The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - 2013 Pre-orders

[Voltaire53]

I was about to order the steelbook of this (just finally ordered the LotR: Extended BDs - from Zavvi and out of stock at the moment but under £30 for the first time I think so hoping they will get some in and honour the price! - and was hoping to have a marathon viewing) but news of the Extended version in Q4 means I think I'll wait... hope the extended gets a steelbook release too!

[lemonhead118]

Definitely gonna buy this before it goes out of stock like Skyfall.

[Brightstar]

I dont care if its not in 3D just give us a EE looks like i will have to wait I wish they never made it in 3D anyway that way it would look great next to LOTR

[MacEachaidh]

Not interested in 3D at all, so as long as the Extended edition is also available in a 2D only edition, I'm happy.

Presumably there'll be a boxed set once all three films are released, but that means waiting another three years or so before buying them at all, or else buying now and knowing that you'll have to double-dip once the box comes. Instead, I'd love to be able to buy the first BD in a box that makes a companion to the LotR Extended set, with space intended for the second and third films when they come.

[RedCellUK]

http://www.tesco.com/direct/the-hobb...y/273-4250.prd Tesco currently have an all time low £13 price for 3D preorder, its probably not going to be honoured and they do take payment straight away....but worth a go

[Buddy Ackerman]

Originally Posted by RedCellUK

http://www.tesco.com/direct/the-hobb...y/273-4250.prd Tesco currently have an all time low £13 price for 3D preorder, its probably not going to be honoured and they do take payment straight away....but worth a go

They must have spotted it quickly - it now has 'Sorry, there are currently no sellers for this product' on the page.

If you search for The Hobbit it comes up in the results with the £13 price and the option to add it to your basket but once you try and checkout it says

Sorry, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (Blu-ray 3D + Blu-ray + UV Copy) is currently unavailable from Tesco. We have removed this item from your basket

Ah well.

[zuls020]

Seeing as the theatrical release for There and Back Again is summer next year (touch wood), likely the EE boxset will be out the following Christmas?

[Buddy Ackerman]

For those who were worried/annoyed/concerned that we wouldn't be able to access the live stream preview of Desolation of Smaug due to our release date being after the event - looks like Amazon customers will be in luck:

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey--Pre-order Bonus

Title: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Release Date: Monday, April 8, 2013

Orders made before or on Saturday, March 23--Codes and redemption instructions will be e-mailed to you within 48 hours of dispatch of your order.

Incentive Received:

Pre-order The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey on Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D or Limited Edition Blu-ray Steelbook from Amazon.co.uk and receive a unique code to access a sneak peek preview of the second film in the trilogy, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug at 7pm on Sunday, March 24. Offer strictly subject to availability. One code will be issued per customer. An internet connection is required to redeem the incentive. Offer valid when dispatched by Amazon.co.uk. Promotion valid on all existing pre-orders. Amazon reserves the right to change or terminate this promotion at any time. The live stream is only available at 7pm on Sunday, March 24, 2013. The codes will no longer be active after this date.

Source

[coulson96]

Hmm,may have to go with amazon then despite the fact they no longer offer release date delivery!! Thanks for the info. blu ray cips have been popping up all over youtube and they look stunning. Simply cannot wait til the 8th of april shame that we don't get iti in march like the us but oh well its worth the wait I usually pre order with play as they get it to you saturday before release date this preview will probably end up on yt anyway.

[Dharma572]

Originally Posted by zuls020

Seeing as the theatrical release for There and Back Again is summer next year (touch wood), likely the EE boxset will be out the following Christmas?

There and Back Again has been pushed back to December 2014. To be honest, I thought they'd do that. It's more of a Christmas film than a summer one.

[elfishwarrior]

Is there any difference in the extras between the 2D and 3D releases? I have both on order as I love this movie and love watching the extras but don't really want to double dip if I don't have to.

[Mavrick]

Originally Posted by elfishwarrior

Is there any difference in the extras between the 2D and 3D releases? I have both on order as I love this movie and love watching the extras but don't really want to double dip if I don't have to.

If you don't want to double dip then yo might not want to buy this release at all since extended versions will be coming soon

[coulson96]

I will only buy the blu ray of the film i saw in the cinema. In my humble opinion the film is as long and as detailed as it needs to be. Adding another hour or two would probably just drag it out as it was already 1 minute off three hours!! It may have worked with lotr and i don't dispute that but they have already added so much more to the hobbit film than it has. Three 2-3hour movies are quite enough for me. So i will be picking up the standard 2D edition besides after waiting so long for this to come out on blu ray waiting til october for an extended version would be out of the question for me.

[FlyYouFools]

I plan on waiting until the EE comes out and then I'll make my decision on which to buy. If the steelbook was really nice I'd get the standard edition but it's not brilliant in my opinion.

