Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - Arkenstone Edition, The

I made an account just so that I could write this review. This fan edit was fantastic. The original film left a slightly bitter taste in my mouth. The awful slapstick and cheesy jokes did not go well with the otherwise dark-ish tone that Jackson was going for. This edit cuts all the annoying crap out, and keeps all (well, mostly all) the good stuff in. Obviously this edit was made to keep continuity with the rest of the trilogy, so as a result, plot points that seem unnecessary and added in had to be kept. Still, only the necessary shots remain in this edit.

Something MUST be said about the audio editing. I gave it a 9, which was tough to do considering it was both one of my favourite as well as least favourite aspects of the edit. The music from the original AUJ was very welcome, and the voice (and visual) clips integrated from The Fellowship of the Ring were incorporated magnificently. The only gripe I have (which is why I gave audio a 9) is that as a result of working your audio wizardry, some of the dialogue is hidden under the score. You can still make out what they're saying, but it's definitely more difficult than it should. Nevertheless, this will be my go-to version of the film from now on, and I look forward to seeing your edit of DoS (which I'm hoping to be able to watch within the next month or so...?)

Just chiming in to add that this edit got me to this site [and the world of fan-editing in general].

This is not a purist cut; it's a cut that exercises good judgement, across the board. There are maybe 4-5 minutes of footage I’d see additionally cut from Arkenstone AUJ, mostly material involving Azog (the warg chase, Amon Sul, and the Azog/Thorin duel in Out of the Frying Pan). Otherwise it’s perfect—it leaves in (compressed versions of) the useful additions to the book (White Council, Radagast) while losing the stupid parts (the stick bug, the hedgehog, Galadriel telepathy and teleporting, the Stone Giants, the Goblintown hamster wheel etc.) Other scenes are trimmed to make them work a lot better in the awkward tonal place PJ has put the movie in by adapting it as a LOTR prequel—Kerr carefully edits scenes like the trolls and Goblin King to retain some of the Hobbit’s levity but still in a world that feels recognizably like that in LOTR—no mean feat. The extended editions are lightly mined (specifically, the fantastic work with Bilbo in Rivendell), pulling only what’s necessary without rebloating the run time.

I watched it with four diehard fans of LOTR, all of whom absolutely loathed AUJ's theatrical release, and I’ve recommended it to other friends. All have had a uniformly ecstatic reaction (although none go as far as me to say it approaches ROTK, which I consider the low end of the LOTR trilogy.)

The only minor complaint, and I understand that it has to do with the available audio, is that some of the mixing in Hobbiton makes the dialogue a bit hard to follow. That’s it. That’s all I have to complain about, in an otherwise fantastic edit. I will never again watch the theatrical or extended cuts, and I refuse to allow members of my family to see them—Arkenstone only. This is the definitive Hobbit AUJ.

I'd love to see you do a similar prudent, but not book purist edit, combining material from the DoS and BOFA extended editions, as a first pass before you release your 2015 purist one alluded to in the headnotes to this.

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.

I'll dive right into this - audio and video was outstanding. Seamless really, like it was a director's cut (but the true director is the problem lately!). Definitely put a personal stamp on the musical sound track with all the reworkings. 10s across the board well earned.

Now for the story. I recently watched the hobbit edit by menbailee, so I could not help but compare the two. Both edits are obviously such a huge improvement over the original, for the same basic reason -they cut out much of the over the top action and humor geared toward kids and made it a more serious movie. But here are my specifics for this edit:

