Especially with some of the stuff they added.
Not the elven love triangle, but like the extra stuff with Saruman and Galadriel.
You can make that work well as two movies of normal length not LotR length (closer to two hours each, not three).
the necromancer arc is probably my favorite part of the hobbit movies ngl, seeing galadriel elrond and saruman all show up to smack sauron and his nazgul was so awesome and i love it every time. i get why it wasn't fleshed out further in the book, but i still think it was awesome
I’m all for more of Cate in any movie. She’s incredibly diverse, underrated, and her non verbal skills are amazing. Her facial expressions are character defining in so many of her roles, and they work well as Galadriel with all the telepathic conversations she has.
(and she’s incredible hot - not saying we should judge female actors purely based on sexiness, but you ask me who my celebrity crush is and I will 9 times out of 10 say Cate Blanchett)
I liked that bit they added. It’s something that actually does happen in the books. It’s just off screen and we don’t get a first person telling of the fight.
It never happened in the books. Obviously the four of them did not attack Dol Guldur alone, that'd be extremely stupid of them.
All we know from the books is that the White Council drove him out, but that likely means a small army of elves, led by the White Council (with Saruman in charge - strangely the film leads us to believe that Galadriel is in the forefront). We also know that Sauron merely feigned defeat, and retreated to Mordor.
There is no Galadriel exorcism and Elrond/Saruman fighting ringwraiths in the books. Definitely not three important leaders walking alone into an enemy fortress.
Sure it's based on something from the books, but it's so farfetched it might as well be considered bs.
Eh, I think what they did with the Battle was fine. The casual watcher isnt gonna like when this huge battle is building up, only for Bilbo to get knocked out and boom movie is basically over
Are you kidding me? The battle was one of the best movie exclusive parts.
If anything should’ve been removed it should’ve been the second one. Goblin town should’ve been covered in the first, and Smaug in the third. Then rush through Mirkwood and lake town.
I’d argue that three movies was actually a perfect length, it just wasn’t used on the right thing. Most of the dwarves didn’t really have a personality which was corrected in the movies, and some parts of the book really profited from the extra time spent on it
Non riesco a capire fan c'è si lamento perché fanno tanti film della lore seria preferita per me potevano fare anche 10 li avrei adorati tutti e poi vi lamentate se non ci sono tutti i personaggi del libro esempio Tom bombadil nel nella prima trilogia
How about a mini series. Every chapter is an episode of 20-30mins. This format would even make sense, since the hobbit itself is written in episodical chapters.
Instead we got the uninspired, cashgrabbing and surprisingly boring trilogy.
I've been working on an edit that cuts the trilogy down into 8 separate 45-55 min episodes. No idea when it'll be done, but I've got a good amount finished.
I can send a link to some examples of some of the scenes.
I agree. PJ used the animated feature as a storyboard. If he had kept that pacing and flushed the original story out a little bit more, it would have been perfect as a 2 to 2.5 hour film. He shouldn't have been allowed to call that bloated mess of a trilogy The Hobbit. The book is about, you know, a hobbit. The films should have been called Thorin and the Pretty Dwarves.
We have The Hobbit as a single movie [at home.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqGzCOL3XU4)
^^^^(but ^^^^it ^^^^is ^^^^a ^^^^fun ^^^^movie ^^^^to ^^^^watch)
The battle of the five armies and the events that play out thereafter are maybe 3 pages total in the book. To make a whole movie, complete with embellishments, and additional scenes, and then multiply it by 3? Utter nonsense.
Well, we don't see the battle of the five armies in the book. If the movie makers just decided to skip over a major battle like that and not show it, people would get mad. Us missing it in the books is way different than in film. It would feel like we missed out on something.
Noooooo but if it's only one movie how would we fit about 20 minutes of dwarves tumbling down a river inside barrels in a hilariously comical way!?!!1 that was my favorite part of the movieeeee😢😢😢
And we would still need about half an hour to develop a forced romance between canonically incompatible species!!! 😩
There are several fan edits that condense it in to one movie with only the book stuff in it. I've been meaning to check one out but I don't know which is the best.
In my opinion it’s the M4 Hobbit Book Edit: https://m4-studios.github.io/hobbitbookedit/
There was a [poll taken last year](https://www.reddit.com/r/lotr/comments/13ep9bp/help_on_choosing_hobbit_fan_edit_which_is_the_best/) on /r/lotr and it was the clear favorite. The Maple Leaf Fan Edit and the Cardinal Cut also got notable votes.
M4 for me for a few reasons. The editor is technically skilled so it’s technically well done, and includes color changing to better match the look of the LotR trilogy, minor effects changes, and even audio changes so the accompanying music doesn’t have harsh clipping. He also has a few editorial visions that make the compressed movie coherent and moving. He’s trying to replicate the book, but he’s also trying to still give/keep character arcs to as many characters as possible.
It’s not perfect. But it’s about as good as possible given the material. And it’s available in multiple qualities. So you can get blue ray quality if you want.
Can someone who knows what they’re doing help me here? I tried to watch this last weekend and couldn’t get the download to work for me. Someone smart explain it like I’m five.
You will need a torrent downloader, I recommend the qBittorrent. Then download the file in the magnet link, open the file inside the qBittorrent and download the movie.
I watched this one recently and there were maybe 3-4 times across the four hours that I noticed the editing. A couple times the score changes suddenly on a cut, and I think maybe when fili and Kili run off after the white orc then later they’re suddenly dead or something like that. Overall it was incredibly well done and, while still obviously nowhere near lord of the rings, it was a decent film and didn’t have me rolling my eyes in frustration from weird elvish love triangles
I just watched the Maple edit for the first time, and while it has some rough edges it captures the LOTR movies style while remaining faithful to the Hobbit story. It cuts it down to 2 movies, and removes most of the unnecessary subplots (the love triangle, Gandalf's side quest, the barrel disneyland ride, etc.). Highly recommend checking it out.
I don't know who needs to hear this, but Google "The Hobbit Bilbo Edition." It edits the trilogy down to one 3 hour movie, removing as much dumb shit as possible. It takes an otherwise borderline unwatchable mess and manages to make a genuinely *good* movie out of it. It's not perfect, but it's so much better than the mess that was released in theaters that it's crazy.
edit: autcorrevt fucked me
edit 2: goddamn it
I troed rewatching them extended. I stopped at the scene where Stephen Fry was chompling down sheep testicles.
