Hobbit Deluxe Edition DVD9)

While the movie leaves a lot out from the book, the animation and the music/songs are great!! Richard Boone as the voice of Smaug is the best, and the "Crack the Dishes Smash the Plates" song by the dwarves makes all kids laugh and all parents cringe. Wish they had done the whole series in this style of animation, as it was fun...and I'm not taking anything away from other Tolkien movies and videos, but this one is definitely worth watching many times. My sons all love it too. Heck, now that I've written about it, I'm going to have to go watch the movie again. cmz :-)

I have always thought this was an excellent film. This was also my first introduction to the world that Tolkien created. The DVD is of excellent quality. It took me back to that first experience and I appreciated it as much as the first time.

Better than the 21st century three part massacre of the original work by Tolkien, in my opinion.

It does note in the description (barely) that the Blu-Ray is from Spain. If you look closely at the DVD cover art or back, you will see it in Spanish. However, do not worry - it has an English (the movie original) soundtrack as well as a Spanish soundtrack. The recording - both sound and picture - are very clear. It is faithful to the book in style, as compared to that trilogy abomination. It is definitely made for kids, with many of the songs in the book actually made into music here. I still remember when I saw this as a kid. A great DVD to own.

While it makes a few very odd choices, such as the Elvenking looking like a goblin, most of the spider sequence, and Gollum’s design, I really enjoyed this film. Generally speaking, I found it hewed closer to the spirit of the book than the more recent trilogy did (Although there were certainly other things that they did better), and was a very faithful telling of a classic novel. It is interesting to see how Tolkien’s world was imagined before the Jackson films, and this is certainly an interesting and delightful take. As with Tolkien’s books, music is found throughout, and in many cases, his own lines are used, either directly, or for inspiration, in creating the songs of this film. I listen to the warg-song on its own sometimes, it is so good. “Misty Mountains” is also very good. The animation is very visually appealing, outside of the spiders and wood-elves. The Shire, Smaug, and the Company all look especially good. Gandalf’s voice actor, while not McKellen, fits the role very well. The film is very unwilling to show violence, which is good for young viewers, but in a story with battles, I personally don’t find spinning-effects a suitable replacement for sword-strikes. I was not a fan of Gollum’s voice actor, but making him essentially a frog-thing, larger than Bilbo, rather than a withered and worn creature that had once been a hobbit himself, really ruined the riddles scene for me. Overall, this movie has some major flaws, but it is a very fun viewing experience, and I would strongly recommend anyone who likes the Hobbit or the Lord of the Rings see it at least once.

Watched this movie since I was 9 years old. Thank you

When comparing this version to the new, and hopefully more complete, version as yet in the process of being relieased, it can, at times, seem a bit brief and choppy... The speed with which it moves through the story is, by comparrison, remarkably quick, and can seem to lack Lots of backstory... but for 1977, and for decades afterward, This Was the deffinitive version of the hobbit!As someone who grew up with it, I found the brevity to only inspire my own imagination as to the possible reasons, and even now, certain phrases, images, and sounds Stick in my Subconscious in ways I've never really completely appreciated...A level of subtlety which I've only recently come to realise when noticing a handfull of 'sound effect omissions' from This Version... For instance, while the 'sound' is made elsewhere, there's something about that weird 'dying scream' noise that the spiders originally gave time and again that has haunted me for Years... I can remember as a kid, wondering just why they spun around and around (when they died) and the sound has never left my mind...Other similar sounds, such as the arrows bouncing off of Smaug's chest during the battle, I am also comming to realise, have become Strong Memories in my mind... made most conspicuous in this version by the one or two omissions...Indeed, Visually, but More So, AUDITORALLY This Is the one that marks my memory So Well.Sound Effects aside, the MUSIC of this version is Stunning, Deffinitive, and So Completely Perfect in Every Way, I find myself Continually Disappointed and Underwhelmed by Any Other Interpretation!Tolkien is known for using song in his work, and essentially ALL of the musical lyrics come directly from the text, yet Every Single Version of the songs presented here have become, in essence, the ONLY Versions of their work which I can Really Totally Enjoy.Indeed, much of the story is presented in abbreviated form Through the Use of Song, and thus, part after part I find myself not only singing along with, but remembering afterward.The animation too is intriguing in that it is familliar also to those who went on to watch 'the thundercats' and similar animation from later years, which - in my mind - can be seen to SLOWLY Morph into the sorts of Deffining Styles of Anime to come some 20 years later...Backgrounds, costumes, voices, music... the Essential Materials of This version are, in my opinion, the BEST Possible interpretations... Indeed, the Only Fault I find later on is the brevity and quickness with which it runs through the story we have all now discovered to be so very much deeper and more complicated...Nevertheless, to my mind, and indeed perhaps to all children who grew up with this version alone, This Marks the deffining backdrop of sound, texture, and tone which has come to underpin All of my future experiences with Tolkien... While the second of the series is conspicuous most in its failure to so completely do so, This version is, without a doubt, one to Never Be Left Out of the overall story...While I'd love to get the Truely Complete and Original version with ALL the sounds I remember, and the wish to see a more in depth telling, in the same style, may never come to fruition... the ability to purchase a copy in Digital form that I can both easily replay, and quickly scan for my favorites, nevertheless makes the purchase price well worth it to my mind.Years from now, I may just Begin my children's introduction to Tolkien with it... as a more textured, mystical, and quintessential version, to my mind, does Not Exist!!