Review Detail

Let me start by saying that I wasn't an Hobbit fan until I watched the fanedits. And only had the discs because someone had gifted them to me to pair with my LotR discs.
I didn't like the originals at all. There was potential in them but poor execution/editing. I would rate the originals as an "ok", a 5 out of 10. There was just too much nonsense in them. The fanedits raised the quality to a 7 or 8 out of 10.

I initially watched M4_'s edit during the weekend. And I liked it so much that I ended up rewatching The Hobbit during next week; but this time went with Stromboli Bones' edit.
If you're wondering which version to watch then it mostly depends on how much free time do you have. They are both equally excellent and have made The Hobbit something I intend to rewatch, through their fanedits.

I always find it difficult to write reviews because I easily forget things. Particularly the supposedly "small" things.
But I guess that is the effect of a true craftsman. Removes the warts so you never knew they were there. Polishes the rough edges so everything looks smooth.
In any case one only needs to scroll through the list of changes to see how much work was put into it.

Since I watched both fanedits in such a short period let us hope I don't mix something up here.
And the above section of the review is common to both.

---

I absolutely loved M4_'s fanedit. And prefer it to both since it's more concise. It's a 4h epic that never gets dull nor silly nor tiresome. You can easily watch it in a sitting. And it even has an intermission moment for a quick pause :)
From the technical point of view I have nothing to add. Everything is flawless and perfect to my eyes.
From a director's point of view as far as I can remember I think the only changes I would have made would be:
- trimmed the Goblin King's song
- extended the scenes of the battle of the five armies
- included the scene where the Elven king shows his scars - but maybe this wasn't in the books?