Customer Reviews

The Hobbit

5 star:		(104)
4 star:		(59)
3 star:		(45)
2 star:		(18)
1 star:		(33)

 

 

I have grown up with this story of The Hobbit, its one of my favorites. I have always had this movie in my collection and know the lines by heart. I have bought this DVD and the DVD stinks! Warner Brothers ruined this story on DVD. How? The sound was re-mastered for the DVD and there are sound effects MISSING! They used an old copy of the soundtrack that was used on a four record set that issued in 1978. If you want the complete soundtrack I recomend you buy the VHS tape. (The older the copy the better) They have also added new sound effects and lines that are NOT in the the original soundtrack! There are also problems with their DVD's of The Lord of the Rings and The Return of the King. (See my reviews for those DVDs under there listings) If Waner Brothers really cares they will re-issue These 3 DVDs after correcting their problems. ~Rob~

I saw this movie for the first time as a pre-schooler, and loved it. Believe it or not, I actually saw this movie before I read the book. In retrospect, I realize that my mother introduced me to this movie to prepare me for the book, which she later read to me as a bedtime story. Anyway, I still like the movie, which now holds additional nostalgic value. In my opinion, this movie is a better adaptation than the other attempts to translate Tolkein's work into animation. Part of this is probably due to the fact that The Hobbit actually was a simpler book, and was made to please younger children, as well as older kids and adults. Even though the encounter with Beorn was left out, this movie is an excellent adaptation of the novel, covering all significant plot points, and making excellent use of Tolkein's songs and poetry in the soundtrack. I still think of the melodies in this film when I read the musical sections of the book. The vocal acting was done brilliantly, with Orson Bean making Bilbo simultaneously mild-mannered and courageous; John Huston giving Gandalf a vigourous personality and resonant voice to match; and Hans Conreid making Thorin suitably proud and surly. The animation, which some people call "dated" is perfectly adequate, is not so spectacular that it takes one's attention away from the story, and has a feel that I have never found outside of a Rankin-Bass film. In fact, it actually resembles a moving illustration. This film has survived the test of time, and remains an excellent way to get someone (child or adult) interested enough in Middle Earth to read the books, at which point they are firmly hooked.

Currently Peter Jackson's adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's first novel, "The Hobbit" is mired down in pre-production problems. But while you wait for Middle-Earth to come to life on the silver screen, it's worth checking out Rankin-Bass' "The Hobbit," an animated kids' movie that is a fairly pleasant, moderately faithful adaptation.

Bilbo Baggins is a mild-mannered little hobbit living unobtrusively in Bag End, a conventional hobbit-hole in the comfortably boring Shire. His life is abruptly turned upside-down when the mysterious wizard Gandalf arrives, along with thirteen dwarves (who proceed to take over Bilbo's home). That evening, they reveal their reason for coming: They are seeking a "burglar" to help them retake back Lonely Mountain, a dwarf stronghold taken over by the dragon Smaug.

Whether he likes it or not, Bilbo soon ends up the burglar, and is dragged into elf palaces, goblin traps and even a fateful meeting with the grotesque froglike Gollum. The dangerous road ahead of him draws out reserves of courage and intelligence that few knew he had -- but the greatest danger comes not only from Smaug, but from the armies that congregate near his mountain.

First off: This is only a moderately faithful adaptation of Tolkien's books -- most of the essentials are here, but quite a few things are missing, including any dwarves or elves other than Elrond and the thirteen guys following Bilbo. There are some vague mentions of a dwarf army arriving and some random singing voices outside Elrond's house, but nothing more than that.

But it has the essentials -- goblins, eagles, hobbits, mountains of treasure, elves of various stripes, the grey wizard Gandalf and a town of men living on a stilted lake town. And there's plenty of humor ("MY ARMS!") and quite a few battle scenes (which are marred by weird facial expression and schizophrenic spinning), and a truly lovely scene where Smaug starts visiting destruction on what he believes is his enemies.

On the other hand, we are also treated to the weird sight of the Elf-King, Bard, and Thorin all gushing over each other, ten seconds after they were trying to kill each other. As for the animation, it's a mixed bag -- the dwarves, Gandalf, Gollum and Bilbo are all animated nicely, and there are some truly beautiful backdrops for the action (the Misty Mountain, Laketown, Hobbiton, even Mirkwood)... but the wood-elves look like distended Yodas.

