Even better than LOTR
926977
Many fans of both The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings will tell you something like, "The Hobbit tells you some stuff you'll need to know when reading LOTR, but it really plays second fiddle to the ULTIMATE fantasy that LOTR is."  In my opinion, this simply isn't true.  While LOTR focuses on a grand and epic battle encompassing Middle Earth in its entirety, The Hobbit is a more romantic tale - focusing on a single quest and taking its time to storytell.  Its simple "there and back again" feel and lighter mood make it one of my favorite novels.
3984215
It took me about a year to read The Lord of the Rings - all books and about 2-3 weeks to devour The Hobbit. I like to say that Tolkien wrote the former for someone of similar education as him, a professor of English or some such at Oxford, an expert of the English language and history, whereas The Hobbit was written for children - for well-educated smart and savvy children but still for children and who knows? Maybe I am a kid at heart. I Loved The Hobbit!

The story is beyond engaging. The descriptions are brilliant. The humor is well-placed and just delicious. The dialogues that Bilbo Baggins carries on in his head and the conclusive remarks that Tolkien makes here and there, makes you think he is just sitting in a park, surrounded with kids, doing a reading... and making observations. Oh I just loved it.

I do wish there was more of Smaug, and I had hoped that he would be the ultimate climax to the end. I felt a similar way in The Lord of the Rings. The ending happened and then Tolkien was going on and on in an anticlimactic sorta way. The story really should've ended but who am I to complain? There was more of Bilbo to read and love.

