Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Edits, The

Attempting to reimagine the Hobbit franchise into something stomachable has become a favourite pastime of various editors in recent years, spawning dozens upon dozens of edits over the years. The original films were a bloated mess overall, with any scene of notable quality being crushed flat under the weight of the surrounding trilogy's endless cavalcade of shoehorned b-plots, excessive CGI, and a main character who gets little overshadow somehow.

With those past flaws in mind, I am happy to report that the work Stromboli has done here is nothing short of extraordinary. By mixing the narrative structuring, editing techniques, and CGI touch-ups of a variety of editors (including his own important additions) into a cohesive whole, he has managed to make an episodic version of the Hobbit which surpasses the original in every conceivable way.

The audio and visual quality were superb, with the editing somehow being rarely noticeable in spite of the sheer complexity of the cuts.
The narrative of this cut never fully breaks its own internal logic at any obvious point, managing to be mostly book accurate while also not being afraid to flesh out action sequences/characters if it improves the series. The elimination of so many problem plot-lines/characters/scenes without losing any vital information is both a testament to the skill of the edit and how much useless filler was stuffed into the trilogy.

Finally, the pacing of the edit was a notable highlight. The only time I felt it drag a bit was during the titular final battle, but even then it still blows the original pacing away. Overall, the pacing made the action set pieces of each episode much more enjoyable.

I would recommend this to just about anyone who likes fantasy shows. One last note: there is a plethora of audio/visual quality options to choose from for this edit if your particular about that and have the space for it. Thanks for the edit Stromboli!

Oh yes!
After having the Maple edit for some time, I now got this jewel! As others mentioned before, this will definitively be my go-to version!
It's got great pacing, and while M4's edit is also rather trimmed, this here has more... magic:
It's not purely the book, but only the good ideas were left in from Jackson's original, so you have that grandeur which made LOTR so special without feeling ridiculous or bloated to the max and then some more on top!
It's utterly charming and made me smile several times, so joyful was the ride into Middle-Earth! Everything I read before I watched this edit regarding its strenghts is true. THIS really is what I expected when I went to the movies back then...
Then, there's technically flawless editing from visuals and audio - THANK YOU!!!!

As a newbie sometimes I'm a bit daunted at the range of edits of particular films, so it's difficult to know where to start! For anyone in my position, I'd like to point out this serial version of The Hobbit. Having just finished it, its a fantastic example of what can be achieved and could easily be viewed as being a part of the original Jackson franchise. Hats off to all involved for the time and effort. My kids are Tolkein fanatics and all loved this version in-spite of initial hesitation!

This is the best edit of the Hobbit trilogy I've seen.

Stromboli Bones' view matches 99% of my preferences. I've watched a lot of Hobbit edits trying to find the "perfect" version for myself, but all of the others have had at least one major thing that has left me a little disappointed. Not this one. There are no plot holes or continuity issues that would distract from the enjoyment.

The edit is cut into a five part miniseries format. Each episode is about one hour long, so everybody even with a busy schedule should be able to knock off at least one a day, and still enjoy it fully. It really feels like you are watching an official The Hobbit Series. The only time I might consider watching another edit is if I have 4-5 hrs straight to spend watching, and want an "extended edition" movie experience - in these instances I might choose a one movie extended edition edit instead. But speaking from experience, binge watching all the five episodes straight works too!

I have never been a hater of the original trilogy. I liked Unexpected Journey, I loved Desolation of Smaug. The only one I had problems with was Battle of the Five Armies. That was the one I felt like had the most problems and was the one that felt the most 'shoehorned'. Despite me liking the movies overall, I could clearly see the issues. Bloated action, unnecessary storylines, just plot bloat in general. I saw that, I just didn't care that much. Now. Does the fan edit fix the issues?

Hell yeah. Fan edit DOES fix the issues. Love storyline? Gone, reduced to atoms. We lost Evangeline Lilly's character along the way, but it was the sacrifice the edit demanded. Interesting enough, you watch the edit and you realise how unimportant that whole plot was overall. Purely added to stretch movies into the trilogy from the original two movies plan. The same goes for any other storyline really. Any action scene. All of it was trimmed down, but in the end you don't feel like you're missing out. On the contrary, action doesn't drag, nor does the more quiet scenes take over and make you snooze. The balance is perfect. Which only highlights how the theatrical cut added too much. Did I personally enjoy Bombur's barell spin massacre? Yes. Do I miss it in the cut? No. Was it a right decision, then? Yes. And the cut is filled with similar changes

Narratively, everything falls into place, regardless of the scenes cut. Then again, it does not have a quiet perfect conclusion. The final episode is the only one where I would say there were some noticeable narrative leaps. Why are orcs at the mountain all of a sudden? Where does Thranduil go? He's just like 'I've spilled too much elvish blood, peace' and he's out. Legolas is there one moment to help Thorin, then vanishes from the story. The unusual orc kills one of the main dwarves and...he's gone? Where is his comeuppance? Where does Bard end up? This is the story about Bilbo and Dwarves, alright. But Bard has a huge part to play in the story, but in the end we last see him charging into the orcs in the city. Then the story doesn't tell us, what happens to him. Listen, I get that all fan-edits are limited by the footage they have. And if the original had those problems, then the fan-edits can't be expected to fulfill that void. However, I still think it's necessary to point that out

One of the other main plot points which ended up on the cutting floor was Azog chasing the dwarves through the movies. The story builds up their rivalry with Thorin, which goes into their final battle. Azog is completely gone from the edit, apart from him appearing during the final major battle. In the edit he comes off just like some orc general, who's leading the armies. The whole relationship aspect with Thorin is gone. I liked him being cut, but that's one of the things where you're like... maybe it shouldn't have been? The final confrontation feels less important, than it was in the theatrical cut

Overall, me and my wife, we enjoyed that edit very much. Technically I have nothing to say against it. Blended together perfectly, as it was meant to. Does it improve the original? Yes. It removes the redundant stuff. The stuff that doesn't make the movies better, but simply makes them longer for better or for worse, depending on your taste. So, the flow is much smoother and much concentrated. Apart from the mentioned Azog above, I think everything else was justifiably cut

Do I recommend it over the theatrical cut? Huh. That's interesting, because I can't say that I do for one hundred percent. If you hated the original, you may very well try this one, because it fixes many issues you may have had the first time you saw it. Did you like the theatrical cut and want some new experience? Sure, go for it. That makes it interesting to see, but I can't say that this cut will be your 'go-to' version of the series. Does this cut make it a perfect movie experience? Not really. There are still some fundamental issues with the story, which, honestly, I can't put into words and describe. It's more like of a feel, like something's just not right. In the end, the fan edit did its best and that what matters

I give out huge respect for everyone's sweat and second that was put into making the fan-edit. I surely enjoyed it. That's one of those edits where you see fundamental changes done well. Entire storylines are cut, and yet, the movie still works as is. That's the magic of the editing, and that's what makes it truly special