The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

A closer look at the story

Bilbo Baggins is a hobbit who lives a calm, orderly life in his comfortable home and has no taste at all for adventure. Then the wizard Gandalf appears at his door with a company of thirteen dwarves under Thorin Oakenshield, intent on winning back Erebor, their mountain home, which the dragon Smaug has seized. Quite unexpectedly, even to himself, Bilbo joins them. Along the road await goblins, orcs and savage wargs, as well as a mysterious evil known as the Necromancer. And in the goblin tunnels, Bilbo meets Gollum and comes away with a plain-looking golden ring. Peter Jackson directs and co-writes with del Toro, Boyens and Walsh; the 169-minute 2012 film features Martin Freeman as Bilbo and Richard Armitage as Thorin in a fantasy adventure.