First Full Clip And A Massive Payload Of New Stills From The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

[BC Blog Poster]

The wait for the first instalment of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is almost over, with only a couple of weeks until release in most countries. It's never too soon to start getting excited, so here's the first full clip from the film, which features the introduction of Bilbo's (and eventually Frodo's) sword, Sting.

Fans of the book will recognise the particular significance of Gandalf's final line here. Those who have never read it will probably pick up on the "setting up for a pay-off" vibe as well.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIgecrPSciQ[/youtube]

We also have an extremely large number of new stills from the film, some of which give a first glimpse at more enemies and allies of Bilbo. Earn triple points by doing a shot of tequila for every dwarf you see as you scroll down.

[Blackfist]

[kidinsidethefilmmaker]

Earn triple points by doing a shot of tequila for every dwarf you see as you scroll down.

Thesee dwarfezz are nt enoughd boozes.

[N Caligon]

Is that Christopher Lee or a CGI replication?

[bewareofgeek]

Lovely advice, but I think something like this might be more helpful:

"The pointy bit goes into the other fellow."

[hammerstein]

Looks gorgeous, no doubt, but the fact that it's not really The Hobbit but a trilogy of dubious stitching of various Tolkien material is what will really decide how successful it is. Jackson demonstrated great skill with Fran Walsh etc in condensing the extremely dense LOTR into 3 pretty effective films (ok maybe slightly less on the drawn out mawkish end to ROTK) but stretching out a taut, pretty near-perfect, fantasy like the Hobbit into a trilogy is a big ask.

[Devil Dinosaur]

Yeah. Is it me or are the creatures really badly designed and sort-of cheap looking?

I fear we're getting the King Kong Jackson, not the LOTR Jackson. Oh, if only Del Toro....

[hammerstein]

I hope we're wrong...but I also really wanted Del Toro for the Hobbit (as a single non do-you-want-fries-with-your-franchise? movie)

His design and directorial aesthetic would have been the perfect match, but also because it would connect but differentiate The Hobbit from LOTR more distinctly.

Again, i really want to be wrong...but Kong was pretty lumpy and unsatisfying.

It would take a master editor and writer to weave a great narrative out of the Hobbit and Tolkien's other works such as The Silmarillion

(which is completely unlike the Hobbit - ie HEAVILY steeped in language and lore)

[jonwes]

I think it's looks great. Can't wait to see how it turns out. It could be bloated and terrible, but after LOTR I have more faith in Peter Jackson than some here.

[AnomanderRake]

I hope we're wrong...but I also really wanted Del Toro for the Hobbit (as a single non do-you-want-fries-with-your-franchise? movie)

His design and directorial aesthetic would have been the perfect match, but also because it would connect but differentiate The Hobbit from LOTR more distinctly.

Again, i really want to be wrong...but Kong was pretty lumpy and unsatisfying.

It would take a master editor and writer to weave a great narrative out of the Hobbit and Tolkien's other works such as The Silmarillion

(which is completely unlike the Hobbit - ie HEAVILY steeped in language and lore)

That you say this just proves you haven't the foggiest understanding of what Tolkien set out to do and how heavily influenced even THE HOBBIT is by his framework in the SILMARILLION. THE HOBBIT is a small piece of the ME world (if not all Arda), but the ramifications of MANY events not specifically described within it and simply eluded to stretch far and wide into the past (stuff like Glamdring and Orcrist having been Evlish blades smithed in Gondolin before the fall) and future (LOTR)...Part of understanding that is understanding that THE HOBBIT is not the small basic adventure story everyone always takes it as.