Remember the day you saw The Hobbit at 48fps...

Rating: 9/10 (19 December 2012)

This my is my first ever review and is mainly about my experience with the new HFR (48fps)
First, please don't go into this movie looking for a LOTR prequel movie, this is Peter Jackson's version of the book, The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien. This is Peter Jackson taking a children's book (a somewhat short book at that) and adapting to the big screen for adults and teenagers, this is not easy to do. There is plenty in this movie to satisfy LOTR fans; I actually like the fact that PJ has taken his time to develop the story and introduce us to the characters (I wish more movies did this)
Second, if you have read the book, The Hobbit, don't expect it to follow the book, throw that out of your mind, you are going to see a movie not to see a audio book. As a historian, I never get upset at Hollywood for their version of history (JKF by Oliver Stone was a great movie but horrible with the facts of history).
With that said, this was a great movie experience, I went and saw this movie in an IMAX theater 3D HFR (please note the day you saw The Hobbit in 48fps) I can only tell you that I am joyfully spoiled now, I don't want to ever see another movie in the traditional 24fps. I watched all the previews in 3D 24fps but when The Hobbit came on, well... let's just say I was blown away by it's stunning detailed, no soap opera look for me but a sharp clarity and cleanliness; a color and vividness I have never seen in a movie. The cinematography is what you expect from a PJ film, but in HFR the characters, the deep vistas and sweeping landscapes, made you feel like you where there in the scene especially with the dwarfs in the fast pace action scenes (I actually could see all thirteen dwarfs inside the Goblin cave, on the bridge running and fighting in great detail, no blurring for a change). I will have to admit, in the first scenes of the movie, it did look like Bilbo Baggins was moving a bit too fast, like 1.5x speed on your DVD player but soon your eyes adjust and you can't see it anymore even if you tried.
This will change the way we see movies, it will be like VHS (24fps) or Blu-ray (48fps) which one should I choose. Not really a choice...
I hear the next Avatar movie is going be an HFR movie, I hope so and many more movies to follow.