Fantastic read even if you are not a fantasy fiction junkie. Tolkien paints a world that all would enjoy entering so enter.
3623924
Wow! There is so much good to say about this movie that I hardly know where to start. Earlier this season, I saw Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and loved it, but after having seen FOTR, it has paled into almost indifference.
Peter Jackson is a genius! The cinematography was absolutely brilliant, with light and shade playing such a formidable role is characterization and flow. The locations were inspired and filled with grandeur.
I don't know the name of the casting director, but I shall find out, because he or she chose intuitively and extremely well. Elijah Wood IS Frodo, the curious, somewhat ethereal hobbit who undertakes the impossible. Also worth mentioning are the superb efforts of Sean Bean as Boromir and Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn. Great job on living the character through to the end.
Major snaps go out to Jackson, for staying true to a story I have loved since I was a girl, yet pacing it well enough to create an exciting picture, still riveting after 3 hours of viewing. I have seen this movie three times and am like a junkie - I've got to go back! It just keeps getting better.
In the modern world's morass of movies focused on fast cars, sex and flimsy plots, this tale of beauty and honor comes like a breath of fresh air - from the Shire, maybe?
2853065
A reread for me, better than any movie.  Go back to Middle Earth and enjoy one great fantasy.
891794
The story is the continuation of Frodo Baggin's quest for the ring as he is being helped by the tricky critter Gollum and must go to Mordor.
This 4-disc extended DVD set is quite a better one than the cut edition, there is 40 minutes of new scenes and new music by Howard Shore. The new scenes add more character devolopment and scenes that make even more sense, it also has tons of documentaries on the making of this remarkable sequel including a look of how Gollum was fully made.
There is even audio commentaries, design gallery, a hidden easter egg on Disc 1 and more. So if your a movie lover or anyone who loves LOTR then this set would be the perfect gift.
3501390
I could not put this book down. Tolkien 's brilliance really does through in this masterpiece. It's full of adventure, and is also very quotable
25840
Let me start by saying I am not a fan of the lord of the rings. I didn't even know this game had anything to do with it. With that said, I was expecting this game to be good based on reviews, but it's so much better than I expected. The open world exploration is very assassins creed like. The fighting and stealth is just like batman. All of it has been combined really well and the game play is great overall. I love the concept of having to deal with the army captains and figuring out different ways to take them down. I love how they interact with each other and how every action or lack of action has consequences. There's so much depth to this game. There are so many main missions, side objectives and things to do. I have not beat the game yet, but this is definitely one of the best games I've played in the new console gaming era. I'm hooked.
902445
It takes me more than 2 months to finish this series (Hobbit & Lord of Rings trilogy) but I found the time spent is well worth it. No wonder people call this series the greatest fantasy work of last century. The amount of details is so amazingly much that it seems that the author actually were there with the fellowship of the rings. The intensity of the battle scene is so great. The plot is so sophisticated.
The thing I love most about this series are those pure hearted and nobel people Tolkien created. We live in an imperfect world and thus purity and nobelty is some high quality people really yearn for but most would never get in their whole life. Thus, it is really refreshing to read about those people who are pure and nobel even in a time of darkness. Although there might be fear and sadness, there is no darkness in those people's heart (I am talking about Gandalf, Strider, and Galadriel if you can relate). I know it is fiction, but nontheless it is beautiful. Tolkien is a Christian and no doubt he poured his belief of the perfectness into those characters he created. Think about Gandalf, isn't he like a guardian angel?
2823652
This is a must have if you liked LoTR: The Two Towers, but want more. The movie is a heafty 3 hours and 43 minutes long, but every bit of extended time was well worth the watching.
The random horse that picks up Aragorn after his tumble down the cliff is explained. The endings seamlessly shift from LoTR: TT to LoTR: The Return of the King. From Merry and Pipin, the ring bearing group(Sam, Gollum, and Frodo), and Aragorn, each have scenes that meld this movie into the next. They should have been put into the movie, but most people couldn't sit through 223 minutes of Lord of the Rings(with this movie, I could have easily).
Most scenes further develop the characters, Eowyn's character is nicely rounded with more scenes with Aragorn. Faramir's desire of the ring goes much deeper than for the power of his people, that loose end it tied up in this edition.
What I liked most about the platinum series is the outtakes... and there are a lot of them. Everything about the movie, from how J.R.R. Tolkien painstakingly wrote the book, to the jaw-dropping performance of Andy Serkis(the man who MADE the personality of Gollum come to life(if he didn't get a Grammy/Golden Globe for his work, he should)), all is included. Galleries, galleries, galleries, and some of the pictures have commentary on how the picture/sculpture/scene was created.
Another neat feature are the several tracks of commentary throughout the movie. They take the place of the audio, and it's a neat addition if you wanted to further your understanding of the scenes.
All in all I recommend this edition of Lord of the Ring: The Two Towers to anyone's DVD collection. Well worth the extra money.
2880711
I just loved the Hobbit series, even more than The Lord of the Rings trilogy, although it's close.  The Hobbit:An Unexpected Journey is the first in the 3-part story that leads up to the 3-part Lord of the Rings chronologically, and since they came out backwards it is hard to grasp the sequence of events on first viewing unless you are really paying attention or maybe read the books, but this does not get in the way of enjoying each and every one of them as a stand-alone film, full of great special effects, interesting characters and story, and nicely plotted.  For relatively long films, I have to admit that I never got bored if the action slowed down like is so often the case with many films, especially longer ones.  I have viewed all the films about 3 times, and each time I see something new, which is always a compliment to say for any film.
2412250
I wanted to read The Hobbit before the third and final movie was released,  I bought the audio and followed along with the reader with a paperback,  I don't know why it had taken me so long to read this as I had read the Lord of the Rings triology some time ago,  Perhaps because it had appeared  as a animated version and I was under the assumption it was more geared to children,  How very mistaken I was,  I loved every moment of the journey of Bilbo Baggins, often tried sometimes weary and yet he stayed the course and returned home safely,  I have heard others relate The Hobbit to what was going on in the real world of Tolkien, breaking down alternate associations to conflict, making comparisons to the strife of the Jews, WWII and the list goes on.  I don't want to find the hidden meaning behind this work.  I want to enjoy the experience of a well written thoroughly entertaining Fantasy Fiction.  I applaud Sir Peter Jackson and everyone involved in the production of The Hobbit, it is amazing to see so much of Tolkien's words translated onto the screen and bringing his incredible work to life,
1899577
It was amazing how much it took me to finish this book, after 5 months I finally finished `The Fellowship of the Ring'  and it was absolutely worth it.

After finishing The Hobbbit I wanted to read the whole thing, even though I'm a huge fan of the movies, I actually never read any of the books, so this was the perfect opportunity to do it in its original language (started to read in Spanish sometime ago).

I was impressed at the amount of story that is left out in the movie, though I still believe the movie its a really good adaptation. So from the begining of the book until the end I couldn't avoid the comparisons  from the movie so I ask for forgiveness in advance if this causes trouble while reading my review.

Frodo, the hero and successor of Bilbo's burden, seemed to be more mature in the book than in the movie, it's like every time I tried to picture him in my mind, he would look older and experienced than the one portrayed by Elijah Wood in the movies. Frodo's maturity its still developed through the book. Again we encounter a normal and unsophisticated hobbit who discovers himself during his journey, and who is exposed to the deadliest enemies.

