Hobbit Legendary Edit: A Lord of the Rings Prequel, The

Very nearly a perfect version for me, once again showing how there is a great story buried in the trilogy that wrapped up ten years ago: have only seen the original versions once each and that was then, the Blu-rays remain unwatched! A/V quality is excellent as is the editing one expects from Wraith, found a couple of stray frames and other issues but those have since been rectified so not something to penalise.

There are just a couple of times where I would have preferred to have seen material left in, but these are embellishments and their absence has no negative impact on the plot, so will probably treat this as my "theatrical cut" going ahead. Need to browse through the other (longer) edits now to see if I can find an "extended edition" that suits my taste, for when I have more than four hours to spare!

I saw probably every version of the Hobbit movie(s) including theatrical and extended editions, as well as most edits out there. Wraith is the only one who first of all was able to make this feel less like a kid's movie, by cutting out all the unfunny attempts of humor.

Secondly, by removing all the unnecessary parts and well done reediting, the movie has more of a natural flow of the main story, which is captivating enough when the emphasis is put on it. It always felt clear to me that Peter Jackson (or the studio) felt the main story had to be stretched into 3 parts and other stuff on the side was just crammed into it, to reach the intended run times but also to give the fans more "original LOTR content" on screen. However this cost the movie (s) and story a lot of credibility that it already needed due the fact that the base story came from a children's book.

This edit "repairs" this by trying to create the story and give it the look and feel as it was supposed to be in order to be a standalone part of the LOTR universe that can be taken serious.

Though there were some (really small things) that I noticed or would have changed, this is just a personal taste so I will not mention them here. I rather want to thank Wraith for creating this experience for everyone who chooses to view this edit, which I highly recommend.

Edit: all the minor stuff I’ve found before has been (quickly) addressed by Wraith, so I’m updating my review. Well done!

The goofy jokes are mostly gone, and a lot of extra stuff (not present in the books) was competently removed.
The new score works great as well, in many occasions changing the tone of the scenes for the better.
Overall, I enjoyed this quite a lot. Great job from the editor on this one!

At the Battle of the Five Armies, I really think the (small) bit where the Elves jump over the dwarves’ shield wall should be removed. That is the silliest part of the trilogy for me, it’s a bafflingly stupid decision for the Elves to do that. But I understand that’s hard to remove while maintaining the coherence of the Battle itself.

This is an excellent fan edit with a unique approach! Like most fan edits of The Hobbit series, this edit cuts out the most ridiculous elements of the film trilogy, especially moments that don't exist in the book. What makes this fan edit unique is the approach to tone. Starting from the restructured opening, this edit works to set The Hobbit more in line with the Lord of the Rings trilogy. The Hobbit book of course is far more humorous and more focused on a child audience. The films however didn't seem to know what tone they were going for. These edits fix this confusion by setting a slightly different tone from the book, but one that still works here and works considering the material on offer--the humorous moments in the movies were often the weakest elements, not translated especially well from the book. Overall, this is a fan edit worth recommending!

I loved it. Wraith did an amazing job with the new intro and ending. The beginning especially felt so fluid. The final battle flowed so well. I loved every minute of it. I love how well he did with cutting Tauriel, and Radagast, even though I love the latter. It felt so clean. Loved it so much. Amazing Job, W. Your friend, Jughead