By Frank and Kay Whatley
For this issue, we previewed The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, the first part of a three-part movie series based on the J.R.R. Tolkien
children’s novel, The Hobbit, or There and Back Again.
This “Part 1” of the story begins as the book began, with Bilbo Baggins in the Shire — a village inhabited by the small Hobbits. Bilbo is visited by a group of dwarves including Thorin Oakenshield. He receives an invitation, of sorts, to join the dwarves on their quest. Bilbo is encouraged by a wizard (Gandalf The Grey) to accept the invitation. The beginning of their adventures is covered within this Part 1 movie.
It is worth noting that while the Lord Of The Rings trilogy has one movie for each of the three books, The Hobbit will have three movies to one book; and, a children’s book at that. Expect the action to be drawn out due to the number of film hours devoted to the small number of pages. This part 1 is almost 3 hours long. Before you go to see this movie, plan to stay a while and get those snacks ready.
