Hobbit: The Spence Edit, The

This works very well and really shows that it should have been a single film. I didn't notice any technical issues though I'm probably not the best reviewer for that. I marked down one point in A/V Quality for not providing 5.1.

My positives are too numerous to detail here. Suffice it to say this removes almost all the major issues I had with the films. Some highlights:

- The abridged opening. Initially (before seeing the theatrical DoS or BotFA) I was concerned that cutting the opening too much might not allow us to adequately get to know all the various characters we're going to have to keep straight. But in the end, most of the dwarves are just glorified extras that we really don't need to get to know. Introducing Bilbo, Thorin, Balin and Dwalin is enough.

- Though the Stone Giants scene never bothered me as much as some, its absence helps the movie get moving.

- The more ridiculous elements of Goblin Town are mercifully removed, keeping the focus more on the Riddle in the Dark where it should be.

- The seams between films are very well done. Only one minor issue there and it is mentioned below.

- Very much abridged barrel ride!

- No more molten gold!

- The majority of the elves physics-defying athleticism is gone.

- The end battle is feels much more focused, and for me at least, the focus on character helps to make it MORE epic.



Some minor narrative issues I had as I watched:

- Gandalf 's rather unexplained absence from the troll scene is a bit weird.

-While the transition between AUJ and DoS works very well overall, it's a bit strange to suddenly have the company on horses only to send them off moments later.

- The barrel sequence is well done but ends rather abruptly. And the cut from the first encounter with Bard to Gandalf is weird. It feels like it skipped ahead. It needs one more beat if possible before the transition.

- Radaghast is out of place as he is never really introduced.

- I would have liked to have seen no trace of Dune-esque worms, but it's extremely brief.

- There's still some elvish athletic magic, which apparently extends to the reindeer they ride. But again minor gripe.

- I'm much happier with this version's take, but Thorin sort of magically comes to his senses. I'd rather have that than how the theatrical version presented it, but if there's anything in the EE that might help, it would be beneficial imo.

- Another personal gripe is those damned eagles. I would have liked to see them removed completely.

- I'd also have liked to have seen the auction gone. I think cutting from Bilbo seeing Bag End again right to Ian Holm would work. Although I would miss the "he was my friend" line.

Overall, I thought this was great work and it certainly works as a single movie. If some of my gripes could be addressed when the BotFA EE comes out, a v2 would be most welcome! My gripes are all minor, however, and this will be the version I most likely watch in the future.

Wow! Wow! Wow! Wow! And did I mention, Wow!

As someone who's enjoyed The Hobbit movies while still acknowledging the flaws, I'll admit, I've been skeptical as to how a single film would've worked. Well, that skepticism has been put to rest. This edit streamlines all three films beautifully. In fact, I can honestly say that I felt like I was watching a film adaptation of The Hobbit as opposed to a prequel trilogy to The Lord of the Rings.

I have a few nitpicks such as I would have liked to have seen the Necromancer excised entirely but what *is* still there makes for a nice little taste of what's to come in The Lord of the Rings. Also there are some moments that come out of nowhere that the other reviewers have brought up but overall, if you wanted to see The Hobbit but balked at the idea of it being three movies, this is the edit for you.

This is how The Hobbit should have been! In terms of narrative structure, this is 100% spot-on in terms of an epic Hollywood Hobbit flick. I personally didn't shake my fists in anger that anything was removed, and if anything I felt it could have been cut down more.

There were a few edits that stood out to me, as others have pointed out, but overall this was a smooth ride through Middle Earth. Hats off to Spence for this!

This is what I wanted to see when I first heard that The Hobbit was going to be made into a film. I am a very critical viewer, even when it is one of my favorite films. There are still a number of things that I would have cut.
-When talking about the Took side of Bilbo- the golf reference always seemed out of place to me even in the book.
-I would have removed ALL traces of the rabbits and sled.
-Galadriel only in the scene against Sauron.
-I'd like to see her not look and sound like the scene in The Lord Of The Rings (that was supposedly how she'd be when using the Ring Of Power).
-I would have kept a bit of the Stone Giants, just enough to see them as part of the thundering storm- but not when the company is on them.
-I like how other edits have handled the drop into goblin town- short. And I think the floor should have given way as soon as Sting shown blue.
- I like how the goblin king dies in the theatrical release. I'd leave out his dialogue, though, during his confrontation with Gandalf. His death was supposed to be the main reason for the goblins chasing the company to the pines.
-I'd like all of Beorn's scenes to remain, although I can understand why it was cut.
-I don't think that we should see the Ring having any sway over Bilbo in The Hobbit at all.
-Rivendell needs several more cuts. Once they arrive I would cut to Gandalf's greeting with Elrond, then skip to Bilbo talking with Elrond.
- I'd cut out the dwarves eating in Rivendell. I don't know why elves are portrayed as vegetarians in Jackson's movies. The elves ate meats in the book.
-Leave out the line about the exact same moon-phase needed for reading the map- too coincidental. Just have the line about needing to be read in the moon light.
-Keep dwarves in trees scene (without the moth) and no one coming down out of the trees.
-Keep the line where Gandalf tells Bilbo that his sword will glow blue but cut the part about it doing so because it is elven. Not all elven swords glow blue.
-I still don't like the ring twirling in the air and falling right on Bilbo's finger. Although I'm not sure how this scene could be done another way with just editing.
-Jackson tends to have an awful lot of light in all his "dark" scenes. I would darken most, especially the encounter with Gollum.
-Get rid of the giant worms.
-Azog falling in water and then jumping up through the ice and ready to fight. Talk about demanding a suspension of dis-belief. I'd skip that whole part and just go to the death scene.
Although I've listed a lot of cuts that I personally would like to have seen, that's not to say that I thought this was a bad edit in any way. It was fantastic. I'm just super critical. There were many things that I loved in this FanEdit.
+ Loved how this edit started with the smoke ring and the older Bilbo at the end of the film. That worked out great!
+ I like the Eagles in the battle. After all, aren't they one of the five armies?
+ I thought all of the cuts during the unexpected party were wonderful.
+ Love how Radaghast's earlier scenes were cut.
+ I don't miss the White Council meeting.
+ I like most of the goblin town edits.
+ I thought all the scenes involving Legolas or Tauriel being cut was done well. I think the FanEditor's decisions on what should stay and what should go were wisely done.
+ barrel sequence edits - perfect!
+ All the scenes that were removed involving Laketown really improved the film. Excellent!
+ No dialogue from Alfrid is so much better.
+ I like how Dol Goldur was wrapped up before Smaug.
+ Of course the dwarf confrontation with Smaug in the mountain had to go!
+ No molten gold dragon!
+ The edits surrounding Bard's slaying of the dragon were perfect. Way better than the ridiculous scene with Bard's son involved that was in the theatrical release.
+ Love how Kili's death was handled.
+ Like how the auction was kept.
All in all, these painfully inadequate movies have been edited into one great film that is now one of my favorites.
Great work, Spence, and Thank You.

