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Hobbit: The Original Two-Film Structure, The:

MCP

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Hobbit: The Original Two-Film Structure, The:


I know The Hobbit films very well, and I've seen several fanedits that I think greatly improved them. But this one rises above them all. Adam Dens has created the definitive version of The Hobbit here. For fans of the book, you have a narrative vastly restructured and improved to focus on Bilbo and Thorin's journey, while drawing on all available material to hit all the key narrative points. For fans of Lord of the Rings, you have two films vastly more in-line with the Lord of the Rings trilogy, preserving the Nercromancer subplot, and even enhancing it with some excellent reworking of the Black Speech subtitles to both make the enemy's plans clearer and more engaging, and to pepper in some delicious references to Tolkien lore WB didn't have the rights to.

"The Gathering of the Clouds" is like most AUJ edits, trimming down the "multiple beginnings" syndrome and getting us into the action quicker. I wish the "Sebastian" scene had been cut here to improve this, as other edits have successfully introduced Radagast when he meets the company. The masterstroke however in this film is introducing Azog after the Goblin Tunnels, using the Goblin King's reference to introduce a mystery element the original's didn't have. I won't spoil how, but with some re-subtitling, and moving around of key scenes Adam Dens has created an entirely new sequence here to bridge AUJ with DOS in place of the "Out of the Frying Pan" scenes, and its very effective. One minor quibble, the ponies they had before the tunnels are present again out of nowhere, and then gone. But the pacing here is not only maintained, but better than many other points of the film as a sense of urgency and peril is injected into what had been up to that point, a very meandering and somewhat childish quest. Gollum's scenes are also uninterrupted to better engage audiences with Bilbo's experience, a trick Adam Dens explains he is fond of in the brilliant accompanying special features. I feel this film would have benefited from some additional cuts to fit the vision of keeping in tone with LOTR. Many of the beats in Radagasts scenes for instance could be cut to make him feel more like a character we can take seriously. And the run time could have been improved by sacrificing moments other edits have, like the rock giants or extended Beorn intro and forest scene. But these, granted, will please book purists. Finally, Tauriel and Legolas are handled well. Both are cameos and supporting cast in this version rather than active participants. Meanwhile, Gandalf's subplot is accelerated and used to bookend the film. If you're really familiar with these films like I am, I'd warn some of these early changes may seem a tad jarring. But its done very well. Tauriel's romance is cut for instance, but she is still used to help explore the culture and different points of view of the Woodland elves.

Film 2, "There and Back Again" is simply brilliant. The looming threat of Sauron and his army, foreshadowing the beginning of the battle for middle earth is ever present and much clearer from the go. The scenes flow brilliantly from one film to another. The bridging of the ending of DOS into the Battle of Laketown has been done before, and it couldn't be more obvious this was the way it should have always been. But Adam Dens edits it with more professionalism and skill than versions I've seen before. Overall this film really flows and is emotionally resonant and engaging in a way the same material never was before. The restructuring and editing of the Battle of the Five Armies is masterful. It now feels emotional, engaging and like there are real stakes, whereas before it was tonally muddled, confusing, and unfocused. On a final note, I would have liked Alfred and the Master to be cut down a lot more, again because their characters are tonally inconsistent with the rest of the film and with the LOTR films. Other edits for instance have been very effective in waiting to introduce both characters till the scene where Thorin and company are brought before them, and even imply Alfred died in the Battle of Laketown. I'd have also liked Gandalf's eulogy from the appendices to be included in the Funeral, which Adam Dens so effectively mined for the "Acorn scene" and used to deeply emotionally enrich the battle. But these things are all down to preference.

Adam Dens has delivered the version of these films the world deserves to see, and for that I applaud and thank him.


https://ifdb.fanedit.org/hobbit-the-original-two-film-structure-the/discussions/9956/
 
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