THE HOBBIT: Worth the Trip

Here at World Headquarters, there’s a halfling running around (when he’s not at school) who likes this science fiction fantasy thing, same as his father… and so when the Blu-Ray of The Hobbit arrived, he was very excited about the fact that he could see it early.

Well, it’s out now for everyone to see, and let’s take a look at the disc and what it has to offer:

Besides the movie — which isn’t broken up into parts, thank goodness — on both Blu-Ray and DVD (and Ultraviolet), there are ten behind-the-scenes production videos featuring director Peter Jackson as he gives you a tour of the film’s process. I’m just starting to delve into these, but I’m a sucker for commentary tracks and BTS footage. Sometimes those are more fun than the movie (have you heard the commentary track on Big Trouble in Little China?)

Plus, here’s a handy infographic for those of you into such things:

There’s also a special code for anyone who wants to get a sneak peek at the next film in the trilogy, which is a handy bit of marketing, except for the fact that we’ll be seeing trailers and footage soon enough, so it’s more icing on the cake rather than a compelling reason to buy the disc.

Despite the misgivings of the Tolkien family, it’s a solid adaptation of the material. Even taking into account that this is really The Hobbit Plus, adding story elements from Tolkien’s notes and other stories, it holds together rather well, and never strays from the spine of the dwarves’ quest for too long. Those who have the first trilogy should be quite comfortable adding this one to the collection.

Unless you’re holding out for the nineteen-hour special special edition combo pack with the whole trilogy in twelve formats combined with nine hundred hours of extras. Or something.