Review Detail

Pretty much the best. I admire the effort put in by many to morph the Hobbit films into a single film, or two film structure, but to me it should be a trilogy. It's clear from The Appendices that Jackson and co. made many changes to make the films work as three instead of two and so I prefer watching them as a trilogy, and Kerr's edit is a fantastic way to do that. The theatrical (and extended cut) cut of Unexpected Journey can be a slog, but this edit breathes new life into it. Kerr has managed to keep the structure of the film intact while making it all run so much more smoothly. Maybe my favorite element of the edit is the score replacement. In the Jackson versions, villains' leitmotifs from the Rings trilogy will play over scenes of heroes, but there is none of that here. Shore's original music, actually written for this film, finally plays in the places it belongs. I will briefly mention that the score is mixed a bit too high in some of the opening scenes, but this is really a minor quibble. This will definitely be making its way into my Unexpected Journey blu-ray case. I highly recommend even the most skeptical Hobbit fans to check this version out. Can't wait to check out the next two Arkenstone Edits.