Hobbit: Fire of the Dragon, The

I just recently watched Desolation of Smaug, took me this long because I was let down by "An unexpected journey". Being a person who has read LOTR, Silmarillion, Hobbit and Unfinished Tales several times, I was very disappointed with the direction that Peter Jackson has taken with The Hobbit. It seems like he has gotten the same "sickness" as Lucas, CGI and action overload and bad narrative.

I must say that I enjoyed this edit much more than the original, even though I think even more could be cut (but here "Into the Fire" will be for me"). At a technical note this edit is very good, couldn't detect where the cut's was made.

When It comes to narrative an enjoyment I had to take some points away. Even though I liked it more than the original, the original film is such a mess that it's a difficult (impossible?) task to edit this into a really good film. But as I have read on the forum, some of the scenes I feel is over the top and included in this version will be cut and trimmed in "Into the Fire", so really looking forward to that one.

I don't think we will have a really good version of this film until "Battle of the five armies" is released in EE. Then the very talented editors will see all they have to work with, and how much they can cut in these films.

Thanks ranger for your effort :)

This is my first of hopefully many helpful reviews on this site. First let me say a huge THANKYOU to all of the dedicated faneditors of many beloved but flawed movies. Your continued work has truly given so many of us a whole new experience of watching movies loved and/or hated. The quality of work I see is amazing and deserving of huge accolades for what has been brought to this community. I wished more people knew of the hard work and genuine skill at your craft as I'm sure much love and time goes into each project.

Now onto this fanedit. I'm a big fan of Lord of the Rings trilogy, I'm in no way a book purist as I had not even heard of the books when the original trilogy came out. I actually walked into the wrong movie in the theatre on accident, never saw a preview of Lord of the Rings, didn't know a thing about it even when the title scrolled up, let alone that it was based on a book, but low and behold I was taken away from the first scene and could not leave my seat to go watch the actual movie I paid for. I was glued to the screen and it has forever become a top 5 favorite of all time since. 10 years pass and I'm super excited for the new Hobbit trilogy. I ended up reading this book after becoming a fan of Lord of the Rings so this time I knew what to expect. I enjoyed part one for the most part, not to the level of love for the original trilogy, but still left the theatre wanting more. Skip to next year, I go to watch Desolation of Smaug in IMAX opening day, and I was in awe of my emotions inside. I HATED it. I cant tell you how many times I looked at my watch hoping it was almost over. Nothing about it felt fresh and exciting. It felt like one long dramatic soap opera stare of eyes after another for ridiculous epic moment effect, followed by a horrendous and utterly unbelievable love triangle (really! this beutiful elf has a thing for this greesy 3 foot dwarf), and then the main villains Azog and Borg (which were characters I hated in part one) who were obviously poorly done cgi creations with horrible dialoge and really served little needed purpose. They were far from intimidating like the villains in Lord of the Rings. The barrell scene was way over the top, Smaug when you FINALLY get to the mountain after what felt like 3 days in the theatre, was overlong and not that spectacular.

This edit fixes almost everything! No love triangle, Azog and Borg are almost eliminated from this cut, which actually makes them somewhat of a welcome sight when they appear for a brief scene or two, the barrel scene is still intact but because I'm not worn out by the time it comes, it is far more manageable and somewhat more exciting. Not positive if some of the long stares were cut down but I didnt seem to notice as many of them. Basically trimming almost an hour of the film allows it to move scene to scene at a far better pace so that even the little things that suck actually seem better now. The Smaug finale is still a bit too long, but maybe the Into the Fire cut will approach that. Now I'm actually looking forward to the last movie in the trilogy this year, though I have little hope for the theatrical cut, but thank the Lord, Ranger613 brings hope of a better cut of that too!

Overall:
Visual Editing: Flawless, never mistaken as an edited cut
Audio Editing: Flawless, never mistaken as an edited cut
Enjoyment: Original Movie: D-
Enjoyment: Fire of the Dragon: B

I mostly echo kellenpure. Overall there's a lot to like about this and it is certainly an improvement over the theatrical cut. That said, deeper cuts ARE needed IMO and, I'm happy to say, Ranger has provided those deeper cuts in his soon-to-be-released Into The Fire cut. That is my preferred version, but if you like the more over-the-top action, this is the one for you. I have never read The Hobbit, so I am not a "book purist," but I want these movies to work with the LotR trilogy and I'm afraid, for me, those scenes just don't fit the tone. I'm not an editor, but I didn't perceive any technical issues. Narratively, I'll stick to Into The Fire (and that one will get higher marks from me when posted), but that is merely preference and I do believe many will prefer this version. I was very happy to contribute in my small way. Great job!

This was a pretty great streamlined version of The Hobbit Part Deux. I'm not as hardcore a LOTR fans as some of the other reviewers, so I don't have any nitpicks or complaints about what was and wasn't cut. All I can say is that this was much more enjoyable than the theatrical cut, it was a brisk 2 hour ride and a worthy sequel to something like Menbailee's edit of AUJ.

I very much look forward to the 90-minute Purist Cut when that's ready.

I posted minor feedback during the making of this fanedit, but I think I can nonetheless provide an unbiased review of the final product. I will start by stating I have been awaiting an edit of this movie like a dog waiting for a bone. And ranger613 was the first to throw me that bone, for which I am grateful. The theater version of DOS left me completely disillusioned with the Hobbit film idea, to the point I wished I'd never seen it. What happened to the realism and amazing writing that characterized the LOTR movies?

Yet I did not lose hope that underneath the ridiculous theater release there could be a salvageable movie. But I knew it would require some major cuts. With Fire of the Dragon some cuts were made that resolved glaring issues, such as orcs and elves in Laketown, and other smaller problems with dialogue. The transitions for the most part were smooth, and technical quality of the edit overall very good. But I do not believe the cuts went far enough. The barrel scene and dwarf fighting dragon scene are utterly ridiculous in my opinion. Because they were left in this edit, I can't rate it higher than a 7 in narrative.

I recommend this edit because it is a clear improvement over the theater version. Anyone not looking for a serious movie, closer to the book, will likely enjoy it.