M4's The Hobbit Book Edit

Overall, this edit showcases a very good pacing for the entire story. Audio and videos cuts, while plenty, were professionally executed.
The final two scenes of the original first film, the Warg tree scene and the Eagles scene, have been really well edited.

Personally, I really dislike the Goblin song, that section really seemed to be asking to be cut from the edit.
As a personal opinion, I’m not really into the cut to the intermission; such a think used to be done in all films in cinemas but, in the present, it has been used less and less. I’ve found I enjoy my film experiences at the cinema more when no intermission exists.

The first time the dwarves meet with Bard, there’s now a continuity error when Bard mentions the Elves and touches one of the barrels; this should be removed because no barrel fight happened in this edit.

The removal of the Elf vs. Dwarf combat in the final Battle works very well.
The main issue here, for me, is the scene of the Elves jumping over the Dwarves’ (very strong-looking) shield wall; this is one of the most stupid battle tactics I’ve ever seen. Does it look cool? A bit, I guess. Does it work in a tactical sense? 100% no.

A cohesive version of Hobbit that stays true to the book and J.R.R. Tolkien's vision. This is and will remain an all time classic cut of the movies.

Being new to the Hobbit edits (or edits in general) I don't have many reference points for this review.

The video and audio quality are great and I spotted hardly any awkward cuts.
Most of the unnecessary stuff is removed and I especially LOVE removing the Dragon sickness.
Also, subtitles are available which is a plus.

Personal cons were the Goblin Town song and the Final battle - going up the mountain montage could have used a few more shots and the cut to Thorin being knocked down is too sudden.

So overall, I enjoyed this book edit but it will not become my go-to.

This is the best version of the Hobbit if you want a straight up Book Cut with a few cool special effects. M4 says that he spent a time thinking and thinking each cut to make it closer to the book.

The dragon isn't gold anymore!

This is our favorite version.

This is the definitive way to experience the Hobbit films..

Likes:
- These films have SO MUCH GARBAGE compared to the original trilogy. This edit fixes the f*** out of that problem. As the Hobbit trilogy stood before this, I considered it unwatchable. I cannot stress enough how much of a difference cutting the garbage out makes. I cannot fathom how much time this must have taken. The amount that needed to be done and how much it improves the films is a testament to the author of this edit and those who assisted them.
- Changes to color-grading improves multiple scenes, but for me are difficult to notice without side-by-side comparisons. That said, I like the changes I did notice.

Dislikes:
- no 4k version with lossless surround
- The Goblin King (any scene with him is terrible). His CG is so poor, along with the goblins being laughable (the ones in Moria weren't). I cannot think of a fix for this as it is pretty central to major plot points in the film. Probably the only way to maybe(?) fix this would be have a team of VFX artists completely redo all of it. Unlikely and pretty much out of the edit author's control. It's a shame these enemies to be feared have been turned into slapstick morons. It really makes the dwarves' situation feel...well...not like they are about to be killed. I know the musical number is in the book, but god, I hate it.
- Bard uses his regular bow to shoot at the dragon when he has demonstrated he clearly knows only a black arrow can pierce Smaug
- Bard is not shown carrying the arrow when running to the tower (he is not wearing any clothing that could conceal an arrow that size, so adding the arrow in (potentially into his quiver?) with VFX would be a great boon - otherwise it simply teleports there when he needs it.

Other than these points this edit is incredible and even with these mostly minor detractions it is the best version of the films bar none. The improvements made to these films bring them much more in line with the original LOTR trilogy, which is the biggest compliment I can give. Before, I would never consider rewatching the Hobbit trilogy. This edit means it will join the LOTR trilogy in my library as part of the experience.