Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Edits, The

This was an excellent edit! It felt like a super fun mini series version of The Hobbit, highlighting what worked in the original films: the excellent cast, costumes, music, effects, and sets; and cutting out the gratuitous elements: Legolas running up falling bricks, the Tauriel love triangle, and most importantly Azog--I really appreciated how cleanly this edit removed Azog as a named and backstoried villain without compromising the final fight between Azog and Thorin. The episodic structure worked well too, emphasizing the different structure of The Hobbit as compared with The Lord of the Rings. What I was especially looking out for was the Battle of Five Armies, since this was something that various edits I've seen have handled with the widest degree of variance. What I appreciated here was how Fili's death gave Thorin's final fight with the now unnamed lead orc (previously Azog) impact despite the two of them having no other backstory together, and too I appreciated that in this edit Kili got to go on a little revenge killing spree before he too was brought down.

I would certainly recommend this edit and will be watching it during my LotR marathons!

As I am writing this the last scene, of the last part of the edit is playing and my eyes are wet, my throat has a lump in it, and I have goose bumps on my scalp. The Lord of the Rings, in its conclusion, would bring this emotion up in myself. Never before has The Hobbit been able to cause my heart to swell like this. Jesus, I have watched this movie over the last two (2) days and am so damned upset it is over.

Ok, let me pull myself together. This is a masterpiece. I love this movie. It all works. A lot was removed from the original films, and based on what is left, it should never have been there. I blasted...are you frickin' kidding me?!? I just got it together, the credits are rolling and now Billy Boyd is coming through my speakers singing "The Last Goodbye." ... ... ... I am going to try this again. I initially blasted Peter Jackson for The Hobbit. Then I read about how the production went and all the issues with time, money, and the studio. I realized it wasn't his fault. He did the best he could with what he had. After watching this I see poured his special kind of magic in to these movies as much as he did for LotR. It was just hidden beneath all the "extra". Without pale orcs, inter-species romances, and innumerable extraneous scenes there is an absolutely brilliant movie here.

The sound, the video, the narration, and the enjoyment are perfect. Ok, I know if I go digging I could find SOMETHING I could critique but I am not going to do that. This is it, this the seminal version of this movie. I think it is fitting as such. This edit is a compilation of primarily five (5) major edits and then the editor decided parts of two (2) other edits were needed as well. I can not imagine the number of hours and work went in to making this movie. Considering the total hours used between the eight (8) editors, including the one who wove them together, it makes perfect sense that this would be the result. This feels like someone's life's work and considering the cumulative effort that was put in, it might as well have been.

Let me be clear, I don't care if you like The Hobbit, or Lord of the Rings, or even JRR Tolkien's work; if you like high fantasy in any way shape or form, do yourself a favor and watch this film. I just restarted the credits because I just want to bask in the ambiance of this movie just a little longer...

Thank you Spence, Dustin Lee, L8wtr, Adam Dens, DonKamillo, Wraith, and M4 for all the time and effort you took in making your edits. Stromboli Bones I thank you for having the vision to weave all their respective projects in to a seamless masterpiece. Kudos to you all.

First, it was the Anti-Cringe fanedit. Now, Stromboli's. The Hobbit, with its episodic structure, surely lends itself better to a miniseries! Stromboli Bones' fanedit saved The Hobbit films for me, which I could never enjoy, even after so many years of going through other edits. His editing skills and knowledge of previous fanedits, which he makes brilliant use of, are unsurpassed. Everything is smooth and the attention to detail is incredible. Most of the narrative choices are very thoughtful and spot on. Brilliant work, Stromboli!

Thats the way it should be watched ! 10/10
It is now just like one of the trilogy !

The cuts , the quality all superb !
Its like nothing is missing !
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I watched the one movie version !

I have little to say other than this edit elevates the quality of the film to the original "Jackson Trilogy". Which is quite the feat.
I especially appreciate the inclusion of chapter markers and the division of the trilogy into distinct, easily-watchable slices with their own themes, much like chapters in a book.
Definitely recommend to watch the LOTR trilogy after this edit for the full impact. Fantastic edit!