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Reactions to first Hobbit trailer largely positive

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Thu, 22 Dec 2011 10:59a.m.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey poster art

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey poster art

By Daniel Rutledge

The first trailer for Sir Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit films was launched yesterday and has already been viewed by millions of people around the world.

The video gave countless websites, including 3news.co.nz, a much-appreciated boost in hits just before the Christmas slump, but it gave much more than that – the fans have finally had their first decent look at The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. And it looks glorious.

In the US, the Hobbit trailer is now being shown in cinemas, in 3D, ahead of screenings of The Adventures of Tintin, while in New Zealand ‘The Hobbit’ is trending on Twitter – one position higher than ‘Kim Jong’ and two below ‘Home Alone’.

Reactions to the trailer have been largely positive.

Film3's Kate Rodger says: “This first taste of The Hobbit did everything it needed to.

“It reacquainted us all with the Shire, established Martin Freeman as the young Bilbo, as well as introducing us all to The Hobbit's other important new characters, the Dwarves. Choosing a haunting song led by Dwarf hero Thorin Oakenshield to guide us through was a stroke of creative genius... it gave me goosebumps!"

Drew McWeeny at Hitfix wrote: “If that were the trailer we were seeing two weeks before release, I'd be thrilled.  I'd think it was a slam dunk of a final trailer. As a teaser? Dear god, that's a throw-down.

“That is a gorgeous piece of advertising, and while there's a sense of big adventure and wild scale, there's also a strong emphasis on the new characters we're going to meet as well as the familiar faces we're going to see again. That last glimpse of Gollum? Ding ding ding. You win.”

Eric Vespe at aintitcool wrote: “I quite like how the trailer (long for a teaser) balances nostalgia, introducing the new characters as well as establishes a weight thanks to that amazing Misty Mountains song by the dwarves. Goosebumps there.”

Russ Fischer at slashfilm wrote simply: “One word: singing! I love it.”

Sandy Schaefer at The Christian Science Monitor's Culture Cafe writes: “There’s a pleasantly welcoming and enchanting air to this trailer, which teases yet another imaginative adventure through Middle-Earth.

“Not only do new characters like Thorin Oakenshield and his fellow dwarfs look like fun (not to mention, possess excellent singing voices), it’s also all the more enjoyable to see familiar faces like that of Gandalf and Lady Galadriel (Cate Blanchett) – not to mention, objects such as the shattered remains of Narsil and Bilbo’s trusty blade, Sting. Plus, the brief glance at the famous encounter between Bilbo and Gollum (Andy Serkis) near the end is enough to send shivers down your spine.”

However, as widespread as the praise for the trailer is, there have been some negative responses.

David Chen, host of the slashfilm podcast, wrote on his Twitter account: “HOBBIT trailer seems haphazardly thrown together, like they're not even trying anymore.”

New Zealand’s David Farrier, who recently mentioned Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol in a best of 2011 list, dismissed the trailer with this statement: "It felt like deja vu from five years ago. Or was it 10? Yawn."

By far the consensus is clear, however – the fans are very pleased with what they have seen.

There's still more than a year to wait before The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is in cinemas, then there’s another whole year before the release of There and Back Again. But with yesterday’s trailer launch, Sir Peter has delivered a clear message: the films will be worth the wait.

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Comments

31 Dec 2011 02:48p.m.

Chris wrote:

Tolkien originally wrote The Hobbit as a children's book but after he wrote The Lord of The Rings he had to go back and rewrite a lot of The Hobbit to 'fit' properly with the rest of the story he had subsequently constructed. Jackson has just gone a bit further and blended it more completely with the LOTR. It wouldn't have been possible to leave it as is, just as it wasn't possible for Tolkien to leave his original text as it was.

28 Dec 2011 11:14p.m.

Christian wrote:

Mikey, It is the prequel to the LOTR! You can't change the mood into a kiddy tale. They already made the LOTR, and it was terrific. Why would you want to make the Hobbit different. It isn't a fairy tale. It really just pisses me off when people want to make it into a stupid movie, where the knight kills the dragon. Because that isn't what it is. The Hobbit and the LOTR are the same story. I do have to agree with you on playing so many people from the LOTR that aren't in the Hobbit. I mean, seriously? Galadriel has nothing to do with it, and Gandalf never loved her. Legolas shouldn't be part of it. But he is immortal, he is a wood elf, but he isn't part of the story. Saruman however, should be in the movie. Gandalf is with Saruman in the book. I don't like how Frodo is in the beginning of the movie. It should be a real tale that you are viewing. Bilbo goes through a lot of life threatening events, and at the beginning of the movie it tells you he lived! It isn't a story anymore. As for the feel of the movie, keep it moody, but keep it happy when something in the book is happy. The Hobbit isn't a fairy tale! So it isn't going to be a fairy tale. Jackson does a great job at being the only fantasy that isn't all gumdrops and roses. He makes it something adults want to see. Honestly, who would want to see a bunch of dwarves with smiles on there faces throughout the entire movie and giving high fives to each other. Jackson, you did it terrifically. The Hobbit trailer was great. The script could be better though. I am just so pissed that people want it to be a fairy tale. He's got 250 million dollars to spend on each movie, it's going to be good no matter what. And it is going to be gloomy, joyful, courageous, and dangerous at parts in the movie. I think people are so disappointed with the cast is because they don't look like you pictured them in the book. They are undefined characters. When you picture Bilbo, you don't picture him old, you don't picture him young.

23 Dec 2011 09:46a.m.

Mike wrote:

This is not looking good at all. This is a fantastic tale - the original from which all of this genre comes from, but messing with the story (what the hell are Galadriel, Saruman and Legolas doing in 'The Hobbit'??), spicing it up (the original dwarves were hardly armed to the teeth) and changing it from what was a children's classic (with goblins rather than orcs) into a mostly made up prequel for the LOTR trilogy is not a good idea. What have they done to Bilbo? He didn't have attitude! He was tricked into going and scared out of his wits most of the time, that was his charm. Can't see this Bilbo singing 'attacob' while buzzing stones at the spiders of Mirkwood. Of course Jackson did the same poor job with the LOTR trilogy, creating a shallow version of the stories and completely missing or mucking up the underlying tales (like Faramir passing the test not failing like Boromir showing the hope for the world in mankind's hands) and breaking so many parts of the story it no longer made sense (if a Nazgul had actually seen Frodo in Osgilliath then it was game over). Shame, I was really looking forward to seeing the Hobbit, but it looks like the Hollywood 'machine' has got their teeth into it and stuffed it up. Next there will be a bloody 'love interest' for Thorin!