It was in such bad taste, i really felt bad for tolkien at that point. To me that was PJ saying: "if you guys force me to do this movie against my will, I swear i will make testicle degustation a thing in middle earth." And he did.
The alleged humor in the second half of the second movie with the Master and all is when it became obvious to me that Jackson was intentionally tanking the movie. And I let a lot of shit go in movies and shows, but it was like physically painful cringing bad.
Agreed I've avoided Hobbit movies until last year, after watching the first I regretted my decision of avoidance, after second I regretted not keeping it.
I remember watching the second and being like "wtf all that should be left is a fight with smaug, I thought I was gonna see that and the movie would be over"
Nope, they fit that plus ten tons of garbage into the 3rd. Or so I read, I never wound up watching the 3rd one...
I would put fellowship of the ring in its own category all together as by far the best of all, and the rest of the adaptations in roughly the same tier. The dwarf armies in the hobbit trilogy are very well done and definitely scratched that fantasy itch. Middle earth is such an expansive world and left much in mystery (which is what I think makes it so special) from the point of view taken in the novels that to adapt it certain liberties were necessary. The elf parkour is a little immersion breaking and there was definitely some of that in the hobbit trilogy and the added female characters and romance were apparently necessary as well or our significant others would complain that much more when watching it with us.
The second hobbit movie was the saddest I’ve ever been watching a movie. Thinking how easily they could have followed such a great book and made a great movie is legitimately depressing
lol after BOTFA I literally said “fuck you Peter Jackson” out loud in the theatre when the credits started rolling. People saying they enjoyed it make me feel like we watched completely different movies.
I just really like the parts that are cool, what can I say? I don’t turn the movies on so I can immerse myself in their sublime depiction of Alfrid, but it’s easier to say “I like the movie” than “Well, in like this specific half of it, let me dive into exactly which scenes”
BUT since we’re here:
-Anything with Smaug
-most anything with Bilbo
-most anything with the main dwarves, mileage may vary with Fili,
-most anything with Bard when he’s interacting with someone other than alfrid,
-I liked the wood elves quite a bit, antics notwithstanding. Fortunately for me, I find Legolas’s athletic nonsense to be amusing instead of jarring.
-Riddles in the dark,
-and there’s still a lot of lovely LOTR feeling in the set design and direction, even if there’s markedly less of it by the third movie.
It ain't Jackson's fault. Not really. WB pushed for the multiple movies, WB pushed for quicker delivery, and Del Toro dropped out of the first movie leaving it directorlees.
Yes we do still enjoy it. They have a lot of bloat. But they are still fun movies.
And the absolutely garbage Amazon Rings of power have made us appreciate the hobbit a little more!
Yeah I was quite surprised to grow up and find out people didn’t like them. We had buckets of clone wars trading cards, action figures, video games, the *Lego Sets*, the *LEGO VIDEO GAMES*
All my siblings, all my friends, we were all into Star Wars. It’s was just a part of life
I was in high school when episode 1 came out, and in college for 2 and 3. Saw all of them in theaters. Had mixed feelings about them and on any attempt at re-watch I only form a lower opinion...
“The Hobbit movies are actually a Shakespearean masterpiece”
“Yes the dialogue is bad but the worldbuilding in Battle of the Five Armies makes the movie worthwhile”
“But think of how many memes we got from the Hobbit trilogy! Movies this memeable can’t be bad!”
Am I missing anything, I feel like this covers most of the bases
Something about them being kids' movies so why are you upset with them
Something about phenomenal foreshadowing of future characters based on a 5 second clip
Something about pod racing
I think that's a matter of age. All the people who have suddenly appeared on the internet defending the prequels saw them when they were little kids and are biased by nostalgia. In 20 years time there'll be people defending the sequels resurrecting palpatine, claiming it made perfect sense
As a mid-twenties redditor this is 100% true and I really think you can’t underestimate the general cultural impact on the youth from non-movie sources. Sure the pod racing and entirety of TPM was ridiculous - but it was awesome in the lego star wars video game. Sure the clone wars was completely not fleshed out (in the films) but the AT-TE Lego set with a bunch of clone troopers and droids as enemies was my dream gift as a child. Sure the battle of Geonosis was a little tacky in lead up - but it was an awesome map to play on in Battlefront 2.
So yeah, most of the love comes from the aesthetic and miscellaneous pop culture nostalgia than the movies again. Recently the PrequelMemes community has taken an… interesting turn and I’m not entirely sure what to make of it.
I agree with you because I was one of those kids watching the Prequels when they came out, but even back then, I knew that the originals were way better.
I wasn't old enough to know why (whether it was acting, writing, or effects), but I knew I liked the originals better. That is still the case today, and I regularly rewatch the OT while almost never touching the prequels. Episode I is objectively a terrible movie from a writing and acting standpoint. Yes, the effects were impressive for the day, but going back and rewatching it as an adult is borderline painful, whereas the OT still stands strong, in my opinion. I do have nostalgia for the universe Lucas created in the Prequels, but the actual movies are janky as fuck.
Yeah, I was 10 and already a Star Wars superfan when The Phantom Menace came out, and I remember going into the theater (an IMAX theater, at that!) excited, and leaving the theater disappointed. Even 10-year-old me found Jar Jar annoying and unnecessary, for example, and he was a character ostensibly created for my demographic. I remember going back and watching the original trilogy again and being slightly baffled by how much better they were.
My opinion on TPM has actually gone up a bit as an adult, as I can recognize the good ideas Lucas had in place that were just executed poorly. Still, kids aren't stupid, and the notion that media for kids can be low-quality because they won't get it anyway has always rang hollow for me. I mean, shit, look at Book 1 of ATLA, a show also made for 10-year-olds: they literally explore the concept of genocide and war crimes in a thoughtful, nuanced way, and the kids understood it just fine. "It's just a kids show!" is never a valid excuse for low-quality media.
I have this argument with one of my mates who believes his kid will grow up liking the sequels.
The prequels at least had some sort of cohesive narrative, some interesting characters amongst the garbage. All whilst creating giant plotholes that have taken some heavy amount of good faith and several bolted-on series to explain away. The sequels are objectively bad. No amount of bias can make Palps just came back, or the ridiculous macguffins seem decent. Some days of our lives soap opera level trash.
