science fiction

The Hobbit Movie Review

Starring: Orson Bean, John Huston, Richard Boon, Hans Conreid, Brother Theodore
Enter a review
of your own!
"The Hobbit"
Message Board
The Hobbit Resident Scholar Profiles
TOP SCHOLAR: Debbie

SCHOLARS:
Would you like to be a scholar and make five dollars per review? Click here to submit a review!

Click here for free online dating advice!

Review Summary
Bilbo Baggins (voice by Orson Bean) is a small hobbit, happiest when he is sitting at the door of his hobbit hole, smoking his pipe and enjoying the slow-paced life of Hobbiton. But all of this is suddenly changed when the wizard Gandalf (voice by John Huston) appears with a dozen dwarves, headed by Thorin (voice by Hans Conreid). They are there to hire an expert burglar, of which Bilbo is purported to be, but by whom Bilbo really does not know. Before he knows it, Bilbo is on his way to Laketown where the last surviving dragon, Smaug (voice by Richard Boon), watches over the great dwarvish treasure that Thorin is determined to reclaim. Along the way, Bilbo will be forced to battle monstrous trolls, descend into the world of the goblins, escape the clutches of the creature Gollum (voice by Brother Theodore), free his friends from the huge spiders, and eventually steal into the cavern of the great Smaug himself...

I can vividly remember watching this film when I was a child and being absolutely entranced by this fantasy world. I had no idea it was based on a book until I was older and was able to devour Tolkien's books. I admit that the animation style takes a little getting used to, but I thought that it very ably suited the fantasy epic portrayed. All of the voices were perfect for the film and the voice of Gollum is particularly creepy - you can really tell that this creature has lost his sanity just by listening to the voice. I particularly enjoyed the soundtrack where they took care to use songs from the book. These were wonderful and I love that they took the time to put them in. Even though there is quite a bit of violence in the story, the animators took care not to show anything, just showing weird swirls of color and blackouts, I didn't even know that the characters were dying until I watched it when I was older. Still, it is a little too scary for young children to watch, regardless of its cartoon status. As far as the sound quality goes, I would have to agree with other viewers in that it is very poor on this DVD. If you are a fan, it is definitely worth your time to find a used copy of the older VHS version (and pray that Peter Jackson decides to make this film!).

Debbie, Resident Scholar


Detailed literary breakdown of The Hobbit
Our unique search engine breaks down books and movies into
dozens of literary elements, all of which are searchable.

New movie search (click here) New book search (click here)
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot

Composition of Movie
Actual chase scenes or violence - 40%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzle - 30%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 30%




**Fantasy or Science Fiction?** - fantasy story on another world/distant past
Explore/1st contact Yes
Explore plotlet: - fighting across a fantasy world
If a cartoon... - animated cartoon

Main Character
Identity: - Male
Profession/status: - thief/con artist
Age: - long lived adults
Has special powers? Yes
Magical/mental powers of main character: - Invisibility
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events? Yes
Hair color? - brunette (Brown)
Hair type - (man) short/medium curly
Body type - average (man)
Events of movie makes character more... - introspective
How sensitive is this character? - soggy whimpering jelly muffin
Sense of humor? - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - average physique

Secondary Main Character
Identity: - Male
Hair color - white/grey
Hair style - (man) long, like a girl
Body type - average build (man)
How much in movie? - 60%

Main Adversary
Identity: - magical being, male
Age: - long-lived adults
Profession/status: - not employed but independently wealthy
Has special powers? Yes
Magical/mental powers of main antagonist: - is very quick - can talk to animals - mind reading - super strength - can fly
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - 20%
Intelligence - Very much smarter than other characters
Physical condition - very athletic
How sensitive is this character? - mean, arrogant

Setting
Earth setting: - during "Tolkien" (fairytime) times
Takes place on Earth? Yes
Mountains? Yes
Forests? Yes

Style
Accounts of torture and death? - moderately detailed references to deaths
Tone of movie - upbeat
Any profanity? - None
If Soundtrack VERY NOTICEABLE... - Orchestra/classical
Is this movie based on a - book
Most similar reviews by Gordonator ranking
Alice in Wonderland (1951) starring Sterling Holloway, Ed Wynn, Richard Haydn, Kathryn Beaumont, Verna Felton
The Pagemaster starring Macaulay Culkin, Patrick Stewart, Whoopi Goldberg, Frank Welker
Shrek starring Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz and Eddie Murphy
Happily Ever After starring Irene Cara, Michael Horton, Malcolm McDowell, Tracey Ullman, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Dom DeLuise, Carol Channing, Frank Welker
Thumbelina starring Jodi Benson, Gino Conforti, Barbara Cook, Will Ryan, June Foray, Gary Imhoff, Charo, Gilbert Gottfried
Think you can enter a better review
of this movie? Click here to try!




Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s).
Try our new Star Wars & Star Trek puzzle pictures! Click here

Advertise with us
Feedback
Star Wars Revenge of the Sith plot spoilers
Hobbits
The politics game
The lawyer game

3 Movie search options!
1) Simple lookup
(title or author)

or
2) Detailed movie search
(click here)
or

3) One-click plot searches! Simply click on a plot below!

Animal Story

Clones

Coming of age

Cultural problems, alien culture

Explore/1st contact/ enviro story

Family relations

GIANT monster(s)

Horror story?

Inner Struggle

Lifeform altered?

Mental/magical powers focus

Parody

Political power play

Religious overtones?

Repressive society story

Robots, Computers, VR

Romance

Spying & Investigations

Tech./$$$/Info hunt

Time Travel story?

Training/Apprent.

War or Invasion


Games:
Trivia Masters!

Rescue your favorite
scifi characters from
slavery!


Talk to your favorite
scifi characters!


Eating New Yorkers
Computer Game


Pomeranians

Most recent TV & Movie discussions:

Doctor Who: Who was the best companion? 6/30/2008 7:37:52 AM

A Boy and His Dog: A Boy and His Dog 6/30/2008 12:55:48 AM

Lost in Space (TV): What kind of a name is Guy for a guy? 6/26/2008 10:21:30 AM

Lost in Space (TV): Wasn't it obvious that Major West was never going to get any? 6/26/2008 10:17:45 AM

Charmed: Is Piper really a Halliwell? 6/26/2008 7:20:13 AM

Alien Series: Was Vasquez a lesbian? 6/26/2008 6:57:27 AM

Charmed: What's wrong with Rose McGowan's chin? 6/26/2008 1:39:23 AM

Battlestar Galactica: Do Vipers fly past the speed of light? 6/26/2008 1:27:52 AM

Blade Runner: Was Harrison Ford on Tranquilizers or an Actor's Strike When Filming Blade Runner? 6/26/2008 1:21:38 AM

1984: 1984 6/25/2008 11:01:47 PM


Newest slaves:
Heather Graham 5:57:57 AM
7 of 9 (Jeri Ryan) 5:26:35 AM
Eowyn 5:23:38 AM
The Incredible Hulk 5:20:06 AM
Judy Robinson 5:16:36 AM
Jadzia Dax 5:12:57 AM
General Martok 5:09:14 AM
Zoe 5:02:29 AM
Vanilla Romana 5:00:04 AM
Prue Halliwell (Shannen Doherty) 4:54:36 AM
All slaves
(click here)


Celebrity interviews:
President George W. Bush 6:32:00 PM
Jan-Michael Vincent 2:16:51 PM
Captain Kathryn Janeway 3:47:46 PM
Jack ONeill (Richard Dean Anderson) 1:39:22 PM
Jennifer Aniston (Friends) 5:01:07 PM
All celebrities
(click here)