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

I am a huge LotR's fan but really struggled to enjoy/finish the original Hobbit trilogy. I found them extremely bloated and tough to sit through (I fell asleep in the theatre several times). Fortunately, this was one of my first introductions to fan editing and it honestly set the bar extremely high. Not only did I love this edit but it's now my only go-to when watching these movies.

The scene edits for the most part are perfectly executed with only a few very small cuts that are slightly noticeable. I was particularly impressed and how the Smaug scene played out as that seemed to go on for days in the original cut.

The pacing and storytelling were very well done considering a large chunk of the trilogy was cut and anyone who can still keep my attention for a 4-hour feature length film has my instant approval.

I only had the stereo SD version for years but thankfully just got the 5.1 1080p version and can't wait to watch this again.

Thank you for making these movies watchable in one sitting and inspiring me enough to take on my own edits. I highly recommend this version.

This was a great introduction to the fanedit world. I enjoy the original versions of the movies and am not as bothered as some by the extra stuff put in there. That said, this edit definitely cleaned up the story arc and moved things along.

The cuts all made sense and most of it I did not miss even with the knowledge of what was dropped. Only a couple places felt abrupt jumping past scenes. That was mainly in Beorn's house and Laketown. For me a little bit of what was cut would help smooth the story a bit. The group just appears at Beorn's dinner table where some short cuts to show how they got there would help. While most of Laketown's side plots were extraneous, you are left to make assumptions about Bard--particularly how he suddenly is imprisoned when Smaug arrives; having watched the original movies helped me fill in the blanks. Cutting the battle in Erebor helped a lot, but there's only so much that could be done with CG Smaug bursting from the gates covered in gold.

Overall I really enjoyed this take on the movie that more closely follows the original book.

Dustin Lee has created a great edit of The Hobbit trilogy that is definitely worth watching.

I'm going to start off and say that I have never seen The Hobbit trilogy in its original form. I loved the novel since I've read it in middle school, but I never watched the movies because I'd heard so many negative things about them. I didn't want such a great story that I adored to be ruined by a poor adaptation. I asked around to see what the best fanedit of the trilogy was that I could watch. I had two big recommends: the Maple Films/Dustin Lee edit, and the Original Two-Film Structure (which I have yet to watch). So I decided to give this one a try.

I was not disappointed. Dustin did a masterful job of editing the films into one four-hour film (that I watched split into the two-hour parts split by an intermission. In a way, this was also the original two-film structure).

Audio/Video Quality:
Both were absolutely superb. It was a 1080p MP4 with a 5.1 surround track, giving the full experience of watching the film. I especially appreciated the 5.1 track, as it is something often omitted/converted to stereo in fanedits.

Visual Editing:
At no point in the film did I notice that any visual editing had been done. This is a good sign! It means that everything was seamlessly integrated into the new story. Well done.

Audio Editing:
Also superb. No complaints here.

Narrative:
I loved how close to the book this adaptation was. Sure, there was still a bit of extra stuff in there, but I didn't find any of it to detract from the story. There was also no point in the film where I thought, "Something was definitely taken out." Dustin has essentially rewritten the film into a cohesive plot that follows Tolkien's original novel.

Enjoyment:
Overall, I very much enjoyed watching this. It will be a part of my collection from now on. Well done, Dustin!

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Looking for the best edit of The Hobbit Trilogy, I read through the descriptions and change lists of every edit I could find. I have watched and re-watched different versions of The Hobbit over several months and, finally, I found this edit - exactly what I was looking for!

All the slapstick and fluff that could be cut is gone, but not to the point that would create unexplained events as I had seen in other edits.

The efforts made to hide Smaug covered in liquid gold is about the best that will ever be. I watched an edit that tried skipping to him flying towards the town and that didn't flow smoothly.

If I had to nitpick... the first time I watched this edit, I thought my audio/video was out of sync during the new voice-over during the eagle rescue. Plus the great scene with Thorin accepting Bilbo as a useful member of the group after the eagles was cut, but there was no way to keep it with the cuts made to the battle with the orcs. I'd rather have the cuts than that scene, so not a big deal.

Also, subtitles. Awesome!