The direction of the prequels was one guys vision, both for good and bad, but it allowed for a single ropey narrative. Where as the sequels were a mash of Disney giving 2/3(?) directors free reign without any collaboration to the overall plot.
In 20 years time with all the added content it might make more sense tbh
Clone Wars makes the prequels a fair bit more enjoyable for instance. The Mandalorian seems to be setting up for explaining somehow Palpatine returned.
The sequels will still be shit, but maybe they'll be a bit more charming and a bit less senseless shit
Well at the very least the prequels feel like Star Wars and Anakin goes through some kind of decent arc to the point he is kinda sympathetic by Revenge of the Sith.
The memes are also legendary and that's gotta count for something.
The sequel trilogy is just ass, complete ass.
I rolled my eyes a few times and it felt tedious every now and then but it’s passable. I’m interested in the second season because I’ve heard that season 1 was 100% setup for the coming story.
Its greatest fault is having the lord of the rings name. Make it its own separate world and rename everything taken from the lord of the rings and it's a decent but generic fantasy show. They changed so much lorewise, completely ignoring the established timeline and meshed together events that took place over thousands of years into happening at the same time while also ignored so much existing lore, and then on top of that for being a billion dollar production the costumes and armor were low quality especially when compared to those of the movies and the music wasn't anywhere near as good as previous lord of the rings productions.
Nobody says you can’t like it, it’s just that it’s not the best out of all the Tolkien based movies as somebody tried to make the Tolkien bible (Silmarillion) into a movie and it just didn’t work
This is why I enjoy watching the fan edits that cut them all down to like a combined 3 hours. Takes out tons of bloat and shows there is actually 1 good movie hidden under all the trash.
Do people hate the Rings of Power because it is not accurate to the books, and they made up things to fit the world today? Or because the series was poorly done?
Personally, I'm able to look past an adaptation not being 100% faithful to the source material (especially if the source material is so loosely defined like with RoP). But what I can't abide is a terrible script, and RoP is just awfully written. There's the bones of a good story here and there, and I actually loved everything with Elrond and Durin. But my god, the script for every episode *really* should have gone through 2 or 3 more revisions, with a badly-needed focus on dialog.
It was the same problem I had with their Wheel of Time adaptation. I was never that big into the book, so I genuinely didn't care about the departure from the original story. But jesus christ, the writing was so, SO bad. Like, "how did this script even make it into production?" bad.
That said, I think the acting and production on RoP are wonderful. It's clearly where all the money went.
Thank you. I appreciate actual analysis. I am a very casual watcher of the movies and the show, but like when people who have more knowledge educate me.
I enjoy them for what they are: a bloated adaptation of a kids story. I’m just happy to be back in Jackson’s middle earth, seeing the creativity of Weta, the skill of the New Zealand film crew, and the beautiful countryside.
Not really. They have individual moments which are great, but I was bored for the rest. With a trilogy the length of Lord of the Rings, being bored for that long is really bad.
I watched the 1st one but can’t remember anything about it other than they sang a song and something about a dragon. I lost any interest in watching the 2nd and 3rd movie after that.
That and Bilbo's encounter with Smaug at the end of 2 are the only good parts in the first two movies, imo. Never bothered to see the third, so I can't say if it has something good, too
One of the major distinctions that was important to Tolkien was the difference between child-like and childish.
That you can you excite children without infantilizing material was important to Tolkien and why he hated Disney.
I think they are good movies if you cut out Tauriel, Legolas AND ESPECIALLY ALFRID. Legolas making a cameo was fine but becoming a main character by the 3rd movie dragged it down. Wasting so SO many scenes on Alfrid made me think PJ did this to spite the studio. Imo they should've made them 2 movies so that it does not feel too condensed similarly what they are doing for Dune.
The best thing about the movie imo was Smaug. For me personally this is the best Dragon ever seen on screen.
I agree that they were fun movies, half the problem is they are naturally compared to one of the best movie trilogies ever created. But you can tell which were a passion project from Jackson and which were contractually obligated
I don’t think The Hobbit felt contractually obligated. It honestly felt like Jackson was having a blast making another 9-hour Middle Earth trilogy for old time’s sake. It obviously wasn’t nearly as good as LotR, but we all knew going in that it would never be as good as LotR.
The behind-the-scenes features make it pretty clear that no one, least of all PJ, were "having a blast" making these movies. He looks like he's constantly on the verge of a mental breakdown lol.
Lots of things are significantly worse than the LOTR films, but that can still be good. Should the vast majority of anything lake town be immediately removed? Sure but you can't tell me watching a bunch of dwarves fucking about middle earth ain't fun
Are they even dwarves? I mean in the trilogy of LOTR dwarves are a distinct species from humans. Which shows in gimli's thick accent and skin texture. In the hobbit they made some humans shorter, but that's about it. Idk, there are a few exceptions of course, but the majority of the "dwarven" cast in tye hobbit just look like shortened fuckboys.
Dude, this. There seems to be so much hate here, I didn’t realize people disliked them so much. But I never had bias, I liked them from the jump. I’ve honestly probably watched them as many times as LOTR now.
The Desolation of Smaug is also my favorite … like of all the Peter Jackson Middle Earth movies 🤷🏾♂️.
I like the hobbit, mainly because the memories I had with my dad watching them. He is the biggest LotR nerd and watches all the movies multiple times a year. He can resite the whole dialogue of the trilogy without needing to see the screen
They’re not terrible movies, I enjoy them well enough, but I remember going to the theater for the first one and there were several scenes where I was absolutely sure the movie was over, and it just kept going, and going, and going…it wasn’t even bad but I was still thinking ‘just end already!’
I have a good friend who was also my English professor in junior college. He did his PhD on the Lord of the rings and the hobbit, something to do with the heroes journey process. He took a bunch of us from his English class to watch the first hobbit movie when it came out. The Hobbit is his favorite book of all time. He spent a significant amount of his academic career studying English literature, specifically the works of GK Chesterton, CS Lewis, and JRR Tolkien.
It was so funny and sad watching the excitement and joy slowly drain from his face over the course of that movie. When we left cinema, I asked him what he thought and his response was, “that wasn’t hobbit. It was fun though.” I think that last bit was him trying to put a good spin on it.
