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The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
New Line Cinema New Line Cinema
WingNut Films WingNut Films
The Hobbit Collection The Hobbit Collection

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

From the smallest beginnings come the greatest legends.

2012 169 min ★ 7.4 (20,061) Released
Action Adventure Fantasy

Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit enjoying his quiet life, is swept into an epic quest by Gandalf the Grey and thirteen dwarves who seek to reclaim their mountain home from Smaug, the dragon.

Original title
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Language
EN
Country
US
Budget
$250,000,000
Revenue
$1,021,103,568
Reviews & Ratings 6
Dr Nostromo

Dr Nostromo

May 4, 2026 · via TMDB

★ 8.0

81/100 The first film in the LOTR timeline, a hobbit, Bilbo Baggins, is enlisted as a burglar to help a troop of dwarves retake their mountain home, Erebor, from the dragon, Smaug. Exquisitely well casted, awesome photography, delightful characters and wonderful, exciting and humorous adventures dealing with trolls, orcs, wargs, goblins, stone giants, Gollum and Azog the Defiler. Meanwhile, what's going on in Dol Guldur. So nice to revisit Middle Earth after all these years. I would highly recommend watching the Extended version. So much story is lost in the Theatrical version.

CinemaSerf

CinemaSerf

Mar 26, 2023 · via TMDB

★ 6.0

It's one thing saying this isn't "Lord of the Rings" but it's quite another trying to watch without constantly comparing them. The same style of production with wonderful visual effects, Howard Shore's superb score and for much of the time it features many of the same actors from the earlier Peter Jackson trilogy. Similarly, it takes an age to get going. This first of three struggles in a different way too - there are no clearly defined roles for the characters; no "fellowship" if you like, for either the characters or the audience to focus on, so we are effectively starting from scratch with a whole slew of new characters whilst having to adjust to the new timelines for those we already know. Much less of a problem for those who have read the books, but for us other mortals that takes a while - and to be honest, I wasn't so impressed with the casting this time round. Martin Freeman was fine as "Dr Watson" in the BBC iteration of "Sherlock" but here, he is frankly quite annoying as "Bilbo". Newbie to the franchise Richard Armitage fares slightly better as Dwarf king "Thorin" but it is an otherwise unremarkable cast that joins Sir Ian McKellen's "Gandalf" as they set off to reclaim their underground kingdom of Erebor from the fearsome dragon "Smaug". To be fair, the story itself is not so good so the team have less to work with; and we are also now very used to the style and look of events from Middle Earth, so this was always going to make less of an impact - but the acting could have been considerably more robust. The saintly elves are bit too wholesome for me - though Cate "loads of audio reverb" Blanchett looks stunning as "Galadriel". There are plenty of evil orcs, goblins, and wargs to keep their perilous task engaging enough, though, and we are mercifully spared much of the infuriating "Gollum" (Andy Serkis) whom I cheered into the volcano at the end of "Return of the King" (2003). It is a good film, the two hours fly by and as a fan of the first trilogy, I shall stick with these - but I fear this is really a big screen experience that loses much on a smaller one with far to much dialogue and padding and not enough action.

Peter McGinn

Peter McGinn

Sep 5, 2022 · via TMDB

★ 7.0

There is no doubt that Peter Jackson does a great job bring Tolkien’s fantasies to life, much better, I imagine, than anyone must have assumed when they heard about the Lord of the Rings series way back when. I must confess that I don’t like them as much as I enjoyed reading the books. I am sure there are complex reasons applicable to me. I read them when I was very young and it would be difficult to match that first-time experience. Also, the fighting and battles seem more central to the story than I remember. Perhaps that relates more to the modern movie audience rather than my memory. As a funny side note, the film seemed to resemble in places that other fantasy series: the Jurassic Park franchise, in that they seemed to always be going from one close call to another, and the Wizard or somebody repeatedly yelled, “Run!” This series certainly sends the message that if you ever go on a dangerous adventure, it helps to have a wizard along for the journey.

