I loved how they took it seriously just like the LOTR movies, finally someone who takes fantasy stories seriously, and I liked how many things of the book they managed to get in, and even the things they added in order to link this to the Lotr trilogy, and everything's really good !
It starts with our old Bilbo at his home, writing his story to tell Frodo what really happened during his “adventures”. He writes about the nice, prosperous city of Dale, so near “the greatest kingdom in Middle Earth”, Erebor. “Stronghold of Thror, king under the mountain, mightiest of the dwarf lords”, who had a son and a grandson. The kingdom was build within the mountain, where they kept digging for gold and jewels, until they found “the Arkenstone, the Heart of the Mountain”. Thror called it the King’s jewel, and demanded that they all pay homage to him, even Thranduil “the great Elven King”.
Thror became more and more greedy, becoming crazy with it. (very nice scene when his grandson looks at him and then backs up into the shadow..)
Until they heard a noise “coming down from the North”, like a hurricane. Smaug the dragon had come, a big dragon who attacked Dale but aimed at Erebor “for dragons covet gold with a dark and fierce desire... Erebor was lost for a dragon will guard his plunder as long as he lives”. They had to abandon Erebor, and “Thranduil would not risk the lives of his kin against the wrath of the dragon. No help came from the elves that day, nor any day since”.
The dwarves became now homeless, wanderers. The dwarf prince found work in the cities of men, but never forgot.
Here is where Bilbo comes in, because of fate and the will of a wizard.
- we see Frodo again, smiling and taking the mail to him, and talking about the food and the party and the Sackville-Baggins and Gandalf, and Frodo runs out to surprise him :-)
Bilbo remembers: “in those days I was always on time, I was entirely respectable, and nothing unexpected ever happened”. Now the title “An Unexpected Journey” appears and we see young Bilbo, 60 years earlier, meeting Gandalf outside his gate: “Good morning” - Gandalf says “what do you mean? Do you wish me a good morning or do you mean that it is a good morning whether I want it or not? Or perhaps you mean to say that you feel good on this particular morning?” and talks about adventures but Bilbo is not interested, doesn’t like adventures: “nasty disturbing uncomfortable things”. Gandalf knew his mother and Bilbo himself when he was younger, and now wonders how the son of Belladonna Took came to be like that. “Well, that’s decided. It’ll be very good for you and most amusing for me. I shall inform the others”. Bilbo says he wants nothing to do with adventures and locks the house. Gandalf puts a sign on his door with his wooden stick and leaves. That night, dwarves start coming in: Dwalin who starts eating his supper then Balin and Fili and Kili whom he tries to keep out but they come in anyway of course. The other eight come all together, with Gandalf, who very nicely does a dwarf-count “Fili Kili Oin Gloin Dwalin Balin Bifur Bofur Bombur Dori Nori Ori” and says “we appear to be one dwarf short” :-)
They make a big mess, eating and drinking everything he has, but quite polite after all. Finished, they start throwing the plates, you know, just mocking about and having fun, and sing about it, until everything is in order again. There is a knock: “He is here” - “Gandalf, I thought you said this place would be easy to find, I lost my way, twice, I wouldn’t have found it at all had it not been for that mark on the door” at which Gandalf tells Bilbo “there is a mark, I put it there myself”. The leader of the company is Thorin Oakenshield. He met with other dwarves but nobody accepted to come and help, this quest “is ours and ours alone”. Gandalf has the key to the Front Gate, the way into the Mountain, given to him by Thorin’s father Thrain, for safekeeping.
Bilbo protests that he is no burglar and they all agree that he doesn’t seem one, but Gandalf rises and booms “Enough! If I say Bilbo Baggins is a burglar then a burglar he is!” and “hobbits are remarkably light on their feet” and “there’s a lot more to him than appearances suggest” so they give him the contract and he reads it :lol: then faints. Gandalf tells him “I remember a young hobbit who was always running off in search of elves in the woods” and more.. Balin thinks it through when he refuses and says of themselves “hardly the stuff of legend” to which Thorin says “I would take each and every one of these dwarves over an army from the Iron Hills, for when I called upon them they answered. Loyalty, honor, a willing heart. I can ask no more than that” which is not encouraging in my opinion and if you think about it it’s not flattering at all, it’s like saying I marry you because you said yes, it’s not romantic at all. Thorin didn’t make a choice, he tried to call many others but they, only, answered. That’s all. They’ll all follow him, of course, anywhere. Then they sing, I liked that. I never imagined they could make it work, with the songs, you know.
