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

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Watching this edit made me realise just how much of the theatrical Hobbit movies was bloated and unneccessary to the main story. The movies are called The Hobbit - instead we got The Dwarves v Legolas v Gandalf v Azog starring A Hobbit. Bilbo nearly vanished in his own movie under everything else. When he returned to Hobbingen in the end, and the movie so obviously wanted the viewer to feel the "man, have we had an adventure with this guy, right?"-moment, I felt nothing for the little man who indeed traveled a long and bumpy road. Too much else had happened.
That is not to say I hated the movies in general; I enjoyed Part I and II in the cinema for the most part (returning to middle-earth in super-3D was just great), especially Part I, Smough was great and the actors all did a good job, but I was severely disappointed by Part III, which was just such an obvious "Hey-The-Kids-Liked-LotR-Battles-right"-cashgrab.

Anyway, enough of me: I loved this edit of The Hobbit. By cutting practically everything what wasn't in the book, now you have the 4,5h movie The Hobbit - with his hero front and center and never too far from the action. Yet it preserves the central arc of its secondary characters, the dwarves and their quest to reclaim their stolen home, who also profit from not drowning in side-quest and god-awful love stories (seriously, tell me one good reason this was in the movies except to stretch the run-time to fill three movies). Gone are: Legolas (except for a nice little cameo), Tauriel, Gandalfs side-quest (which I thought was cool in itself, but again just distracted from the main arc and the emotional core of the story), Azog-related flashbacks (turns out you don't need an hour of backstory to give an Orc a motivation to hunt good guys. That's just what they do. And without telling the viewer his history in detail, he even gets a bit more mystique and seems more threatening than before) and the more ridiculous and/or stupid parts of action and humor. The editing was seemless all the way, and yes, me and my girlfriend too noticed the gold falling off of Smough when he exits the mountain, but as another reviewer already said, this is a minor thing which will only register with viewers already familiar with the theatrical cut.

All of this combined makes for an adult movie, which still has a lighter tone to it that LotR, in which all the care and work that was obviously put in it by director, actors, costume designers etc. etc. can really shine. I could talk a lot more about this, but other reviewers have already said it all in a more eloquent way than me, so let me just finish with the statement that this is now the definitive version of The Hobbit for me, and I'm already in the process of spreading the word to friends and family, who unanimously loved it, too.

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.

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!

This is the first Fanedit I've ever watched, and i really enjoyed it. It was a genuine joy to not have to sit through the terrible Romance subplot while watching these films. It overall was edited extremely well, I'd never seen the extended edition of these films, and there are some scenes added here that are baffling to have removed from the original cut. That scene where Bilbo and Thorin listen to Gandalf and Elrond talk about Thrawn's sickness sets up a major part of the plot early in the series, along with being a nice moment with Bilbo and Thorin. The Funeral of Thorin was cut from the originals, WHY??? These films and how they were made and produced will always baffle me. I really enjoyed this movie, although i have a few complaints, Just know that this is nitpicking and personal taste here, this is an exceptionally made Fanedit. First of all, the scene at the end of the first film, atop the plateau where they see the lonely mountain for the first time has always been a favorite in the series for me. Thorin's speech to Bilbo and the look on the faces of the dwarves as they look on their homeland always makes me smile. I get why it's removed, it saves a lot of time and has an aura of finality to it, the film flows better this way. But i can't help but still want it there. This next one is a hot take, I like Bombur rolling around in the barrel nocking down Orcs, I think it's really funny and it puts a smile on my face every time. It's not in this version, which is understandable, but i miss my stupid barrel scene. That being said, the way it is cut out is exceptionally well done, the scene felt entirely untouched, and even loving this scene, it took me a few minutes afterwards to realize that it was just cut out. Thirdly, the scene where Thorin breaks out of his Dragon Sickness is gone, I get why it's gone, that scene sucks ass. It has the funniest editing I've seen in a Hollywood film, I laughed out loud in theaters when I first saw it during that scene, but Thorin just suddenly switching up out of nowhere feels very jarring here, and is one of the only areas where i wish the edit was better. Overall, really great, i thoroughly enjoyed myself here, and i can't wait to sink my teeth into Fanedits more.