The Hobbit 4k Blu-ray Review
We went there, and now we’re going back again.
The there is Middle Earth, the fictional world created by J R Tolkien spectacularly brought to life by Peter Jackson’s era defining cinematic Lord of the Rings trilogy.
And we’re going back because, well, now we can relive the adventures of Frodo and co in glorious 4k technology.
Alas, I only have The Hobbit 4k trilogy to review… the draw of 4k Frodo amongst freeloading media nodes such as myself having unsurprisingly proved to be just as popular as a PlayStation 5 this christmas.
Here’s the good news – The Hobbit trilogy always looked and sounded amazing, superior even to LOTR.
And these 4k versions turn this up to eleven.
So now you can savour a trio of ice giants fighting on a mountain side, the psychedelic tripped out colours of myrkwood forest and five armies fighting against… well, five armies in even greater detail than ever before.
What these 4k versions can’t do is make The Hobbit trilogy feel any less like an over elaborate starter before the main course of LOTR.
The Hobbit’s source material simply didn’t warrant a second trilogy, so we’re obliged to wade through a series of bloated cgi action sequences, some forced bonhomie between our company of dwarves as well as padded out secondary characters and storylines before getting to the good bits.
Sadly, The Hobbit would have been far more enjoyable if they’d pared the trilogy down into a couple of films and trimmed the notable fat added to Tolkien’s original novel.
Still, as over elaborate starters go, The Hobbit is definitely one of the better ones you could sample.
And the greater depth this gives to LOTR, which flows seamlessly into one another giving added context to the journey our heroes embark upon, makes The Hobbit trilogy a must have for any true aficionado of Tolkien’s Middle Earth saga – or even just cinephiles who appreciate the wonder of Jackson’s groundbreaking adaptations.
So now you can go there and back again in 4k whenever you like, all from the comfort of your locked down home.
Just remember to be careful out there – it’s a dangerous business going out your door.
There’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.
Jonathan Campbell