The Hobbit

Rating:
Summary: A pretty good adaptation of Tolkien's masterpiece
Review: This animated version of Tolkien's 'The Hobbit,' along with the other two films of Bakshi's trilogy, stays pretty faithful to the book on which it was based. There are parts missing, of course, but that is to be expected with any screen adaptation. The voices are great, and the music (by Glenn Yarbrough) is tolerable, although very dated. In fact, this is one of the chief defects of the movie--the dialogue is very dated. You can only tolerate hearing Bilbo or a dwarf say "Bless my Soul!" so many times.

Overall, though, this is a pretty good film. The animation is not great (Smaug has the face of a cat), but is tolerable for the time in which it was made. Again, there are no technological marvels here, just a good, well-told story. This movie isn't perfect, but it will do until a newer version of 'The Hobbit' comes along.

Rating:
Summary: So many memories...
Review: I must have watched this movie 100 times, at least, as a child. But all I had was a really poor quality tape that I made from a TV broadcast. I assumed since the movie is SO old that it would be difficult to really clean up the picture but actually, it looks great! And the sound is good to. I mean, there is a limited quality they had to work with originally, but this just looks so much better than I remember!

Rating:
Summary: dated but respectful animated adaptation of Tolkien classic
Review: In watching any of Ralph Bakshi's animated trilogy of Tolkien's classics you can see that the team who worked on them had real affection and respect for the books. But there's no arguing that technology has come a lo-o-o-o-o-ong way since then. Long and frequent songs, on the other hand, are faithful to the spirit of the books but are really too dated to be entertaining. The movie's voice talent is superb -- Orson Bean as Bilbo, Richard Boone as Smaug, John Huston as Gandalf, Hans Conried as Thorin and Otto Preminger as the Elvenking. Romeo Muller's script is loyal to the book though some arcs, such as the visit with Beorn, are omitted.

Special features are not spectacular: cast and crew credits, Tolkien facts and trivia, and hobbit facts. Subtitles are in English, French or Spanish.

Rating:
Summary: The Hobbit's DVD
Review: First off I would like to say this is an excellent movie. It follows the book very well except it did cut out a few parts which were in the book. The only thing I found wrong with this adaptation of Tolkiens masterpiece is that they added horrible songs (Which were not in the book) that will be stuck in your head for hours. They did an excellent job casting the voice artists in this movie. Now, for the DVD. WB didn't do a very good job on this DVD . First of all there were barely any extras on this DVD except for lists of cast and crew and a few facts about the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings. The worst part of the DVD is that at some points in the movie all of the sound goes away for a few seconds except for the background music. Even though this DVD has problems its still a great DVD. If you are a fan of the book or if your looking for an adventure this DVD is a must have.

Rating:
Summary: Very bad,
Review: If you had not already read the book, you would not be able to follow the story line. After Gandalf comes, the next morning the dwarves just 'appear' no knocks, rings, or any of that sort of thing. The elves look like little wizened green men and women, and quite ugly. There are no details, and some of the most important ones are not there. This is a waste of time and money, the books are a thousand times better.

Rating:
Summary: The Hobbit
Review: "The Hobbit" is a great, classic, animated movie for you and the entire family! It is filled with adventure, fantasy, and fun. There, are, a lot of fantasy characters brought to life from the author J.R.R. Tolkiens book "The Hobbit or There And Back Again" which I have read. And those fantasy characters are: trolls; goblins; a terrible creature named Gollum; huge spiders; a dragon; a hobbit; a wizard; and dwarves. Some reviewers on this site are complaining about sound problems with the DVD version of "The Hobbit" and I totally believe them because I own "The Hobbit" animated movie on both VHS and DVD. Well guess what? I happen to own the 1996 VHS version of "The Hobbit", and I have noticed that even the new 2001 VHS version also has sound problems too because I have watched the new 2001 VHS version with one of my best friends, who owns it, at his house. Oh well, I guess that is just the way things are in the world. But the sound problems with the DVD and new 2001 versions of "The Hobbit" animated movie are not all that bad. All it is; is that some sound effects from the older versions of "The Hobbit" have been cut out. It doesn't bother me much. All in all "The Hobbit" animated movie is a great classic for the entire family. I highly recommend you buy this movie for VHS or DVD if you are a "Lord of the Rings" book or movie fan because "The Hobbit", as you probably know is a prequel to "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy.

