Film: The Hobbit aka: The Hobbit An Unexpected Journey
Gandalf: You'll have a tale or two to tell of your own, when you come back. Bilbo: Can you promise that I will come back? Gandalf: ...No. And if you do, you will not be the same.
The Hobbit is a three-part cinematic adaptation of J.R.R Tolkien's classic fantasy novel of the same name, directed by Peter Jackson and adapted for the screen by Jackson and Guillermo Del Toro. It is a prequel to Jackson's adaptation of The Lord of the Rings, telling the story of eponymous hobbit Bilbo Baggins' adventure with the wizard Gandalf and a company of dwarves.The film trilogy primarily covers the events from The Hobbit, but also features various elements derived from or inspired by Unfinished Tales and the Appendices of The Lord of the Rings. Such examples respectively include Gandalf's true motivations for helping the Dwarves retake Erebor from Smaug, and a sub-plot involving the White Council taking action against the Necromancer in Dol Guldur, which is hinted at in the book, but expanded upon in the aforementioned Appendices.The first part, An Unexpected Journey was released on December 14th 2012, whilst the second part, The Desolation of Smaug will begin screening on December 13th 2013. A third movie, There And Back Again, will debut on December 17, 2014. All three are being filmed in stereoscopic 3D, and in a cinematic first, at 48 frames-per-second.You can view the trailer for An Unexpected Journeyhere.See also: The animated film adaptation of The Hobbit (1977).For character traits regarding the films characters, see here.
The Hobbit movies provide examples of the following tropes:
open/close all folders
A-C
Absurdly Sharp Blade: Gandalf's Glamdring beheads a goblin so cleanly that the head doesn't budge from the now stalled goblin — complete with eyes still moving — until Gandalf nudges it, causing it to fall. Since Thorin's Orcrist and Bilbo's small Sting come from the same source, they can be assumed to share the same quality.
Flight of the Conchords star Bret McKenzie plays an elf named Lindir. Lindir is Elvish for "singer" (a character of this name does appear in The Fellowship of the Ring.) Also a reference to "Figwit", the unnamed elf (and Memetic Bystander) McKenzie played in The Fellowship of the Ring. If not for that, he probably wouldn't have a role (let alone a name) in The Hobbit.
Actor Swap: Martin Freeman as Bilbo, replacing The Lord of the Rings' Ian Holm, who was simply getting too old to play the part of a young (well, fiftyishnote But then, that's mid-thirties in Hobbit years) Bilbo — though Sir Ian appears as his older, pre-Ring self from the Rings films as well.
Some of the dwarves, a race described in the books as stocky and heavy-set with long beards have been given a haircut and slimmed down significantly for the films - notably Thorin, Fíli and Kíli. These are the three that die. There's no way that's a coincidence.
Possibly a subversion of the Beard of Sorrow, and confirmed per Word Of God in Thorin's case (Armitage in Brian Sibley's official companion book), who says that the short beard is a sign of mourning and that Thorin might grow the beard again should he succeed in claiming back Erebor.
The female dwarves look more obviously feminine◊ than the previous films or the books have implied.
Adaptational Angst Upgrade: Though the books (particularly the "Quest of Erebor") also imply that revenge is a significant motivation for the quest, the movie emphasizes Thorin's desire for his homeland rather than revenge or the recovery of their treasure.
Radagast the Brown doesn't do much in The Fellowship of the Ring besides telling Gandalf that Saruman wanted to see him and later sending the eagles to save him. In The Hobbit, he leads a pack of warg-riding orcs on a merry chase on a sled pulled by giant rabbits, heals a hedgehog whilst driving away giant spiders, and disarms the Witch-King of Angmar.
While the dwarves and Bilbo are (or in Bilbo's case, become) reasonably badass in the original books, the dwarves are more competent in some ways in the film than in the book (fighting the trolls rather than all but Thorin being captured by them by surprise), and Bilbo shows his competence and toughness earlier on (whereas in the book he's basically The Load until they enter Mirkwood).
Adaptation Expansion: Enough to fill three movies, the same as the Rings trilogy, despite The Hobbit being much shorter than any volume of the trilogy. This has been achieved through the addition of new scenes that are inspired by Tolkien's supplementary writings:
The addition of an extra villain in Azog, who was dead in the book, to tie events together
Depicting a lot of the backstory, including the splendour of the original Kingdom Under the Mountain, Smaug's attack on it, and the Battle of Azanulbizar, which are only mentioned in the appendices to The Lord of the Rings.
Adding material inspired by "The Quest of Erebor" in Unfinished Tales, where Gandalf lays out much of the story's behind-the-scenes action to the rest of the Fellowship. The fight of the White Council against the Necromancer will very likely be included in the latter two films. (Inspired by, not really from, since Jackson and co. don't have full rights to those and are writing around copyright.)
Radagast the Brown gets an expanded role in the films despite not showing up in the book.
Adaptational Villainy: The Great Goblin, only in comparison due to being a villain in both versions. The sole reason is his willingness to help kill Thorin for Azog even before the dwarves are caught in Goblintown, whereas in the book, he and the goblins believe the dwarves are spies and have come to attempt to destroy them. It doesn't help that Gandalf kills him in attempt to save the dwarves. Not to mention the goblins pursued Thorin's company to avenge their ruler, and even worse, later in the book after the slaying of Smaug, the goblins believed the dwarves, elves, and men to be more of a threat with Smaug's treasure, regardless of the three armies not exactly willing to share the treasure. In the first film, Gandalf's killing of the Great Goblin is justified as Azog and his own orcs are pursuing the dwarves since the beginning, and instead of the Goblintown goblins following Thorin's company, Azog's orcs continue to follow.
Bilbo's polite manners, nerdy habits and clumsiness are merely enhanced more by the gruff tough company of dwarves.
Also, Ori. Virtually everything he wears is knitted.
Radagast. Oh, so very much..
Among the cast members, there's Adam Brown, who plays Ori and is every bit as adorkable as his character, and Aidan Turner, who plays Kíli.
All There in the Manual: Not for the film itself, but the reason why the film has been split between 3 films is in order to show the events mentioned in the 120 pages of appendices for The Lord of the Rings which give more information on the gap between this trilogy and the next one. However much of the subplots derived from the appendices is extrapolated instead of transposed, unlike much of the Arwen subplot in the previous movies.
Alone with the Psycho: Bilbo when stuck with Gollum who's contemplating whether or not to eat him. He uses the riddles game to stall him/convince him to show him the way out.
An Arm and a Leg: Thorin is shown to have cut off Azog's forearm in a flashback and naturally assumed he bled to death. Azog returns with a Hook Hand consisting of a metal rod impaled all the way through the arm from the stump to the elbow with a nasty looking claw on the end
An Axe to Grind: Several dwarves, particularly Dwalin, who dual wields them, and Glóin, whose axe will be passed on to his son, Gimli, in The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
Anger Born of Worry: Thorin confronts Bilbo furiously after Bilbo takes on Azog, keeping him from killing Thorin. After listing Bilbo's perceived failings, he embraces Bilbo, declaring, "I've never been so wrong in all my life!"
Arc Words: "Home is behind. The world [is] ahead." Originally taken from a song in The Lord of the Rings (which was sung by Pippin to Denethor in the film version) but thematically appropriate for the theme of this film too.
Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: Saruman's list of reasons he disdains Radagast's (alleged) habit of eating mushrooms ends with how they stain his teeth. This is an allusion to a similar conversation Saruman had with Gandalf in the Fellowship of the Ring film, where he accused Gandalf of having grown "too fond of the halflings' weed." It may also allude to the books (Unfinished Tales), where Saruman does scold Gandalf for smoking while with the White Council.
Arson, Murder, and Lifesaving: Thorin chews out Bilbo, listing all his potential failings and finishing with "I have never been so wrong in my life!".
Behind the scenes, Peter Jackson promoted Andy Serkis to Second Unit Director to give him a larger role. On a small film this is basically doing all the cinematography grunt work the dramatic Director can't be bothered with (establishing scenery, crowd shots), but on an epic trilogy like The Hobbit (vast sweeping vistas, complex sets, large-scale CG), it's basically like going from amateur straight to pro director, with a huge influence on the final product.
Bret Mckenzie's role, which had already ascended from ank extra to unnamed minor character in The Return of the King, ascended further to become Lindir.
Regarding characters: Azog, from Posthumous Character in the book to main villain of the first film.
One of the trolls chastises the others saying that he does not want sunlight to turn him into stone. Might or might not be in play too when Gandalf talks to Bilbo about one of Bilbo's ancestors.
After making clear in the prologue that he's writing his account expressly for the edification of his nephew Frodo, Bilbo nonetheless opens the main portion of his narrative with Tolkien's passage, nearly verbatim note Tolkien has "Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort." Jackson has "Not a nasty, dirty wet hole full of worms and oozy smells. this was a hobbit-hole and that means good food, a warm hearth, and all the comforts of home.", describing what a hobbit hole is like for someone who's never heard of them but Frodo would be well familiar with hobbit holes and especially this particular hobbit hole, given that he has been living there. This is compounded by the scene in The Fellowship of the Ring where he also writes and narrates the "Concerning Hobbits" prologue from The Lord of the Rings in the first person, again as though for the benefit of non-Hobbits.
