Peter Jackson’s second film of The Hobbit trilogy, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, easily surpassed his original Hobbit movie, An Unexpected Journey, in telling a compelling story paired with spectacular visuals. The Desolation of Smaug is an exhilarating thrill ride topped by the appearance of one of the most impressive dragons ever to appear in a film. Jackson chose to liven up this second film and because we’ve been introduced to most of the main characters with An Unexpected Journey, the story isn’t bogged down with exposition.
Jackson and his co-writers Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens used the 160-minute running time to add back in the playfulness that was present in the Lord of the Rings trilogy but missing in An Unexpected Journey.
Jackson and company made the wise choice of also adding in a female elven warrior played by Evangeline Lilly who teams up with LotR favorite Legolas (once again played by Orlando Bloom) for some thrilling action scenes. And, of course, Bilbo (Martin Freeman) and the dwarves are all given much more to do and don’t spend unnecessary time in this outing singing songs and wandering aimlessly.
In its transition to Blu-ray, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug stands up well with the color palette and image crispiness, losing nothing in the leap to home video.
The Bonus Features – The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug Blu-ray + DVD + DigitalHD Ultraviolet:
– “Peter Jackson Invites You to the Set” – As you’d expect from any recent Peter Jackson production, a wealth of behind-the-scenes video coverage is included as part of the Blu-ray and DVD release. In this 40+ minute collection, Jackson offers fans of this fantasy series a look at what the cast and crew went through on a daily basis while shooting Desolation of Smaug.
– “Production Videos” – This four-part selection offers featurettes on the scoring of the film as well as what went into additional filming and the post-production work.
– “Live Event: In the Cutting Room” – If you missed the March 2013 event in which Jackson answered fan questions, you’ll want to check out this archived footage from the special Q&A.
– “New Zealand: Home of Middle-earth, Part 2” – A look at the beautiful locations Jackson used in New Zealand to bring this Tolkien tale to life on the screen.
– “I See Fire” music video by Ed Sheeran.
– “Trailers & Previews” – A couple of Desolation of Smaug trailers, The Hobbit LEGO video game trailer, and a trailer for The Hobbit: Kingdoms of Middle-Earth video game.
GRADE: B+ for a seamless transition to home video and a decent collection of bonus material.
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Limited Collector’s Edition Blu-ray 3D Combo Pack, Blu-ray 3D Combo pack, Blu-ray Combo pack, 2-disc DVD special edition, and Digital HD are available on April 8, 2014.