r96sk

r96sk

Feb 20, 2021 · via TMDB

★ 9.0

Of course off the level of its <em>'The Lord of the Rings'</em> predecessors, but I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed <em>'The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey'</em>. It has good lure to it, the plot is more than interesting, it features pleasant callbacks and - like LOTR - looks exquisite. As for the casting, I like 'em. Martin Freeman (Bilbo) is, like Elijah Wood, an actor I've always found hit-and-miss, but I really did enjoy Freeman's performance here - the humour is his usual schtick, though the rest of his showing is strong. Ian McKellen (Gandalf) returns and is as much a joy to watch as before. None of the others, though all good, stand out massively, James Nesbitt (Bofur) does bring decent comedic stuff. Hopefully the two sequels to this are just as fantastic!

M

Matt Golden

Jul 21, 2013 · via TMDB

Over a decade after a little-known director from New Zealand managed to con New Line Cinema into giving him $300 million to make a trilogy based on JRR Tolkien's seminal fantasy (and long considered unfilmable) work The Lord of the Rings, the cinematic landscape for fantasy has changed drastically. Much like Tolkien's tome, the Lord of the Rings films came to utterly define high fantasy in film, with even competing fantasy adaptations like The Chronicles of Narnia and Alice in Wonderland cribbing from Peter Jackon's critically-acclaimed, audience-adored multipart epic. Now Jackson has returned to the land that made him famous for a go-round with Tolkien's earlier work, The Hobbit. Tolkien's The Hobbit is far more modest in scope than its enormous sequel, and geared for a younger audience. It introduced the world to Bilbo Baggins, a typically quiet hobbit who is coaxed into adventure by the grey wizard Gandalf, enlisted to aid thirteen dwarves in reclaiming their long-lost homeland. Jackson had the unenviable task of following up on his blockbuster Academy Award-winning masterpiece, and initially passed off the directing responsibilities to fantasy master Guillermo del Toro. Difficulties securing the film rights led to delay after delay, and del Toro finally departed, leaving the original creative team the ability to step back into place and create a follow-up/lead-in with the same creative staff in front of and behind the camera. Jackson returned as director, co-writing with Fran Walsh and Phillipa Boyens (though del Toro retains a screenwriting credit), Andrew Lesnie as cinematographer, and Howard Shore as composer, along with all of the other stalwarts of the original trilogy. The lone exception to that is the recasting of Martin Freeman as the titular hobbit, taking over for the aging Ian Holm. Holm appears in the film's framing sequence (a scene that takes place immediately prior to the beginning of The Fellowship of the Ring), along with that trilogy's star, Elijah Wood. But this time out, it's Freeman's show, and he's as charming, witty, and engaging as you could imagine. He also makes a perfect Young Ian Holm. The casting is truly inspired. Sir Ian McKellen returns as Gandalf (here playing his more impish grey incarnation, rather than the frankly humorless white version) and the heralded thespian manages to imbue his character with both immense power and gravitas, while still throwing in little flourishes that sell Gandalf as an imperfect man, rather than just an all-knowing power. Rounding out the third of this film's main characters, and an addition to this world, is Richard Armitage as Thorin Oakenshield, the leader of the motley crew of dwarves. Armitage likewise manages to imbue Thorin with both rage