Attack Animal: The wargs note upon hearing their howls, Bofur says: "that is not a wolf" who hunt our band of dwarves. Azog has an albino-looking one, like himself. In the books they were actually a fully sentient race with their own society and language; here that's reduced to using complex tactics based on a single command.
Audible Sharpness: Bilbo's sword effectively sings when he pulls it out of the sheath, but continues to do so as he holds it. Another is when Thorin pulls out Orcrist when fending off wargs. Thing is, he wasn't carrying it in the sheath.
Aww, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: The dwarves' relationship with Bilbo shows steadily through the journey that they come to see him as one of their own, despite their initial doubt of him. Kíli was the first one to attack the trolls when they discover Bilbo and later on, Thorin had to pull him back when the trolls threatened to rip Bilbo apart. Most of the dwarves were quick to help Bilbo when he twice almost went over the edge of the mountain path they were taking. They're also very quick to push Bilbo towards the center of the group whenever a dangerous situation presents itself. Later on, Bofur attempts to comfort Bilbo after Thorin harshly claims Bilbo wasn't one of them and then sincerely wishes Bilbo the best when he tries to leave. And finally Thorin after Bilbo saves his life and pulls him into a hug in his gratitude.
Badass Beard: Thirteen dwarves, all bar two have beards and they're awesome — braided, beaded, looped, pointed, wrapped around one's neck, shaped as shouldn't be possible without large amounts of hairspray, and so on. These, along with badass eyebrows in Nori's case, help make the dwarves visually distinct. One that doesn't compensates with Badass Muttonchops, and the other has Perma Stubble. In one of the production videos Jackson predicts these movies will bring them back into fashion.
Badass Boast: Radagast challenging the wargs to come after him.
Radagast: These are Rhosgobel rabbits! I'd like to see them try!
Badass Grandpa: Balin exhibits some pretty cool sword moves during the breakout from Goblin-town.
Badass Longcoat: Thorin seems to have taken this role from Aragorn for the Hobbit trilogy, complete with badass fur trim around the collar.
Beauty Equals Goodness: Played with: The elves are all impossibly beautiful, and most are kind and friendly people like Elrond, Galadriel and their kin. However, Thranduil is shown to be callous and uncaring when he abandons his dwarf allies to Smaug. Likewise, the orcs/goblins are all disgusting in appearance and thoroughly evil, yet the dwarves are genuinely good-natured despite being (for the most part) rather ugly looking compared to elves, men, and even hobbits.
When Gollum realizes that Bilbo Baggins took his precious, he flips out.
The Great Goblin completely loses it at the sight of Orcrist and Glamdring. He forgets all about torturing the dwarves and orders their immediate execution.
With the exception of Thorin, who's simply an all-around Badass, all of the dwarves in the company range from mildly goofy to downright madcap, but they're all a force to be reckoned with in a fight (even Ori, who manages to land a few good hits with his slingshot).
Smaug is the final obstacle for the dwarves in their retaking of Erebor, while Azog serves as a more direct villainous pursuer who has unfinished business with Thorin.
And of course, lurking in Dol Guldur is the Bigger Bad himself, the Necromancer, better known as Sauron.
Big Badass Birds Of Prey: The giant eagles. They don't just rescue the dwarves in the movie, but attack Azog's forces directly, killing nearly half of them before finally winging off with their charges.
Bofur appears to develop one towards Bilbo, who despite being an adult is the smallest and least experienced when it comes to fighting, pushing Bilbo to the center of the group whenever a dangerous situation occurs.
Fíli towards Kíli, as well, which makes sense since Fíli is Kíli's older brother.
Thorin frantically calls out for Fíli when it appears he's been killed in the stone giants' crossfire, and he's very quick to intervene when the Goblin King orders his minions to start torturing the youngest dwarf (Kíli). Which also makes sense, considering Fíli and Kíli are his nephews.
Gandalf pulls his blindingly flashy entrance just in time to save the dwarves from the goblins.
Just as an Orc is about to cut Thorin's head off, Bilbo tackles the Orc and stabs him. Bilbo then becomes cornered by Azog's wargriders after he saves Thorin; cue the other dwarves coming in to save his ass and the eagles coming in to save theirs.
Elrond and his riders inadvertently saving Thorin and Co. from the warg-riders at the Hidden Pass.
Big Eater: Pretty much the only trait hobbits share with dwarves, as shown when they raided Bilbo's pantry. But averted with Thorin who was seen eating only from a small bowl and plate, and possibly Bilbo himself, as the dinner he was planning to have the night the dwarves showed up was rather modest.
Thrór when he loses the Arkenstone in the prologue.
Thorin when Thrór is killed. And later when he thinks that Fíli and the others have died in the thunder battle.
Balin when Thorin rushes out to face Azog.
Big, Thin, Short Trio: The sibling/cousin trio of Bifur (short), Bofur (thin) and Bombur (big) fit this.
Bigger Bad: The Necromancer (AKA Sauron). Gandalf's investment in the dwarves' quest comes from a desire to make sure Sauron can't recruit Smaug as an ally. He's right to worry, as dragons once served under Morgoth, Sauron's Big Daddy.
For those that know Khuzdul (which is possible to learn, courtesy of Tolkien being a linguist), the Khuzdul that the dwarves speak at various parts, and any time Bifur talks. And the Elvish that isn't subtitled.
Also, since they're using the same map as in the book, the text on it is in English, provided you read Futhorc runes.
Black Speech: The Gundabad orcs speak their own language in this movie. The denizens of Goblin-town seem to be speakers of the Common Tongue, however.
The goblins of the Misty Mountains were specifically designed to embody this.
Azog's prosthetic hand. The end of it sticks out of his elbow, meaning whoever put it in there forced a metal spike all the way through his arm lengthwise. Ouch.
Bond Villain Stupidity: The trolls try to cook the dwarves without killing them first - and keep their word of not 'disarming' Bilbo if they throw down their weapons.
British Accents: A multitude of British accents from all over the Isles are on display amongst the cast, which are used with great effect to enhance the personalities of their various characters.
The typically gruff, doughty dwarves tend to have either Scottish (Balin, Dwalin, etc.) or Northern English (Yorkshire) accents (Thorin, Fíli, etc.). This suits their earthy, plain-speaking personalities.
Cheeky, congenial Bofur is voiced with James Nesbitt's own Northern Irish accent.
The higher status characters (Gandalf, Galadriel, Elrond, etc.) all speak with RP (the Queen's English) accents to enhance the gravitas of their station and relative sophistication — and even the Goblin King uses an RP-esque accent, compared to his Cockney-accented Goblin brood, to highlight him as the leader. Bilbo and Frodo (arguably hobbit gentry) also speak in RP, but veering more towards a less clipped, Estuary accent.
The three trolls speak with Ray Winstone-esque, theatrical Cockney accents similar to the goblins, showing how they're all thuggish creatures.
The film opens with Frodo leaving to surprise Gandalf, which he does at the beginning of Fellowship of the Ring.
The Ring pops onto Bilbo's finger exactly as it did (or will) onto Frodo's.
Gandalf has trouble with the chandelier, exactly as he has in Fellowship of the Ring.
Gandalf calls on the eagles through the help of a moth/butterfly... again.
Gandalf splitting the boulder into two to defeat the trolls is a call back to what he did with the Balrog in the Fellowship of the Ring. Not to mention that he does so just as the sun rises. "At dawn, look to the east" ring a bell?
The elven cavalry's trumpet sounds the same as the one Haldir's reinforcements use at the Battle of Helm's Deep.
Saruman comments disparagingly on Radagast's fondness for mushrooms, much like his comment in Fellowship of the Ring about Gandalf's "love of the halfings' leaf".
During the same conversation, Saruman's comment to Gandalf - "Always you must meddle" - has a strong ring of familiarity towards Gríma Wormtongue, who refers to Gandalf as a meddler.
Bilbo spares Gollum's life, with the soundtrack harking back to the Shire and him as a gentle hobbit rather than a warrior or burglar who would kill Gollum. From The Fellowship Of The Ring:
Frodo: It's a pity Bilbo didn't kill him when he had the chance. Gandalf: Pity? It was pity that stayed Bilbo's hand.
The three trolls turn to stone in the exact same positions we see them in during Fellowship. Funny because they are visibly arguing, with one pointing down (at what was evidently the dwarves they were discussing eating). This made sense as it's how the scene happened in the book. Here, the scene is played differently (as Gandalf doesn't pit them against one another), but yet as they turn to stone their postures shift to have them face one another and for one to point downwards with his index finger.
Gandalf catches a glimpse of Bilbo pocketing the ring, setting up his knowing that Bilbo has it in The Lord of the Rings. Similarly, Bilbo keeps the ring in the same pocket as he does in Fellowship of the Ring (the front left pocket of his waistcoat).
Balin carries the big Book of Mazarbûl that the Fellowship finds in Moria, recording the last moments of the colony.
The original trilogy is the Trope Namer for Kneel Before Frodo - Bilbo earns a big hug from Thorin, rightful king of the greatest dwarf civilization after Moria, acknowledging this.
