M4's The Hobbit Book Edit

It has always been a pet peeve of mine that they split the Hobbit into three films as it clearly reeked of ‘’we’ve gotta make money so were splitting this story into three and were going to add stuff to it that’s not even in the book just so we can pad the runtime and fill our money pool’’ so naturally when I came upon this edit I was overjoyed that someone had undertaken the task of digitally stitching the three movies together well casting most of the unnecessary fluff back into the fiery chasm from whence it came.

The Intermission is well placed and the duration of said intermission gives the audience enough time to either grab some beverages, go to the lavatory or engage in some intellectual discussion on the films events, themes and cinematography and whatever purpose the audience has chosen to fulfil and has fulfilled during said intermission they will likely be more than ready to resume the rest of there viewing of this masterful craft as it seamlessly transitions into The Desolation Of Smaug.

This edit is honestly impossible to fault and I do not say this out of blind praise in fact I literally went over it several times to see if I could find any faults weather they’d be on the narrative or technical side of things though my intention of seeking any faults was not out of the desire to look for stuff to complain about but rather so that I could give an honest and fair review of this edit as I am one of those reviewers who do not just toss out perfect 10’s lightly as such results as to why I consider an edit to be perfect are either given out of careful consideration or simply because I struggle to find any imperfection with an edit.

Other than being more faithful to the source material I loved how you altered the films picture quality to match more closely with the Lord Of The Rings as for me it not only improves consistency but makes the world I am looking at feel more natural as just looking at it made me feel as if I were there breathing in the various airs of the many locations that the company traversed during there journey, I wish I had gotten to see this version of the film at the Cinema instead of the one’s that were actually shown but noooope they had to split em because ‘’money’’

This is definitely my go to version of the films or in the case of this edit film from now on as I no longer have to experience the frustration of one film ending at a critical moment just to force me to eject the disc, place it back in it’s case, get up, reach for the next case, put that disc in and than walk all the way back to the sofa only to have to repeat these steps again when The Desolation Of Smaug ends. Or alternatively since I watched the Digital Version of your edit I no longer have to undergo the tedious task of going There and Back Again with my trackpad cursor.

Now it is just one file and one click greatly reducing the risk of Repetitive Strain Injury or simply RSI.

If you're looking for a fanedit that not only fixes the flaws of the original movies but also makes it more in line with the Lord of the Rings films, has much better pacing, and most importantly, makes it closer to the original book, then look no further than this fanedit. This is BY FAR the definitive fanedit of The Hobbit trilogy, and it's everything The Hobbit films should have been in the first place.

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

Look no further, this is the best Hobbit edit out there! It turned a bad trilogy into a great movie. Many of the trilogy's shortcomings have been ironed out. It feels like a real movie now and is closer to how the Hobbit should be in the first place.
An enormous effort that culminates in a great work. Now i can finally enjoy the Hobbit.

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.