What to expect from The Hobbit

When The Hobbit finally hits the big screen in the UK on December 13rd it will be after a turbulent process. The cast has changed, founding has been cut and the decision to make it into a trilogy turned things around.

So what can we expect?

1. 48 fps.

For more than 80 years, 24 fps has been the standard for 35 mm sound film. Now, The Hobbit will be the first film shown in 48 fps 3D (HFR 3D).

However, the preview screening at CinemaCon of The Hobbit received mixed responses, according to The Telegraph.

The trailer above is not 48 fps because Youtube does not allow playback at that frame rate.

The negative comments said the higher frame rate made the film too relaistic and thus breaking the suspension of disbelief. Some called the effect cheap and said it felt like a soap opera. Also the contrast ratio does not reach the standard- everything is too bright or too dark.

FilmDrunk even used  The Hobbit debuted some footage in 48 fps and everyone hated it  as the headline.

Is that true?

Peter Jackson’s response

Peter Jackson responded to these criticisms saying it does take you a while to get used to. And after the post production process, the film would look different to the one shown at CinemaCon.

Ian Mckellen, the actor playing Gandalf the Grey in the upcoming trilogy, told BBC that it would be as exciting as Lord of the Rings.

“It’s not the sort of crude 3D that comes out of the screen. Rather it brings you into Middle Earth. You see round the corners. You see everything.”

Also, some previewers are still very confident that The Hobbit is in the right hands and regarded the experience to be “exciting” .

To go a little further, Peter Jackson is not the only director who is so keen about higher frame rate. James Cameron, the director of Avatar, said he “fully intends”  to make “Avatar 2 and 3” at higher frame rate.

“The 3D shows you a window into reality; the higher frame rate takes the glass out of the window.” said Mr Cameron according to Hollywood Reporter.

This kind of argument acts as a reminder that we are truly in the middle of a film revolution.

So, according to 48fpsmovies, here is the latest list of cinemas where you can watch The Hobbit in 48 fps in UK.

Bluewater: Showcase Cinema Bluewater
Bristol: Showcase Cinema de Lux Bristol
Derby: Showcase Cinema de Lux Derby
Derby: Showcase Cinema Derby Foresters Park
Dudley: Showcase Cinema Dudley
Glasgow: Showcase Cinema Glasgow
Leeds: Showcase Cinema Leeds
Leicester: Showcase Cinema de Lux Leicester
Liverpool: ODEON Cinema (theater rep is ”99% sure”)
London: ODEON Leicester Square
London: Empire Leicester Square
Manchester: Odeon Manchester IMAX @ The Printworks
Nottingham: Cineworld IMAX Nottingham
Nottingham: Showcase Cinema Nottingham
Peterborough: Showcase Cinema Peterborough
Pontypridd: Showcase Cinema Cardiff Nantgarw
Sheffield: Cineworld Sheffield & IMAX
Teesside: Showcase Cinema Teesside

(Check out other cinemas all around the world in the original site）

2. Soundtrack.

Last week Empire online released the full vision of  The Hobbit soundtrack.

The award winning composer of Lord of the Rings, Howard Shore is still the conductor of The Hobbit trilogy.

“You’ll hear very specific echoes of elements from that work throughout the whole album, giving this a clear link to our first adventures in Middle-earth, but there are new themes here for the new characters too,” said Empire’s Helen O’Hara.

This soundtrack will be released on December 11 in both Standard Edition and Special Edition.

The Hobbit Special Edition Tracklist

1.   My Dear Frodo
2. Old Friends (Extended Version)
3. An Unexpected Party (Extended Version)
4. Blunt the Knives performed by The Dwarf Cast
5. Axe or Sword?
6. Misty Mountains performed by Richard Armitage and The Dwarf Cast
7. The Adventure Begins
8. The World is Ahead
9. An Ancient Enemy
10. Radagast the Brown (Extended Version)
11. The Trollshaws
12. Roast Mutton (Extended Version)
13. A Troll-hoard
14. The Hill of Sorcery
15. Warg-scouts

1. The Hidden Valley
2. Moon Runes (Extended Version)
3. The Defiler
4. The White Council (Extended Version)
5. Over Hill
6. A Thunder Battle
7. Under Hill
8. Riddles in the Dark
9. Brass Buttons
10. Out of the Frying-Pan
11. A Good Omen
12. Song of the Lonely Mountain (Extended Version) performed by Neil Finn
13. Dreaming of Bag End

1. A Very Respectable Hobbit
2. Erebor
3. The Dwarf Lords
4. The Edge of the Wild

3. Middle Earth.

Nothing is more exciting than going back to Middle Earth.

With the words: “In the hole in the ground there lived a hobbit,” we entered the world of J. R. R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth.

Since 2001, Peter Jackson began his version of Lord of the Rings trilogy, middle earth became much more vivid to the whole world. Then after The Return of the King, nearly 10 years passed and we finally get the chance to go back. We will start from Shire, meet some of our old friends there, Frodo, Gandolf , Bilbo. We will get to know new ones, Nori, Ori, Dori, Fili, Kili and so on.

About the Lord of the Rings, Sir Ian McKellen once said: it is a mythology, it is a fairy tale, it’s an adventure story. It never happened. Except somewhere in our hearts. So is “The Hobbit”.

Now “Baruk Khazâd! Khazâd ai-mênu!” (means Axes of the Dwarves! The Dwarves are upon you! in Khuzdul, one of the language of dwarves)

An Unexpected Journey started this winter. Will you be part of it?