[Buddy Ackerman]

Originally Posted by coulson96

I will only buy the blu ray of the film i saw in the cinema. In my humble opinion the film is as long and as detailed as it needs to be. Adding another hour or two would probably just drag it out as it was already 1 minute off three hours!! It may have worked with lotr and i don't dispute that but they have already added so much more to the hobbit film than it has. Three 2-3hour movies are quite enough for me. So i will be picking up the standard 2D edition besides after waiting so long for this to come out on blu ray waiting til october for an extended version would be out of the question for me.

The Extended Edition would only add 20 - 25 minutes according to Jackson - so the film would come to 3 hours and 14 minutes long, maximum (rather than an extra hour or two). But I understand your point - I remember even when Fellowship came out people wondered why I didn't just wait for the Extended Edition. But the theatrical film was the one I fell in love with - why wouldn't I want that? Whose to say the added stuff wouldn't throw it off balance? Of course, FOTR:EE turned out to be incredible but it's not a certainty that the EE will be the best one to get.

[Sky_Captain]

I can't wait for this disc.

I've seen parts of a heavily compressed 720p rip, which looked pretty damn good, so the actual disc should be stunning.

[chip75]

Originally Posted by Sky_Captain

I can't wait for this disc.

I haven't seen the film yet but it's one BD that will be opened as soon as it arrives and put in the player straight-away.

I know it's bee said a few times but I still don't understand why we need three films to tell the story of one shortish book, The Fellowship of the Rings is 531 pages, The Two Towers 416 and The Return of the King 624 and only needed one film each, The Hobbit is 310 pages!

It would be nice to watch a complete story but I guess we have to wait a few years...

[Buddy Ackerman]

Originally Posted by chip75

I haven't seen the film yet but it's one BD that will be opened as soon as it arrives and put in the player straight-away.

I know it's bee said a few times but I still don't understand why we need three films to tell the story of one shortish book, The Fellowship of the Rings is 531 pages, The Two Towers 416 and The Return of the King 624 and only needed one film each, The Hobbit is 310 pages!

It would be nice to watch a complete story but I guess we have to wait a few years...

Not to ignite the same debates as last year but page count has nothing to do with it and is an unfair way to judge how long a film should be. For example, Where the Wild Things Are is 48 pages long as was made into a 104 minute film. On the opposite side of things Harry Potter and the order of the Phoenix was 765 pages long and had a film adaptation only 34 minutes longer.

More specifically with The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, there's a huge difference in the storytelling of former and the latter. The Hobbit is a very plainly written, episodic story where very little detail is given over what is needed to move the plot along with minimum characterization. Which is fine for the children's book it is - it's a classic - but would have felt rushed if directly adapted (in my opinion of course). And while a battle in a book like that can be described in a couple of lines it's not something that a film can do - unless you turn a days-long battle into a two minute montage which would obviously be very unsatisfactory!

Lord of the Rings however is written in a way where everything is detailed - the language, the world around them, the culture. It's a book concerned with the details as much as it is the plot as Tolkien was building up Middle-Earth and was interested in bringing as much detail to the cultures and history of the world as possible - there are paragraphs after paragraphs of descriptions of the land. Of course a film adaptation doesn't need this much detail and that which it does need it can tell visually. If The Hobbit had been written in the same sweeping, detailed prose that Lord of the Rings was then it would be a much longer book. As much as The Hobbit has been expanded, so has Lord of the Rings been condensed.

I was wondering why three films would be needed too - and it's something that can't be fairly judged as right or wrong until we have seen them all - but, having seen the first part and seeing where it ends, I can't imagine having to sit through to the point where the film was due to end if it was a two-parter - we would have been talking at least an extra forty minutes. So I can see the logic so far and am interested in seeing how the other two play out.

[chip75]

Originally Posted by Buddy Ackerman

I was wondering why three films would be needed too - and it's something that can't be fairly judged as right or wrong until we have seen them all - but, having seen the first part and seeing where it ends, I can't imagine having to sit through to the point where the film was due to end if it was a two-parter - we would have been talking at least an extra forty minutes. So I can see the logic so far and am interested in seeing how the other two play out.

I don't mind the extra films (it's all gravy for LotR fans) but to me at least it feels like the clip below except a chip is The Hobbit, George is Peter Jackson and the dip is a theatrical release (the guy I guess is my limited attention span)...

Seinfeld - The Chip Dip - YouTube

[Buddy Ackerman]

Originally Posted by chip75

I don't mind the extra films (it's all gravy for LotR fans) but to me at least it feels like the clip below except a chip is The Hobbit, George is Peter Jackson and the dip is a theatrical release (the guy I guess is my limited attention span)...

Seinfeld - The Chip Dip - YouTube

Haha, fair enough. I can't debate against anything that brings with it an excuse to watch a Seinfeld clip