I love me a good fan edit. Whether it be the various revisions made to THE PHANTOM MENACE or ATTACK OF THE CLONES to the reimagined take on Zack Snyder‘s MAN OF STEEL, fan edits are a democratic way for movie buffs to offer an alternative look at feature films they felt could have been a bit better with some tweaks. The latest to get the fan edit treatment is Peter Jackson‘s THE HOBBIT trilogy.
With THE HOBBIT: THE BATTLE OF THE FIVE ARMIES released last month, fans can now make their final declaration as to whether Jackson’s second trilogy of Middle Earth films worked or if padding the story to fill three movies was just a greedy cash grab. The self-titled TolkienEditor took it upon himself to make this single, 270 minute film that streamlines Jackson’s films into a movie that focuses on Bilbo’s story, much like the novel did. He outlines in great detail the cuts and changes made which include the investigation of Dol Guldor, the Tauriel-Legolas-Kili love triangle, the Pale Orc subplot, several of the orc skirmishes, and more. He even offers an explanation as to his ultimate goal in the edit.
My main goals in undertaking this edit were to re-centre the story on Bilbo, and to have the narrative move at a much brisker pace (though not so fast that the audience lost grasp of what was going on). Creating smooth transitions between scenes was of particular importance in this regard. I even reordered a few moments in the film to make it flow better. The toughest parts to edit were the barrel-ride and the fight on Ravenhill (since Legolas and Tauriel kept bursting in with their gymnastics routine).
Whether the ultimate cut is successful will really be up to you as the editor is offering the film for free download on his site as long as he is able. There are also torrent links if that is more your fancy. From the sounds of it, this edit could be the closest we could get to what THE HOBBIT would have looked like if it mimicked the original J.R.R. Tolkien book.
Here is a brief excerpt from the re-edit.