Product: The Hobbit [VHS] (1977)
Rating: 2.0
Poor quality reproduction
This is a review about this specific version of the Hobbit cartoon. This is not a review about the actual cartoon, I love the cartoon and always will. This reproduction however is really quite poor. Below are the main issues I have with this edition.-Poor color enhancement (the entire movie was already very dark) This production company has taken an already dark film and seemingly further darkened it. The result being that much of the time the "darkness" effect renders the picture so dark that not much can be made out at all and sadly this occurs for probably about 60% of the movie.-Unneeded sound/visual effects added. While these are not extreme and are not used to excess they can be silly and there is no point to them. Fire crackling noises, a scream or shout here and there just are unnecessary additions and trivialize the film. At times during transition scenes a corner of the screen lifts up and turns like a book page which is a totally unnecessary and unwanted addition.-Clipped sound/images. While the previous issues can be chalked up to old film or weak reproduction technology, but for the film to actually SKIP at times (and it's not the DVD, its the actual movie), this is unacceptable. For a company to re-release something with skips and repeats in it is just piss poor. To be fair, it's infrequent and doesn't disrupt the movie too much, but for any current DVD to have this issue is just beyond belief. At times the actual scene will repeat briefly and at other times (during songs no less) the film will simply just skip ahead a few seconds. Very shoddy and probably the biggest knock on this cheap reproduction.If you are prepared to accept these foibles, then for the price, this DVD isn't that horrible. This is the reason I gave it two stars rather than just one. It is the cartoon and it was great to get to watch it again. It's just a shame they clearly gave it very little care or attention when giving it a re-release to DVD. For hardcore fans who are willing to look past its problems, its still the movie you remember and love! For those looking to see this for the first time, do yourselves a favor and wait for a real quality release.