Though I thought the originals were padded and had overly goofy elements, I was still on board for the idea of 3 movies. I still really enjoy Kerr's take on the first two movies (haven't seen an edit of the BOTFA). I approached this 3 into 1 edit mostly out of curiosity. I was very surprised with how well it worked. Honestly, it came out to be a great single movie that's just as enjoyable as watching 3 edits. Since it's one movie and a lot of fluff is removed, it feels much more focused on Bilbo.

GOOD THINGS
- Got rid of Azog pursuing the dwarves. It works great and cuts out a ton of unnecessary filler for a 3 to 1 edit. Having Azog behind the scenes with Sauron, kind of like the shark in the water waiting to attack, was very cool and made him still a worthwhile character without having to see him constantly chasing the dwarves.
- Got rid of Tauriel. In the case of 3 separate edits, I wouldn't mind having a trimmed version of her. That is until her character didn't really pay off in BOTFA. I kinda feel bad for Evangeline Lilly because I think the character had potential. However, you really don't miss her at all in this edit.
- Removal of Bard's family. They are okay in 3 separate edits, but in this edit it worked really good to remove them. Bard's story in this edit is simpler but it works well.
- Removal of Orcs at Lake Town. Honestly this wasn't even missed in the DoS edit, so it's definitely not missed in this 3 into 1 edit.
- Removal of Dwarves taking on Smaug. I do like the idea of the Dwarves trying to kill Smaug using ingenuity (maybe just trying to drown him in gold instead of tricking him with a statue) but this edit works really well with Smaug getting pissed and immediately heading to Lake Town before the Dwarves interfere.
- Spence just generally knew what to keep and what to let go. Sure, there are a few cool things that ended up being cut. However, it's done skillfully enough that you don't miss it while you're watching it and the narrative still flows perfectly well without it. It'll just be an excuse to watch the individual movies/edits every once in a while. Kind of like the extended version vs the theatrical versions of the LotR trilogy.

NITPICKS

- there really are no major problems so these are just some minor nitpicks

- I kind of missed the flashback to Smaug taking Erebor before the events of the movie. Also, I'm familiar with the movie so it's not a huge deal for me, but newcomers might especially appreciate the flashbacks. I think over the course of the movies you can pick up all the details, but having them all in one place, with memorable imagery, is kind of nice.
- Gandalf leaving before the trolls came was kind of abrupt. They do mention that they don't know where he went. It's hard to say. It could have thrown me because I was expecting him to tell Thorin he was leaving like in the original. It may or may not confuse a newcomer though.
- Getting horses right before Mirkwood felt kind of sudden, but I don't know if there's really an alternative way to show a few second montage of them acquiring horses from Beorn.
- Though Radagast's entrance isn't bad, it would have been cool if you were able to salvage Gandalf talking about the other wizards on the way to Rivendell. (It was raining in that part so it's understandable if it's not possible to tease out the dialogue). Then the name Radagast would be a tiny bit more familiar. Plus we'd know he's a wizard. I can't remember that he does any magic in this edit. Not that it's a bad thing, but it might make more sense if we know that Gandalf sought the help of a wizard and not some random hobo. :)
- Kili's leg injury doesn't seem necessary and without a fight it's weird that he gets injured. Personally, I feel like Kili could have just accidentally tripped down the stairs in the Lake Town armory.
- There were a few parts where it felt a little too fast paced, like escaping the Mirkwood Elves in barrels straight to immediately meeting Bard. I wouldn't add the battle back in, but it did help to mentally separate the Mirkwood Elves event from meeting Bard. It's just a small downside of only being able to work with what was in the original movie.

OVERALL, this is a fantastic edit. I was really impressed with how seamlessly Spence made it into one movie, despite making some big changes (removing Azog pursuit/Tauriel/Legolas bits, etc). I would recommend it to anyone who wanted a *single* Hobbit movie or was curious what it might have looked like. I can't stress enough, this is NOT a compromised version for the sake of pursuing an ambitious concept. This is a legitimately excellent version of the Hobbit movies in its own right.