Dwarven women do in fact have beards, as described by Gimli in The Two Towers. They're just softer and wispier◊.
The warg riders' meeting place with Azog to tell him that they've lost Thorin's Company is Weathertop.
When Radagast goes to investigate Dol Guldur, he is attacked by the Witch-King of Angmar's ghostly human form, using a similar knife to the one which stabbed Frodo in Fellowship.
During the unexpected party, when the dwarves' arguments that Gandalf chose wrong by Bilbo start to heat up, Gandalf berates them by standing up, with his shadow filling the room, as his voice gains a threatening tone (the look on Bilbo's face here is priceless), just like he did in Fellowship, when Bilbo accuses him of wanting the Ring for himself.
Thranduil's actions in the prologue establish the reason why dwarves still harbor a deep distrust of elves many decades later in Fellowship of the Ring. In particular, it explains Gimli's immediate dislike of Legolas at the Council of Elrond in Fellowship, since Legolas is Thranduil's son and Gimli is Glóin's son.
Thranduil's reluctance to aid the dwarves in fighting Smaug shows that he is no lover of hopeless battles; a trait that may have rubbed off on his son Legolas, judging by his own despair at the seeming hopelessness of defending Helm's Deep against Saruman's army.
In Fellowship, Bilbo offers Gandalf some wine, but Gandalf would prefer to have "just tea". During the unexpected party, Dori offers Gandalf camomile tea, but Gandalf prefers wine!
Kíli deflecting Goblin arrows with his sword (and looking surprised it worked) echoes Aragorn's Throw It In moment in Fellowship where he deflects Lurtz' thrown knife.
Camp Straight: Dori and Ori have rather "effeminate" mannerisms, such as knitting, drawing and drinking tea/wine, although this may be due to them being the "toymakers" or other non-warrior dwarves Balin refers to. See also Real Men Wear Pink.
The shadow fell over Greenwood recently, not two thousand years ago according to the Tale of Years. Dol Guldur had also been occupied by the Necromancer for nearly as long.
Related to the above, in the book, Gandalf did indeed obtain the map and key of Erebor from Thorin's father Thráin, but it was when Thráin was a raving mad prisoner of the Necromancer decades before the Quest of Erebor. It remains to be seen how Jackson and Co. will explain that one, if it is explained at all...
The Witch-King of Angmar's backstory is changed so that he was locked away in an enchanted tomb following the fall of Angmar, rather than going to Gondor and taking over Minas Ithil like he did in the books.
The Battle of Nanduhirion distilled down to 60 years prior to the film, from the original 142 years prior (2799-2941). This is likely due to Thorin's age being lowered.
Cassandra Truth: Both Gandalf and Radagast are convinced the Necromancer is Sauron, or somebody as dangerous as him. However, some members of the White Council are either not convinced (Saruman) or don't see a threat (Elrond) to do anything about it. Averted with Galadriel who senses that something genuinely sinister is going on and puts her faith in Gandalf.
The Cavalry: The elven cavalry party, and a less literal one in the eagles.
In the flashbacks, the elves refused to help the dwarves, both against Smaug in Erebor and against the orcs in Moria. This led to the grudge of the dwarves towards elves. The White Council was about to be a third one, but the dwarves (for good reason) left before they could refuse to help.
Thorin states that the dwarves of the Iron Hills have refused to aid the company in retaking Erebor.
Changed My Mind, Kid: Bilbo attempts to leave the Company while in the goblin cave, feeling he doesn't belong among them on this adventure. After his adventures in the mountain, he forgoes the chance to escape with the Ring and returns to the Company.
Gandalf may or may not be one, but he sure plays one like nobody's business.
Same with Radagast.
Cold Open: Kind of a tradition now. Like the others Jackson movies set in Middle-Earth, this one begins this way, providing very useful Backstory about Erebor, Thorin, his grudge towards the Elves and last but not least, the scale of Smaug's destructive power.
Color-Coded Characters: Averted for the film in lieu of very distinguishable beard- and hairstyles and different weapons of choice for the dwarves. However, close attention to the color of the dwarves' outfits will reveal that the colors of the dwarves' hood colors from the book (see the entry here may have influenced the costume design for the film. Viewing the Lego minifigures of each dwarf will also help you see this .
Dwalin - Book: Dark green hooded cloak. Film/Lego: Green coat and cloak.
Balin - Book: Scarlet red hooded cloak. Film/Lego: Scarlet red coat and cloak.
Fíli and Kíli - Probably the two who were averted most from color coding, the blue hooded cloaks of Fíli and Kíli from the book have mostly been traded out for brown leather outfits.
Dori - Book: Purple hooded cloak. Film: Purple/red coat and cloak. Lego: Red coat and cloak.
Nori - Book: Purple hooded cloak. Film/Lego: Brown and grey clothes and cloak. His colors may have been switched in part with Ori's.
Ori - Book: Grey hooded cloak. Film/Lego: Purple clothes, grey cloak. Ori seems to combine both of his older brothers colors.
Óin - Book: Brown hooded cloak. Film/Lego: Grey and brown clothes and grey cloak. His colors may have been switched with Glóin's.
Glóin - Book: White hooded cloak. Film/Lego: Reddish brown clothes and cloak. His colors might have been switched with Óin's to better match Gimli's outfit from Lord of the Rings.
Contrived Coincidence: Elrond reveals that the map Thorin has contains moon runes that can only be read on a certain day in the year - and only if the moon is in the exact same phase as it was when they were written, meaning that the opportunity to read them comes only one night every thirty years. It just so happens that Thorin's Company arrives in Rivendell on that exact same day with the moon in the correct phase. Elrond even lampshades this, saying that fate must be driving their quest.
Cool Sword: Sting, Orcrist, Glamdring. Particularly Orcrist; based on Tolkien's "Unfinished Tales" and "The Silmarillion", Orcrist may have been used to kill Gothmog, Lord of Balrogs, who was even more powerful than Durin's Bane, the Balrog Gandalf kills in LOTR.
Creator Cameo: With Peter Jackson at the helm, it's a matter of where in the movies he'll be, not if he'll be in it. Turns out it is a very difficult cameo to spot in AUJ, where he is a dwarf fleeing Smaug in the prologue.
Elvish Archer Cavalry led by Elrond vs. Warg Riders
The eagles against Azog and his warg-riders.
Gandalf killing the Goblin King with a One-Hit Kill
Azog vs. Thorin, who is smacked with a mace multiple times, bitten by a warg, and rendered incapable of even moving the two inches he needs to reach his sword, all without getting in a single blow.
Darker and Edgier: Than the book it's based on. But Tolkien himself had planned to write a Darker and Edgier version of The Hobbit to fit better with the tone of The Lord of the Rings and feature more Call Forwards to it, having completed two chapters of it before a friend advised him that what he had written was "excellent, but not The Hobbit anymore" for fans of the original. You can therefore argue that these films are effectively just adapting Tolkien's own vision for how to make The Hobbit fit with The Lord of the Rings.
Description Cut: Gandalf describes Radagast the Brown as a great wizard, the watcher and protector of the forest. We then immediately cut to Radagast, a doddering old man covered in bird poop and dirt.
The Dev Team Thinks of Everything: When first discovered, Sting lacks the Elvish inscription seen in The Lord of the Rings, which reads, "Sting is my name, I am the spider's bane." In the film, Bilbo is told that swords get names based on their deeds, and his "letter opener" blade hasn't seen battle. Clearly Bilbo had the inscription added after he named Sting in Mirkwood.
Balin will be killed by orcs between scripts, as he's the one buried in the Moria crypt from Fellowship. The same goes for Ori and Óin.
Thorin, Fíli and Kíli will be killed in the Battle of the Five Armies.
Smaug will be slain by Bard the Bowman.
Doomed Hometown: Erebor for the dwarves, as seen in the prologue narrated by Bilbo.
Dramatic Irony: Saruman's appearance plays this for all it's worth, since he declares that Sauron couldn't possibly be coming back... even though he himself has suspected it and at the time of The Hobbit was trying to locate the One Ring so he could usurp Sauron.
Drugs Are Bad: Saruman's chief opposition to Radagast's evidence seems to be all the mushrooms he ingests. Coupled with his disparaging remarks about pipeweed in Fellowship of the Ring, it can be seen that whatever his evils are, the man does at least have a strong anti-drugs stance. Also see G-Rated Drug.
Dude, Not Funny!: In-universe example where Thorin is quick to sternly lecture Kíli who had casually joked about orcs to a nervous Bilbo. It is understandable why Thorin doesn't think it's something to be joked about since he had seen many of his kin killed by orcs, including his grandfather.
Dynamic Entry: Gandalf appears out of nowhere in the goblin caves to give the dwarves the distraction they needed to grab their weapons to make their escape.
Radagast the Brown is an odd case: he was in the book of The Lord of the Rings, but his role in the film version of The Fellowship of the Ring was filled by a moth Gandalf used to summon Gwaihir, Lord of Eagles.
The Witch-King of Angmar, in his spectral form, tries to kill Radagast.
Also Thranduil, Thrór and the spiders of Mirkwood will have much greater presence in the second film.
