Hobbit: The Anti-Cringe Cut, The

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!

This fan edit is fantastic! The quality of the editing was top-notch and the episodic format was a spark of genius! Having the flexibility to watch the fan edit in one-hour bite-size pieces was extremely convenient. Although there is some cringe that didn't cut and some narrative inconsistencies, this fan edit was a job well done overall!

What I loved:
- Quality of the visual cuts and transitions
- Quality of the audio cuts and transitions
- Feels like a complete story, despite removing the main villain
- 5-episode mini-series format

What I didn't love:
- The extremely cringey scenes where the Goblin King sings, I was very surprised that these were not removed from an anti-cringe cut
- I also cringed during the trolls scene where one of them was talking about boogers and other annoying dialogue
- Gandalf mentions to Elrond in Episode 2 they encountered orcs, but they didn't encounter any in Episode 1
- Kili is seriously wounded after the barrel ride, but we never see him get hurt
- Bard grabs the black arrow inside his home, but then later his son Bain has to risk life and limb to give it to him, which reminded me that the scene of Bain hiding the black arrow in a boat was cut

I watched the version with 5 episodes, which I thought was a great idea. I couldn’t fault the audio and visual editing for the most part, however the lurid colours used for the title at the beginning of each episode wouldn’t be to my taste, they looked a bit tacky to me. I also remember a pretty noticeable cut at the “out of the frying pan into the fire“ point, where the light changes quite suddenly. I do believe other edits have edited that part a little more smoothly. You correctly imo deleted the very cringeworthy Orc ambush/Radagast bunny sled sequence, yet at the beginning of episode 2, during the dinner scene in Rivendell, Gandalf mentions being ambushed by orcs. I was also disappointed to see several cringeworthy scenes retained in episode 2, namely some of the dwarves antics and the song number in Rivendell, the entirety of the sockem Rockem Stone giants scene and the Goblin King song. Good effort overall though.

First of all, I want to say thanks to everybody for enabling me watching this. Second, I wouldn't call me neither a film or a tolkien expert, but just a fan with average knowledge who wnats to share his thoughts.
So is this cut any good? In short, I'd say yes, plain and simple.
What I liked immediately was the format of the miniseries which makes "The Hobbit", as DonKamillo put it, much better to digest - sitting there for some 5 hours takes... well, quite a while!
I also appreciate this edit technically, as I couldn't find any flaws regarding cutting within both, video and audio - it's all perfect, really, and it sets a wonderful tone similar to the LOTR film trilogy.
This edit is not the true-to-the-book edit, but the anti-cringe edit, and I get and confirm that: It leaves out many of the bloated stuff like Azog and Radagast in their totality, the horrible romance between Tauriel and Kili, the orcs attacking the barrelled dwarves, the scheming moves of Laketown's master (and servant)...
These and some more left-outs make you cringe less most definitely, and they also help to keep the focus on the main protagonists and storyline.
Now, if you don't know the book, this edit is indeed a solid recommendation and big improvement over the original three movies, and I think i will never reach out for these again.

Unfortunately (and unlike, say, Star Wars), "The Hobbit" is a well-read classic of the 20th century, so it cannot but be compared to the written book.
And so, it fails...
I had quite some observations from things I disliked during watching this edit, but after refreshing my memory with some help from Google, I realized DonKamillo can't be blamed on most of them... what kept stuck in my head were two things here:
While it's great we don't learn any of Laketowns hideous politics, Alfrid Lickspittle (the servant) is still present in the movie, but I think his attention-grabbing presence is not justified at all now (except discovering Bilbo's escape after handing over the Arkenstone, but that's hardly something essential) and distracts from the ongoings: You think "uh, that Mr. Eyebrows must have something wicked going on!", but there's just nothing...

A similar effect (I mean makin' you feel there's an important character, but then nothing is made out of it) is at the very end of the grand battle, where the dwarves seek out to "cut off the head of the snake", and then all there is are some few orcs - of course, that's where Azog was to come in.

Minor flaws, really. But DonKamillo can't save "The Hobbit"; the ultra-dislikeable Thorin (who would ever call that always grim and harsh fella his "friend"???), the change of some of the most crucial and memorable scenes (dwarves are IN the barrels to remain unseen during their voyage down the river, hence the "barrel-rider!") and lines (Thorin's famous last speech:"...If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world. But sad or merry, I must leave it now...") will always be a slag in the face of Tolkien fans, and the only thing I can hope for is there will be a better film adaption for "The Hobbit" one day.
The only good thing about the present project is Martin Freeman: I still think he's the perfect Bilbo, playing with a feel of being overstrained, a fitting down-to earthness and with a big heart -okay, some dwarves are also fine, and of coursethe reunion of some of the "old" cast. But Martin is gold.

For the origination of the episodic structure golden stars rain down on this fan-edit (and editor) eternally. Not sure about the colours on the intro and outro screens but hey its cool enough.... Gold is just better!!

Never-the-less I score the narrative down. Of course inconsistencies and holes are going to be rife when trimming off and cutting down but one in particular stands out where at Rivendell there is mention of an orc ambush, yet the last scene was the trolls. And the Galadriel scene with Gandalf not followed by any Dol Guldur, is redundant (and it's cringy)..... We must accept this wizard simply comes and goes with little to no notice at all from time to time!! Too; cringy dwarf/elf love at the soiree seeps its way in; Goblin King's 'made in Rivendell... Second Age' throw away remark is cringy; company - by order of the king - attempts to break down their magic door like imbecilic cringemeisters; and the black arrow fiasco needs to be done away with in favour of straight up arrow shot, as it is a cringeworthy moment - better to let Smaug die by surprise (explains away Thorin's cringy madness as being shock, hehe)..... Seriously, if this is 'The Anti-Cringe Cut' these issues need addressing!!

It might be an idea to aim for 4 episodes at ~50 mins and 1 final episode at ~40 mins, with illustrative credits only, and a LOTR trailer/teaser consisting of White Council footage combined with some Frodo at Bag End shots. Calling it 'The Battle of Five Episodes'... if not 'Anti-Cringe' this cringe will be fine!!!

Really appreciate the quick intro title screens and outro 'To be continued....' not breaking immersion too much during back to back play-through. Video editing on the episode title blooms was great except for slight stutters here and there, and the final one that got a different font. Audio editing needs bass depletion at times (mainly durge at begining) as it may anger neighbours.

Oh and one final thought is on the transition between 4 and 5. Definitely difficult here as it gets frantic. To me it seems as though the best end point for 4 is on Thorin's face when he sees all the elf arrows pointing at him. Beginning 5 with Bard looking to Thranduil and the elves lowering their bows. With the 'There And Back Again' title blooming at the point where Bilbo goes to Gandalf if the panning shot looking at Erebor over the spears can be slowed down?!?