Hobbit: The Original Two-Film Structure, The

Ever since it was announced that Peter Jackson is directing the Hobbit, this edit is what I was expecting to see in theaters.
I was always curious as to what was the original plan exactly before they changed it to three films.

I have deep praise for the final product from Peter Jackson. It's not easy to make a good movie. There was obviously a lot of pressure, restrictions, vision conflicts, etc. Still the movies came out were good with some bad stuff in it.
I was happy to find out from the appendix video that Adam's mind set here was not one of hate for the original movies, but respect for them and deep love for the Lord of the Rings movies and Tolkien lore as a whole.

Like Adam in the above appendix video saying he found it harder and harder to watch the Hobbit Trilogy, I felt the same way. Resulting in me looking for an alternative version and even attempting an edit of my own. This edit however filled that void of curiosity in me as to what the Hobbit films could (and dare I say should) have been.

Two movies. Each feels like a complete story with its own narrative, pacing and style.
The quality is top notch. The color grading brings it closer to the LOTR movies making this feel more related to that brilliant trilogy, even though I don't mind the more brighter and warmer colors of the Hobbit films.
The edits are masterfully executed and are seamless through and through.

And the best thing is the restructure of scenes and the reworked subtitles for the Black speech to achieve this whole new narrative.
Sauron commands Azog to march upon the mountain to form alliance with the dragon, immediately followed by Orc army leaving Dol Guldur sent shivers through my entire body. Brilliant.
The entire battle of the five armies is masterfully re-edited.

Few nitpicks (none of which is serious enough to reduce points for the edit)

- The first Radagast scene is weird. It feels like it comes from the Narnia films and doesn't fit here. It could have easily been cut and we could have Radagast introduced later. However, I respect Adam's decision to leave it in.
- Same goes for the first scene between the Master of Laketown and Alfrid. In "The Desolation of Smaug" Alfrid and the master are introduced in the middle of the movie and it was bizarre that we should suddenly start being invested in the politics of this new location. In this edit, on the other hand, since we go to Laketown at the very beginning of the second film, it felt more natural to learn more thoroughly about it.
Still, that scene could have been trimmed.
- The transition between AUJ and DOS is weird. I do believe it is the best one possible (all things considering). But, it's weird. It took me a while get used to it. I didn't mind that we lose the eagles scenes. These scenes are beautiful so it's a bit of downer, on one hand. On the other hand, it was refreshing not to have eagles deus ex machina for a change. Also, we do get to see the eagles in the next film. It's not like they completely gone.
- I don't think we need the added "I'm sorry I doubted you" from Thorin as Bilbo helps them escape the elves.
- The was one edit that felt a bit rushed. Right after the Dwarves make their barrels escape. We cut quickly from Legolas on the edge of the river to Thraduil with Legolas and the captured Orc in the Woodland realm. I think you could have shown the part of how they capture the Orc. Or, an idea I just had right now - you could have followed the Dwarves up to the point they are meeting with Bard and then cut to the captured Orc scene where he talks about the flames of war and the looming threat, immediately followed by the final sequence as Gandalf enters Dol Guldur and gets a definitive proof that Sauron has indeed came back.


Bottom line: It is a great edit. Well done Adam Dens. I hope to see your name in the credits of a big motion picture sometime soon.

I know The Hobbit films very well, and I've seen several fanedits that I think greatly improved them. But this one rises above them all. Adam Dens has created the definitive version of The Hobbit here. For fans of the book, you have a narrative vastly restructured and improved to focus on Bilbo and Thorin's journey, while drawing on all available material to hit all the key narrative points. For fans of Lord of the Rings, you have two films vastly more in-line with the Lord of the Rings trilogy, preserving the Nercromancer subplot, and even enhancing it with some excellent reworking of the Black Speech subtitles to both make the enemy's plans clearer and more engaging, and to pepper in some delicious references to Tolkien lore WB didn't have the rights to.

"The Gathering of the Clouds" is like most AUJ edits, trimming down the "multiple beginnings" syndrome and getting us into the action quicker. I wish the "Sebastian" scene had been cut here to improve this, as other edits have successfully introduced Radagast when he meets the company. The masterstroke however in this film is introducing Azog after the Goblin Tunnels, using the Goblin King's reference to introduce a mystery element the original's didn't have. I won't spoil how, but with some re-subtitling, and moving around of key scenes Adam Dens has created an entirely new sequence here to bridge AUJ with DOS in place of the "Out of the Frying Pan" scenes, and its very effective. One minor quibble, the ponies they had before the tunnels are present again out of nowhere, and then gone. But the pacing here is not only maintained, but better than many other points of the film as a sense of urgency and peril is injected into what had been up to that point, a very meandering and somewhat childish quest. Gollum's scenes are also uninterrupted to better engage audiences with Bilbo's experience, a trick Adam Dens explains he is fond of in the brilliant accompanying special features. I feel this film would have benefited from some additional cuts to fit the vision of keeping in tone with LOTR. Many of the beats in Radagasts scenes for instance could be cut to make him feel more like a character we can take seriously. And the run time could have been improved by sacrificing moments other edits have, like the rock giants or extended Beorn intro and forest scene. But these, granted, will please book purists. Finally, Tauriel and Legolas are handled well. Both are cameos and supporting cast in this version rather than active participants. Meanwhile, Gandalf's subplot is accelerated and used to bookend the film. If you're really familiar with these films like I am, I'd warn some of these early changes may seem a tad jarring. But its done very well. Tauriel's romance is cut for instance, but she is still used to help explore the culture and different points of view of the Woodland elves.

