Hobbit: The Desolation of Superfluous Narrative, The

Updated
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Faneditor Name:
Fanedit Type:
Original Release Date:
2013
Original Running Time:
186
Fanedit Release Date:
Fanedit Running Time:
121
Time Cut:
65
Available in HD?
Brief Synopsis:
'The Desolation of Smaug' is the second movie in a trilogy that should never have existed. While mildly entertaining, it was overly long, with ridiculous elements not found in the original book. Instead of being created as a prequel it was conceived as a sequel to Lord of the Rings, giving it inherent issues that impeded on the literates' ability to enjoy the film.
Intention:
I decided to make this fanedit to continue the work I did in my first fanedit "The Expected Cut". Namely my intention is to create a movie that honors the book significantly while also framing it in the zone of "prequel" not "sequel". It takes out all references to Lord of the Rings and starts the story from the beginning. This is however not a strict cut. I've allowed a few of Peter Jackson's embellishments to endure where it would otherwise ruin the story, or where it didn't wreck havoc too badly. However, significant elements have been cut, much of the action in the film is gone and this becomes a journey to "There", not an action extravaganza.

Additional Notes:
I have taken the liberty, twice in this edit, to reinterpret parts of the film in a more experimental way than is normally seen in a fanfix, and it's great. Enjoy!
Other Sources:
Desolation of Smaug OST
Fccysf (User on YouTube) for additional stock-footage
Special Thanks:
The fanedit.org forum community! Thanks for the support and all the input!
Mother dearest
Release Information:
Digital
Editing Details:
Originally I thought this would be a faster edit than "The Expected Cut". There are large chunks of footage on "Smaug" that are easily dispersed of, however after viewing my rough cut it was obvious that much more needed to be cut for pacing, so I had to go back several times to do some weeding. I had a lot of fun making this edit.
Cuts and Additions:
- Gandalf/Thorin introduction in Bree removed - film starts with Bilbo peering over a rock.
- Close up shots of Beorn as a bear removed
- All scenes of orcs removed from film except for the chase in the very beginning and orc interrogation.
- Beorn/Gandalf dialogue trimmed
- Bilbo playing with the ring/Gandalf/Galadriel telepathy removed before the company enters the forest.
- Gloin's Gimli namedrop removed
- All evidence of the Tauriel/Kili romance/ Legolas jealousy removed
- Orc interrogation/ Tauriels departure cut in length and placed before the company escapes
- Tauriel removed from later scenes inside the elf castle looking for the company for plot consistency
- Barrel scene cut/rearranged to the essentials - no orcs or elves appear in the escape. short and sweet and fun.
- Dwarves go from meeting bard directly into being smuggled/Gandalf scenes moved to later
- Legolas/Tauriel reunion chopped to essentials followed by Gandalf going to the tombs.
- Laketown scenes cut to eliminate the fact that the dwarves were left there
- Song and dance spectacular added
- All of Gandalfs Dol Guldur scenes put together one place and chopped to make it better/orcs gone except the army marching out
- Encounter with Sauron cut to make it less obvious that it's actually Sauron yet
- Dwarves giving up so dramatically edited to make it not seem so silly.
- Bilbo enters the mountain and is uninterrupted except for the scene with Bard and his son hiding the black arrow
- The Master knocking out Bard cut
- The rest of the Dwarves never enter the mountain - the entire action extravaganza finale is removed it's just Bilbo and Smaug.
- Smaug busting out of the cave cut slightly because, well, he's covered in gold and that never happens here
- Vocal intro to "I See Fire" cut.
- Various other short bits of lines trimmed for flow/consistency/necessity
- High fells are gone and all mention of them is gone from Beorns convo
- Beorn talking about being enslaved by Azog is taken out
- Bilbo flicking the spider web removed
- Bilbo losing the ring in mirkwood removed, he still kills the weird crab
- Tauriel entrance trimmed slightly to remove hints of interest between her and Kili
- Cut invisible Bilbo clip when he is sneaking into the elf kingdom behind the party
- Cut Thorin line "not our only hope" as well as others.
- The random Laketown flight when they first get there is 1/2 removed.
- Removed Thrains Whilhelm death scream and replaced it to a different more appropriate place in the film.

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