"The Hobbit" Opens in IMAX Feb. 15 at The Maritime Aquarium

Join Bilbo Baggins on an “unexpected journey” across Middle-Earth when the Academy Award-nominated film “The Hobbit” opens on Fri., Feb. 15 on the giant IMAX screen of The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk.

“If you see ‘The Hobbit’ in a local cinema, you’ll just be watching Bilbo Baggins’ adventure,” said Chris Loynd, the Aquarium’s marketing director. “Come to our immersive IMAX Theater and Bilbo’s adventure will also be your adventure.”

Director Peter Jackson’s latest realization of the beloved epic by J.R.R. Tolkien will play at 4 and 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and at 4 p.m. Sundays through March 17 on The Maritime Aquarium’s six-story screen, the largest IMAX screen in Connecticut.

The Boston Globe said, “There are sights to make your jaw hit the floor in ‘The Hobbit.’”  The N.Y. Daily News gushed, “The effects are truly dazzling, and Jackson fills the screen with one surprise after another.” And local reviewer Susan Granger gave the film “a grandiose, visually spectacular 7” out of 10.

Loynd noted that many reviewers were critical of how “The Hobbit” was released to local moviehouses in a unique “high-frame” rate (48 frames per second, compared to the normal 24). The film will not show at the Aquarium in “high-frame” but in IMAX’s normal enormous 70mm film format.

“The Hobbit” has been digitally re-mastered into the image and sound quality of the IMAX Experience^® with proprietary IMAX DMR^® (Digital Re-mastering) technology. The crystal-clear images, coupled with IMAX's customized theatre geometry and powerful digital audio, create a unique environment that make audiences feel as if they are in the movie. 

Martin Freeman stars as the reluctant Hobbit who is convinced by the wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen) to accompany 13 dwarves on a quest across Middle-Earth to reclaim the Lonely Mountain from Smaug the dragon. Along the way, Bilbo not only discovers depths of ingenuity and courage that surprise even him, he also gains possession of a “precious” ring tied to the fate of all Middle-Earth in ways he cannot begin to know.

The film is the first of a “Hobbit” trilogy from Jackson, whose adaptations of Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings” were magnets for Academy Awards. “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” (2002) and “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers” (2003) won multiple Academy Awards for technical achievements, while “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” (2004) took home the Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay.

“The Hobbit” currently is nominated for Academy Awards for Best Visual Effects, Best Production Design, and Best Makeup & Hairstyling.

The production of New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures is 169 minutes long and rated PG-13 for extended sequences of intense fantasy action violence, and frightening images.

Tickets are $11.50 for adults, $10.50 for youths 13-17 & seniors 65+, and $9.50 for children 3-12. For tickets or more details, go to www.maritimeaquarium.org or call (203) 852-0700, ext. 2206.