When Thorin first enters Bilbo's home, he doesn't introduce himself, bow or offer his services to Bilbo unlike the other dwarves, showing how proud and dignified he is.
Some of the dwarves show their defining characteristics when they first enter Bilbo's house and in the ensuing party:
Dwalin is surly and rudely takes Bilbo's food without much of a word.
Balin is rather more friendly and later guides the dwarves in organizing the table.
Fíli and Kíli, as the youngest and least secure, noticeably panic when Bilbo denies the existence of a meeting.
Dori, with his talk of chamomile tea and his wine enthusiast's description of the wine that he brings to Gandalf, shows that he regards himself as something of a cultural sophisticate.
Ori, when he asks Bilbo what to do with his plate, asks in a tone of voice that shows him to be somewhat timid and possibly not too bright.
Younger Bilbo is first seen sitting in front of Bag End, peacefully puffing on a pipe with not a care in the world.
The first time we see Azog in flashback, he beheads Thrór. When we next see Azog in the main story's timeframe, he feeds his own henchman to his Warg pack. Clearly, his title of "The Defiler" is by no means strictly honorary.
All the riddles played between Bilbo and Gollum rely on this. Justified, as riddles by their very definition rely on the Exact Words of their formulation. It took a bit further in the last one. Impatient that Bilbo was taking so long, Gollum demands that Bilbo quickly ask him a question. While thinking, Bilbo muses to himself "What have I got in my pocket?". Gollum mistook it for a riddle and complains before Bilbo, using Gollum's earlier words, retorts he is asking a question and decided to use that as his riddle.
During the unexpected party, Gandalf's drink request is "a little red wine". Dori brings him his wine in a ludicrously tiny glass, much to Gandalf's disappointment.
When Bilbo greeted him with a "Good morning", Gandalf lampshaded this trope by whimsically questioning the exact meaning of that phrase. Is Bilbo having a good morning, is he saying it is a good morning no matter what does Gandalf thinks, is he wishing for Gandalf to have a good morning or is it a morning to be good on? Bilbo simply replied: "All of them at once".
When Bilbo greets Balin with a "Good Evening", the dwarf treats it as a commentary on the night itsef, adding that "although it might rain later".
The Exile: This aspect is played up with the dwarves, as Thorin's goal in the movie is to reclaim the ancestral home of Durin's Folk.
It's hinted that there's some going on against dwarves, mirroring real-life Antisemitism and Antiziganism. Even Bilbo snaps a very insensitive comment about dwarves "not belonging anywhere", at one point, though he has the sense to feel very ashamed afterwards.
Thorin really doesn't like elves or anything made by elvish hands. He can warm up to elf-crafted things if they're proficient killing implements, though, as with Orcrist.
Thorin's biggest flaw is his pride, as mentioned by Gandalf.
Thrór's greed led to the fall of Erebor. This is strongly linked to his ownership of one of the Seven Rings; his Ring was passed on to Thráin before the Battle of Azanulbizar and recovered by Sauron before Gandalf got the key from him. Greed is mentioned as the only effect the Rings seemed to have on the Dwarves.
A Father to His Men: Thorin cares very much for his twelve companions and eventually comes to count Bilbo as one of them. He believes this group of dwarves - many of whom are not warriors - are worth more than an army, as they all answered the call to reclaim their homeland, proving that they had loyalty, honour and willing hearts, something that Thorin admires. Likewise, the respect goes both ways and the dwarves are fiercely loyal to Thorin and would follow him anywhere.
Balin: "..and I thought to myself; there is one I could follow. There is one I could call King."
The Great Goblin, while thoroughly unpleasant and bad, seems to be rather jolly and articulate.
Sméagol qualifies, as no matter how cheerful and enthusiastic he is, he still intends to eat Bilbo.
Fighting For A Homeland: Thorin's quest, naturally. He doesn't care about the riches of Erebor (not yet anyway), he merely wants it back because it is his rightful kingdom.
Fire-Forged Friends: Thorin and Bilbo after Bilbo rescues him from being beheaded by one of Azog's mooks. Literally in this case, since they were battling amongst flames.
Foe Tossing Charge: Smaug's attack on the dwarven stronghold. He barely seems to notice the dwarves flying through the air as he walks right over the defenders.
Food Porn: Quite a bit of it during the party scene in Bag End, complete with lingering pan over all the food on the table.
Foregone Conclusion: Since Bilbo is narrating this story, we know that he will survive this journey. Same with Gandalf and Glóin who both appear in Lord of the Rings.
Foreign Cuss Word: According to the cast, most of the Khuzdul they learned consisted of curses to throw at their enemies. None of which are subtitled.
Thrór's case of Gold Fever serves as this, as Thorin will come down with a similar "ailment" after Lonely Mountain is reclaimed from Smaug, which stops him from negotiating with the men of Laketown and the Wood Elves (although the interracial tension and being a prisoner of the elves earlier probably didn't help).
Bilbo considers the rumors that he has "tunnels full of gold" silly, as he only has a single chest that "still smells of troll". Glóin, Nori and Bofur are shown burying a box of treasure taken from the troll hoard.
When Gandalf presents Bilbo with his elvish sword, he tells Bilbo that true courage comes from knowing not when to take a life, but when to spare a life. Bilbo contemplates killing Gollum but decides not to. This is a turning point, as he then shows considerable courage against Azog.
Thorin and Gandalf have a brief argument over whether or not to go to Rivendell. Later, while fleeing pursuing wargs, Thorin loudly wonders where Gandalf is leading them to.
After seeing Glamdring and Orcrist, Bilbo wonders if his own elvish sword has a name, and Balin tells him swords gain names depending on their deeds. "Sting" gets its name slaying the spiders in Mirkwood.
Gandalf lights his pipe with a Finger Snap Lighter, and later uses the same effect to set pine cones on fire, throwing them at the wargs.
The musical cue for the ring Bilbo finds. Though even Gandalf doesn't know its true nature yet, he senses something sinister.
The odd way that the ring behaves when dropped - it seems far heavier than it ought to be (an effect memorable in the LOTR films which was achieved using magnets).
Annoyed at Thorin's refusal to confide in Elrond, Gandalf mutters that Thorin's pride will be his downfall. The Battle of the Five Armies, during which Thorin dies, is directly a result of his pride and greed.
A subtle one: the rock the eagles leave the dwarves on at the end is shaped like a bear's head. It's called Carrock and is where they will meet the skin-changer Beorn.
As Elrond reads the moon runes on the map, he mentions a door appearing "when the thrush knocks". In the final scene the camera follows a thrush as it flies towards Erebor, then starts knocking snails against a rock. The noise wakes Smaug.
The rock the aforementioned thrush lands on is almost definitely the secret entrance, and the thrush itself plays a role in helping Bilbo find the keyhole and also Bard slay Smaug.
Radagast's home is attacked by giant spiders. Guess what's waiting for the Company when they arrive in Mirkwood.
Thorin's father Thráin went missing but was never confirmed dead, and Azog mentions having encountered him. Gandalf found Thráin in Dol Guldur, where he had been captured, tortured, and driven mad.
Forging Scene: Quite a few, seeing as how this was the main industry of Erebor. One showed Thorin working as a blacksmith as a testament of How the Mighty Have Fallen
Fork Fencing: The dwarves do this when eating at Bilbo's house, much to his chagrin. It leads to the "Blunt the Knives" song being performed.
Fourth Wall Psych: Gandalf, when Galadriel asks why he chose Bilbo to accompany the dwarves. He gives her a speech about how small, everyday acts of kindness and love are what he's found most effective as a bulwark against evil, while looking almost, but not quite directly at the audience, although he is merely staring contemplatively.
Friend to All Living Things: Radagast appears like this, even letting birds nest (and crap!) in his hair rather than disturbing them.
Óin's Ear Trumpet is stomped on and crushed flat when the Company is captured in Goblin Town. Later, after they escape, he's shown using it, anyway.
Lots in Bag End during the party. One involves Fíli and Kíli trying to work out how to operate the tap on a beer barrel, then apparently giving up and just bringing the barrel itself.
When Bilbo suggests that the trolls skin the dwarves, Thorin is yelling and flailing around in anger, along with the others (who are all lying on their backs aside from Fíli, who is desperately trying to turn over).
After the Dwarves light their campfire in Rivendell, Bofur cooks a sausage over the fire. Next to him, Bifur is doing the same thing, but instead of a sausage, Bifur is attempting to cook a large piece of lettuce. Then, when Bofur throws the sausage to Bombur and causes Bombur's bench to collapse, all the Dwarves are doubled over with laughter except for Bifur, who is concentrating on his piece of lettuce as though he's determined to roast the heck out of it.
G-I
Gallows Humor: Bofur's stock in trade (though whether he means it to be humorous, or is simply incredibly blunt, is still unclear).
Game Changer: The One Ring of Power is TGC that acts as a James Bond device for Bilbo Baggins. That same Ring becomes Nothing Is the Same Anymore in The Lord of the Rings when it's revealed to be Sauron's Soul Jar, with which he could reclaim all of Middle Earth under his iron rule.
Genre Blind: The line "The worst is behind us". Oh boy...
