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

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.

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.

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.