Review Detail

Die-hard Tolkien fans, you need look no further! Ilúvatar has heard our prayers and sent his emissary M4 to bring us the definitive Hobbit edit. I was lucky enough to watch this masterpiece before it was featured in these fora and, although there were already some great fan-edits of the trilogy out there (I personally still keep Maple’s Durin’s Folk and the Hill of Sorcery as an appendix to the main story), M4’s Book Edit immediately became my to-watch version. And here are the main reasons for that:

1) Faithfulness: I’m a bit of a purist when it comes to adaptations. I mean, I never demand a word-for-word translation of the source material, but at the very least I expect to keep it close to the original’s spirit and follow its basic guidelines. M4’s Book Edit exceeds in that. His approach is that of a purist as well, but not to the point of botching up the narrative or the characters for the sake of faithfulness alone. The dwarves, for example, are often (deservedly) criticized for being too goofy compared to their book counterparts - some of them at least, like Bombur and Bofur. M4 trims away most of the misplaced humour without depriving them of their individual traits as depicted in the films, and never leaving them like empty shells of characters. It goes without question that all of the other annoying elements of the trilogy have been removed as well; Tauriel, Radagast, the awkward love triangle, the excessive, gravity-defying action pieces, all gone. Even Azog the Defiler is cleverly “replaced”, although I must confess that I wouldn’t mind if some references to his name were kept in and the Orc leader in the end identified as him, as long as he wasn’t a recurring villain throughout the whole film. All of the above are achieved through multiple seamless cuts and a good deal of digital tampering, which brings me to my second point...

2) The VFX: It’s what brought me to M4’s edit in the first place, after accidentally bumping onto his VFX creator’s reel on Youtube. I simply have no words for the work done on that area. It’s astonishing and really makes a difference! The digital reduction of Thorin’s wounds, the removal of the arrows on the barrels after the (now completely cut) river chase or even the replacement of Bard’s son during Smaug’s attack… And that’s just the tip of the iceberg! The attention to detail is impeccable when addressing continuity errors which may arise due to cuts or different approaches, bringing this edit flawlessly as close as possible to the source material.

3) The transition from An Unexpected Journey to The Desolation of Smaug: It’s a tricky part to edit, that’s for sure. Maple Film’s edit chooses to make this transition with some voice-over from Gandalf as the company moves from the Eagles to Beorn’s house. M4’s solution brings an air of 50’s and 60’s cinema to the table. Like Ben Hur, The Ten Commandments or Gone with the Wind, an intermission is used where The Journey ends and The Desolation starts. It’s old-school, it’s elegant and classy, and gives the audience a legit point to split the whole viewing experience in two. Absolutely love it!

I won’t dwell on all the other changes made (colour correction, Howard Shore’s OST etc.) As a conclusion to my review, I just want to address to any Tolkien lovers and LotR fans out there. Do yourself a favour and check this edit! It’s not just the epitome of a devoted, flawless fan-edit. It’s a total filmsaving experience that will make you see The Hobbit in a totally new light and fall in love with Middle-Earth once more.