and honor, and is easily believable as someone who could lead these dwarves into life-threatening battle. The other twelve dwarves are something of a blur, but a few of them manage to make an impression, even with limited screen time. I imagine the two future installments of the series will afford them each the chance to shine. Which brings up the most contentious point of this whole Hobbit affair: the fact that it's a three-part epic. The Hobbit, as written, is a comparatively slim tome of around 300 pages (compare that to The Lord of the Rings' combined 1,600). This installment alone is ten minutes shy of a whopping three hours. And as anyone who's seen The Return of the King can attest, Jackson can get rather indulgent at times (the end[s] of that film). Initially the film was going to be split in twain, then later divvied up into three parts. Tolkien, ever the completist, wrote volumes of backstories for this world, and Jackson decided to pull from them to bulk out these films. I've seen a lot of hay being made about the film being bloated and, yes, indulgent. I'm an editor at heart, and am generally hyper-sensitive about cutting down to the bone. But the strangest thing happened on the way to the Lonely Mountain: I found myself simply rolling along with the shaggy-dog pace of the film. It's astonishing in hindsight. The film virtually redefines "taking the scenic route," but the crazy thing is I didn't mind it in the least. I believe it's because of the lowered stakes of The Hobbit. Every single frame of The Lord of the Rings was suffused with overbearing doom; that trilogy's "save the world" plot became as heavy a burden to bear as the ring hung around Frodo's neck. But The Hobbit is lighter, freer, funnier, and doesn't have the weight of the world on its shoulders. It's rather the difference between having an appointment you need to get to in heavy traffic and taking a weekend to just drive around, stopping when and where you like. This pace will likely have a dire impact on the film's rewatchability, but sitting in the theater for a midnight showing? Magic. The structure of the film itself seems to have ADD. Its innumerable diversions began to remind me of a live-action Family Guy episode, with character or event mentions that suddenly cause the film to cut away to a dramatization of said. But again, and I can't stress enough how unexpected this was for me, I didn't mind in the least (with one exception: it appears to be an inviolable rule that any scene in Rivendell will stop a film dead in its tracks). The craft of the film manages to best that of its predecessor trilogy: Howard Shore turns in one of his most stirring scores, the production design and art direction are again immersive and beautiful, and Andrew Lesnie continues his unique style of cinematography combining gorgeous shots (wonderful) with frequently blowing out highlights (distracting and ugly). One complaint I do have is Jackon's newfound over-reliance on CGI. Azog the Defiler (a chief antagonist of the film) and the Goblin King (a bit of a lark) are the sorts of character that would have (and should have) been practical effects in the original trilogy. Here they're fully CGI, and their menace is undermined by it. Gollum returns for his most famous scene, and looks wonderful; Andy Serkis' performance and the CGI truly sell this pitiful creature. CGI can be pitiful but not threatening, it appears. I don't know what the other two installments of The Hobbit have in store. What I do know is that this return to Middle-earth is off to a great start, and if this is any indication of things to come, I'll most assuredly enjoy the ride.