Reading all the details and facts about the main characters and even secondary characters was really pleasing. I never felt it was `too much', on the contrary, you get to know each character better and identify with someone during the story. It was helpful as well to get the feeling that certain places or character were there since long ago. The way Tolkien describes the behavior and traditions of some of the `races' of Middle-Earth take  you into the story.

I totally recommend The Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of The Ring for those looking out for high fantasy literature and also for an those looking for clean content. Yes there is some violence according to the kind of story, but you won't find unnecessary references to it or sexual/erotic content. Maybe it's something most of you know and it was as well shown in the movies, but it's still good to mention.

Disclosure: I did not get this book for review; nor was I required to write a review - I chose to. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.
2166090
I was crazy not to watch The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers in the theaters because if that film looked THAT amaZinG on my own big screen tv at home (which it did) then Oh MY...i could only imagine how spectacular, how intensifying it would look on the giant silver screen.
This sequel engaged me from beginning to end.  I learned to love several characters while hating others.  Never has the battle of good versus evil looked so awing.  You know how after you keep seeing the good guys win again and again in so many films that you kinda get sick of it and wish the bad guys would conquer for once?? well...I can almost guarantee you will be rootin' on tHeSe good men til the very end.  I mean, their sheer passion to protect what is good, upright and noble is so compelling that you can almost taste the blood spilt on their behalf.  You are so much drawn into every scene that you almost forget your own surroundings.
Unlike the first movie The Fellowship of the Ring, this second film focuses more on each individual character for the nine original members of the fellowship have split up into three different subgroups (as you see at the end of the first movie).  This allows for a larger scope of action that will bind you to your seat.  And is it just me or do those Oks keep getting uglier and uglier?? *shudders* haha  Clearly, this film isn't big on romance, but if you're curious to see if it follows the blossoming love between Aragorn and Arwen the daughter of the master elf...they do have some brief but substantial scenes together.
I have several favorite scenes in this film--all of which are parts in the battle of Helen's Keep.  I won't say exactly what they are so as not to spoil it for those of you who have not yet seen Two Towers.  It is all very exciting tho and sincerely impressive I must say.  This has to be my favorite movie of the year and that says alot because I usually favor romantic comedies.  Two Towers is filled with  action, adventure, lust, and emotion.  They call the great battle: the War of the Ring.  I call it the war of good vs. evil.  They did an awesome job of creating the special effects...and the animated characters possess so much realism that you may think they are people dressed in costume and an extreme amount of makeup.
I must add, if you are a huge fan of the handsome Legolas (Orlando Bloom)--like I am (of course ;) hehe)--you will be happy to find that he has more parts in this one than first.  And he shows off his fighting skills in addition to his expert archery talent.  Hmmm...and I have to say...i love it when he speaks Elf...it's smooth...rich and sexy! haha
Basically, if you loved the first one, you will be enchanted by its sequel (Two Towers) and I am more than anxious to see the final addition to the trilogy (The Return of the King) for I'm sure it will not dissapoint. =)  As long as they keep making 'em, I'm gonna keep seeing 'em. ;)
924270
I am not an avid book reader, but I LOVED THIS BOOK!  I COULDN'T PUT IT DOWN!  I am almost done reading it again, because it is such a good book!  I am going to start the LOTR books next and I am sure they will be the same.

LOVE TOLKIEN's imagination and writing style!

GET THIS ASAP!
1273050
This is by far the best of the Middle Earth books. The pages of mind-numbing verse are all-but absent in this book, replaced by actual narration and dialogue. The few(er) occasions during which we are subjected to Tolkien's less-then-stellar grasp of rhymed verse are at the very least more bearable. The story is as rich in detail and plot as the LOTR pseudo-trilogy, if not more so, with the added bonus of actual characterization for many of the characters. I found this to be the most fulfilling book of the Middle Earth series, despite (or because of?) it being the shortest.
462441
The Hobbit series is truly incredible. An Unexpected Journey was good. The Desolation of Smaug was better. But The Battle of the Five Armies (in my opinion) was the best. I honestly didn't think they were going to be as good as Lord of the Rings, but obviously, I was mistaken. I've always admired how realistic and captivating Peter Jackson displays his battle scenes in these movies, and The Battle of the Five Armies was an amazing portrayal of war. I usually don't do well with gore, but I was fine with this kind of action. The emotion and passion in this movie was outstanding. The Hobbit storyline is so original...you can't get much better than this. I definitely will be watching this again. ;)
974852
All the rich history and delightful characterization found in Middle Earth in a highly readable story, fashioned after the epic tale of Beowulf. This is blasphemy, I know, but I preferred this story to that of the LotR, as this book is better paced.