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In the wake of all those interesting Hobbit fanedits, I have decided to do my own cut. I have watched most of them and they all stay as close to the book as possible. This leads to plot issues and unresolved subplots during the third movie, because of the way the movies are written. What’s worse, some fan edits are trying to fit the story in a preset time window (e.g 3 hours), which leads to weird cuts that don’t fit the overall editing structure of the movie. Especially the endings of those cuts don’t feel like a proper movie.
My intention with this cut is to create a movie that stays close to Jacksons film making style. This means I will keep the original ending and keep all subplots that are necessary. Yes, this means there are some cringe worthy scenes between Tauriel and Kili, but it’s a good trade off to get a coherent movie. It also means the movie will be as long as it needs to be. The running time is currently 6h41m, but I’m waiting for the extended edition of Battle to see if there’s something I can add.
The overall theme of the final movie is the friendship between Bilbo and Thorin.
Overview of changes:
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Radagast is removed, but the Dol Guldur subplot is still there. Radagast is only mentioned during the White Council when Gandalf reveals the Morgul Blade.
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Azog is mentioned for the first time by the Goblin King. The group sees him outside of the Misty Mountains and he fights Thorin. I’ve also kept the Dol Guldur scenes from Desolation and the Orc Gathering scenes form Battle. This was done to have some nice saber-rattling scenes, like we had in the LOTR movies.
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Sauron is in the movie, as is the White Council, which starts of the whole subplot. Gandalf goes to Dol Guldur, gets captured and is then saved by the White Council.
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Tauriel and Kili. The Legolas triangle is toned down, by removing the scene between Tauriel and Thranduil and his arrogant moment when the dwarfs are put in the cells. Legolas’ feelings for Tauriel are now much more subtle. He seems more like a close friend that doesn’t approve of Kili.
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Alfrid and The Master are toned town but not removed completely . I have kept the scene when Bard is reunited with his kids after he killed the dragon. There was no good way to edit the scene, and I think it’s important to see how Bard finds his kids and how he becomes the leader of the Laketown people. But all of his shenanigans during the final battle are gone.
Changes in detail:
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Film starts with the theatrical prologue. I have also kept Frodo, because there are no good ways to remove him without throwing up the editing style.
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“Blunt The Knives” is removed, to give the movie a more serious tone at the beginning and to have just one song, so people don’t get the impression they are watching a musical.
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Thorin and Balin talking about life in the Blue Mountains is removed.
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No Radagast, no Azog flashback
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Troll scene is untouched.
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Group goes to Rivendell after Gandalf gives Bilbo his sword
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Gandalf saying that they have been ambused by orcs is removed
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Include Bilblo exploring Rivendell and Gandalf and Elrond talking about Thorin as they walk to the White Council.
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White Council is edited to remove Gandalf talking about an orc attack. The scene now implies that Gandalf has spoken to a wizard called Radagast way before the events of the movies.
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No Stone Giant battle. Bilbo slips and is saved by the dwarfs, to keep the “You are not one of us” speech from Thorin
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The group then meets the Goblin King and Bilbo finds the Ring and Gollum. Gollum is completely untouched and I’ve edited some of the goblin scenes. We see Gandalf joining the group and starting the fight, but we don’t see him tossing the head from that Goblin. The heavy CGI scene between the dwarfs and the goblins is removed. Bilbo puts the ring on and then sees the dwarfs running out of the mountain.
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The rest of Unexpected is pretty much untouched. The group meets Azog, he fights Thorin, the eagles save them, and they gaze upon Erebor.
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Cut to extended prologue of Desolation. This is necessary to have a good transition between the dwarfs looking at Erebor and Bilbo seeing Azog. It fits the current flow of the story. The prologue also establishes several sublots: Thorins father being missed, Azog wanting to end his bloodline and someone paying a price on his head.
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The movie follows Desolation until Beorn turns into a human. I’ve removed his extended introduction and but kept the extended scene between him and Gandalf talking about Angmar
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Mirkwood is theatrical because the extended one drags on to long
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The dwarfs get captured by the elves and Kili is saved by Tauriel
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Kili talking to Tauriel when the dwarfs are put in their cells is removed, as is Legolas being arrogant about dwarfs. The talk between Tauriel and Thranduil is also removed. I like Tauriel rebellious nature during the talk, but there was no good way to edit the subsequent introduction of the Legolas love triangle. So I’ve cut it completely. Kili and Tauriel have their first talk about the the talisman.
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Barrel escape is untouched. Yes there is CGI-Legolas and Bombur, but this is a Jackson trademark. There are similar silly scenes in LOTR
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Gandalf meeting Radagast is removed.
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The dwarfs meet Bard and I’ve kept all his scenes until they arrive in Laketown. Alfrid is introduced when he questions Bard at the gate. The Introduction of the Master is removed.
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Laketown is theatrical up until they are captured. The scene between the Master, Bard, Alfrid and the group is extended, to include Bilbo vouching for Thorin.
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Dwarfs leaving Laketown is theatrical to remove the extended scene between the Master and Alfrid. The remaining dwarfs go to Bard.
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The group walking to Erebor is extended. We see the Thrush
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Cut to Gandalf walking in Dol Guldur, after Thorin says that they can’t wait for him. The subplot about Thorins father gets resolved.
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The movie then follows the extended cut up until Tauriel and Legolas arrive in Laketown to fight the orcs.
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Bofur gives Athelas to Tauriel. Cut to Tauriel healing Kili. Cut to Bilbo running into Thorin inside Erebor. The final scene between the dwarfs and Smaug is cut similar to this: https://vimeo.com/117273501. This was done to remove the heavy action scenes between Smaug and Dwarfs, because they distract from the subsequent Laketown attack and cause an overload of action scenes. Legolas fighting Bolg in Laketown is also removed.
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The Laketown attack starts with Tauriel watching in the sky, and not with the Master. The Master is still there, so we can see Bard escaping the prison. But the Master is removed when Bard is interacting with Smaug.
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Alfrid is removed from the first Laketown survival scene. He’s still there when Bard rejoins with his kids
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Bard talking with Legolas is removed
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The White Council saving Gandalf is edited to remove Radagast. There’s a continuation error going on, but the scene is still watchable.
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Laketown people walking into Dale is removed. Dwalin tells Thorin that Laketown people are streaming into Dale. Cut to Dwarfs building up a wall.
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The rest pretty much follows Battle. Alfrid is removed when possible. No Radagast flying on a eagle.