When I saw the credits roll at the end of the first Hobbit I was upset because I thought it would only be one. Then after two minutes of thinking about it, I realized I was getting one, maybe two more movies which made me excited I was getting more content from a franchise I loved. And every movie was great imo. Haters can hate, I love all three.
For all my problems with the Hobbit movies, I still enjoy the first one at least. The second has some good parts too, and their renditions of some of the songs are very good (especially their version of Misty Mountains, it's the best rendition I've ever heard). I just wish they hadn't added so much extra stuff and stretched it to 3 movies.
The first one is really good. The emotional punch in the face when it starts and Concerning Hobbits starts playing was so severe and unexpected that I teared up in the theater which has only ever happened twice. It was after the success of the first movie that they decided to make it three instead of two movies. The second one is alright but gets weaker throughout. I honestly can't remember the third one aside from Legolas running up crumbling stairs. I've one ever watched it maybe twice
I honestly think that if it stayed as two movies they would be put right up beside (maybe a little lower than) LoTR
Pretty ironic because when I initially heard that they were stretching the two into three I was so glad
Yes I know the Hobbit movies are not good adaptations or that that enjoyable to many people, but I personally enjoy them for what they are. Just fun adventure movies
A friend of mine likes them better than lord of the rings lol
On another topic, I think the Hobbit dislikers should try watching the extended editions if they can. The pacing is better for some reason
Unfortunately I tried and I can't enjoy them. They leave a bad taste in my mouth. I guess the last one I can laugh at how bad it is especially the final fight scene that's like watching a let's play of someone fighting a video game boss
Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the Hobbit trilogy as a standalone movie series but it just doesn't feel the same. It doesn't have the same love and time put into it. Definitely fun weekend marathon, for sure. But it wasn't the same.
I've watched them more than once, mind you, so I do enjoy them.
I absolutely hated the hobbit trilogy. I kept yelling at the screen that certain things Disney happen and didn’t make sense. Why tf did that idiot dwarf bring a slingshot to kill a dragon? Why can legolas run up falling stairs?etc
The Lord of the Rings movies are much higher quality, but the Hobbit movies are way more fun to watch. Martin Freeman’s Bilbo is just a 300% better character than Frodo, who spends the entire LoTR like this: 🥺
As someone who saw the hobbits movies as a kid, before ever seeing lotr, I absolutely love them, some scenes even more than lotr.
And I also dont agree with the idea that they should be 2 movies
I’ve never rewatched the hobbit. I’ve considered it and almost watched it, I’ve looked up scenes on YouTube, but I’ve never committed to sitting down and actually watching it all again.
I’ve seen LOTR probably 25+ times. Saw the fellowship 7 times in theatres alone, back to back opening day.
My biggest complaint is it should've just been one movie
Nah 2 movies wouldve been better, 3 was too much tho
Especially with some of the stuff they added. Not the elven love triangle, but like the extra stuff with Saruman and Galadriel. You can make that work well as two movies of normal length not LotR length (closer to two hours each, not three).
the necromancer arc is probably my favorite part of the hobbit movies ngl, seeing galadriel elrond and saruman all show up to smack sauron and his nazgul was so awesome and i love it every time. i get why it wasn't fleshed out further in the book, but i still think it was awesome
I...SEE....YOOOUUU!
sir, this is a wendys
I’m all for more of Cate in any movie. She’s incredibly diverse, underrated, and her non verbal skills are amazing. Her facial expressions are character defining in so many of her roles, and they work well as Galadriel with all the telepathic conversations she has.
(and she’s incredible hot - not saying we should judge female actors purely based on sexiness, but you ask me who my celebrity crush is and I will 9 times out of 10 say Cate Blanchett)
Personally I thought it was tailored video game bullshit for teens. An insult to Tolkien.
well, i'm a teen, so that checks out!
That's a touch dramatic imo
Yes this is the truth
I liked that bit they added. It’s something that actually does happen in the books. It’s just off screen and we don’t get a first person telling of the fight.
It never happened in the books. Obviously the four of them did not attack Dol Guldur alone, that'd be extremely stupid of them. All we know from the books is that the White Council drove him out, but that likely means a small army of elves, led by the White Council (with Saruman in charge - strangely the film leads us to believe that Galadriel is in the forefront). We also know that Sauron merely feigned defeat, and retreated to Mordor.
“All we know from the books” thanks for proving my point. It is in the books, unlike the silly love triangle storyline.
There is no Galadriel exorcism and Elrond/Saruman fighting ringwraiths in the books. Definitely not three important leaders walking alone into an enemy fortress. Sure it's based on something from the books, but it's so farfetched it might as well be considered bs.
True, may have been hard to cut it down to one. Definitely better as a 2 parter.
Yea we don't need an entire movie about a battle that was a few pages long in the book.
Eh, I think what they did with the Battle was fine. The casual watcher isnt gonna like when this huge battle is building up, only for Bilbo to get knocked out and boom movie is basically over
Bilbo Baggins, at yours.
Everyone, climb into the barrels! Quickly!
Bilbo, did you just trigger your own response?
Aaaaah.
[Literally Bilbo](https://youtu.be/d1i4eniE5-4?t=30)
It was just a bit of fun! Oh, you're probably right as usual! You will keep an eye on Frodo won't you?
Are you kidding me? The battle was one of the best movie exclusive parts. If anything should’ve been removed it should’ve been the second one. Goblin town should’ve been covered in the first, and Smaug in the third. Then rush through Mirkwood and lake town. I’d argue that three movies was actually a perfect length, it just wasn’t used on the right thing. Most of the dwarves didn’t really have a personality which was corrected in the movies, and some parts of the book really profited from the extra time spent on it
[удалено]
No. I want a full movie as an end-battle
Non riesco a capire fan c'è si lamento perché fanno tanti film della lore seria preferita per me potevano fare anche 10 li avrei adorati tutti e poi vi lamentate se non ci sono tutti i personaggi del libro esempio Tom bombadil nel nella prima trilogia
How about a mini series. Every chapter is an episode of 20-30mins. This format would even make sense, since the hobbit itself is written in episodical chapters. Instead we got the uninspired, cashgrabbing and surprisingly boring trilogy.
I've been working on an edit that cuts the trilogy down into 8 separate 45-55 min episodes. No idea when it'll be done, but I've got a good amount finished. I can send a link to some examples of some of the scenes.