Rating:
Summary: Bilbo really was the one who salvaged this film...
Review: Of all the LOTR characters, Bilbo is my favorite one; he's more interesting than Frodo or the other hobbits. The plot is a little banal and since it is a rather old movie, it's male-dominated and not very contemporary, but it's a rather fun film to watch. Best thing was that it was not too violent except a war scene in the end. Bilbo was funny and sometimes made me laugh, esp. when he's reluctant to join the elves in their adventure. Kids would enjoy the animated liveliness and singing rhymes that punctuate the film. Bilbo is really cute with his big brown eyes and red hair; he's also intelligent, witty, and real in a way that Frodo is not. Bilbo also shows fear openly, esp. when he and his elf friends are captured by evil gobins; they show Bilbo's shivering and teeth rattling realistically. I liked that Bilbo was intelligent enough to see that the various societies greed and subsequent going to war over the newly discovered treasure was wrong and it was courageous of him to stand up and refuse to join the foolish fighting even when the elves and other ridiculed him. Bilbo is almost as enlightened as Harry Potter in some respects and very peaceful and loving like Harry. I like the touching scene where Bilbo forgives his friends for ridiculing him and even sheds tears for one elf that dies in battle. I'd take Bilbo any day over Frodo. All in all, a cute, touching, funny story and a lot better than the LOTR series.

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic film, but a disappointing DVD!!
Review: This was always one of my favorite films as a child, and stands the test of time even today. If you love Tolkien, Lord of the Rings, or just fantasy films in general, you will adore this picture. If you're a fan of animation, you will love what you find here--every unique scene looks like a fantasy watercolor masterpiece come-to-life. The voice acting is superb--some of the best actors of the day lended their voice talents to this sparkling gem of a movie.

However, that being said, let me tell you how disappointed with the DVD I was. Having watched the original on TV many times, and later watching the VHS version over and over, I was treated with a sad surprise upon watching the DVD for the first time: in MANY scenes there is a glaring absence of the orignal sound-effects. If you never saw the orignal (non-DVD) version, you'd never know what you were missing. But let me tell you, without those sound-effects, a lot of the dramatic punch is lost from many of the best scenes. It's almost like someone just turned the sound off at the most dramatic moments!

Warner Bros, you should be ashamed of yourselves, releasing this film for the first time on DVD in an incomplete state! Do right by this American classic film and those that love it, and redo the DVD--restore it back to it's original magnificence! This timeless film deserves better.

Rating:
Summary: A great piece of work.
Review: This is truly one of the greatest animated fantasy epics of all time. Many people thought this movie was awful because of that Gollum creature. Gollum isn't scary, I actually thought he was quite funny. Anyways, the plot is very easy to understand, if you listen to the first part. I enjoyed watching Bilbo, he was a very decent main character. The animation isn't perfect, but it has very delightful colors. The setting is not amazing, but it is quite superb for a seventys cartoon film. Maybe some day this will be a real movie. What I mean by that is maybe it will have real people starring in it. I will recommend this film to anyone who is an extreme fan of J.R.R Tolkien, or if you are in love with his superb masterpiece, "The Hobbit."

Rating:
Summary: Tolkien for kids
Review: Long before Peter Jackson, The Hobbit was the first of Tolkien's works to be adapted to the screen. This animated version premiered on television in 1978 and it is passable, but nothing spectacular. This movie tells the story of how Bilbo Baggins acquires the ring that becomes the central focus of The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

The movie follows the book fairly well, but it is basically play by numbers. At only 77 minutes, it moves through the story quickly and fails to develop it. It lacks the feel or spirit of the book and the characters receive little development. Gollum, who is one of Tolkien's more interesting creations, is portrayed as a loathsome toad. Smaug hardly seems the awesome and terrifying creature that Bilbo outwits in the book. Gandalf and Bilbo are the only characters who receive an acceptable treatment.

The animation is passable and the music is at best listenable and at worst annoying. As an introduction to Tolkien's works for kids this movie succeeds. However, for a more adult and/or Tolkien-savy audience this is lacking as a good representation of the depth of story telling that he was capable of. Unfortunately Peter Jackson has said that he has no plans to adapt this book so for now this is the only adaptation of The Hobbit available.