Review Detail

I opted for the miniseries version and absolutely loved the experience of watching the five one-hour episodes, one per day. They never felt too long (as the movies did to me) and the episode breaks are at good spots in the story that leave you wanting more.

The editing is wonderfully done throughout with almost no noticeable cuts. In terms of the narrative, this fanedit truly captures the spirit of the book by focusing the story on Bilbo and the Dwarves and cutting out the side story fluff. As a result, I felt much more invested in the characters and their relationships than in most fanedits I've seen. The tone also flows from being more fairy-tale at the beginning (with the songs included) towards a darker tone more in line with the Lord of the Rings movies by the end - you really feel the shift in the episodic experience.

I do feel that the series could be trimmed a bit more, just based on personal preference for some scenes, but since the episodes are an hour long those moments didn't really last long enough to bother me (and to be honest, I'm just nitpicking). My only real issue was the inclusion of Bard's son in the arrow shot as for me this is the most cringy moment in the entire trilogy. Again, the moment goes by pretty quickly so it's not too offensive. I believe DonKamillo is looking into alternatives for this scene and this edit would become my go-to version in that case.

Overall, it's a fantastically edited series and a fun and different experience to watching the story. Well done and keep up the great work!