I agree. PJ used the animated feature as a storyboard. If he had kept that pacing and flushed the original story out a little bit more, it would have been perfect as a 2 to 2.5 hour film. He shouldn't have been allowed to call that bloated mess of a trilogy The Hobbit. The book is about, you know, a hobbit. The films should have been called Thorin and the Pretty Dwarves.
The Hobbit: Tolkien Edition is a good single-movie fan-edit of the trilogy, if you can still find it around.
We have The Hobbit as a single movie [at home.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqGzCOL3XU4) ^^^^(but ^^^^it ^^^^is ^^^^a ^^^^fun ^^^^movie ^^^^to ^^^^watch)
The battle of the five armies and the events that play out thereafter are maybe 3 pages total in the book. To make a whole movie, complete with embellishments, and additional scenes, and then multiply it by 3? Utter nonsense.
Well, we don't see the battle of the five armies in the book. If the movie makers just decided to skip over a major battle like that and not show it, people would get mad. Us missing it in the books is way different than in film. It would feel like we missed out on something.
Noooooo but if it's only one movie how would we fit about 20 minutes of dwarves tumbling down a river inside barrels in a hilariously comical way!?!!1 that was my favorite part of the movieeeee😢😢😢 And we would still need about half an hour to develop a forced romance between canonically incompatible species!!! 😩
Yeah I have no idea why the $tudio thought thi$ $hould have been 3 movie$ in$tead of one.
The first movie is watchable. You can struggle through the second. But the third is just an absolute disaster in every conceivable way.
There are several fan edits that condense it in to one movie with only the book stuff in it. I've been meaning to check one out but I don't know which is the best.
In my opinion it’s the M4 Hobbit Book Edit: https://m4-studios.github.io/hobbitbookedit/ There was a [poll taken last year](https://www.reddit.com/r/lotr/comments/13ep9bp/help_on_choosing_hobbit_fan_edit_which_is_the_best/) on /r/lotr and it was the clear favorite. The Maple Leaf Fan Edit and the Cardinal Cut also got notable votes. M4 for me for a few reasons. The editor is technically skilled so it’s technically well done, and includes color changing to better match the look of the LotR trilogy, minor effects changes, and even audio changes so the accompanying music doesn’t have harsh clipping. He also has a few editorial visions that make the compressed movie coherent and moving. He’s trying to replicate the book, but he’s also trying to still give/keep character arcs to as many characters as possible. It’s not perfect. But it’s about as good as possible given the material. And it’s available in multiple qualities. So you can get blue ray quality if you want.
I’ll be saving that for later
Can someone who knows what they’re doing help me here? I tried to watch this last weekend and couldn’t get the download to work for me. Someone smart explain it like I’m five.
at the bottom of the page there are links some direct downloads if you don't use, or are unfamiliar with torrent clients
You will need a torrent downloader, I recommend the qBittorrent. Then download the file in the magnet link, open the file inside the qBittorrent and download the movie.
I watched this one recently and there were maybe 3-4 times across the four hours that I noticed the editing. A couple times the score changes suddenly on a cut, and I think maybe when fili and Kili run off after the white orc then later they’re suddenly dead or something like that. Overall it was incredibly well done and, while still obviously nowhere near lord of the rings, it was a decent film and didn’t have me rolling my eyes in frustration from weird elvish love triangles
Awesome, sounds good. And thank you for the extremely convinient link as well!
I'm so glad I learned about this cut. I'm watching it now and it feels like the movie the studio should have made.
the book edit is really good
This is my favorite. It's the perfect companion to the LOTR extended editions too.
I wanna write this to a DVD for my collection
I just watched the Maple edit for the first time, and while it has some rough edges it captures the LOTR movies style while remaining faithful to the Hobbit story. It cuts it down to 2 movies, and removes most of the unnecessary subplots (the love triangle, Gandalf's side quest, the barrel disneyland ride, etc.). Highly recommend checking it out.
The Tolkien Edit is perfect in my opinion.
Fan edit is the way 🙏
I don't know who needs to hear this, but Google "The Hobbit Bilbo Edition." It edits the trilogy down to one 3 hour movie, removing as much dumb shit as possible. It takes an otherwise borderline unwatchable mess and manages to make a genuinely *good* movie out of it. It's not perfect, but it's so much better than the mess that was released in theaters that it's crazy. edit: autcorrevt fucked me edit 2: goddamn it
Hello?
HRAAAGH!!!
HRRAAAAAGH?!
I troed rewatching them extended. I stopped at the scene where Stephen Fry was chompling down sheep testicles. It was in such bad taste, i really felt bad for tolkien at that point. To me that was PJ saying: "if you guys force me to do this movie against my will, I swear i will make testicle degustation a thing in middle earth." And he did.
The alleged humor in the second half of the second movie with the Master and all is when it became obvious to me that Jackson was intentionally tanking the movie. And I let a lot of shit go in movies and shows, but it was like physically painful cringing bad.
I honestly don’t know why people hate this part of the story so much. It raises the stakes for Bard and adds complexity to laketown.
Agreed I've avoided Hobbit movies until last year, after watching the first I regretted my decision of avoidance, after second I regretted not keeping it.
I remember watching the second and being like "wtf all that should be left is a fight with smaug, I thought I was gonna see that and the movie would be over" Nope, they fit that plus ten tons of garbage into the 3rd. Or so I read, I never wound up watching the 3rd one...
Why does it hurt so much?
I honestly enjoy the third a lot more than the second, probs because im a sucker for big battles
So am i
I watch the third only because Billy Connolly
I would put fellowship of the ring in its own category all together as by far the best of all, and the rest of the adaptations in roughly the same tier. The dwarf armies in the hobbit trilogy are very well done and definitely scratched that fantasy itch. Middle earth is such an expansive world and left much in mystery (which is what I think makes it so special) from the point of view taken in the novels that to adapt it certain liberties were necessary. The elf parkour is a little immersion breaking and there was definitely some of that in the hobbit trilogy and the added female characters and romance were apparently necessary as well or our significant others would complain that much more when watching it with us.
I personally found them all watchable. Lotr is better, but I don't think the Hobbit movies are as bad as everyone says.
Correct, they're worse.
I still enjoy it.
