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

Really enjoyed it, so much better than the originals. Finally we have a Hobbit movie adaptation which can be considered a true successor to the LOTR films

As a life-long Tolkien fan, I can't express how disappointed I was with the original Hobbit trilogy, which made finding this fan-edit one of the highlights of 2015 for me. It's still not perfect, but it allowed me to watch the Hobbit and enjoy the great story that it is without being distracted by the excess or ridiculousness that filled the originals. Not only that, but it was cut and edited so well that I often wasn't even able to tell where it was altered from the original. The extent to which audio and video are seamlessly edited is quite impressive, and I loved the changes he made to the soundtrack so it would be more internally consistent. From now on, this is the definitive version of the Hobbit in my book, and I won't be watching or recommending any others. If you like the Hobbit and want to enjoy it on the big screen, carve out 4 hrs and give this version a go. It might just recapture some of the magic you hoped would make it into the originals!

A good way to watch these if you want to see the book adapted to film without committing to the 9 or so hours of the originals. Considering this doesn't flow perfectly anyway, I honestly think it could have been even shorter. I also get the sense that the original movies just weren't that good, meaning this did not add up to an amazing whole either. I may update this review removing my recommendation if I find a shorter edit that I prefer.

Overall I thought this edit was fairly good, I did think it was a bit overhyped. I found their color corrections to be a bit over the top and very noticeable in the shire specifically. Before watching this one I originally watched the Tolkien edit which has far lower quality video but I did find a few things about it that I personally proffered. I think that the Tolkien edit handled the overall story a bit better but I really enjoyed the maple edit for some of it's character development .

Certainly an improvement over the originals. And, besides a few awkward A/V editing moments (nothing major but just a few times where cuts were noticeable), the technical elements were great. Unfortunately in my case, the films are still far too bloated, even at only half their runtime: with some ultimately unnecessary set-ups and sequences left seemingly untouched. Obviously this cut has impressed many, and it more-or-less has done the same to me, but it's just not quite there.