Morning, Bilbo wakes up, the house is empty, and at first he’s relieved but then he changes his mind, takes the contract and runs after them. They put him on a pony and in a moment he said he wanted to go back because he forgot his handkerchief :-p
After he lost Erebor, “King Thror tried to reclaim the Ancient Dwarf Kingdom of Moria” but it was now full of orcs, legions of orcs, lead by Azog the Defiler, a giant white-ish orc who beheaded the king and threw his head at Thorin’s feet. The Pale Orc, they call him. Thror dead, Thrain crazy, but Thorin fought and kept fighting “wielding nothing but an oaken branch as a shield” managed at least to cut off his hand. Many many dwarves died but they won - well, they won outside, but they never got Moria back, did they?
Thorin thinks that Azog died. Gandalf says that there are five wizards: himself, Saruman the white, then two blue and the fifth is Radagast the brown, and we see Radagast, who lives in the woods and finds animals and plants dying, sick, because of witchcraft maybe. He calls all animals by name and talks to them and his sledge is pulled by rabbits.
Gandalf wants the help of the elves or at least to talk to Elrond, but Thorin is still angry at the elves and has no intention to ask their help. So Gandalf goes away. That night, Fili and Kili find out that two horses are missing, taken by trolls, and tell Bilbo that he’s so small they won’t see him because they’re slow and stupid and “we’ll be right behind you” and Fili says “if you run into trouble, hoot twice like a barn howl and one like a brown howl” :lol: and this is why Gandalf didn’t want to stop here, the farmer and his family who lived there were all eaten by the trolls .
Bilbo is doing nicely but then he’s caught. All dwarves charge now, and Bilbo frees the horses but then is taken hostage and they have to surrender their weapons. The trolls start arguing over the best way to cook them, and Bilbo talks to them to buy time till dawn arrives and Gandalf too, he breaks a big rock and the sun turns them into stone.
Thorin: “where did you go if I may ask?” - “to look ahead” - “what brought you back?” - “looking behind”. They were mountain trolls, and they shouldn’t be this far south.
In a troll cavern they find two elven swords, for Gandalf and Thorin, and one for Bilbo, and Gandalf tells him “remember this: true courage is about knowing not when to take a life but when to spare one”. They meet Radagast who was actually looking for Gandalf, and he says that the Greenwood is sick. Dark magic comes from the once-abandoned fortress of Dol Guldur. Radagast was attacked by ghosts there, and there was a necromancer. Now they are attacked by Warg Scouts “which means an orc pack is not far behind”. Radagast offers to help “I’ll draw them off” - “these are Gundabag wargs, they will outrun you” and Radagast, very proudly “these are Rhosgobel Rabbits! I’d like to see them try” *smirk* funny :-D
So, all wargs chase Radagast and the dwarves escape following Gandalf. They run until they are surrounded and prepare to fight thinking he left them, until he shouts “this way you fools” and they all hide until the elves get rid of them all. They get to Rivendell, the Last Homely House East of the Sea, the Valley of Imladris. Elrond comes with his horsemen, and offers them hospitality (green food and music). He tells them their blades are: Orcrist the Goblin-Cleaver is Thorin’s and Glamdring the Foehammer, sword of the king of Gondolin is Gandalf’s.
Balin tells Bilbo that his own sword is more a letter-opener than a sword :-p
They show Elrond their map, because they need an elf to read ancient dwarvish apparently. The moon runes “were written on a midsummer’s eve by the light of a crescent moon nearly 200 years ago” and “fate is with you Thorin Oakenshield. The same moon shines upon us tonight” how lucky! No, it’s not luck, it’s a sign..
They can now see the writings: they have to be at a specific place at a specific place and the door to enter the mountain will appear. Gandalf and Elrond discuss the matter with Galadriel and Saruman.
Saruman says that they’ve had 400 years of peace, that Sauron was defeated for ever, but Gandalf worries he might use Smaug with terrible conseguences. (400 years only? Sauron was much much earlier surely, like 2000?)
Gandalf shows them the “Morgul blade” that Radagast found, “made for the witchking of Angmar, and buried with him”. Saruman would like to stop the dwarves, but they’ve gone already while they were talking. Gandalf talks to Galadriel, admitting he knew they were going, and I love how he seems a boy near Galadriel :-D He says “I have found it is the small things, everyday deeds of ordinary folk, that keeps the darkness at bay” and “simple acts of kindness and love”, and she promises she’ll be there to help him if he needs her.
