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The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Edits

AtlanticCheer

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Unsure if this is the place to say this, but the IFDb listing for this edit says that there are no subs available even though they actually are. I'm worried that might turn away a few people from this great edit so I thought i'll mention it.
 

Stromboli Bones

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Unsure if this is the place to say this, but the IFDb listing for this edit says that there are no subs available even though they actually are. I'm worried that might turn away a few people from this great edit so I thought i'll mention it.
I heard it takes a while for the listing to come back up when you update it, so was holding off on updating it until I was confident that I was 100% satisfied with every little detail. I suppose it's about time I do that! Thanks for the heads up :) hope you dig it!
 

AtlanticCheer

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I heard it takes a while for the listing to come back up when you update it, so was holding off on updating it until I was confident that I was 100% satisfied with every little detail. I suppose it's about time I do that! Thanks for the heads up :) hope you dig it!
Currently on Riddles in the Dark, the quality of the edit so far is amazing! It actually feels and looks like a proper mini-series that you would find on TV. Props to you and all the editors who have spent years making Tolkien's vision come alive. 😁
 

AtlanticCheer

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Just finished the series yesterday. Amazing work Stromboli! The titular battle of the five armies still feels a bit overstated even with all the editing, but I'm unsure how one would even cut that down any further without introducing major continuity errors (your edit is still a vast improvement over the pace of the original battle). That said, I have two questions about the edit that I would love to pick your mind about.

1. Near the end of Gandalf’s eulogy during Thorin’s funeral, I’m pretty sure you can see Radagast to the right of Beorn when the camera is panning away for the wide-shot. Was this an intended inclusion or an accident? Or is that someone else?

2. When Bilbo departs from the Lonely Mountain with Gandalf, you cut out the dwarves giving Bilbo his share of the treasure. I’m unsure if you cut it for lore accuracy (Bilbo shouldn’t need to be reminded of his cut of the treasure?), but the next scene noticeably shows Bilbo with new equipment and loot that were previously unseen when he left. I think entirely cutting that scene may be a bit excessive but I might be missing what your intent there was.

These aren’t a huge deal by any definition but the opportunity to ask an editor about their work is too cool to pass up. 😅
 

Stromboli Bones

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1. Near the end of Gandalf’s eulogy during Thorin’s funeral, I’m pretty sure you can see Radagast to the right of Beorn when the camera is panning away for the wide-shot. Was this an intended inclusion or an accident? Or is that someone else?
That is indeed Radagast, and I wouldn't really say it was intended OR accidental. One could argue that he shouldn't be there, since he's been cut from the rest, and maybe that's true, but I felt that keeping the wide-shot was more important than scrubbing him out 100%. Also for what it's worth, if someone hasn't seen the originals, they wouldn't know who he is.


2. When Bilbo departs from the Lonely Mountain with Gandalf, you cut out the dwarves giving Bilbo his share of the treasure. I’m unsure if you cut it for lore accuracy (Bilbo shouldn’t need to be reminded of his cut of the treasure?), but the next scene noticeably shows Bilbo with new equipment and loot that were previously unseen when he left. I think entirely cutting that scene may be a bit excessive but I might be missing what your intent there was.
I'm going to have to go back and check the source materials but for the life of me I cannot recall the scene you're talking about. I absolutely could be wrong, but I'm not sure that scene actually exists...


As for the Battle, I totally hear what you're saying. The list of things I could have cut or left in grows exponentially when it comes to the battle. It's got some stuff that other people could do without, but like everything else, it's subjective, and I did what I could! XD
 

AtlanticCheer

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That is indeed Radagast, and I wouldn't really say it was intended OR accidental. One could argue that he shouldn't be there, since he's been cut from the rest, and maybe that's true, but I felt that keeping the wide-shot was more important than scrubbing him out 100%. Also for what it's worth, if someone hasn't seen the originals, they wouldn't know who he is.
The rule of cool outweighs a super minor charcter nitpick in my opinion so i completely agree.

I'm going to have to go back and check the source materials but for the life of me I cannot recall the scene you're talking about. I absolutely could be wrong, but I'm not sure that scene actually exists...

I just ripped through youtube and my own blu-ray looking for the scene. Apparently i'm either a deranged lunatic or from a parallel dimension since that scene does not exist in this reality. I have an awfully vivid recollection of it for some reason. Guess i'm just an idiot. How embarrassing... 😕

Thanks for humoring my mad rambling. Your edit was great.
 
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Stromboli Bones

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So, since I don't know when to quit, I have a few updates!

First, @ibuk27 I DID end up making an alternate version of Episode 5! It now begins as follows:

Opening Credits
Gandalf arrives in Dale
Gandalf meets with Bard and Thranduil (Alfrid does not exist)
Gandalf warns about an Orc army
Gandalf does NOT say "tHeY hAvE bEeN bReD fOr wAr"
Gandalf doesn't mention Azog
Gandalf says "The enemy" instead of "His Master" (in regards to Azog) (Credit to DonKamillo)
Thranduil then asks where the orcs are
Bolg and his orcs march out of Gundabad

(This is sort of a continuity error, because Legolas shows up later to warn about this very thing, whereas it's implied here that THIS is the big bad orc army that's coming, despite some big ugly white orc being the leader when they show up. Personally though, this continuity error is preferable to showing Azog and his army marching out in broad daylight, which, along with the "bReD fOr wAr" line are both war crimes in my opinion.)

