The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Rated: PG-13
Genre: Fantasy Adventure
Street Date: March 19, 2013
Available On: DVD, Blu-ray/DVD Combo and 3D Blu-ray/DVD Combo

The Film: The Hobbit Bilbo Baggins is recruited by Gandalf, a wizard,  to join a group of Dwarves that intend to reclaim their lost kingdom from the Dragon Smaug.

The Extras: 10 Production Videos, Trailers and the featurette “New Zealand: Home of Middle-Earth”

Recommendation: I enjoyed “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” but it isn’t nearly as good as the “Lord of the Rings” films. Its prologue feels a bit too extended and director Peter Jackson opts to use ample amounts of CGI effects, rather than the mixture of practical and CGI effects that made “Lord of the Rings” a visual masterpiece. It’s hard to judge where this trilogy is going to go (quality wise). Many complained that “Fellowship of the Ring,” the first film in the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, was too slow and spent too much time on introducing the various characters. I thought it was the best written, although not the most entertaining, of that series. I hope that the next two films feel a bit tighter, but I'd imagine that is up to Jackson to decide.

The visual and audio presentation is superb. Those that didn’t like the 47fps version of the theatrical release should have little to nothing to complain about here. I unfortunately haven’t seen the 3D release, but I suspect that it looks fantastic as well.

The majority of the bonus features, which do clock in at over two hours, were released on the internet leading up to the film’s theatrical release. It’s nice to have them in HD quality, but we all know that there inevitably will be an re-release featuring more behind-the-scenes footage and more than likely an extended version of the film itself.

-Ryan Michael Painter