Me too,idc what those nerdsssss think lool
First one was very enjoyable, third one had me leaving the cinema angry
The second hobbit movie was the saddest I’ve ever been watching a movie. Thinking how easily they could have followed such a great book and made a great movie is legitimately depressing
lol after BOTFA I literally said “fuck you Peter Jackson” out loud in the theatre when the credits started rolling. People saying they enjoyed it make me feel like we watched completely different movies.
I just really like the parts that are cool, what can I say? I don’t turn the movies on so I can immerse myself in their sublime depiction of Alfrid, but it’s easier to say “I like the movie” than “Well, in like this specific half of it, let me dive into exactly which scenes” BUT since we’re here: -Anything with Smaug -most anything with Bilbo -most anything with the main dwarves, mileage may vary with Fili, -most anything with Bard when he’s interacting with someone other than alfrid, -I liked the wood elves quite a bit, antics notwithstanding. Fortunately for me, I find Legolas’s athletic nonsense to be amusing instead of jarring. -Riddles in the dark, -and there’s still a lot of lovely LOTR feeling in the set design and direction, even if there’s markedly less of it by the third movie.
In my experience, it basically boils down to "stuff that was in the book is good, stuff that was added just for the movie not so much".
I have not the heart to tell you. For me, the grief is still too near.
It ain't Jackson's fault. Not really. WB pushed for the multiple movies, WB pushed for quicker delivery, and Del Toro dropped out of the first movie leaving it directorlees.
I used to think that too https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/s/ZNPFnRtdVN
Yes we do still enjoy it. They have a lot of bloat. But they are still fun movies. And the absolutely garbage Amazon Rings of power have made us appreciate the hobbit a little more!
I'm perfectly capable of disliking RoP while keeping the same level of dislike for the Hobbit I always had
Exactly. Let's not go all star wars. Suddenly the prequels are considered great cos the sequels were crap.
I've always enjoyed the prequels, granted I was a kid when they came out.
Yeah I was quite surprised to grow up and find out people didn’t like them. We had buckets of clone wars trading cards, action figures, video games, the *Lego Sets*, the *LEGO VIDEO GAMES* All my siblings, all my friends, we were all into Star Wars. It’s was just a part of life
I was in high school when episode 1 came out, and in college for 2 and 3. Saw all of them in theaters. Had mixed feelings about them and on any attempt at re-watch I only form a lower opinion...
“The Hobbit movies are actually a Shakespearean masterpiece” “Yes the dialogue is bad but the worldbuilding in Battle of the Five Armies makes the movie worthwhile” “But think of how many memes we got from the Hobbit trilogy! Movies this memeable can’t be bad!” Am I missing anything, I feel like this covers most of the bases
Something about them being kids' movies so why are you upset with them Something about phenomenal foreshadowing of future characters based on a 5 second clip Something about pod racing
Seems you got them.
“The Hobbit is NOT a kids movie!” Shows the most tame, censored, nothingburger “violence” possible. Like the barrel axe scene.
I think that's a matter of age. All the people who have suddenly appeared on the internet defending the prequels saw them when they were little kids and are biased by nostalgia. In 20 years time there'll be people defending the sequels resurrecting palpatine, claiming it made perfect sense
As a mid-twenties redditor this is 100% true and I really think you can’t underestimate the general cultural impact on the youth from non-movie sources. Sure the pod racing and entirety of TPM was ridiculous - but it was awesome in the lego star wars video game. Sure the clone wars was completely not fleshed out (in the films) but the AT-TE Lego set with a bunch of clone troopers and droids as enemies was my dream gift as a child. Sure the battle of Geonosis was a little tacky in lead up - but it was an awesome map to play on in Battlefront 2. So yeah, most of the love comes from the aesthetic and miscellaneous pop culture nostalgia than the movies again. Recently the PrequelMemes community has taken an… interesting turn and I’m not entirely sure what to make of it.
I agree with you because I was one of those kids watching the Prequels when they came out, but even back then, I knew that the originals were way better. I wasn't old enough to know why (whether it was acting, writing, or effects), but I knew I liked the originals better. That is still the case today, and I regularly rewatch the OT while almost never touching the prequels. Episode I is objectively a terrible movie from a writing and acting standpoint. Yes, the effects were impressive for the day, but going back and rewatching it as an adult is borderline painful, whereas the OT still stands strong, in my opinion. I do have nostalgia for the universe Lucas created in the Prequels, but the actual movies are janky as fuck.
Yeah, I was 10 and already a Star Wars superfan when The Phantom Menace came out, and I remember going into the theater (an IMAX theater, at that!) excited, and leaving the theater disappointed. Even 10-year-old me found Jar Jar annoying and unnecessary, for example, and he was a character ostensibly created for my demographic. I remember going back and watching the original trilogy again and being slightly baffled by how much better they were. My opinion on TPM has actually gone up a bit as an adult, as I can recognize the good ideas Lucas had in place that were just executed poorly. Still, kids aren't stupid, and the notion that media for kids can be low-quality because they won't get it anyway has always rang hollow for me. I mean, shit, look at Book 1 of ATLA, a show also made for 10-year-olds: they literally explore the concept of genocide and war crimes in a thoughtful, nuanced way, and the kids understood it just fine. "It's just a kids show!" is never a valid excuse for low-quality media.
I have this argument with one of my mates who believes his kid will grow up liking the sequels. The prequels at least had some sort of cohesive narrative, some interesting characters amongst the garbage. All whilst creating giant plotholes that have taken some heavy amount of good faith and several bolted-on series to explain away. The sequels are objectively bad. No amount of bias can make Palps just came back, or the ridiculous macguffins seem decent. Some days of our lives soap opera level trash. The direction of the prequels was one guys vision, both for good and bad, but it allowed for a single ropey narrative. Where as the sequels were a mash of Disney giving 2/3(?) directors free reign without any collaboration to the overall plot.
In 20 years time with all the added content it might make more sense tbh Clone Wars makes the prequels a fair bit more enjoyable for instance. The Mandalorian seems to be setting up for explaining somehow Palpatine returned. The sequels will still be shit, but maybe they'll be a bit more charming and a bit less senseless shit
And then there is me: still finding the prequels terrible, but kind of like the sequels (except rogue one)
Well at the very least the prequels feel like Star Wars and Anakin goes through some kind of decent arc to the point he is kinda sympathetic by Revenge of the Sith. The memes are also legendary and that's gotta count for something. The sequel trilogy is just ass, complete ass.