Go Through Me: Bilbo does this after tackling Azog's mook and standing between Azog and the semi-conscious Thorin.
Gold Fever: Thrór, the king of Erebor and Thorin's grandfather, is shown in flashbacks to be so obsessed with gold that it's described as a "sickness," and his obsession with filling his treasure rooms with enough gold to build a decent sized castle out of it is implied to have attracted Smaug to Erebor in the first place. Those who are familiar with Tolkien's expanded writings will understand that this is due to his possession of one of the Dwarven Rings of Power - Tolkien's text notes that the greatest effect of these Rings on the dwarves was to inflame their lust for wealth.
Good Is Not Nice: Thorin, while unmistakably one of the protagonists, can be incredibly stubborn, proud, and quick to criticize, as well as discriminating against all things elvish.
Good Scars, Evil Scars: Azog has several symmetric scars that run all over his body, almost like tattoos.
Gory Discretion Shot: When Sméagol is preparing to eat a goblin he dragged onto his rocky outcropping, the goblin is shown to be hit several times, but then camera cuts to Bilbo and the fading of Sting's blue glow (a sign there are live goblins about) shows he dies. When Bilbo looks up, the rock in the lake is bare.
G-Rated Drug: Radagast seems to get high when he takes a whiff from Gandalf's pipe (another suggestion that "pipeweed" may not be tobacco, though tobacco is known to calm the nerves), and later Saruman comments disapprovingly of his worrying fondness for mushrooms.
Groin Attack: Bert the troll catches one from Dori's bolas.
Ground-Shattering Landing: Bombur does this in Goblin Town, punching through two layers of goblin scaffolding and dislodging the goblins that had been swarming over him.
Gandalf. In fact, his whole order of wizards are meant to be this, due to being restricted from using their full magical powers as Maiar spirits on the same level as Sauron. They instead were meant to resort to diplomacy, guidance and manipulation to aid the elves, men and dwarves in keeping Middle-Earth free from evil. Gandalf's displays of magical power are always few and far between, and they are always employed as a last resort. When actually fighting, Gandalf uses his staff and sword as conventional weapons.
Bilbo spends the first film slowly turning into one:
He distracts the trolls long enough to let Gandalf and daylight come in.
He relies on his wits alone in his "game of riddles" with Gollum. Plus, he is sharp enough to see the difference between Gollum's split personalities; and when he says, "Why don't we have a game of riddles? Yes, just you and me," he shrewdly attempts to address the less threatening Sméagol side directly.
Handicapped Badass: Óin carries an ear trumpet. Thráin is missing one eye.
Headbutt of Love: How Dwalin and Balin greet each other, albeit as dwarves, it's more like a full contact headbutting. There's also a more weary version in Balin's flashback, when they discover they've both survived the Battle of Azanulbizar, surrounded by a field of dead dwarves.
Heart Is An Awesome Power: Gandalf believes that the best way to keep the forces of darkness away is to embrace kindness in all its forms, no matter how small, and this is the primary reason why he believes in Bilbo so strongly.
Helmets Are Hardly Heroic: In all of the flashbacks, neither Thorin, nor Balin or Dwalin wear helmets when fighting Smaug or the orcs at the gates of Moria, while the common soldiers are helmeted.
He's Dead, Jim: While Gollum drags a wounded goblin away and starts bashing its head in with a rock, Bilbo sees Sting's glow begin to flicker and then finally go out.
Smaug is kept mostly offscreen in the first film, much like Gollum was in the first Lord of the Rings movie. His tail is the most ever properly seen in the flashback about his invasion of the Lonely Mountain, giving the close-up and detailed shot of his eye at the end of the film more impact.
The same can be said about the giant spiders. Some silhouettes are shown as they swarm Radagast's home, along with the occassional foot poking through the ramshackle ceiling, but there isn't a full shot of one until it is moving away, still through thick underbush.
Hoist by His Own Petard: Gollum would eat Bilbo if he didn't said "Time's up", lead Bilbo to know the answer.
Holding Hands: Galadriel takes Gandalf's hands as part of her assurance that he has her support.
Hollywood Darkness: In the Misty Mountains. When the dwarves are camping on the goblins' front porch, it's night, there are clouds outside, no fires are allowed, they're not in direct sight of the entrance, and there isn't an opening above them. However, it's as light as any normal cloudy day — brighter even than the mountainside was minutes before.
Saruman criticizes Radagast's stained teeth. Saruman's teeth are awful.
While Bilbo is writing There And Back Again, Frodo tells him that people say that he's becoming "unsociable." Bilbo denies it and then orders Frodo to put up the sign saying No Admittance Except On Party Business.
When the Trolls interrogate Biblo, Tom suggests that they place him over the fire to "Make him squeal!". Barely has he said this when Kíli pops out and slashes Tom in the leg, causing Tom to squeal in pain.
I Was Quite a Looker: First part of the film, where the older Bilbo saw his younger potrait. Look at his hand gesture.
I'm a Humanitarian: Gollum and the three trolls. If you substitute "human-like" for "human", at least.
There's a reason Thorin is called Oakenshield. By the time of his rematch with Azog, he has fashioned an actual armored gauntlet, reinforced with iron fittings, out of that same oak branch.
While trapped in a tree, Gandalf ignites several pine cones to use them as impromptu firebombs.
The dwarves break off a railing when being chased by goblins and use it to swat them away. Shortly after that they pull down a ladder and use its steps to grab goblins by their necks.
Info Dump : The first half hour of the movie is basically exposition. But made fun.
Bilbo's friendships with the dwarves, especially Balin and Thorin, also count since dwarves age slower than hobbits, technically making him the youngest member of the Company.
Bilbo (hobbit) and Gandalf (Maia). Gandalf with Galadriel and Elrond (elves). And over the course of the film, Bilbo and the dwarves.
For the villains, there's one of these between Azog and his mount, the Warg Matriarch (according to the actor himself).
It's for a Book: Gandalf gives a variation of this as his initial explanation for why they needed the map translated by Elrond.
J-L
Kev Lard: Completely averted with the Great Goblin, who is done in by a single slash across the gut by Gandalf wielding Glamdring. While is isn't Gutted Like A Fish, even he quips in his own Pre-Mortem One-Liner that the slash did the job.
The dwarves' motif is an orchestral rendition of "Misty Mountains Cold", and strikes up whenever they journey through the landscapes of Middle-Earth or start kicking ass. There are also multiple motifs from The Lord of the Rings, including the Shire theme, the choral music heard when Rivendell is first seen, and Gollum's theme.
Early on, choirs from the "journey in the dark" segment of the Moria are heard illustrating Thrór's money sickness.
The One Ring's leitmotif is heard when Bilbo first finds the ring and when he fingers it in his pocket later.
Very briefly, the Lothlórien theme from The Two Towers plays when Elrond and the other elves appear to fend off a warg attack.
The choral theme for the Black Riders is played for Thorin's Unflinching Walk down the burning tree to fight Azog at the end. Which, come to think of it, doesn't actually make a lick of sense. Sounds cool, though.
The six-note leitmotif in Saruman's theme is reprised, but at a slower tempo and with a slightly higher key, to downplay the menacing role he shall play later.
Unlike in The Lord of the Rings, Gandalf now has his own motif that usually plays when he makes his presence known in a scene.
Lightning Bruiser: Thorin is a lot faster and more agile than you'd expect a dwarf to be, and doesn't seem to have sacrificed any strength for it.
Line In The Sand: Invoked by Balin towards Thorin at the beginning. He tells Thorin that they don't have to go on the quest, and can continue the life of peace and plenty they have built in the Blue Mountains.
Balin, a bit. When Bilbo greeted him with "Good evening," Balin agreed, though he predicted it would rain later. Later, when Bilbo interrupts Balin and Dwalin going through his larder with an irritable "I'm sorry," Balin mildly accepts his apology.
Toyed with when Gandalf meets Bilbo and their conversation about the meaning of "Good morning." However, it is revealed that Gandalf was doing it intentionally, partley to remind Bilbo of who he was and partly because it amused him to do so.
Living in a Furniture Store: Played with. In the main storyline, Bilbo's house is very clean and tidy, showing how uptight and organized he is. But sixty years later, Bag End noticeably has more books and things scattered around the floor and tables.
The Arkenstone will serve as this throughout the trilogy, much like in the original story.
While not as important as the Lord of the Rings Trilogy (and normally not this trope), the One Ring will still play its role the same way it did in the original story.
Made of Iron: Tolkien Dwarves in general, but especially Thorin. In the first film alone, Thorin is trampled underfoot by Smaug and has an encounter with a Warg that should have punctured any number of vital organs; but he comes away from both incidents seemingly with no permanent damage.
Magic Knight: Although Gandalf is a wizard, he is most certainly not of the squishy variety. Especially when escaping the goblin town, he combines his sword and staff into a veritable whirlwind of death.
Man Hug: Dwalin and Balin share a couple. Thorin gives one to Bilbo after Bilbo saved him from Azog's mook.
Manly Tears: Dwalin and Balin after surviving the Battle of Azanulbizar.
