The Hobbit (1977), Lord of the Rings (1978), & The Return of the King (1980)

The Hobbit (1977), directed by Jules Bass, Arthur Rankin Jr.
The Lord of the Rings (1978), directed by Ralph Bakshi
The Return of the King (1980), directed by Jules Bass, Arthur Rankin Jr.

When I first told my aunt that they were making a Lord of the Rings movie, she disinterestedly said "meh, there's already one of those." These three gems are what she was talking about. After re-reading The Hobbit and LOTR, I decided to hunt down these movies. I borrowed the first from Netflix, saw the second in a theater, and couldn't find the third. 

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

 

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)

Beware! Here there be spoilers.

Again, in the second of the three Hobbit movies I expected the story to end the first time I watched the movie. So, as when watching the first movie I was a bit disappointed and confused the first time through. After reading the book, I watched it again, and this time I enjoyed it quite a bit more. 

The Desolation of Smaug covers approximately the second third of the Hobbit movies. After their narrow escape from the orcs, Bilbo and the dwarves (again without Gandalf, who's wandered off with Radargast the Brown again) tramp through the forest, get overrun by a pack of hungry spiders and are saved/captured by wood elves led by Legolas. Bilbo manages to escape notice, and slips secretly into the elvin keep, following his captured friends. 

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

 

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)

Spoiler alert (for movie and book)!

As most of you know, the short children's book The Hobbit  was stretched impossibly into three movies. An Unexpected Journey was the first. When I first saw this movie, I expected it to be stand-alone, so I was a bit shocked at the ending. This time around I knew what to expect, so I was better prepared to enjoy the movie.

The Hobbit, by J. R. R. Tolkien

The Hobbit, by J. R. R. Tolkien, narrated by Inglis

Caution: There will be spoilers!

A couple of months ago I had the immense pleasure of listening to the Rob Inglis narrations of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. If you ever have the slightest wish to listen to these books, just do it. Inglis' voices are fantastic; he even sings the songs! It was a true delight. 

A humble hobbit named Bilbo Baggins is unwillingly thrown into a "nasty adventure" when the wizard Gandalf thrusts himself into Bilbo's home, a troop of dwarves in his wake. Gandalf has misinformed the dwarves that Bilbo is a burglar - the dwarves want Bilbo to burgle a gigantic horde of treasure from the dragon Smaug, who had stolen the treasure (with their mountain kingdom) from the dwarves' ancestors decades before. This is a strange coming-of-age story, since the character is 50 years old already (which is youngish for a hobbit, but still firmly in the adult range). But as the story progresses, Bilbo recognizes that he is a brave hobbit, an adventuresome hobbit, and a very sneaky burglar.