J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit (Maple Films Edit)

Overall this was very good. I have not seen a bunch of different Hobbit edits, but this one was very close to what I wanted so I am happy to stick with this.
What I wanted (which this edit delivered):
1. Doesn't need to be pure to the book, but should avoid unnecessary changes. (I'm not opposed to changes in principle but IMO Jackson's changes are always overwritten and trite)
2. Doesn't need to be short, but should avoid the long, cringey and ultimately boring action scenes which are the principle source of bloat in the films.
There were only a few points that could use a little tuning. There were a few jarring cuts, for instance at the Front Porch. And the final battle still felt a little long to me.
Overall, I am very satisfied with this edit. The next time I watch the Hobbit it will be this cut.

Excellent stuff! video quality is not great i must say but overall very enjoyable! theres only like a couple places where it's a bit jarring and obvious of a cut like "ok yeah something used to be there" but I don't blame him for that because its better than the actual thing. This is literally the only way i will watch the hobbit from now on!

As someone who was forced to watch original Hobbit film in the cinema and could never get through the other two, this was a breath of fresh air.

This edit makes the film much much much closer to the original books, and also leads much better into the Lord of the Rings.

The only criticisms I'd make of it, is it's a bit stop-start near in the first half (I feel like there is still more that could be cut!) and the battle of the five armies ends quite abruptly. Like, there isn't really an end? What happened to the 5 armies?

I'm not sure if I'm really being fair, because if the footage isn't there then you can't do much more, but it just needs something to complete the battle.

Having said that it's so so so close to being perfect, and so much better than the originals.

I wish I had known there was an intermission! We watched it in 3 sittings.

9.7/10

I haven't been capable of rewatching these movies since I saw them in theaters and this edit officially helped me get over that hurdle. I'm truly impressed by the sheer volume of cuts while still feeling like a cohesive, professional film.

Goes without saying that there are plenty moments where the edit makes you want for this to have been the manner in which Jackson had been able to approach the films. Still sucks to see the white orc but it's a necessary evil.

All in all deeply impressed and frankly can't imagine choosing any other way to rewatch these films.

What a task this must have been! The amount of work needed to edit not just 1, but 3 (long) films must be immense.

Regarding the story, I found I agree with pretty much every removed scene / piece of dialogue / character. I was not sure some of these would work but after watching, I’m impressed. The overall narrative is now focused, thematically sound and represents a close interpretation of the original book.

As time and time again have proved, it’s a terrible idea for any scriptwriter / director / book writer to try to “interpret”, “improve” or “expand” on Tolkien’s work and worldbuilding. When Middle Earth is concerned, once you start adding characters and plot points unrelated to Tolkien, the final piece will always become worse.
Rule of thumb: no one improves on Tolkien’s world, no one. The swift extraction of many of these new characters and plot points, from all of the 3 original films, does indeed create a story that’s a “close approximation” of Tolkien’s vision.

In terms of quality and visual / audio editing, I could find no flaws.

Thank you for this!