The Hobbit Motion Picture Trilogy: 4K UHD Review
Along with The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit Trilogy arrives on 4K UHD this week. As with the L.O.T.R. set, I want to start off by saying that there was a very limited amount of time for me to review this release so my comments will be based on the theatrical cut of the first film, The Unexpected Journey. This set, along with L.O.T.R. arrived only a few days ago. Due to the runtime of each film (both cuts), it would not be possible for me to screen them all and have a review up in time.
A decade after The Lords of the Rings trilogy took the world by storm, Peter Jackson returned to the land of fantasy and adventure with The Hobbit trilogy which was set years before L.O.T.R. Based on the classic J.R.R. Tolkien novel. One thing that sets this trilogy apart from the previous is that with The Hobbit, 3 films were adapted from one book. This of course allowed Jackson to spread things out (as these films weren’t already long enough?). Although I am not a fan of The Hobbit films, I do prefer them to The Lord of the Rings and I am not quite sure why.
Ian McKellen, Hugo Weaving, Cate Blanchett, Christopher Lee, Andy Serkis, and Elijah Wood (briefly) return for The Unexpected Journey, which sees Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) reluctantly journey to the Lonely Mountain with a group of dwarves to help reclaim their home and the gold beneath it. Having never read the source material, I am not able to compare the film to the book, but people who I have spoken to felt Rings was far more interesting and I guess I can understand that. For me, I felt The Hobbit told a more focused story with less characters to follow and the adventure we are taken on is far more compelling.
As I mentioned in my review of L.O.T.R., the 4K transfer looked superb and much like with that one, Peter Jackson also supervised the 4K scan for The Hobbit. I would say The Hobbit looks even better. Most likely due to the filming process during production using Epic Red cameras, unlike the super 35mm used for Rings. The first film in both trilogies are given incredible 4K transfers and I am sure the films that follow look equally impressive. As for the sound, Dolby Atmos is also what is presented here and it is the sound of perfection.
As with the Rings trilogy, I should note that there are no bonus features included and Warner Bros. announced that in the summer of 2021 they will be releasing a 4K Ultimate Collection of theatrical and extended cuts of all six films, along with new bonus content. You may want to decide if you want to jump on the 4K now or wait until later next year.
By: Marc Ferman