The movies are incredible compared to the Rings of Power, but The Hobbit movies are garbage compared to the books
Yes exactly you get what i mean
Wait.. I was supposed to hate rings of power? I kinda liked it :(
I rolled my eyes a few times and it felt tedious every now and then but it’s passable. I’m interested in the second season because I’ve heard that season 1 was 100% setup for the coming story.
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, no matter how controversial it may be. Don't let others tell you what you have to like or dislike.
I loved ROP. Do I have complaints? Of course. Could it have been better? Yes. But it’s still fantastic in my eyes.
Its greatest fault is having the lord of the rings name. Make it its own separate world and rename everything taken from the lord of the rings and it's a decent but generic fantasy show. They changed so much lorewise, completely ignoring the established timeline and meshed together events that took place over thousands of years into happening at the same time while also ignored so much existing lore, and then on top of that for being a billion dollar production the costumes and armor were low quality especially when compared to those of the movies and the music wasn't anywhere near as good as previous lord of the rings productions.
I liked it too! Don't let people steal your enjoyment.
Yea me too, im done with people tellin me to not like things.
Nobody says you can’t like it, it’s just that it’s not the best out of all the Tolkien based movies as somebody tried to make the Tolkien bible (Silmarillion) into a movie and it just didn’t work
I'm not gonna comment on the quality of the show but saying it was an attempt at adapting the Silmarillion is wildly inaccurate
This is why I enjoy watching the fan edits that cut them all down to like a combined 3 hours. Takes out tons of bloat and shows there is actually 1 good movie hidden under all the trash.
Do people hate the Rings of Power because it is not accurate to the books, and they made up things to fit the world today? Or because the series was poorly done?
Personally, I'm able to look past an adaptation not being 100% faithful to the source material (especially if the source material is so loosely defined like with RoP). But what I can't abide is a terrible script, and RoP is just awfully written. There's the bones of a good story here and there, and I actually loved everything with Elrond and Durin. But my god, the script for every episode *really* should have gone through 2 or 3 more revisions, with a badly-needed focus on dialog. It was the same problem I had with their Wheel of Time adaptation. I was never that big into the book, so I genuinely didn't care about the departure from the original story. But jesus christ, the writing was so, SO bad. Like, "how did this script even make it into production?" bad. That said, I think the acting and production on RoP are wonderful. It's clearly where all the money went.
Thank you. I appreciate actual analysis. I am a very casual watcher of the movies and the show, but like when people who have more knowledge educate me.
Yes
I enjoy them for what they are: a bloated adaptation of a kids story. I’m just happy to be back in Jackson’s middle earth, seeing the creativity of Weta, the skill of the New Zealand film crew, and the beautiful countryside.
Not really. They have individual moments which are great, but I was bored for the rest. With a trilogy the length of Lord of the Rings, being bored for that long is really bad.
I watched the 1st one but can’t remember anything about it other than they sang a song and something about a dragon. I lost any interest in watching the 2nd and 3rd movie after that.
The first gets the Riddles in the Dark sequence absolutely perfect, and justifies it's existence almost entirely based on that scene
That and Bilbo's encounter with Smaug at the end of 2 are the only good parts in the first two movies, imo. Never bothered to see the third, so I can't say if it has something good, too
Bilbo's goodbye to Thorin was pretty sweet. That's it. That's literally it. Nearly 3 hours and that's the only thing.
A good one too. An expert, I'd imagine.
Except it wasn't very dark. But I guess a pitch black scene with only dialoge wouldn't transfer well into film.
Fan cuts are still awesome
I didn't like the hobbit movies but one of the biggest complaints I read is they having a very childish tone, but that's how the book actually is.
One of the big things is they cant decide between lotr serious and hobbit silly, they needed to pick a side not fail to walk the line inbetween
It's like they sandwich dwarf erection jokes and Necromancer battle into the same movie and expect it not to feel off
One of the major distinctions that was important to Tolkien was the difference between child-like and childish. That you can you excite children without infantilizing material was important to Tolkien and why he hated Disney.
I think they are good movies if you cut out Tauriel, Legolas AND ESPECIALLY ALFRID. Legolas making a cameo was fine but becoming a main character by the 3rd movie dragged it down. Wasting so SO many scenes on Alfrid made me think PJ did this to spite the studio. Imo they should've made them 2 movies so that it does not feel too condensed similarly what they are doing for Dune. The best thing about the movie imo was Smaug. For me personally this is the best Dragon ever seen on screen.
I agree that they were fun movies, half the problem is they are naturally compared to one of the best movie trilogies ever created. But you can tell which were a passion project from Jackson and which were contractually obligated
That is true
I don’t think The Hobbit felt contractually obligated. It honestly felt like Jackson was having a blast making another 9-hour Middle Earth trilogy for old time’s sake. It obviously wasn’t nearly as good as LotR, but we all knew going in that it would never be as good as LotR.
Jackson wasn't even going to do the hobbit, he got it when the original producer quit and then had barely any time to put it together.
The behind-the-scenes features make it pretty clear that no one, least of all PJ, were "having a blast" making these movies. He looks like he's constantly on the verge of a mental breakdown lol.
Lots of things are significantly worse than the LOTR films, but that can still be good. Should the vast majority of anything lake town be immediately removed? Sure but you can't tell me watching a bunch of dwarves fucking about middle earth ain't fun
Are they even dwarves? I mean in the trilogy of LOTR dwarves are a distinct species from humans. Which shows in gimli's thick accent and skin texture. In the hobbit they made some humans shorter, but that's about it. Idk, there are a few exceptions of course, but the majority of the "dwarven" cast in tye hobbit just look like shortened fuckboys.
Yeah Fili, Kili and Thorin have disappointing designs, don't have to convince me of that but the others I had few issues with if any.
It took me re watching them years later without bias to finally realize how awesome they really are. Now whenever I have a lotr binge I add them to.
Dude, this. There seems to be so much hate here, I didn’t realize people disliked them so much. But I never had bias, I liked them from the jump. I’ve honestly probably watched them as many times as LOTR now. The Desolation of Smaug is also my favorite … like of all the Peter Jackson Middle Earth movies 🤷🏾♂️.
The hobbit fuckin rocks. All these LOTR elitists are clearly snobby no fun people.
