Hobbit: The Spence Edit, The

As soon as it was announced they would be stretching out The Hobbit into three movies, I knew someone around here would take up the job of reducing it back down to the single movie this SHOULD have been. Spence has, IMO, done a fantastic job of doing so! A/V Quality and Editing are superb, seamless, and honestly I didn't see anything to suggest anything was cut. The only reason I was aware of anything removed was due to having seen the original versions, otherwise I likely wouldn't have known.

If I have a real criticism or complaint, it's that honestly I think more could have been cut. This is very much the film Peter Jackson probably would have made and released had he been asked to make a single film, but it's not a particularly easy film to enjoy: it's still a pretty slowly paced slog.

That said, this edit has permanently replaced the theatrical trilogy on my shelf and I HIGHLY recommend it to anyone who wants to see The Hobbit but doesn't want to sit through nine hours of film.

I agree with everything thecuddlyninja said below, and I agree with the others who have said before me that the original theatrical versions are too much bloated with uninteresting stuff. This is how the hobbit should have been released in theatres in the first place. My only wish would be that the audio of this edit was more balanced and had six instead of two channels.

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.

I like Hobbit 2, but Hobbit 1 (with the exception of the dwarfes entering Bilbo's home and the whole sequence with Gollum) and 3 I find to be completely uninteresting and nowhere nearly as good as the Lord of the rings movies.

So I was interested how Spence could improve the Hobbit-movies by forming them into a single movie. First and most important, does it work as a single movie? Yes! Sure it's a bit long with nearly 3,5 hours, but it works really well and just shows that it should have been a single movie from the get-go.

Is it now as good as the lord of the ring movies? Imho, no, they are still way better, but it's an improvement over the theatrical versions.

----------SPOILER-WARNING---------

What Spence did was to remove Azog as an instrument to create tension, imho that is a good decision. Sure it reduces a bit the tension now, but Azog and his orcs are so uninteresting that it hurts.

And he removed the love-triangle between Legolas, that elve-woman and one of the better looking dwarfes. In Hobbit 2 it added some sort of romanticism, and it created a story-strand where the elve woman leaves her kin to fulfill her true love, how she heals that dwarfe and how the dwarf gets killed in front of her in the end. That was actually something that enriched Hobbit 2 and 3. I like a little bit of romantic feelings in movies, the things about sacrificing things for love... but it should be credible and natural.
The problem was that it was unbelievable from the start and it involved only secondary characters, so I think overall it was a good decision to cut it all out. Sure some feeling is missing then, but either these things are done in the right and credible way or not at all.

The other big removement was the "prophecy"-story strand, the lake people believed in the prophecy that one day a dwarfe king would come to reclaim the mountain and its riches. This is removed (although Thorin actually uses the word prophecy in his speech, but that was probably not easy to remove), and many would probably welcome it. But for me, this was one of the things that actually worked well in Hobbit 2, namely that the Lake people living in poor conditions develop some hope that things could change for the better, because of the prophecy. In Hobbit 2 that was the main motivation that they would help the dwarfes, give them weapons and set them free again.

Here the main-motivation is only the hope for the gold in the mountain, but without the prophecy-belief, why would they believe that 13 dwarfes would succeed where whole armies failed before? Imho the prophecy-element was crucial to explain the hope of the Laketownpeople and imho it added that nice consequence that the belief in the prophecy brought them complete ruin by waking up the dragon who then destroyed their town. This is one change/removal that I felt was hurtful.

The other problem was Bard shooting down the dragon. This problem has nothing to do with Spence's edit, but with the theatrical shooting of the scene and lazy writing. All people from Lake-town know from experience that the dragons skin can't be hurt by mere arrows, and yet what does Bard do? He goes up with merely his normal bow and normal arrows and thinks he can do the impossible!

It would have been different if he went up with the clear thought and memory that the dragon lost some of his skin in the encounter with his ancestor, and so goes up with the clear will to try to shoot an arrow into that wound, and then tries, misses, tries, misses, but then succeeds.

But thank goodness, that the scene with the molten gold and the golden dragon was removed and the dwarfes triyng to fight the dragon...

The big battle at the end was nicely shortened, which for me was most welcome. The only problem was the appearance of the eagles and Bilbo saying "The eagles are coming"..., but he hasn't met any eagles in this edit, so why does he associate anything with them or knows anything about them?

The other, but forgiveable problem was in the first third of the movie, where the dwarfes have horses in one scene and then not, and then they have horses again...

---SPOILER-warning-END---
Verdict:
It works as a single movie, it's overall better than the theatrical version (though still not nearly as good as the lord-of-the rings movies, but that is the source's problem), and proves that the Hobbit-story should have been told in a single movie from the get-go.

Editing is mostly great and smooth. Great work, Spence!

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.