Bilbo Baggins and his fellow furry-footed hobbits return to movie theaters
this week with director Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit: An Unexpected
Journey," the first in a trilogy. But you don't need to wait until then to
dive deep into Middle-earth and the fantasy world that author J.R.R. Tolkien
created.
NEWS: New 3D Technology: Are Viewers Ready?
With apps, games, ebooks and more, you can reacquaint yourself with Bilbo,
Gandalf and Gollum in time for the movie's Dec. 14 release and continue the journey
afterwards.
The story of the hobbit began as a children's book, "The Hobbit: There
and Back Again," published in 1937. The movies are expected to stay true
to the original story, so you can prepare yourself by reading an ebook version.
You'll find it in a variety of formats to match your ereader of choice,
including Amazon's Kindle. If you use iBooks for iOS devices, look for it in
PDF or ePub formats. Or check out the enhanced
version for Kindle, which adds illustrations and audio from Tolkien.
Understanding Tolkien's detailed fantasy world can require some effort. The
free official
iOS app for the movie includes background on the many characters in
"The Hobbit" as well as a map of Middle-earth, the fictional world
where Tolkien set the story.
If you prefer to listen to the tale, you can find multiple audiobook
versions on the iTunes Store, Amazon and other audiobook sources. You can also listen for free on YouTube.
Indulge your inner hobbit and become a part of the action with games tied to
the movie's release.
For mobile gamers,
Kabam's free, massively multiplayer strategy-action game "The Hobbit:
Kingdoms of Middle-Earth," for iOS and Android, lets you destroy goblins
as you build
If you want to dive deeper into the action, try Monolith Games recently
released "Guardians of Middle-Earth," a multiple online battle arena
(MOBA)-style game for PlayStation 3 and XBOX 360. In a MOBA-style game, you
compete as a single character against online opponents in real time. You can
wage epic battles playing as Gandalf, Sauron or other characters from Tolkien's
books.
"The Hobbit" is the prelude to Tolkien's epic "Lord of the
Rings" trilogy. You can stream Peter Jackson's movie adaptations of those
tales from Amazon for $2 a movie or from iTunes for $4 each. If you're feeling
nostalgic, you can buy a DVD (no Blu-ray) of Rankin/Bass's animated version of
"The Hobbit" from 1977, but you won't find a digital version to
stream.
In the new movie, Bilbo Baggins is played by Martin Freeman, who also stars
as Dr. Watson in the new BBC series "Sherlock." You can check out
Freeman's work by streaming the re-imagined Sherlock
Holmes story on Amazon and Netflix, among other places.
DNEWS NUGGET: The Hobbit: 2 Versions, 2 Releases
You'll find plenty of behind-the-scenes videos on YouTube from Peter
Jackson. He published videos throughout the process of filming and editing the
movies.
Director Peter Jackson shot "The Hobbit" in 3D at 48 frames per
second, twice the frame rate of typical movies. High frame rate (HFR) films aim
to better imitate the smooth motion we see in real life. But some people
complain that it looks too real, like a TV newscast. "The Hobbit"
will also appear in standard-frame-rate 2D and 3D, as well as IMAX and IMAX 3D.
Any way you prepare yourself, get ready for a spectacle of the big screen.
Hobbits may be small, but these movies won't be.
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