The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Tali: The Hobbit, the prequel to the Lord of the Rings trilogy, is an epic film depicting just how Bilbo got that famous ring, and what sort of adventures he went on before going into pseudo-retirement. The film has all of the usual elements that fans of LOTR could expect: long, scenic shots of the country side, battle scenes, humorous dwarves and of course, my precious. This by no means indicate that this film was predictable or boring, rather, it was exciting because it played to its previous strengths. My only complaint was that there was NO WAY that this film needed to be three hours long. I understand and appreciate Peter Jackson's vision (as a fan of the earlier series), but there were TOO MANY scenes that did not make the necessary cuts in the editing room. Bring an ass cushion.. or a snuggie.

Leo: For the record, the Lord of the Rings story was made after the Hobbit which was written in 1937. The Hobbit is obviously a more up-beat movie than LOTR, but it looks as if  Peter Jackson is making the much-needed bridge between The Hobbit in terms of plot (even within the first movie, you can tell the added scenes). I understand the view that it could have been shorter; that's fairly obvious with any LOTR movie including this one. However, I did not want it to be shorter. I am sure I'm not alone when I say that I enjoyed every minute of that movie, even the "long" traveling scenes to Howard Shore's iconic and brilliant score for the film. I could have watched this movie and the next 3 lord of the rings movies in a row with food and bathroom breaks. Hopefully he can keep this up for two more movies. I just want more LOTR.