Film 2, "There and Back Again" is simply brilliant. The looming threat of Sauron and his army, foreshadowing the beginning of the battle for middle earth is ever present and much clearer from the go. The scenes flow brilliantly from one film to another. The bridging of the ending of DOS into the Battle of Laketown has been done before, and it couldn't be more obvious this was the way it should have always been. But Adam Dens edits it with more professionalism and skill than versions I've seen before. Overall this film really flows and is emotionally resonant and engaging in a way the same material never was before. The restructuring and editing of the Battle of the Five Armies is masterful. It now feels emotional, engaging and like there are real stakes, whereas before it was tonally muddled, confusing, and unfocused. On a final note, I would have liked Alfred and the Master to be cut down a lot more, again because their characters are tonally inconsistent with the rest of the film and with the LOTR films. Other edits for instance have been very effective in waiting to introduce both characters till the scene where Thorin and company are brought before them, and even imply Alfred died in the Battle of Laketown. I'd have also liked Gandalf's eulogy from the appendices to be included in the Funeral, which Adam Dens so effectively mined for the "Acorn scene" and used to deeply emotionally enrich the battle. But these things are all down to preference.

Adam Dens has delivered the version of these films the world deserves to see, and for that I applaud and thank him.

Did you fall in love with Middle Earth as a kid, when your parents read Tolkien to you at bedtime? This edit will make you feel like that kid again!

Following Peter Jackson's outstanding Lord of the Rings, expectations were unbelievably high for the Hobbit prequel. Not surprising, the 3-movie version fell short. Painstakingly, Adam Dens has edited The Hobbit back to its book origin. Not to the letter, but to its spirit.

The outstanding achievement of this edit isn't about trimming it to 6 1/2 hours, though that helps. It isn't about cutting Blunt the Knives, though that helps too. It's creating a movie that feels like a book is being read to you. Storylines get more time to build up before we switch from one group of characters to another. They resolve before too many new ones start up, enabling us to keep up with the story. Battles are shorn of their worst CGI.

The two-part structure, consistent with the original movie intention, is not merely the three movies cut down the middle. Instead the story is restructured to create a satisfying beginning, middle, and end for each Part. To that end, the cliffhanger at the end of Part 1 is certainly inspired.

Some viewers will miss the Eagle escape. This and other sacrifices keep the overall narrative focused. On a practical note, the absence of subtitles makes dialog in several scenes harder to follow, so keep your remote handy.

Does this edit replace the original? Yes, wholeheartedly. Does this edit surpass the other fanedits of The Hobbit? For me it does.

Just finished watching this 2 movie fan fix edit and I couldn't agree more with the all round praise this edit is receiving, it is simply a masterpiece of fan editing. The fact I actually feel emotions for the characters is a massive achievement in of itself. Furthermore when Bilbo is standing back in his empty home at the end, I actually feel just like him...sad that the adventure is over and there is this massive emptiness felt from the sudden absence of it and his friends that he shared and experienced it with, 3 of them which he will never see again.

It's simply night and day from the one and only previous time I watched The Hobbit movies when they were theatrically released, the fact I never watched them again and effectively forgot about them as I walked away from the cinema is a testament to Adam's edit in being able to so drastically flip that reaction for myself this time round. There were a few minor issues that I noted throughout but they pale into insignificance and are almost forgotten in light of the overall achievement. For the sake of feedback though I'll just very briefly list them below:

- Nearly all edits/cuts were seamless but it felt like there were some obvious ones that distracted slightly from the viewing experience due to the knowledge of watching a fan edit. From memory the 2 to 3 main obvious ones were around the first Radagast meet up with the Gandalf and company and arriving / departing Rivendell. They were just too sudden and you could feel the missing footage that had been removed between the scenes. That is with a very hazy memory of the theatricals though and when trying to look at the edits in a fresh light, the story still ends up making sense and the cuts simply feel a bit odd at their abruptness.