However, the sound is TERRIBLE. They have cleaned it up in places, but in other areas they have inserted gratuitous screams and mutters. They have also pulled out sounds: barrels rolling, arrows striking, Smaug roaring and breathing fire, the dwarves wailing from inside their barrels, the clash of gates - you get the idea. It's little details that makes it feel more real, but these are all removed -- and there's an annoying crackling sound that pops up every now and then.

Until the live-action adaptations of "The Hobbit" comes out, we'll have to be content with the animated version -- it has some flaws, but it's an entertaining little story by itself.

First off, let me say that I'm a big fan of this movie...I grew up with it, and have always loved it. Unfortunately, if you want to experience this movie for yourself you will be better off buying the VHS version. The sound dubbing in the DVD version is inexcusable. There are portions where all of the background sound is missing entirely. The most notable points are during the spider attack in Mirkwood, and inside of Smaug's cave, although after watching this several times I realized that the sound problem was endemic. It made me think that the DVD was cut with a first draft of the sound recording instead of the final draft.

Do not buy this DVD! You will be disappointed, especially if you grew up watching this on TV as a kid (as I did). Buy the VHS tape instead.

WB (or whoever produced this DVD) should be ashamed. I personally think they should be flogged as well.

"The Hobbit" is a great animated movie for 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, 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 beleive 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 my friend, 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 prequal to "The Lord Of The Rings" trilogy.

For the first time in my life, I wish I had a VHS copy even with the DVD released. I first noticed a problem when the first spider dies in the movie, and there is no vortex sound effect. Then the entire scene in Lake Town is... muted. The arrows are silenced, the dragon roars as a mouse, and the fire, it crackles as a loud annoyance. I wish I had read the reviews online prior to purchasing, now I am stuck with a poor quality DVD. I will be buying the VHS shortly.

This vendor's edition is washed out, grainy, and missing snippets. It looks like a bad copy from a TV broadcast. If you want to enjoy this wonderful video, buy the version from Warner Bros. Classic Tales. It is the same production reproduced properly. I'm going to see whether I can return this version for the good one.

I first saw the Hobbit when I was about 12 years old. It made me ask my dad a lot of questions about literature. Later on in life, when I was about 18, I started to read a lot of books. I remebered this childhood classic, and I quickly went out and read the book by J.R.R. Tolkien. Soon after reading the book, I went into a Tolkien craze and I went out and bought the video to watch again. This video is simply a charming little cartoon that pretty much accurately represents the style of Tolkien. It is definitely not as morbid as the cartoon "The Lord of the Rings" directed by Ralph Bashki in 1979, but then again "The Hobbit" is not as morbid a book as the fascinating trilogy "Lord of the Rings". This movie is wonderful for introducing the kids to Tolkien's works for the first time, but it is also great to watch even if you are an adult fan. I warn you though if you are expecting a gothic and graphic representation, you will not be happy. The fight and battle scenes are very kiddy and the evil things represented are not really evil enough. All of this being said, however, this movie still somehow manages to capture the spirit of "The Hobbit". John Huston is the voice of Gandalf, and there is not a better Gandalf-sounding voice that I have ever heard. The animation of Bilbo(and the rest of the Hobbits), the dwarves, the elves, and the Goblins are all pretty much how I pictured them while reading the books. Like the opening theme song says "the greatest adventure is the one that lies ahead". Start your adventure today by ordering this classic video.

The DVD omits _all_ ambient noise in the movie, including Smaug's fire, his whooshing noise over the village, the arrows plinking, wolves howling, etc. It is very disturbing to those who are familiar with the video version, and if I could I would ask for my money back.

This video is definitely not just for kids! The animation is incredibly well done for the decade in which the film was made. Middle-Earth looks so much like I had imagined it when reading the Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. The voice acting is superb, and the music is very fitting. They may have taken some liberty with the story, but for the most part the movie is very accurate to the book. Two of the most vivid scenes from the book, Biblo's confrontations with Gollum and Smaug, are elaborated upon in the film. The film also deeply plays upon the angle of the story about Bilbo's simple life as a Hobbit, and displays the messages Tolkien wished his readers to understand, in depth.

This is probably the most accurate to-the-book film based upon The Hobbit. I recommend it to all Tolkien fans. This film will take you to Middle-Earth, There and Back Again.