Children's literature for adults.

Rating: 8/10 (16 May 2016)

One of the very first "adult" examples of modern literature I had to study in school was the fantastic literature if J.R. Tolkien. With "Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit" being the "Harry Potter" series of their day, they were instant classics that succeeded in their efforts to get pre-teenagers to read. In fact, they were so popular with advanced English literature teachers that I got to study them twice: first in my eighth grade English class, and later in High School in a rather adult version of "children's literature".
Around that time, both "The Hobbit" and "Lord of the Rings" were filmed-"The Hobbit" as an animated T.V. feature and "Lord of the Rings" for the big screen. Both were produced by Rankin Bass, and only covered the highlights of the novels. It took a few more decades for these to come out as big screen remakes, and when they did, great detail was made to capture everything. The wait was worth it, because the results were outstanding.
Tied together through several supporting characters, "Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit" are never the less completely different stories, set in the mysterious "middle world" where bizarre creatures live around hobbits, dwarfs, elves, wizards and earth like mammals. Trolls, goblins, giant rock like creatures and huge spiders are among the feared creatures, but they don't compare to the fearful dragon whose love for gold helped destroy one of the middle world's finest lands.
Certainly, the computer generated effects makes this all the more intense, with the battle scenes quite realistic and brutal. Leading the story is the mild mannered Bilbo Baggins, the homebody hobbit who is brought into the adventure of a lifetime. Gandfolf, the wizard, takes over Bilbo's hole in the hill, and before you can break into the Jabberwocky, you're out in the woods, fighting all these various evil creatures to help dethroned prince Thorin recapture his kingdom, now being guarded by the evil dragon, Smaug.
Continuing his role as Gandolf is that wonderful stage veteran Sir Ian MacKellan, finely supporting Martin Freeman as Bilbo. This covers the first quarter of the book, taking the audience through many adventures in a fast moving three hours. Whether it be Bilbo's capture by the trolls, the sudden fight between moving rock formations or the final battle with the goblins, you will never find yourself bored. You might want to keep aspirin near by just in case, as the sound through your stereo may become a bit overwhelming. This isn't the type of series to rush through non-stop, but watch pieces at a time. Then, you might want to re-visit the Ray Harryhausen classics of the golden age which highly influenced either Tolkien or the filmmakers, or possibly both.