I saw The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey in HFR (high frame-rate, 48fps) RealD 3d. You know how when you first saw HD content on an HD TV it seemed overly realistic? It was kind of like that. Some people claim it makes it harder to suspend disbelief and immerse yourself in the fantasy, but I had no problem getting used to it. However, I suspect the set, costume, prosthesis, makeup, and CGI folks are going to have to up their game a notch if this becomes an industry standard. Like higher resolution, the higher frame rate seems to leave less room for fudging.

The RealD 3D added depth and liveliness, but the parallax was off at times. Images only jumped way out in front of the screen a few times, so if you're one of those viewers who doesn't like that, it's not a concern.

As for the movie itself, I didn't go in with super-high expectations -- The Hobbit is a children's book, after all, and a lesser work compared to Lord of the Rings -- and I came out reasonably happy. The recruitment of Bilbo seemed overly long to me, but the visuals were gorgeous/stunning/great, and there was plenty of action and adventure. It's been decades since I read the book, but from what I recall of it, the storyline in the movie has been fleshed out considerably and made somewhat more palatable to older viewers. Speaking of which, parents and guardians should take that PG-13 rating to heart, or a least convert it to a PG-9 or 10. There's enough scary, violent stuff in the movie to risk giving nightmares to sensitive younger children. But that's coming from a guy who, when he was around five, kept a glass of water by his bedside for a month after seeing The Wizard of Oz, in case the Wicked Witch of the West came to get me, so use your best judgment.