The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Directed by Peter Jackson
Written by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson, Guillermo del Toro
Starring: Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Cate Blanchett, Christopher Lee, Hugo Weaving, Andy Serkis, Ian Holm
Warner Bros. Pictures
Rated PG-13 | 170 minutes
Release Date: December 14th, 2012
Director Peter Jackson returns to J.R.R. Tokien‘s Middle-Earth with The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, the first entry in a new series of films that serve as a prequel to The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
Set 60 years before The Fellowship of the Ring, An Unexpected Journey concerns Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman), a young Hobbit who goes on a grand adventure with the wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen) and a company of thirteen Dwarves, led by Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage).
Their goal is simple: reach the Lonely Mountain and reclaim the kingdom of Ererbor (and its golden treasure) from the dragon Smaug (Benedict Cumberbatch), the ‘Chiefest and Greatest of Calamities.’
The journey leads them from Bilbo’s home in Bag End in the Shire to the Elven stronghold of Rivendell and through the Goblin-infested Misty Mountains, where Bilbo encounters Gollum (Andy Serkis), a tragic creature who possesses a golden ring that will change the hobbit’s life forever.
That is, of course, the basic plot of Tolkien’s 1937 novel. Jackson’s film adaptation, however, makes extensive use of appendices and other supplementary materials to expand the 300-page children’s book into a trilogy of films that will eclipse nine hours of screen time.
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