The Hobbit Made People Sick The First Time They Saw It
As movie technology advances there have been times when something new came to the big screen maybe a bit earlier than everyone was ready. Whether there’s some uncanny valley action going on with the graphics, or the eye not catching up to the mind, some productions have been done dirty by trying to be out in front of the technological game. That was the case with Peter Jackson‘s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey came out back in 2012.
Though The Lord of the Rings prequel trilogy is well in the books now, at the time, negative press surrounded the “too-real” visual format. It reportedly caused nausea and dizzy spells in New Zealand viewers.
That’s because, apparently, the high frame rate of 48fps used for The Hobbit was actually double the standard 24fps. Moviegoers who claimed that they experienced motion sickness and nausea. Migraines and dizziness were also thrown in there for good measure.
It seems they were not accustomed to that higher frame rate projection. Peter Jackson was using new technology at the time, and this was one of the apparent downsides.
Warner Bros was calling a little BS at the time, thinking the negative press wasn’t totally accurate with the reality of folks seeing it. In their official statement, the studio said, in part, “We have been screening the full-length HFR 3D presentation of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey extensively and feedback has been extremely positive, with none of thousands who have seen the film projected in this format expressing any of the issues described by two anonymous sources in media reports.”
Also, Peter Jackson weighed in with his own thoughts, which were a bit more diplomatic. He said, “I’m fascinated by reactions. I’m tending to see that anyone under the age of 20 or so doesn’t really care and thinks it looks cool. I think 3D at 24 frames is interesting, but it’s the 48 that actually allows 3D to almost achieve the potential that it can achieve because it’s less eye strain and you have a sharper picture.”
Peter Jackson’s take on The Hobbit was more like, oh, you don’t like it? Maybe that’s because you and your eyes are just too old. You won’t get it. It’s for the young folks. Have to appreciate the tact there.
In the end, the reports of The Hobbit making people sick seemed to be confined mostly to New Zealand and Australian audiences. The rest of the world got on board with what Peter Jackson was doing here throughout the three movies. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, The Desolation of Smaug, and The Battle of the Five Armies ended up pulling in close to $3 billion dollars at the box office when it was all said and done.
So even if The Hobbit was making viewers sick, it clearly wasn’t making them sick enough to turn a nice little box office profit. When it comes to Middle Earth, folks are definitely willing to endure some discomfort in the name of the journey.
