanish (Latin), Portuguese (Brazil), Czech, Hungarian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, ???* The ???* indicates a subtitle language I am unfamiliar with, for a full list see the pictures in the customer images.

Slight spoiler Alert* The Box Set consists of 5 Blu-Ray Discs. One and two contain the extended film in 3D, the third contains the extended 2D version of the film and discs four and five, the Appendices parts 7 and 8, extending as they do from the appendices attached to the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. So what of the extended version ?. In truth it falls a little short of what I would term extended, especially when faced with the generously extended LOTR films which added scenes that explained and expanded upon scenes already in those films and made them, in my humble opinion, far superior to their theatrical cuts. Here, a measly 13 minutes consists of scenes that add little and are, in one or two instances, gratuitous. The two "Singing" scenes, particularly that involving the Goblin King are neither here nor there but the scenes in Hobbiton and Rivendell, whilst adding little to the overall story do not seem out of place. In this case its a toss up as to which version (theatrical or extended) I prefer but I opt for the extended on the basis that the longer the better when it comes to Peter Jacksons fabulous world. Of course the box set is more than just the film itself and the appendices, running for almost 9 hours, are to be treasured and enjoyed. The whole "making of" is fascinating with everything covered from make up, set design, sound, cinematography and the actors themselves.Its what adds to the whole 5 star experience. So, leaving the value of the extended version aside, what minor niggles do I have ?. Two actually, one very minor and one that annoys me. The first is the first appearance of Gandalf at Hobbiton. Is it just me or does he look much much older than he appears in the rest of the film and the subsequent trilogy ?. His eyes have big dark rings around them and it looks like they went overboard with his make up before scaling it back. I find it very distracting. The second is the scene with Gollum and Bilbo in the Goblin Tunnels. I am sorry to say this about Andy Serkis whom I think is an incredible actor but I cannot hear a word of what Gollum says. I know its Gollums voice but its too shrill and raspy to get any sense of the riddles he poses apart from the odd word here and there. Its very frustrating and, having watched the scene at least four times now, I still cant get what he is saying. Perhaps its my ears letting me down. As I say they are minor niggles. Overall the experience is fantastic. Aided and abetted by New Zealands exceptionally photogenic landscape Peter Jackson and his incredibly talented crew have come up with another gem. No its not LOTR, its a different experience and, to a certain extent comparisons are unfair but if you haven't read the book (or perhaps even if you have) just sit back and enjoy the thrill ride that is the unexpected journey.

I already owned this on DVD, having bought it after renting digitally & realising I'd want to watch it again. I was a bit confused whilst watching my original dvd to find some bits I remembered from the digital rental appeared to be missing. On further investigation I realised that I'd seen the extended version originally & once you've seen something, it's hard to "forget" it & enjoy the film, knowing bits are missing. So, even though it cost more than double, I decided to buy this. I'm not sure how much more film you get for the extra £8.50, some have said 6 minutes, some have said 15. If you've not seen the film, I'm not sure the "extra" in this is worth the money, unless (unlike me) you take full advantage of the other 3 dvd full of extras in the box, but I wanted the extras as I knew they were meant to be there! I was a little annoyed when half way through the film it stopped & instructed me to remove the disc & put in disc 2 (seriously, an extra 6-15 minutes wouldn't fit on 1 disc???!!) but in hindsight it gave us a break that enabled us to watch it over 2 nights without the hassle of trying to find where we'd stopped it the night before (it's a long film!) The film itself is awesome, which you'd probably figured by the fact that I've now paid £27 to watch/own it in various formats!!