--dwarf prologue; I prefer how menbailee moved these scenes to later parts of the movie.
--the dwarves dinner song, sadly it could have been a good scene but PJ made the action too ridiculous. kerr cut this out completely and I think that's the best call.
--trolls: I'm ok with keeping much of this, it has some silliness, but it's definitely part of the book, which has a lighthearted element. HOWEVER, I found it ridiculous that the dwarves charge and fight until the trolls hold up Bilbo - then they choose to lay down their weapons. Come on! Why would the dwarves do that? Like the trolls are going to then let them all go? Menbailee cut this - though it was a rough cut - I still would rather have that tough transition then a dumb scene.
--Radagast: kerr cut the lame scenes with stick insect and the smoking cross-eyed, nice job. however, I preferred how menbailee left the warg/rabbit sled chase out completely. Which leads me to..
--the White ORC: I don't understand how such a lame villain was created by PJ and group. Boring looking, bad CGI, generic lines and actions. I truly hate this character. As such, I was glad to see his role reduced in both edits - I very much enjoyed how menbailee almost completely cut him from the film. I realize this creates complications with the storyline, but man I'm willing to deal with it, it's worth it.
--Rivendell: kerr's inclusion of the extra material was great, particularly liked scenes with Bilbo just hanging out, and Gandalf and Elrond discussing Thorin. But the Council scene is still out of place and I would have preferred it been cut. They all just happened to be meeting around the same time the dwarves showed up? Their discussion is distracting from the hobbit story. Maybe the scene could be used as a flashback somewhere in the trilogy, I don't know.
--Goblins: well done for the most part, I like how Gandalf beheading the goblin was removed, it's very out of his character to take that so lightly. Removed all the lame video game like action scenes.
--out of the frying pan into the fire: again, i hate the white orc, so this is really a tough scene to salvage, other than shorten any shots of him. Menbailee did this, even to the point of excluding the Thorin/Bolg clash, and it worked well, though it left a mysterious injured Thorin in the final scene. Again, I dislike the white orc so much I'm willing to deal with that. And the whole thing is so Hollywood, Thorin charges, gets knocked down, villain slowly talks and casually has another orc do deathblow (see Austin Powers), and they end up waiting too long so the eagles save the day.
--final scene: Thorin's over dramatic speech to Bilbo is so horrible, have to cut it. Pretending to be mad at him still, then turning it around. Reminded me of dumb and dumber - "then you totally go and redeem yourself!"

In summary, what kerr has created is what I would call a much more mature, yet still family version of the film. The edit by menbailee has less action overall and is more focused on Bilbo - it really plays to a smaller audience of hard core Tolkienites. I see a perfect edit somewhere in the middle of these two. Ultimately the main reason I enjoyed the menbailee edit slightly more was - yes - you guessed it, almost no WHITE ORC!

Nice job Kerr, I hope you will take on the challenge of the Desecration of Smaug.

A new Kerr fanedit of Tolkien material is always a cause for celebration. The Hobbit AUJ Arkenstone Edition was conceived from start to finish with definite ideas for tone, pace and story, and those ideas have been applied with brilliant judgment to achieve a consistent and lucid viewing experience.

First off I want to call attention to the sound design. The musical score has been changed or replaced in many sequences and Howard Shore's original score has been used as much as possible. That makes the whole movie sound and feel much more familiar (which is a good thing). It also makes for much better integration of action and musical atmosphere, really bringing the plot into better focus and making it more readily comprehensible and coherent. Given how much of the soundtrack has been reworked and redubbed, the final product sounds very clear and smooth with very minor variations in sound level and balance. The reworked sound design by itself transforms the movie.

Kerr has trimmed about 40 minutes from the movie and it is so much better with lighter baggage. Many times the action moves along smartly instead of slogging through scene after scene of fan service. Even some suspense is restored to some of the sequences that were buried under layers of meandering exposition, cartoony slapstick, and call outs to the first trilogy. The action and fights through the whole movie are more believable, something I appreciate a lot. Everything in Goblintown was far more snappy and the riddle sequence is more powerful now that it isn't intercut. You get a stronger sense that Bilbo has survived a test that has changed him. Everywhere there's less grandstanding, more subtlety.

The editor's knife is more deft than ever and sequences are rebuilt with a great feel for maintaining the rhythm of scenes, inserting reaction shots that flow well, synchronizing with musical beats - all the fine points of the fanediting art.

I have my disagreements with the story structure that Peter Jackson & Co. came up with and the fanedit still has at least two too many flashbacks for my taste. But here they move along better and don't bog down the main story quite so much. The Rivendell sequence seems more relevant and less pointless and inert, and I could not detect the rotoscoping even though I was looking for it.

I'm still eager to see Kerr's more radical edit that he is planning after all three Hobbit movies are released. For now, this version is one that complements the LOTR trilogy instead of being an embarrassment. I hope that anybody who hasn't seen the Hobbit yet gets to see the Arkenstone Edition as their first experience of the movie.