Review Detail

The idea of isolating a single storyline like Frodo, Sam And Gollum's, seems simple enough. But having watched samspider3's edit, it's apparent there are a lot of subtle but necessary adjustments to make for a well-flowing journey. And samspider3 has done it superbly. It's remarkable to see how much the experience has changed by simply focusing on a single story - but I found a new appreciation for these characters has the three defined leads.

One scene edit in particular I appreciated - near the opening to RotK, with Frodo and Sam camping in a cave-like architecture - has been moved to a slightly later point. Considering that the previous scene chronologically sees Frodo and Sam at a high-point, imagining the stories that will be told of their journey - cutting to the menacing mood in the above-mentioned scene would break the flow somewhat (something that flows perfectly well as Peter Jackson's two separate films).

There were some odd moments towards the climax of the two films where glimpses of the other characters would be shown - but I feel like efforts to remove those shots completely may have just felt patch-worked. And it's evident that samsspider3 has consciously included certain shots to make those cut-away's feel most natural.

The only real issue I had was the volume balance. I found that the audio was sometimes too quiet or too loud.

But apart from that, a great watch for anyone wanting to enjoy these films in a new way.