G

GeekMasher

Mar 15, 2013 · via TMDB

★ 9.0

An other great master peace has been added the the Lord of The Rings collection. This movie was an excellent example of how great actors, an amazing story and a beautiful world can be produced in such an excellent way. Peter Jackson has out done his self by creating this great film. There are differences from the book but I can't complain about any of them, yes I love the original story but this one is still one of the best. All in all a amazing movie.

User reviews courtesy of TMDB.

Keywords 34
based on novel or book burglar buried treasure contract creature dwarf elves epic battle fantasy creature fantasy world goblins good versus evil high fantasy hobbit horseback riding invisibility journey legend live action and animation lost ring magic mountain quest riddle ring sword sword and sorcery thunderstorm travel trekking troll tunnel underground lake wizard
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Cast 43
Martin Freeman

Martin Freeman

Bilbo Baggins

Ian McKellen

Ian McKellen

Gandalf the Grey

Richard Armitage

Richard Armitage

Thorin Oakenshield

James Nesbitt

James Nesbitt

Bofur

Ken Stott

Ken Stott

Balin

Sylvester McCoy

Sylvester McCoy

Radagast the Brown

Barry Humphries

Barry Humphries

The Great Goblin

Dean O'Gorman

Dean O'Gorman

Fili

Aidan Turner

Aidan Turner

Kili

Graham McTavish

Graham McTavish

Dwalin

Adam Brown

Adam Brown

Ori

Peter Hambleton

Peter Hambleton

Gloin / William Troll

John Callen

John Callen

Oin

Mark Hadlow

Mark Hadlow

Dori / Bert Troll

Jed Brophy

Jed Brophy

Nori

William Kircher

William Kircher

Bifur / Tom Troll

Stephen Hunter

Stephen Hunter

Bombur

Andy Serkis

Andy Serkis

Gollum

Cate Blanchett

Cate Blanchett

Galadriel

Lee Pace

Lee Pace

King Thranduil

Hugo Weaving

Hugo Weaving

Elrond

Christopher Lee

Christopher Lee

Saruman the White

Ian Holm

Ian Holm

Old Bilbo Baggins

Elijah Wood

Elijah Wood

Frodo Baggins

Benedict Cumberbatch

Benedict Cumberbatch

Necromancer

Manu Bennett

Manu Bennett

Azog the Defiler

Conan Stevens

Conan Stevens

Bolg

Jeffrey Thomas

Jeffrey Thomas

Thror

Michael Mizrahi

Michael Mizrahi

Thrain

John Rawls

John Rawls

Yazneg

Stephen Ure

Stephen Ure

Fimbul / Grinnah

Timothy Bartlett

Timothy Bartlett

Master Worrywort

Bret McKenzie

Bret McKenzie

Lindir

Kiran Shah

Kiran Shah

Goblin Scribe

Thomas Robins

Thomas Robins

Young Thrain

Katie Jackson

Katie Jackson

Cute Young Hobbit

Louis Ashbourne Serkis

Louis Ashbourne Serkis

Cute Young Hobbit

Sonny Ashbourne Serkis

Sonny Ashbourne Serkis

Cute Young Hobbit

Ruby Ashbourne Serkis

Ruby Ashbourne Serkis

Cute Young Hobbit

Terry Notary

Terry Notary

Great Goblin / Yazneg (uncredited)

Peter Jackson

Peter Jackson

Running Dwarf in Erebor (uncredited)

Brendan Casey

Brendan Casey

King Thranduil's Lieutenant

Jarred Blakiston

Jarred Blakiston

Musical Elf (uncredited)