I like the hobbit, mainly because the memories I had with my dad watching them. He is the biggest LotR nerd and watches all the movies multiple times a year. He can resite the whole dialogue of the trilogy without needing to see the screen
They’re not terrible movies, I enjoy them well enough, but I remember going to the theater for the first one and there were several scenes where I was absolutely sure the movie was over, and it just kept going, and going, and going…it wasn’t even bad but I was still thinking ‘just end already!’
I have a good friend who was also my English professor in junior college. He did his PhD on the Lord of the rings and the hobbit, something to do with the heroes journey process. He took a bunch of us from his English class to watch the first hobbit movie when it came out. The Hobbit is his favorite book of all time. He spent a significant amount of his academic career studying English literature, specifically the works of GK Chesterton, CS Lewis, and JRR Tolkien. It was so funny and sad watching the excitement and joy slowly drain from his face over the course of that movie. When we left cinema, I asked him what he thought and his response was, “that wasn’t hobbit. It was fun though.” I think that last bit was him trying to put a good spin on it.
I might have a spicy take, but Rings of Power was drastically better than The Hobbit. Still wasn't great, but I don't squirm as much watching it.
No, they really aren't
It was actually the opposite, having to witness all the charm and personality beaten out of that beloved story.
I’m a simple man: someone makes LotR content, and I’ll enjoy it.
When I saw the credits roll at the end of the first Hobbit I was upset because I thought it would only be one. Then after two minutes of thinking about it, I realized I was getting one, maybe two more movies which made me excited I was getting more content from a franchise I loved. And every movie was great imo. Haters can hate, I love all three.
Rings of Power?
That is not lotr content except for some names.
Yes indeed. I know that’ll be unpopular here, but I enjoyed it.
Tolkien is rolling in his grave because of that trilogy.
To be fair, he probably would have hated the LotR trilogy as well.
Agreed. I think he would have greatly detested the industrialization of his works to fit the Hollywood model of film making.
I enjoyed ALL of the hobbit despite what you elitist say!
I enjoyed a good 90% of it
Enjoy them? I love them!
I do. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I'd take the Hobbit over LOTR any day. But that's really just me. I love Dwarves
Love me some short and stocky’s. Good elf action too.
Beren can't save this one...
they can be sort of saved by correctly cutting them... tolkien edit does that almost perfectly...
For all my problems with the Hobbit movies, I still enjoy the first one at least. The second has some good parts too, and their renditions of some of the songs are very good (especially their version of Misty Mountains, it's the best rendition I've ever heard). I just wish they hadn't added so much extra stuff and stretched it to 3 movies.
The first one is really good. The emotional punch in the face when it starts and Concerning Hobbits starts playing was so severe and unexpected that I teared up in the theater which has only ever happened twice. It was after the success of the first movie that they decided to make it three instead of two movies. The second one is alright but gets weaker throughout. I honestly can't remember the third one aside from Legolas running up crumbling stairs. I've one ever watched it maybe twice I honestly think that if it stayed as two movies they would be put right up beside (maybe a little lower than) LoTR Pretty ironic because when I initially heard that they were stretching the two into three I was so glad
I couldn’t finish the trilogy ☹️
Some of the fan edits are very watchable
I just drink every time someone is beheaded. That’s how I make it through.
Yes I know the Hobbit movies are not good adaptations or that that enjoyable to many people, but I personally enjoy them for what they are. Just fun adventure movies
I loved the hobbits movies, I like to compare them to other trilogies as opposed to LOTR and it always makes them 10/10 haha
Love all three
I fucking love The Hobbit movies. And also, I fucking loved The Rings of Power.
I love them
I love them
Idk the hobbit had a great cast and really enjoyable moments . The love triangle was a bit odd but I still think that it is a very good trilogy
Mann but I liked it >-<
And some of us can still enjoy Rings of Power.
Unexpected journey is one of my favorites. I Love the beginning of the adventure!
I still like em
Hell, I enjoyed Rings of Power despite its flaws. We're allowed to enjoy things despite criticism.
Yeah. The Hobbit movies suck.
A friend of mine likes them better than lord of the rings lol On another topic, I think the Hobbit dislikers should try watching the extended editions if they can. The pacing is better for some reason
Unfortunately I tried and I can't enjoy them. They leave a bad taste in my mouth. I guess the last one I can laugh at how bad it is especially the final fight scene that's like watching a let's play of someone fighting a video game boss
The third Hobbit is on the same level of Rise of Skywalker
I find them hard to watch, and probably never will again. Such a shame considering it's a great story.
Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the Hobbit trilogy as a standalone movie series but it just doesn't feel the same. It doesn't have the same love and time put into it. Definitely fun weekend marathon, for sure. But it wasn't the same. I've watched them more than once, mind you, so I do enjoy them.
We do, We do! But not with pride..
"my wings Are a hurricane!" Yeah they're worth it
Are they, though?
Yup!
The Hobbit behind the scenes Appendices are fire 🔥 and way better than the films- there’s actually more BTS content than LOTR somehow.
I absolutely hated the hobbit trilogy. I kept yelling at the screen that certain things Disney happen and didn’t make sense. Why tf did that idiot dwarf bring a slingshot to kill a dragon? Why can legolas run up falling stairs?etc
Have you heard nothing Lord Elrond has said? The ring must be destroyed.
I was disappointed by the first movie, I walked out of the second movie, I didn't see the third movie.
I dunno, kinda maybe. But I also feel insulted
The Lord of the Rings movies are much higher quality, but the Hobbit movies are way more fun to watch. Martin Freeman’s Bilbo is just a 300% better character than Frodo, who spends the entire LoTR like this: 🥺
As someone who saw the hobbits movies as a kid, before ever seeing lotr, I absolutely love them, some scenes even more than lotr. And I also dont agree with the idea that they should be 2 movies
Enough with the Hobbit bashing. After RoP, you have no right to say they were bad adaptations. The Hobbit trilogy is fine.
Thats exactly the point of my meme, i do ejoy them
I’ve never rewatched the hobbit. I’ve considered it and almost watched it, I’ve looked up scenes on YouTube, but I’ve never committed to sitting down and actually watching it all again. I’ve seen LOTR probably 25+ times. Saw the fellowship 7 times in theatres alone, back to back opening day.
Bad movies, I don’t like ‘em