Meaningful Echo: When the dwarves first arrive at Bilbo's home, Gandalf is seen ticking off his fingers when counting how many dwarves are present. Later on, Gandalf does the same thing when escaping from the goblin caves but realizes someone is missing: Bilbo.
Missing Trailer Scene: The trailers for the first movie have several scenes that are nowhere to be seen in the finished product. However, as the first trailer was released before the decision was made to make three movies, it's likely that some of those scenes will appear in the second film, such as Gandalf exploring Dol Guldur, or were cut and will appear in the extended edition DVDs.
Moby Schtick: Thorin vs. Smaug has shades of this. Unlike most examples, however, the dwarves have something to gain from Smaug's death besides vengeance and personal gratification: their former home, Erebor.
Money Fetish: Thrór had one, bringing about his ruin from Smaug, who has his own case. Smaug has been content to simply lie buried in the vast mountain of riches for 60 years.
Monster Is a Mommy: According to Word Of God, the albino Warg that Azog rides on in the films is the Warg Matriarch, and (as her title should suggest) happens to be the mother of most of the Wargs used as mounts by Azog's hunting party.
Mordor: Not the Trope Namer; we catch a glimpse of the wasteland that is the "Desolation of Smaug" at the end of AUJ.
Motivational Lie: Subverted. Gandalf tries to give Bilbo a motivational speech by talking about a famous ancestor of Bilbo's, "Bullroarer" Took. At the end Bilbo says that he thinks Gandalf made most of that up, and Gandalf shamelessly says that good stories can use a little embellishing every now and then.
Mundane Utility: In the meeting Gandalf discreetly uses a small fire spell to light his pipe. He uses the same spell at the end to greater effect by turning pine cones into fire bombs.
My God, What Have I Done?: Though he never outright says it, you can tell from his facial expressions that Bilbo immediately regrets it when he tells Bofur that the dwarves should be used to living on the road and having "nowhere to belong", briefly forgetting that they lost their home to Smaug.
Gandalf can't quite remember the names of the blue wizards. They're Alatar and Pallando, or perhaps Morinehtar ("Darkness-slayer") and Rómestámo ("East-helper"). The names are given in Unfinished Tales and The History of Middle-earth, but Christopher Tolkien has refused to sell the movie rights to those.
When Radagast tells Gandalf about the spiders that have "recently appeared" in Mirkwood, he says something to the effect of "Some spawn of Ungoliant, or I am not a wizard."
Named Weapons: Orcrist and Glamdring. Also discussed by Bilbo and Balin when Elrond is describing their history: Bilbo looks down at his own elven blade, but Balin tells him not to bother asking about it, as only swords are typically given names, and Bilbo's weapon is "more of a letter-opener."
We're pretty sure Azog The Defiler didn't get his name by throwing tea parties.
For the goblins, the two elvish blades of Gondolin count as this. They even added their own terms of fear onto the names of the swords: Glamdring, the Foe Hammer-Beater, and Orcrist, the Goblin Cleaver-Biter.
Smaug is also known by the nickname "Smaug the Terrible".
Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: When he encounters Gollum in the cave, Bilbo says he's Bilbo Baggins of the Shire. 60 years later, this information will be tortured out of Gollum by Sauron's soldiers, alerting Mordor to the One Ring's location and forcing Frodo to flee the Shire.
Gollum makes his most terrifying expression in all his appearances when he figures out the obvious connection between his lost Precious and Bilbo's question.
Gollum: What has it got in its nasty little pocketsesss?!
We only see the Necromancer's face for a short moment, but what we do see isn't pleasant.
No Name Given: Gandalf can't remember the names of the two Blue Wizards.
No OSHA Compliance: The bridge the dwarves take into Rivendell has no railings. The elves even ride horses across it.
No Sense of Direction: Thorin loses his way when trying to find Bilbo's house. Twice.
No, You: Kíli shows the emotional range of a seven-year-old when Bilbo claims the dwarves all have parasites (fittingly enough, he is the youngest of the dwarves):
Kíli:We don't have parasites! You have parasites!
Nose Nuggets: The troll scene, in which poor Bilbo gets used as an impromptu handkerchief.
No Social Skills: Set up, but then subverted at Bilbo's expense. The dwarves do seem fairly rude when invading his home from Bilbo's point of view (though they are under the impression that they are welcome), lack his air of politeness, are messily rough and cavalier, and clash with his fragile sense of comfort. When they start being messing with his fragile silverware, he finally starts shouting... and in response they simply launch into a song making fun of his indignation. But then the song ends, and it's revealed that the whole time they were actually cleaning up after themselves in their own unique way - to Bilbo's surprise and Gandalf's amusement. It serves as an early lesson that there's more to the world than what Bilbo wants to see.
Not the Fall That Kills You: Played straight in the goblin caves when Bilbo and another goblin fell a long distance. Bilbo survived with only a few cuts and bruises thanks to a cluster of giant mushrooms that absorbed his fall when he should have been in a much worse condition. The goblin was barely alive since he landed onto the hard ground, leaving him easy prey for Gollum.
Not So Stoic: Thorin has lost his cool a few times. During the stone giants' battle, he started frantically calling Fíli's name when he thought he was dead. And after Bilbo saved his life from Azog and he regained consciousness, he furiously yells at the latter for putting himself in danger before pulling Bilbo into a hug.
We barely see glimpses of Smaug for the entirety of the first movie. During the scene of him attacking Erebor we only see his feet, tail, and teeth. In the final scene of the movie, we see only one nostril and one eye.
In An Unexpected Journey, the Necromancer is shown as merely a vaguely-humanoid looking blurry shadow behind a curtain of fog.
Not-So-Omniscient Council of Bickering: Gandalf, Saruman, Elrond, Galadriel, the wisest and most powerful wizards and elves of Middle-Earth... who could not just prevent the return of Sauron, they couldn't even stop a band of dwarves from going to Smaug's lair because they were too busy discussing what to do with those same dwarves while they secretly left.
Obstructive Bureaucrat: Saruman is one to the point where he intends to forbid the dwarves from embarking on their quest, not realising as Gandalf and Galadriel do that the dwarves have already left.
The Great Goblin completely freaks out the moment he identifies the elven swords.
Ori's expression when the Great Goblin orders his cronies to kill the dwarves "starting with the youngest".
Elrond and Galadriel have the equivalent reaction when they see the Witch-King's sword.
Bilbo when he sees Sting is glowing blue and remembers what that means...
Also, when he realizes that Gollum figured out where his 'precious' is.
Blink and you miss it, but at Rivendell, when Gandalf meets Galadriel, he closes his eyes and puts on a VERY fake-looking smile when seeing Saruman has come to check up on him.
Older Than They Look: Dwarves and hobbits age slower than humans, so everyone in the company is older than he looks. Thorin doesn't look a great deal older from the flashback sequences, which take place 60 years prior. Bilbo is in his 50s at the time of the story.
The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: Azog makes it clear to his mooks that they can kill the other dwarves, just as long as they leave Thorin for him. When Thorin goes down easily, he seems to lose interest and orders a mook to behead him.
Orcus on His Throne: From what we see of The Great Goblin, he sits on his throne and rules Goblin Town, and that's about it.
Our Dwarves Are All the Same: While Tolkien's works provided the foundation for many standard dwarf characteristics, the film partially bucks many of the trends. The dwarves have a variety of accents in addition to Scottish, two of them do not have beards, and they use a variety of weapons in addition to axes. Female dwarves also have more feminine characteristics than usual.
Our Giants Are Bigger: The stone-giants, briefly mentioned in the book, feature in AUJ. They are actually made of stone, coming alive and literally wrenching themselves free from the sides of the mountains.
Out Of The Frying Pan: The party escapes from the orcs of the Misty Mountains, only to get cornered by a worse group of orc warg-riders. Furthermore, they climb trees to escape and use fire to keep the orcs and wargs at bay—which backfires and leaves most of them dangling from a tree over a cliff's edge. One of the characters even lampshades it, saying, "Out of the frying pan, into the fire."
P-R
Parental Substitute: Thorin towards Fíli and Kíli since, as his nephews, they're his heirs.
Perilous Old Fool: Thrór in his attempt to retake Moria from Azog's horde after the loss of Erebor. He paid for it dearly.
Picky Eater: Played for laughs. The dwarves aren't exactly thrilled to eat elvish vegetables and seem downright confused by the lack of meat.
Playing Gertrude: A male example. Lee Pace as Thranduil is actually two years younger than Orlando Bloom, who plays Thranduil's son Legolas. Although elves age differently to humans, Thranduil would still potentially be a few thousand years older than Legolas.
Plot Armor: The sheer amount of mortal danger every single dwarf of the group keeps surviving, without as much as a scratch, is astonishing, especially since there are 15 members in the group (13 dwarves, Gandalf and Bilbo).
Plot Irrelevant Villain: Azog and his vendetta against Thorin are almost completely disconnected to the rest of the plot.
Power Crystal: The Arkenstone of Erebor glows and pulsates with its own inner light, although the flashbacks don't show it powering anything in particular.
Pride Before A Fall: The dwarves of Erebor before Smaug's arrival, especially Thrór who never doubted the supremacy and longevity of his kingdom until it was too late. Foreshadowed about Thorin by Gandalf.