- This was probably my biggest gripe (which is minuscule next to the success the edit was for me) that did distract me again somewhat from the movie when I realised that we don't get any footage of Smaug smashing open the front entrance of the Erebor before flying off to Lake Town. I'm not sure as to the reason for this as the whole point of the map and the key with the secret entrance was to gain entrance to the mountain, but if Smaug simply "leaves" through an existing opening then why couldn't the company just enter that way as well? I'm trying to remember from the book which I haven't read in a great many years now, whether the Dwarves knew / assumed the dragon was guarding the front entrance? Otherwise this omission from the story of him smashing open the sealed entrance doesn't make a great deal of sense and it leaves us questioning this matter instead of keeping focus on the movie at the time.

Those matters aside, I would highly recommend this edit any day and it is now my definitive go to edit for The Hobbit. I fully support the proclamation made by doug23 and manu90 in their reviews of this edit sitting up there with Adywan's Revisited Star Wars edits. Congratulations also to Adam on a well deserved award of FEOTM!

Edit: Just watching the Cutting Room making of feature reminded me of something else - when Radagast goes to Dol Guldor and he looks down the hallway where the Necromancer / Sauron starts to manifest / show himself at the end of it and the camera zooms in, I think it could cut earlier once it reaches his face. It looks scary freaky as f##k right up till the edges of his mouth get dragged down and Sauron's shadowy face turns into a Scream mask caricature which turns it almost comic and instantly removes all the menace and mystery from the scene as he turns into a clown. Watch at 5:48 of the feature if unsure what I am talking about.

I have seen a great deal of Hobbit fan edits over the past 2-3 years...so many that it has been hard to keep track of them all! Some have been excellent (Spence's Edit), some have been astoundingly poor (The Tolkien Edit which got a lot of press for being the first Hobbit edit, yet was released using a bootlegged DVD copy of Battle of Five Armies). This two-part edit falls somewhere in the middle for me and I will explain why.

First off, the title of this edit (The Original Two-Film Structure) is a bit misleading. Peter Jackson and his team have said that when the Hobbit was still two films, they intended to end the first film with the company meeting Bard at the river. This edit splits the story at a completely different point.

The audio/visual quality is truly excellent. Just as clean and crisp as the actual Bluray releases. I loved the custom Bluray menus as well; very beautifully done. There are hardly any visual edit issues save for a noticeable color correction issue that happens during the transition from An Unexpected Journey to the Desolation of Smaug. The edit intends to merge two scenes together that are lit and colored completely differently. Some simple correction to the latter's footage would have solved this. The audio editing is mostly solid aside from a few fades and transitions.

Most Hobbit edits floating around the Internet (and on this site) have landed somewhere between 3 and 4 hours long. This (to me at least) indicates that there is a minimum baseline of garbage to be removed from the Hobbit trilogy by faneditors. I've even seen a daring cut that was only two hours long! However out of all the edits currently listed on IFDB, this edit is by far the longest at over 6.5 hours. It is an interesting choice by the editor to keep so much content in the edit, but unfortunately it is also what detracts from its enjoyment and overall quality. These films were lambasted for their narrative excess for a reason, and I feel this edit unsuccessfully splits the difference between the original films and the much leaner and cleaner versions out there.

Several editing decisions jumped out at me during the viewing of this edit. Why does Frodo show up at all here? He is completely cut save for one awkward shot of him walking in Bag End. No explanation is given. Why remove Blunt the Knives yet include the dwarves' song in Rivendell (which wasn't even in the theatrical release)? I've seen some edits that include Radagast, but do we really need the cross-eyed pothead humor? Why are Alfrid and Legolas still so visible, and at the expense of actual scenes from the book like the eagle rescue? Why are the were-worms still here, with even less foreshadowing than the original films? Other faneditors have easily removed these things without ruining the narrative flow of their edits.

I admire the reworking of nearly all the Orcish/Black Speech subtitles, even if they do venture into hokey fan-fiction on occasion. I really liked how the first part of the edit ends with the Sauron reveal cliffhanger, and picks back up on Part Two with the Bree flashback leading into Laketown. Some inspired bits of editing and re-working of scenes are evident here, but ultimately it is just not enough. There is still too much bloat and excess, which becomes more evident as the edit gets into the Battle of Five Armies. While still trimmed from its original length, the battle carries on for far too long.

Even though the editor claims to want this edit to feel closer in tone to the LOTR trilogy, we are still treated to plenty of ridiculous CGI buffoonery (Legolas tap-dancing on the dwarves, flying on a bat, generally outrageous and impossible stunts, silly troll antics, etc). Moments like this are what made The Hobbit films compare poorly to the more grounded LOTR trilogy, and other editors have worked around many of these issues with success. Despite its high technical quality, "The Original Two-Film Structure" doesn't remove enough from the original films to make it a true standout amongst the ever-growing pantheon of Hobbit fan edits.