Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2017/02/02/fan-re-edits-the-hobbit-single.html
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I watched the first one and never felt the need to watch the other two. I felt as betrayed as when I watched the Star Wars prequels.
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It would be nice if he posted his full list of edits, so that anyone with the blurays could make a bluray quality version for themselves. An epic movie deserves to be watched on as a big screen as you can find, an over-compressed, low-rez version doesn’t really cut it.
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This is awesome. I read the Hobbit several times as a kid and again as an adult, but when the three part movie series as announced, I decided I just didn’t have room in my life for all that nonsense.
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I didn’t mind the Lake Town politics (which are described, if not portrayed, in the book) and Gandalf’s trip for the White Council (again, this is a legitimate place to expand the book without actually changing the narrative) but the whole Azog thing has to go. Thorin already has two heroic nemeses - Smaug, the most powerful destructive force known to exist in Middle Earth*, and the last of the fire-drakes, who were built specifically for the destruction of Dwarvish civilization by the demiurge Morgoth; and of course his own self - his constant struggle with pride and greed, the latter inflamed by the machinations of his enemies. Adding a third nemesis (and flattening Thorin’s portrayal into a weak cartoon) completely wrecks the tenor and message of Tolkien’s work.
* save, perhaps Galadriel. No-one knows of the continued existence of Sauron or Durin’s Bane, as yet, other than an Istari or two.
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But what of Legolas’ epic and victorious battle against the laws of physics?
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I’ve seen all three and can’t remember a damn thing about them except for a dragon and a guy riding a moose or something.
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Barrels. Something to with with barrels I think.
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Oh, yeah. The river/barrel thing that looked like garbage.
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I remember a disturbing lack of safety rails. And something about giant worms that could allow an entire army to mount a sneak attack by tunneling through solid rock yet couldn’t find a way to enter a cave guarded by a dozen short guys who had blocked the doorway with a pile of bricks.
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Actually most of the places that host them tends to have 20GB versions alongside the 2-3GB versions.
I’ve actually only ever seen a fan edited version of The Hobbit, and it gave me absolutely no impetus to seek out the original three films. It’s like The Phantom Edit - the best you can do with the source material is make it tolerable.
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Reminded me of the Pod racing from Phantom Menace, appearing to be there only to provide game fodder. Do you suppose anyone in the script meeting said “you know, floating in a barrel doesn’t actually work”.
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I saw the first two and gave up on watching the third. I thought that the first movie was serviceable, didn’t love it but was ok. The second one was a mess, and i can’t imagine what the last movie was like… don’t think i’ll ever bother unless it’s with Rifftrax commentary.
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I’d be happy with an edit that removed Legolas’ ridiculous rock jumping as its first priority. It’s as painful to watch as farting CG aliens in Episode 1.
I watched all three in the theater. Enjoyed the first one quite a bit, thought the second one ramped up the ridiculousness to a painful degree, and was actively angry at the third one.
The “riddles in the dark” sequence is as good as anything in the LOTR movies. The rest is sadly, inexplicably sub-par.
The Rankin-Bass Hobbit is so much better than these movies in every way.
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Very much so, i think they’re master pieces. The music is wonderful and charming, love the art style and lends itself to the fantasy setting, the voice acting is dead on.
I would like to see a better attempt at a live action Hobbit movie but i suspect that i will always prefer the animated version. Perhaps a new animated go at it would have a better chance at greatness.
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So when do we get the 17 part (3 hours each) Silmarillion movies? Can’t wait! I’m already salivating over all the butteroid I’m gonna eat!
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The animated Hobbit wisely focused on Bilbo and his inner thoughts, like the book does, and isn’t goofy. It has a lot of really quiet existential moments. It captures the feel of the book in its visuals and storytelling and songs. And it has Brother Theodore, who for me will always be the voice of Gollum.
Peter Jackson admitted afterwards that he didn’t know what the hell he was doing while filming it, and was just sort of making it up every day as he went along. It shows.
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I knew something was wrong in the first one once the dwarves started juggling.
Add in the Gungan or Goblin King or whatever he was and I was done.
I was really sad. I’m very fond of the LotR movies despite the plot changes.
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A moose bit my sister once.
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I can’t get behind Rankin-Bass anything.
And while I absolutely loved the LotR movies (and books), I thought the Hobbit movies were crummy.
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