They go on and stumbles in a stone-giants’ fight. They fought they were climbing a mountain but they were actually on a giant’s legs. Luckily, they’re all safe. Bilbo almost fell but they saved him.
“I thought we’d lost our burglar” and Thorin “he’s been lost ever since he left home, he should never have come, he has no place amongst us” :’(
At night, Bilbo packs his bag and prepares to leave but talks to Bofur and then they all fall down into goblin territory. They are all taken away but Bilbo stays behind until one goblin attacks him and they both fall down. The Goblin King is quite funny: “well well well look who it is, Thorin son of Thrain son of Thror king under the mountain. Oh but I’m forgetting you don’t have a mountain, and you’re not a king, which makes you nobody really” and he tells Thorin that Azog is alive and sends word to him that he’s found Thorin.
Gollum kills the goblin to eat it, and loses the ring. Bilbo finds his sword and the ring too. Gollum talks to himself, Bilbo says what’s his game and Gollum lightens up, he likes games and they play riddles (the mountain to warm up, then the teeth, the wind, eggs, time) Last question, Bilbo puts his hand in his pocket and feels the ring and thinks aloud “what have I got in my pocket?” and Gollum thinks that’s the riddle and of course fails so Bilbo wins, but Gollum wants to know the answer, specially after noticing that his precious ring was lost. “What has it got in its nasty little pocketsies?”
Gollum screams “he stole it” and Bilbo runs with Gollum chasing.
The goblins chant and fight but Gandalf come to the rescue, so they can all take back their weapons and fight back.
Bilbo breaks his buttons but by chance the ring falls on his finger and he becomes invisible. The dwarves keep running and fighting, all very good but Thorin is the king :-)
Gandalf kills the goblin king, they fall down and then they run to reach daylight, and Bilbo had followed Gollum to the exit and now sees them going out but Gollum’s in the way. He could kill him but his lost, sad eyes stop him. He jumps over him and runs out. Thorin wants to know why he came back and he tells him that he misses his home indeed but they don’t have one and he came back to help them get it back, it’s a touching speech.
It’s not over though, because Azog comes, they run but the road ends on a cliff, so all climb the trees. Gandalf sends a butterfly to call for help (we know this trick). They all see Azog alive, the wargs make the trees go down until they are all on the last tree up. Gandalf gives them fire and the beasts stay back but the tree’s falling and Thorin can’t resist anymore and runs to fight Azog - quite the hero scene when he walks off the tree, if it wasn’t also a stupid move...
Thorin is hit twice and is in Azog’s warg’s mouth, all the dwarves scream and Bilbo runs to save him, kills one orc and stands between Azog and Thorin who is down.
All the dwarves now come to fight and Bilbo fights too. Dori and Oin fall but the Eagles come right in time to save them, as Gandalf knew well. The eagles fight the enemies off and take Thorin’s unconscious body and all the others to safety. They are all worried about Thorin but Gandalf whispers words to him and he open his eyes. Thorin admits that he was wrong to doubt Bilbo, and hugs him.
From where they are now they can see Erebor in the distance and Bilbo says “I believe the worst is behind us”, a bad thing to say... the last image shows us Smaug’s eye, growling among his gold.
During the first part of the credits we hear the “song of the lonely mountain” and it’s very cool.
This could be understood in this movie. I found a picture on the internet so I’d say that Nori is the one with piramid hair and a three-braids-beard, Gloin is the tough one with a decorated beard and Bifur... is the one with dark hair and white beard? well, he’s ‘the other one’ anyway. )
Gandalf - Ian McKellen
Thorin - Richard Armitage
Dwalin - Graham McTavish
Balin - Ken Stott
Fili - Dean O’Gorman
Kili - Aidan Turner
Ori - Adam Brown
Nori - Jed Brophy
Dori - Mark Hadlow
Bifur - William Kircher
Bofur - James Nesbitt
Bombur - Stephen Hunter
Oin - John Callen
Gloin - Peter Hambleton
Radagast - Sylvester McCoy
Thranduil - Lee Pace
Elrond - Hugo Weaving
Galadriel - Cate Blanchett
Saruman - Christopher Lee
Old Bilbo - Ian Holm
Frodo - Elijah Wood
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