Crew 95
Alan Lee

Alan Lee

Conceptual Design

John Howe

John Howe

Conceptual Design

Mike Mignola

Mike Mignola

Conceptual Illustrator

Duane Williams

Duane Williams

Construction Buyer

Dan Hennah

Dan Hennah

Production Design

Ra Vincent

Ra Vincent

Set Decoration

Andrew Lesnie

Andrew Lesnie

Director of Photography

Winston Harris

Winston Harris

Grip

Bob Buck

Bob Buck

Costume Designer

Richard Taylor

Richard Taylor

Costume Designer

Peter Swords King

Peter Swords King

Hair Designer

Flora Moody

Flora Moody

Makeup & Hair

Flora Moody

Flora Moody

Makeup Artist

Rick Findlater

Rick Findlater

Makeup Department Head

Peter Swords King

Peter Swords King

Makeup Designer

Natalie Crane

Natalie Crane

Other

Tami Lane

Tami Lane

Prosthetic Supervisor

Richard Taylor

Richard Taylor

Special Effects Key Makeup Artist

Jodie Hillock

Jodie Hillock

Animal Wrangler

Richard Taylor

Richard Taylor

Armorer

Daniel Macarin

Daniel Macarin

CG Supervisor

Steven Boyle

Steven Boyle

Makeup Effects

Michael Homick

Michael Homick

Stunt Double

Peter Dillon

Peter Dillon

Stunt Double

Allan Smith

Allan Smith

Stunts

Andrew Cottle

Andrew Cottle

Stunts

Aron Eastwood

Aron Eastwood

Stunts

Gemma Weston

Gemma Weston

Stunts

Genevieve Aitken

Genevieve Aitken

Stunts

Ingrid Kleinig

Ingrid Kleinig

Stunts

Isaac Hamon

Isaac Hamon

Stunts

Justin B. Carter

Justin B. Carter

Stunts

Kiran Shah

Kiran Shah

Stunts

Mana Hira Davis

Mana Hira Davis

Stunts

Mark Trotter

Mark Trotter

Stunts

Matt Bennett

Matt Bennett

Stunts

Min Windle

Min Windle

Stunts

Patrick Morrison

Patrick Morrison

Stunts

Rosalie Button

Rosalie Button

Stunts

Shane Rangi

Shane Rangi

Stunts

Steven A. Davis

Steven A. Davis

Stunts

Tim McLachlan

Tim McLachlan

Stunts

Tom Cotton

Tom Cotton

Stunts

Vincent Roxburgh

Vincent Roxburgh

Stunts

Winham Hammond

Winham Hammond

Stunts

Richard Taylor

Richard Taylor

Weapons Master

Steven McMichael

Steven McMichael

Weapons Master

Peter Jackson

Peter Jackson

Director

Carolynne Cunningham

Carolynne Cunningham

First Assistant Director

Carolina Jiménez

Carolina Jiménez

Layout

Andy Serkis

Andy Serkis

Second Unit Director

Liz Tan

Liz Tan

Second Unit First Assistant Director

Jabez Olssen

Jabez Olssen

Editor

John Hubbard

John Hubbard

Casting

Liz Mullane

Liz Mullane

Casting

Victoria Burrows

Victoria Burrows

Casting

Philippa Boyens

Philippa Boyens

Co-Producer

Alan Horn

Alan Horn

Executive Producer

Ken Kamins

Ken Kamins

Executive Producer

Toby Emmerich

Toby Emmerich

Executive Producer

Carolynne Cunningham

Carolynne Cunningham

Producer

Fran Walsh

Fran Walsh

Producer

Peter Jackson

Peter Jackson

Producer

Howard Shore

Howard Shore

Conductor

Laurence Love Greed

Laurence Love Greed

Music Editor

Mark Willsher

Mark Willsher

Music Editor

Michael Pärt

Michael Pärt

Music Editor

Stephen Gallagher

Stephen Gallagher

Music Editor

Eos Chater

Eos Chater

Musician

Howard Shore

Howard Shore

Orchestrator

Howard Shore

Howard Shore

Original Music Composer

David Farmer

David Farmer

Sound Designer

Christopher Boyes

Christopher Boyes

Sound Re-Recording Mixer

Michael Semanick

Michael Semanick

Sound Re-Recording Mixer

Neil Finn

Neil Finn

Theme Song Performance

David Clayton

David Clayton

Animation Supervisor

Marc Dominic Rienzo

Marc Dominic Rienzo

Compositing Artist

Richard Taylor

Richard Taylor

Creature Design

Richard Taylor

Richard Taylor

Creature Technical Director

Jason Lei Howden

Jason Lei Howden

Rotoscoping Artist

Paul Story

Paul Story

Senior Animator

Chang Jung-min

Chang Jung-min

Senior Modeller

Joe Letteri

Joe Letteri

Senior Visual Effects Supervisor

Alexander Nowotny

Alexander Nowotny

VFX Artist

Christian Rivers

Christian Rivers

Visual Effects Designer

Kevin Sherwood

Kevin Sherwood

Visual Effects Producer

Eric Saindon

Eric Saindon

Visual Effects Supervisor

Matt Aitken

Matt Aitken

Visual Effects Supervisor

R. Christopher White

R. Christopher White

Visual Effects Supervisor

Erik Winquist

Erik Winquist

Visual Effects Technical Director

J. R. R. Tolkien

J. R. R. Tolkien

Novel

Fran Walsh

Fran Walsh

Screenplay

Guillermo del Toro

Guillermo del Toro

Screenplay

Peter Jackson

Peter Jackson

Screenplay

Philippa Boyens

Philippa Boyens

Screenplay

Gallery 510
Videos 26
Similar Movies 364
US Release Dates 2

Dec 6, 2012

New York City, New York

PG-13 Premiere

Dec 14, 2012

PG-13 Theatrical

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2020

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The Pied Pipers of Harlow

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Battle your watched movies head-to-head

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1978 · 13 wins

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Final Destination

2000 · 12 wins

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Halloween II

1981 · 11 wins

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Movie Trivia

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What movie experience do you prefer?

Movie theater — theater popcorn with Icee/soda & maybe nachos 67%
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