M4's The Hobbit Book Edit

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.

Well, I've been debating which Hobbit edit to take a chance on - after all, these are long films which require a degree of commitment on the viewers behalf, or at least for me anyway - and with all the positive reviews received, not to mention how exciting the description of this book-style edit sounded, I thought I'd go for M4's version. And boy, am I glad I did.

Firstly, I don't hate Jackson's Hobbit trilogy as it is... I don't particularly like it either though. What I see amongst the three films are potential squandered by a bloated runtime, some awful gravity defying CGI sequences, and too many attempts to tie it directly into events which take place in LOTR. Plus, whilst the production design is beautiful, the digital film nature and high frame rate of the films has never sat well with me, even on repeated viewings. So, M4's cut list and intentions for this edit basically ticked all the boxes for me.

My wife and I watched this in two sittings, perfectly split using the brilliantly timed "intermission" by M4. I really enjoyed this aspect of the edit, as it gives that epic old fashioned feel to it, from the days of Ben Hur, Ten Commandments etc. Visually, this edit looks stunning, with the subtle use of the 35mm filter and colour correction making an amazing difference - somehow it gives more organic life to the film and certainly helps it sit alongside the visuals from LOTR far better. Also, in terms of visual editing, this is pure perfection. No hard, bad or unnatural cuts to speak of. That old adage, if you hadn't seen the original, you would never know anything was missing, certainly rings true here.

Narratively speaking, this almost gets the job done in seamless fashion. The added effects work on Thorin's face as the Eagles carry them off and then land at the climax of An Unexpected Journey, is sublime work and solves the problem of having a scarred and wounded Thorin when M4 was obviously wanting to change the narrative at that point. The only thing that felt a little off was how Gandalf disappeared a couple of times with no real reason given. I can't pretend I didn't notice that, but I wouldn't really want this edit to be any longer than it is, and it's not a deal breaker or anything like that. Also, not having Thorin succumb to the dragon sickness meant that his sudden change of mind is a little too sudden to swallow, but again, it's no big deal.

Audio editing - another huge thumbs up. Clean transitions, never for one moment did my ears think I was listening to something which had been fanedited.

Overall, this is the way I want to experience The Hobbit. As one epic film which can stand on its own two feet, without having to keep calling back to storylines from LOTR. The worst of over the top CGI has totally gone - thank you so much for removing nearly all of Legolas, meaning we don't get his gravity defying walk on bricks sequence - and it's simply a much more believable, engaging and entertaining movie. Absolutely loved it, and an example of a very gifted faneditor at work.

Out of all The Hobbit edits, this one is the best. Makes you realize what a great film is inside the trilogy.

It makes me very happy to see M4's Hobbit edit here. His was not the first fan edit I watched, but it was the first to help me truly realize what was possible. It is very difficult to be objective about it.

I had been searching for a good book-focused edit of the Hobbit after my intense disappointment in what I came to call 'The Lord of the Rings Prequel Trilogy'. I found M4's site online and after reading his description of the edit, I was intrigued. I downloaded and began my viewing with a practiced, critical eye.
My wife was sitting across from me doing crochet while I watched. I occasionally would pipe up about this or that. About 1 1/2 hours in, she asked me what my opinion was so far.

"Well...so far...it's perfect," I replied.

I have only seen three different edits of the HT so I am perhaps not the best judge. But I do know the book very well (with more than one read-aloud) and with the available footage to work with, I cannot imagine a more faithful melding of Mr. Tolkien's and Mr. Jackson's mutual visions. It's just lovely.

Speaking critically from a purist perspective, the rock/storm giants described in the book are not present; however, since the movie's version of the scene was blown so far out of proportion with the feel of the original source, it was a change that I did not mind.

The only conceivable gripe is just that this thing is 4 hours long. But when 'too much Middle-Earth' is the worst criticism one can level, I'd say the edit has accomplished its goals. Even this quibble is amended somewhat with an intermission/disk separation at the 1 hour 45 minute mark.

This fan edit made me fall in love with fan edits. I cannot help but give it a perfect score.

Count me among those that consider this to be the best edit of The Hobbit I've ever seen.