Product: The Hobbit [VHS] (1977)
Rating: 3.0
A DVD from 1997 and it shows
The Movie Itself:I personally always liked the story of "The Hobbit" a little better then "The Lord of the Rings", I know there are hardcore Tolkien fans who would shun a person for such a statement, but again that is my personal opinion. Don't get me wrong I like "The Lord of the Rings" but "Hobbit" is just a little bit more fun which is more my style. In 1977 the story of "The Hobbit" was adapted into an animated TV special by the duo, famous for their stop motion Christmas specials, Rankin and Bass. The special was a little over an hour long and covers the broad strokes of the plot. the film has held up pretty well and is still pretty entertaining.Plot:(For those of you who don't know the plot) "The Hobbit" is about a hobbit named Bilbo who is forced into an adventure by a wizard named Gandolf to help a group of dwarfs reclaim their kingdom and its treasures from a dragon named Smaug.DVD stats:this edition of the hobbit was released by parade video in 1997, it comes in a standard DVD case, and there is no indication of region.Picture:This is where this disc loses a lot of points with me. Knowing that this particular edition of "The Hobbit" was as old as the format itself I was not expecting much in the way of picture quality, but even I was surprised when I popped the disc in. Colors are overblown throughout and give characters halos, blacks appear as a dark[ish] gray, and there are compression artifacts everywhere. It's watchable, but just barely.Sound:The sound is as expected for an animated TV special from the late 70's, completely front driven. the mix is weirdly prioritized as well with dialog being drowned out by sound effects or music in action scenes. (Note: if you are thinking of buying this edition to see if the sound effects missing from the Warner release are here, think again, because they are missing from this one too)Extras:None, as bare bones as you can get.Closing Thoughts:The 1977 version of "The Hobbit" is a very nice little movie that tells most of the Tolkien story. It would be great for kids who may be a little to young to see the Peter Jackson version. This disc on the other hand is plagued with artifacts and suffers from bad black levels and still has sound effects missing. This edition is cheaper then the Warner release but it looks it, if you come across a copy for a few bucks and have never seen the movie or haven't seen it in a long time and are curious I'd say give this edition a look, but if your already a fan and are looking for a copy to watch over and over again I'd say wait for a reissue or bite the bullet and pay the $25 for the out of print Warner release.