Primal Fear: Eating and feasting are important through the story. When enemies are encountered, they often also want to eat the heroes.
Pyrrhic Victory: The War of the Dwarves and Orcs is considered one. The number of dwarf dead outnumbered the survivors, and the reason they didn't retake Moria from the orcs, instead of Dáin realising that the Balrog is still inside in The Lord of the Rings appendices.
Rack Focus: This is used several times in the first film, in particular during a telepathic conversation between Gandalf and Galadriel. The focus fades forwards and back several times within one shot to indicate who is "talking".
Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: Only a few of the dwarves are actually warriors; the others range from miners to toymakers. In combat they range in ability from cutting a bloody swath through tough foes to ineffectually plunking at them with a slingshot.
Railing Kill: Literally - the dwarves take up a handrail and use it to swat groups of incoming goblins off a catwalk.
While nearly a full armed company of 15, the group is composed of far less capable fighters than the Fellowship after them. Thus rather than continue fighting against large enemies and overwhelming numbers, they are forced to retreat more than once.
Radagast's distractions works, but it takes only one alert mook to realize that they are not in fact chasing dwarves.
Silencing a potential orc witness is not as easy as it seems, since Kíli hesitates to shoot and his aim is off. Their victim's screams soon alert the rest of the orcs of the dwarves' whereabouts.
When Thorin sees Azog in person for the first time since their old battle he charges him. Powerful elven sword in one hand, armguard fashioned from the branch he used in the first battle in the other he prepares to finish the fight they started and then he's laid out in seconds and learns what its like to take a ride in a warg's mouth for good measure. Only Bilbo's intervention saves him from himself.
Refusal of the Call: Bilbo's initial reaction to Gandalf and the dwarves' offer. Becomes Jumped at the Call when he wakes up the next morning and realises his normal life just wouldn't be enough for him if he didn't do it.
Really 700 Years Old: Gandalf apologizes to Galadriel for the ravages time has wrought on his appearance compared to her. She's not bad for someone who has been in Middle-earth two full Ages longer than the wizards (though along with the other wizards, Gandalf is actually older than Galadriel and even the universe).
Red Is Heroic: Bilbo wears a red coat. Balin, one of the most outwardly virtuous and heroic of the dwarves, also wears red robes.
Red Oni, Blue Oni: Bilbo and Thorin respectively, who even wear these distinct colors. Bilbo is excitable and somewhat silly whereas Thorin remains dignified.
Red Right Hand: Even for an orc, Azog has a distinctive appearance. He is unusually tall and pale, and has a series of barbed hooks for a hand. His skin is unusually smooth for an orc and covered in scars.
The Resenter: Implied in the prologue when Thranduil the Elvenking shows deference to Thrór, there is a subtle expression of displeasure on his face. Likewise when he turns away from aiding the dwarves after Smaug invades, his face shows a hint of satisfaction.
Revealing Hug: Bilbo's face when Thorin hugs him in gratitude for saving his life is rather shocked-looking. No surprise, since by that point he thought that Thorin would never accept him.
Riches To Rags: What happens to Thorin who was once a prince of a very powerful dwarven kingdom but after Smaug took over Erebor, he and his people were driven out and he was forced to work menial, dead-end jobs to survive.
Robotic Torture Device: The denizens of Goblin Town attempt to use these on the company. One is essentially a giant press with two plates full of nails, the other are two barrels covered in nails where a victim is meant to be pushed in between. Ironically, after seeing one of the dwarves has an elven sword, the Great Goblin simply orders them to be killed without the use of the devices.
Master Elrond personally leads the sortie that drives off the orcs harrying Thorin and Company.
Thrór, Thráin, and Thorin himself, of course.
Thranduil, too. He probably would've helped the Erebor dwarves if it wasn't, you know, a gigantic dragon that had attacked them.
Rule Of Cool: During the second fight between Thorin and Azog, as Thorin begins to charge, the soundtrack picks up Sauron/the Nazgûl's Theme - even though there's no storyline reason to think Azog is directly Sauron's servant, and Azog isn't even on-screen anyway.
The landscape shots of New Zealand are as beautiful as the ones in The Lord of the Rings. There's a reason why Peter Jackson wanted to keep filming there.
The CGI ones deserve a mention - the sweeping shots of Erebor may be the first time this trope was pulled off underground!
Scheherezade Gambit: Bilbo keeps Gollum from eating him by proposing to Gollum to play a game of riddles.
Screw You, Elves!: Though not without reason. However, Thorin is so disdainful of them that he very nearly refuses to wield one of the finest and mightiest blades ever forged in Middle-Earth, purely because it is of elvish make.
Sequel Hook: An Unexpected Journey ends with Smaug awakening.
Gollum (performed once again by the Trope Namer himself) and Smaug as well by Benedict Cumberbatch. Jackson must be really impressed by Serkis, because he also appointed him Second Unit Director on both installments.
The trolls William, Bert, and Tom are performed and voiced by the same actors as Glóin, Dori, and Bifur, respectively.
Azog and the Great Goblin are also entirely computer generated characters. Many of the orcs and goblins of the movie are portrayed by human actors, but parts of their faces have been enhanced with what Peter Jackson calls "CG makeup" to allow them inhuman facial features, like too wide jaws or eyes that are extremely far from each other.
Shining City: The underground Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor and its adjacent, allied Northmen city of Dale are easily as impressive as Minas Tirith.
To Braveheart in the Nanduhirion scene when the dwarves all charge at once. To Star Wars in a scene with Azog and a minor orc, and even to The Adventures of Tintin. Here, Jackson shouts out to himself as Thorin makes his Badass entrance down a tree trunk to face Azog. The falling tree sequence some minutes before is also suspiciously familiar for all Tintin viewers (as the falling masts of the Unicorn). Also Bombur, envisioned with a big belly, no beard, whiskers and long red braids, and for extra points, someone stops him from drinking directly from the cauldron.
Elrond says the moon runes with the same (or similar) intonation as the Elrond in the Rankin-Bass film, seen here.
The ponies bolted after the warg-riders attack the Company, so they weren't captured and eaten by goblins as in the book. They also manage to avoid being eaten by trolls earlier on.
Azog died before the context of the story in canon.
Azog appears to understand the warg language. While tracking Thorin and Company, Azog's albino warg sniffs the ground and utters a series of grunts and growls. Azog then announces to his orcs that the scent is still fresh.
Squashed Flat: Hard to see it, but it happens to a couple goblins when the dwarves are rolling a boulder ahead of them during their escape.
Star-Crossed Lovers: Regardless of how their relationship plays out, Kíli and Tauriel are already this, being a dwarf and an elf whose nations have hated each other for over a century. Even if she does come to reciprocate his feelings and put their differences aside, the fact remains that Kíli will die at the end. Whether or not Tauriel will die is uncertain.
Galadriel does this after she encourages Gandalf to continue helping the dwarves.
Kíli and Fíli do it to Bilbo after encouraging him to go rescue the ponies.
Gollum pulls this on Bilbo during the game of riddles. Bilbo is distracted by a bat, and when he looks back Gollum has disappeared... and his leering voice is echoing off the walls as he tells his final riddle and menacingly wonders out loud how Hobbits taste.
Stock Scream: Late in the film when the heroes are escaping from the goblins, one that is knocked off a bridge into a pit utters the Wilhelm Scream.
Stout Strength: The dwarves are short and stocky, but all quite strong. During the escape from the goblins Bombur can be seen barely slowing down as several goblins climb on him. He may not be very fast, but clearly it takes a lot to stop him once he gets moving.
You can see the very similar facial features between Legolas and his father, Thranduil.
Not to mention Gimli and his father, Glóin.
Supporting Protagonist: Bilbo is the protagonist, but so far in the series it's Thorin who's The Hero of the story; in terms of traditional character dynamics, Bilbo seems to fit the role of The Heart best.
Take My Hand: The dwarves do this when Bilbo is dangling over the edge after the stone giants' fight. Fíli actually yells it to Kíli as the stone giant Fíli is on starts to move and they're separated. Kíli's face when Fíli is pulled just out of reach is devastating.
Take That, Audience!: In one scene Gandalf recites a story of Bullroarer Took's defeat of the orc-king Golfimbul (in which he knocked the orc's head off and it went down a rabbit hole, inventing the game of golf).note Gandalf doesn't mention Golfimbul's name in the film, making this moment a lot less witty than in canon. Bilbo mentions that some of that story has to be made up. Gandalf counters that all good stories deserve embellishment. This same claim could be applied to the film adaptation, which embellished the original book to make three films.
Talking Animal: Completely averted. Unlike in the novel, animals like the eagles do not speak the common tongue, though they may understand it. Instead, Radagast Speaks Fluent Animal and Gandalf possibly does too, since he can give commands to a moth and considers the eagles to be his friends.
Talking the Monster to Death: What Bilbo does to delay the trolls from eating the dwarves until the sun rises. He also tries this with Gollum, to less success.
Tall, Dark and Snarky: Elrond is definitely tall and dark, and in this film he also does seem rather cheeky/snarky at times.
Tastes Like Chicken: The trolls complain that all they eat is this trope, except for chicken itself, which to them tastes like fish.