Cut back to Gandalf, Thranduil, and Bard at night where Gandalf continues to plead his case
Our boy Bilbo shows up
Bilbo delivers the Arkenstone, and says that he believes the dwarves will give them what they're owed in exchange for the Arkenstone
Bard and Thranduil exchange looks, as the music then fades into:
Morning, the armies are outside Erebor ready for the ensuing shenanigans (This is the original beginning of Episode 5)


I actually enjoy how this flows, surprisingly, despite it not being what I wanted to do. That said, this will exist as the Alternate version of Episode 5, as the way it currently exists (Surprise Gandalf + Arkenstone) is my actual vision for this project, and how I personally prefer to watch it.

Also, originally I was opposed to this idea because of this:
Bilbo sneaks off at night
- Gandalf arrives in the morning
- Bolg
- Bilbo arrives a full 24 hours later
BUT after watching @DonKamillo 's edit of The Batman, and seeing this same time-jump thing happen, and seeing it work really well (as DK points out in his own forum, they do this type of thing in TV shows all the time) I decided to finally pull the trigger and do it this way! (It also saves me the trouble of making an Alternate version of Episode 4)


Second(?) @tobious I finally finished my Episode 4.5, and while it hasn't been proof-watched yet, nor do I think it works perfectly, I think it will suffice for now! However, this episode ends with the entire sequence I listed above (which is actually what caused me to finally make the alternate episode 5) so I'm going to have to tweak the ending of it to match better. For now though, it's "done" and it's live if anybody cares to watch 45ish minutes of Gandalf and Dor Guldur stuff!


Lastly, I updated my IFDB listing a bit, but in light of these updates I'm going to have to update it yet again. In due time.

I love you all!

- Stromboli
 

ibuk27

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@Stromboli Bones always striving for perfection and bringing together all the fans' input! One must really appreciate the fact you having these alternate versions. Curious to watch episode 4.5, I think that ending works really well with episode 5 (either version).
The only nitpick I have about your edit overall is Bolg showing up randomly. This gets worse with this alternate version of episode 5. He shows up to shoot an arrow at Kili, then he's leading an army of orcs and finally he knocks out Bilbo. As I've told you, one of my family members, who hadn't watch the films, did notice that the orc who injuries Kili and knocks out Bilbo are the same, and she found this odd, because there's no context. Not sure if this one is fixable anyway!
Keep up the good work!!!!
 

Stromboli Bones

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The only nitpick I have about your edit overall is Bolg showing up randomly. This gets worse with this alternate version of episode 5. He shows up to shoot an arrow at Kili, then he's leading an army of orcs and finally he knocks out Bilbo. As I've told you, one of my family members, who hadn't watch the films, did notice that the orc who injuries Kili and knocks out Bilbo are the same, and she found this odd, because there's no context. Not sure if this one is fixable anyway!
Keep up the good work!!!!
Fixed! I removed Bolg from the scene that shows the orcs arriving :D
 

Stromboli Bones

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I'm pretty late to the party here, but I'd like to take a moment and thank everyone who's given my edit their support over the course of the last year or so! Winning Fanedit of the Month was an honor, but to then secure Best New Faneditor AND Best Edit by a New Editor was beyond my wildest dreams!

I've been toying with some other edits over the past couple months, but I just don't have the same drive to work on them that I had for the Hobbit. As such, this will probably end up being my only edit. So once again, thank you all for the views, feedback, and support. It means the world!
 

Stromboli Bones

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Quick fix to episode 4.5, used a little bit more of TM2YC's version to smooth over a transition better.

Also updated my "Brief Synopsis" to actually have some info about my edit, rather than my cheeky LotR prologue ad-Lib (don't worry, that's in the changes section)
 

Stromboli Bones

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After struggling with a script to auto-translate/generate foreign subtitles for a while, Spanish subtitles have been finished and revised by someone who speaks it fluently!

I plan on doing more Languages but mostly on a whim, as I don't know how high the demand is.

In other news, this edit is now the 4th Most Reviewed edit on the site (and approaching 3rd) which is mind boggling to me, so I wanted to once again thank everyone who helped me with this project in any capacity! It's been a truly humbling experience all around <3
 

ArtisDead

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Could I get a link to your edit Stromboli, very interested to watch it (watched the original ones from extended blu-ray's recently and yeah, they have issues)?
Please do not publicly request edits on project threads. Please read our rules about requesting edits.


Thread 'Trade & Requests Rules' https://forums.fanedit.org/threads/trade-requests-rules.6030/

Thanks for your interest. Its an absolutely awesome edit.

If you have any questions pm a staff member.
 

Stromboli Bones

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At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I'd once again like to thank everyone as my edit is now Second only to Adywan for having the most Reviews!

Now if only those "Highest Rated by X" filters would be fine-tuned...

Rock & Stone brothers!
 
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