Hobbit Unexpected Journey Movie PosterA reminder that the extended edition of The Hobbit: an Unexpected Journey, will be airing tonight across the U.S.. As we reported back in early August, this is the first in a series of live showings of all three extended editions of The Hobbit movies sponsored by Fathom Events and Warner Bros. AUJ will air tonight at 7:30 local time. Many local theaters are carrying it, so if you don’t have tickets, and feel like having a last minute visit with some of your favorite characters such as Bilbo, Gandalf, Thorin, Saruman, etc., check your local theater!

Also remember that the EE of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug will air at the same time and same theaters this Wednesday, October 7th, with the big wrap-up occurring a week from tomorrow, Tuesday, October 13th with the first public showing of the EE of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, with a special introductory message from Peter Jackson.

Those of you lucky enough to see one, or all three, be sure to leave comments below letting us all know how it was!

In our latest Library feature, Katelyn Rushe shares her theory that Smaug doesn’t speak English,  Bilbo gains the ability to speak and understand Dragon when he puts on the One Ring.

Continue reading “How Do You Talk to a Dragon?”

If you have a Tolkien/Middle-earth inspired poem you’d like to share, then send it to poetry@theonering.net. One poem per person may be submitted each month. Please make sure to proofread your work before sending it in. TheOneRing.net is not responsible for poems posting with spelling or grammatical errors.

The extended edition of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies DVDs are now available for pre-order in the U.S. from Amazon. Formats include DVD, Blu-ray, and 3-D/Blu-ray and range in price from $34.99 for the DVD to $54.98 for the 3-D/Blu-ray version. The extras appear to be the same with all three, described as “hours of fascinating, in-depth looks at the production,” including:

– Commentary with Peter Jackson, Director/Producer/Screenwriter and Philippa Boyens, Co-Producer/Screenwriter

– The Appendices – The Appendices Parts XI and XII showcase a chronological history of the filming of The Battle of the Five Armies, documenting the work done on set chronologically through the three shooting blocks and in the world of its digital effects

– New Zealand: Home of Middle-earth – Part 3

Digital HD UltraViolet is also available which must be redeemed by November 17, 2018.

The cover art on Amazon’s site differs for each version. Following is a discussion of each, and links at which you can pre-order your copy.

DVD (price: $34.99. Pre-order here)

BotFA DVD CoverThe DVD version cover features Bilbo (Martin Freeman) with Sting drawn, overlooking the evil armies amassing, and the battle raging below him.  The border, which is the same for all three formats, is a steel-gray color with a design reminiscent of dwarf-runes seemingly carved into it which adds a nice touch to these last extended  editions of the series. One of the carved dwarven sentinels of Erebor watches over all on the right while the ramparts of Erebor and the burning remnants of Lake-town are visible in the background on the left.

 

 

 

 

Blu-ray (price: $35.99. Pre-order here)

BotFA Blu-ray CoverThe Blu-ray cover is more character-centric than the DVD cover. Our hero Bilbo is front and center, again with Sting drawn. A thoughtful, but stern, Gandalf (Sir Ian McKellen) is on Bilbo’s right, while a very stubborn, impatient and disturbed-looking Thorin (Richard Armitage) is on his left. The Elves are well-represented on this cover with three of the four smaller figures in front of Bilbo being comprised of Thranduil (Lee Pace), Tauriel (Evangeline Lily) and Legolas (Orlando Bloom). Last, but not least, stands Bard the Bowman (Luke Evans) with the glow of the fire of Smaug and the burning Lake-town behind him.

 

 

 

 

 

3-D/Blu-ray (price: $54.98. Pre-order here)

BotFA 3-D CoverThe 3-D/Blu-ray cover is striking, with just the characters of Bilbo (Martin Freeman) and Gandalf (Sir Ian McKellen) standing behind him protectively. As with the DVD cover, the sentinel of Dale is just off to the right, only this time with a great battle-troll below, and the ramparts of Erebor and vestiges of a burning Lake-town are off the the left, with the battle raging behind all. As if to emphasize that this is *the* battle, Bilbo again has Sting drawn and ready to do battle with the enemies. A nice touch with this cover is that Bilbo’s mithril shirt is clearly visible underneath his plainer clothes.

 

 

 

 

Definitely stay tuned, as we will bring  you more BotFA analysis as details become available (e.g., releases in other countries, releases in other retail outlets, special incentives). Note that we did check Amazon’s sites for other countries but didn’t find the EE available yet. If you don’t live in the U.S., definitely let us know if and when it becomes available in your corner of the world and whether the amenities are the same, and we’ll add it to future updates.

2012_01_TheHobbitLogoClear your calendars this coming October! Extended editions of all three Hobbit movies are set to show in theaters over three  nights and, of course, you’ll want to see them all! From FarAwayEntertainment.com:

Fathom Events and Warner Bros. are partnering to present the extended editions of all three Hobbit movies. Shown over three nights, the epic Peter Jackson trilogy will be the first time the extended editions have ever been released in theatres. Also included will be an exclusive introduction by director Peter Jackson. First night showing starts Monday, October 5th, 2015 at 7:30pm local. Tickets will be regular admission prices for each movie.

It’s not clear whether the three nights will be consecutive nights, as the AMC Theater website has The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies billed for October 13th. It’s also not clear if other theater chains other than AMC will be carrying the movies. Look for updates here as we get them and if you hear anything from your local theaters, let us know at spymaster@theonering.net.

Update-2 (8/4/15): the Celebration Cinema chain (mid-Michigan) has confirmed that they’ll be participating, but no dates are available yet. We’ve also had confirmation that the AMC 14 in Tustin, CA will be showing all three movies on the following schedule:

The Hobbit: AUJ Extended – Monday, October 5th, 2015 @ 7:30 PM

The Hobbit: DOS Extended – Wednesday, October 7th, 2015 @ 7:30 PM

The Hobbit: BOTFA Extended – Tuesday, October 13th. 2015 @ 7:30 PM

So, it looks like a tentative schedule is starting to materialize: two movies the week of October 5th with the final showing of BOTFA the following week. Exciting news! Thanks to gramma and Ryan for the updates! We’ll continue to report updates here as we get them.

IMG_4565One of the pieces that stole Comic-Con 2014, and was a big hit again this year at Comic-Con 2015, is the amazing Smaug the Terrible by Weta Workshop. Sculpted by Lindsey Crummett and Gary Hunt this piece is a perfect representation of what we saw of Smaug during The Hobbit Trilogy. Smaug is easily one of Weta’s best pieces with some of the most fantastic details and paints we’ve seen. You can get Smaug for $749 with an edition size of 2000 pieces world-wide. He is worth every last penny. As you may have heard me say in my Comic-Con booth tour, if you only get one piece from The Hobbit then this is one you should.
Continue reading “Collecting The Precious – Weta Workshop’s Smaug the Terrible”

IMG_3123As we draw near this year’s San Diego Comic-Con let’s cover a piece that made an appearance at last year’s show. The really cool Smaug: King Under the Mountain, a.k.a. “Smauglet,” was one of the pieces that stole the hearts of everyone I know that was at the Weta Booth. It takes everything we loved about Smaug and shrunk him down to a size that fits in anyone’s collection. Weta did such a fantastic job of capturing so much detail and allowing collectors to snag this for a solid price of $125. If you order now or before June 15th you can get him for $99 and he is in-stock.