April 19, 2014 (2013), DVD. This would have been much better in the theater I’ve been waiting for this one as I liked the first of this new Peter Jackson trilogy Sad to say, I was disappointed More giant spiders a la Sheila in LOTR, and an otherwise slow to develop, overly drawn out plotline The dwarves are interesting, but the dragon is too chatty It was all just a bit too much work to set up Act 3 and the conclusion A less secure Gandolf. the Grey somehow clashes with the later version Are we to assume more development?. And the ring itself is less toxic than a helpful tool, its impact on Bilbo less intense than on Frodo. Anyway, I’m still looking forward to the final installment although not with as much relish.