Team Mom: Balin is a male example, being very kindly and supportive. As the eldest and wisest dwarf, he is also the de facto leader when Thorin isn't around. Dori too, especially towards his younger brother Ori.
Bilbo does this at Bag End as dwarves keep pouring in.
The Goblin King taunts Gandalf and is killed with ease.
After the dwarves survive unscathed their fall into the depths of the goblin kingdom, one of them points out "it could've been worse"... and then the Goblin King's huge corpse falls on top.
Bilbo's statement at the end of An Unexpected Journey: "I really believe that the worst is behind us." Cue Smaug awakening....
That's No Moon: The mountain pass Bilbo and the dwarves must traverse is already precarious, but it gets even worse when it turns out they're actually walking along the shins of one of the stone giants.
The Great Goblin: Well, well, well! Look who it is. Thorin, son of Thráin, son of Thrór. King Under the Mountain! Oh, but I'm forgetting, you don't have a mountain. And you're not a king. Which makes you... nobody, really.
The World Is Just Awesome: Especially in the final shot but throughout the film we get nice pullbacks seeing just how awesome Middle-Earth is. Even a bit of I Can See My House from Here: with them looking at the Lonely Mountain which is the dwarves' home.
Those Two Guys: Fíli and Kíli are shaping up that way, especially in the scene where Bilbo finds them guarding the ponies before the encounter with the trolls.
Timeshifted Actor: Ian Holm plays the older Bilbo in the prologue, Martin Freeman in the main story.
Title Drop: Thorin and Gandalf together say the original chapter title when the Company have just escaped from the goblin caves and are now being hunted by wargs.
During the party, Bilbo angrily says to Gandalf that he doesn't even want to talk about what the dwarves have done to the bathroom, and that they've all but destroyed the plumbing.
The art book reveals that the Great Goblin's throne is also his throne.
Took a Level in Badass: Bilbo, who goes from an ordinary hobbit who as a responsible adult shows disdain for adventures to killing a huge orc warrior, a warg and fending off Azog to protect Thorin.
Too Powerful to Live: Gandalf's justification to Saruman, Galadriel and Elrond for sponsoring Thorin's quest: he believes that while Smaug only cares about Erebor and its treasure, dragons once worked for Sauron's master Morgoth (whose return is truly impossible) and still might be persuaded to ally himself with Sauron if he were ever to return, and the power Smaug would bring to Sauron's armies would be too horrible to imagine.
Trampled Underfoot: The Great Goblin uses a pile of his own minions as a willing footstool who get Squashed Flat whenever he steps down from his throne.
As with The Lord of the Rings films referring to Weathertop by its Elvish name Amon Sûl, this film only uses the name "The Lonely Mountain" once and otherwise uses the Elvish name Erebor (which was never mentioned in the book and only cropped up in later supplementary material). Fridge Logic can set in here about why Thorin's dwarves would use the Elvish name for their lost kingdom when they have a grudge against Elves...
The same applies to the dwarves only using the name Moria, as they did in LOTR, instead of Khazad-dûm. "Moria" is a derogatory Elvish term meaning "black pit".
This has a fairly simple explanation in background sources: Sindarin used to be the lingua franca of Middle-Earth until the Third Age when the elves started to fade away, and most of the trade that dwarves did with other races was with elves. Dwarves don't use their own language in mixed company if they can help it, so the elvish names for the dwarven kingdoms stuck even in their own speech, regardless of their current feelings about the elves, themselves. As for Moria, dwarves are likely to use that name because the place has become a "black pit" in their minds, as well.
Treasure Room: Erebor's treasure room, which was going well enough until it got Smaug's attention, is more like treasure city.
True Companions: The Company, since it is composed mostly of relatives and former comrades, was this prior to hiring Bilbo as their burglar. Most of the film is Bilbo becoming part of the Company.
V-Z
Unflinching Walk: Thorin does one as he is confronting Azog for the second time, while surrounded by flaming trees and attacking wargs.
The Unintelligible: The few times Bifur speaks, it's in Khudzul (Dwarvish). Probably something to do with the axe jammed in his head.
Veganopia: Rivendell is portrayed as this, with most of their food being fruits and vegetables. Many of the dwarves are perplexed by the elves' diet, wondering where the meat is.
Vertigo Effect: When Radagast sees the Necromancer at Dol Guldur.
Villainous Glutton: The trolls are a problem to the main characters purely because they are hungry. Gollum too, but his emaciated appearance clearly sets him apart.
The main characters' task is to kill Smaug. On the way to his lair, they deal with trolls, warg-riding orcs, stone giants and goblins, none of which are in cahoots with Smaug (that we know of). In fact, the first film ends with the party not yet reaching the Lonely Mountain or seeing Smaug even once.
And there are still Beorn, the spiders of Mirkwood, wood-elves and Laketown yet to come.
Wafer Thin Mint: The sausage that causes Bombur's bench to collapse.
Wall Crawl: The Misty Mountain goblins do a lot of this, though the dwarves seem to pretty much always see them coming. And true to his character, Gollum "introduces" himself to Bilbo this way as well.
Watsonian Versus Doylist: Some of the dwarves, a race described in the books as stocky and heavy-set with long beards have been given a haircut and slimmed down significantly for the films - notably Thorin, Fíli and Kíli. These are also some of the dwarf characters who do the most acting, which would be impeded by a lot of prosthetics and facial hair.
We Have Become Complacent: The dwarves of Erebor felt very secure in their position as rulers of the mightiest kingdom in Middle-Earth before Smaug arrived.
Applied by any orc towards every other orc. While they do show a modicum of self-preservation (retreating from a hopeless battle or aiding a competent leader) they don't bat an eyelid if a comrade is shot/stabbed/devoured, and are perfectly happy to do the honors themselves.
The goblins (subterranean orcs) apply this with even greater zeal. Dozens of them die in droves, and the (temporary) survivors are still totally willing to leap into the fray. You have to give the little buggers credit for their sheer enthusiasm.
“Well Done Son” Guy: Kíli appears to want to impress his uncle Thorin and becomes embarrassed when he makes a mistake while Thorin is watching, or gets reprimanded by him.
What Happened to the Mouse?: Radagast disappears from the movie without a comment after distracting a warband of orcs.
And a small one, when Bilbo is listening to the dwarves talking about him deserting them, after they all escape the goblins in the mountains. He is wearing The Ring at the time, so he's free to let them believe he's gone for good and go back to Rivendell. Of course, he reveals himself and continues the journey.
Thorin doesn't smile very often but the few times that he does, it lights up his face and makes him a lot younger and more carefree. One of the biggest moments was him smiling after he hugged Bilbo in gratitude.
Galadriel mostly wears her 7000-year stare, but when she smiles, it's blinding.
Wild Card: The reason Gandalf wants Smaug out of the picture; the dragon isn't loyal to anyone, but could be recruited by the forces of evil. See Too Powerful to Live above.
Women Are Wiser: Galadriel is presented as wiser than all of the men of the Council of the Wise: Elrond, Saruman, and Gandalf.
"World of Cardboard" Speech: Bilbo gives one near the end when he explains why he wants to go on with Thorin and Company despite the danger:
Bilbo: I know you doubt me, I know you always have, and you're right. I often think of Bag End. I miss my books, and my arm chair, and my garden. See, that's where I belong; that's home, and that's why I came, 'cause you don't have one...a home. It was taken from you, but I will help you take it back if I can.
You and What Army?: Inverted by Balin; he comments that even if the dwarves had an army to take back Erebor, the task would still be monumentally difficult - and yet the thirteen of them are going to try with no backup whatsoever.
You Are Not Alone: Galadriel reassures Gandalf that he has her support after Saruman dismisses Gandalf's concerns and proof about the Necromancer.
Galadriel: "Do not be afraid, Mithrandir. You are not alone. If you have need of me, I will come."
You Have Failed Me: Azog does not tolerate failure, feeding one of his soldiers to the wargs for failing to kill Thorin or die in the attempt.
Zerg Rush: The hordes of goblins pursuing Thorin and Co.
of J.R.R Tolkien's classic fantasy novel of the same name, directed by Peter Jackson and adapted for the screen by Jackson and Guillermo Del Toro. It is a prequel to Jackson's adaptation of The Lord of the Rings, telling the story of eponymous hobbit Bilbo Baggins' adventure with the wizard Gandalf and a company of dwarves.The film trilogy primarily covers the events from The Hobbit, but also features various elements derived from or inspired by Unfinished Tales and the Appendices of The Lord of the Rings. Such examples respectively include Gandalf's true motivations for helping the Dwarves retake Erebor from Smaug, and a sub-plot involving the White Council taking action against the Necromancer in Dol Guldur, which is hinted at in the book, but expanded upon in the aforementioned Appendices.The first part, An Unexpected Journey was released on December 14th 2012, whilst the second part, The Desolation of Smaug will begin screening on December 13th 2013. A third movie, There And Back Again, will debut on December 17, 2014. All three are being filmed in stereoscopic 3D, and in a cinematic first, at 48 frames-per-second.You can view the trailer for An Unexpected Journey here
6 reviews 
