Review Detail

This is the edit I have been looking for since I first watched The Hobbit trilogy back-to-back. I enjoyed many moments of the original films, but they suffered from so much bloat and over-the-top set pieces that it became increasingly harder to enjoy the films as they are. The films are full of beautiful, heart-wrenching moments, some even challenging The Lord of the Rings trilogy itself. I wanted these movies to be part of my Middle-earth, but every time I watched them during my annual Lord of the Rings marathon, it felt like a chore.

Not anymore. The Hobbit: The Original Two-Film Structure has fixed all my grievances with the original films. They now run at a faster, more consistent pace, the absurd moments have been excised, and the movies are so much better for it. Even the moments I previously enjoyed now shine brighter without all the bloat to weigh them down. There were scenes that were in the original films that I could barely remember that now have a clear role in advancing this story and that of the larger Middle-earth saga. Without all the distractions surrounding these scenes, the films have a chance to inform you on what is actually important and what you should care about. I could see Peter Jackson's vision more clearly than ever, and I was stunned at how epic and emotional these movies were meant to be. With this fanedit, less really is more.

The Gathering of the Clouds, the first film in the duology, is a revelation. It combines the An Unexpected Journey and the first half of The Desolation of Smaug into a journey to the Lonely Mountain. Yes, it still is a set of seemingly random events, just as it is in the original novel, but structuring it as one movie makes it much clearer that this film is about the journey and not the destination, and what a journey it is in this new form. The restructuring of the Dol Guldur subplot into this fanedit brings the plot forward so that is now a larger and more important part of the film and less of a distraction from the main plot. I do not want to spoil too much, but it needs to be seen. I will just say that the new ending is inspired and makes this film a great introduction to the world of Middle-earth and the future movies to come in this now 5-part series.

There and Back Again, the second film in this duology, is not quite as transformative, but the changes that were made and the cuts that were carefully chosen make this film what I believe it should have been in the first place. This fanedit composes the second half of The Desolation of Smaug and The Battle of the Fives Armies. What was originally the middle chapter of this trilogy was always my favorite, but its two halves did not seem to make sense together. The first half seemed more like An Unexpected Journey and the second half seemed like the introduction to the main conflict of The Battle of the Five Armies. While plenty of moments were worth seeing, especially Bilbo's meeting with Smaug, it never had a clear through line to follow. That all changes here. This new film has a clear beginning, middle, and end, and that is enough to bring what was once two mediocre films into something much grander. The actual Battle of the Fives Armies now has emotional weight whereas before it was just set piece after set piece. I feared for the people of Dale, I watched in horror as the elves and dwarves were outnumbered and slain. When the army of Gundabad finally appeared, all had seemed lost, and I could not imagine how this could possibly end well for our heroes. Let me be clear, I have seen these movies before, but watching this new fan edit made this experience feel new again. This is the movie I always wanted to see, and now it has arrived.

I do not mean to sound too excitable here. There are plenty of great fanedits on this site, and I have loved many of them, but this is the first time a fanedit turned a film into what I knew it had the potential to be. I believe The Lord of the Rings is the greatest film trilogy of all time. There is no experience like watching all three films back-to-back. I can also say that I never cried as much during the boat scene until I watched The Hobbit trilogy and saw Bilbo get on the boat. He was no longer just Frodo's uncle. He was a man, or should I say a halfling, himself. Bilbo's story is a core part of The Lord of the Rings and the larger story of Middle-earth. Yes, The Lord of the Rings is a complete trilogy without the backstory of Bilbo Baggins, but the story is so much richer with his in it. Before, I had to suffer through three overlong films so I could see a Baggins become a Took. Now, with this fanedit, I can feel confident taking that journey with him, all the way from "Good Morning" to the moment he sails West with the elves to his final resting place.