kgrogers1979

I think most everyone prefers the Extended Editions of the LOTR trilogy over the theatrical cuts, but what does everyone prefer for the Hobbit trilogy?

(I know that the third movie doesn't have an EE yet, but whatever.)

I am doing a Hobbit marathon this weekend, which prompted me thinking of this question. I watched the EE of Unexpected Journey tonight, and I plan to watch the EE of Desolation of Smaug tomorrow night, and end with the theatrical cut of Battle of Five Armies on Sunday night. This is my first time watching the EE's.

Honestly, I think I prefer the theatrical cut of Unexpected Journey more. These movies are already bloated, and I don't think the EE really added anything necessary. Most of what it did add was just weird, like the dwarves swimming naked in the fountain and the goblin king's song and dance routine. Those were just a big WTF.

I will watch the EE of Desolation of Smaug tomorrow night for the first time. Hopefully it is better, but I am not counting on it.

hanshotfirst1138

I still prefer the EEs because I think that they flow better and are richer and have more the Tolkien world, but as the movies are too long anyway, unless you're interested in more, the EEs probably will seem like overkill on overkill.

Why So Blu?

EE's.

EctoCooler

You think wrong.

kgrogers1979

I said most everyone, as in the majority of people. Yes, some people will prefer the theatrical, but the majority prefers the EE's.

Anyway, I watched the EE of Desolation of Smaug tonight. It was definitely better the EE of Unexpected Journey since it didn't have weird stuff like naked dwarves or dancing goblin kings.

Solid Snake

No poll?

kd5

I have the EE's of the LOTR trilogy, the EE's of the first 2 parts of The Hobbit, and I'll wait to purchase the EE of part 3 in November. I'll take all I can get of Middle Earth.

The Bus

If they make a 3-hr cut of The Hobbit, then maybe I will watch it.

Solid Snake

I only want to see the EE of Hobbit 3 to see if we got any more of Saruman doing his thing after that one cool scene... otherwise I don't care for it.

Dr. DVD

Have to see the EE of the final Hobbit movie before I can make a call on this one, but I don't think there's that much of a change in quality between the two versions on this series like there was with LOTR.

DaveNinja

EEs

RichC2

Have there been any fan cuts of this series yet? It still feels like the material for a solid film is there, but it's 6 hours too long.

RocShemp

I have no doubt you won't get what you want. The scene was not implying a showdown between Saruman and Sauron. It's setting up why no one guessed that Sauron was still around because they incorrectly assumed Saruman was keeping an eye on things. About the only thing they might add is Saruman finding the Palantir.

Jay G.

Yes.
https://tolkieneditor.wordpress.com/...e-4-hour-film/

Supermallet

I may check out that 4 hour cut. As for the original question, I don't see why it's even a question: The theatrical cuts are far too long as they are, so anything that makes these bloated movies even longer should not be considered for a second.

mndtrp

Ditto. If I'm going to invest 3.5 hours into a movie I already like, another 20 min will be icing on the cake.

mrm1138

I watched it a few months ago, and it's pretty decent. There are some decisions I don't agree with, even after reading the editor's justifications. For example, he cut the scene where the heroes get trapped in the trees after escaping from the goblins under the mountain. He said that, because they were immediately chased by the orcs to Beorn's house, he thought the action beats were too close together. That is a good point, but if you're going to name it "The Tolkien Edit," it's probably best to keep in the bits that are actually from Tolkien's work.

There are also a couple awkward bits that arise from having scenes removed. The best example I can think of is when Smaug bursts out of Erebor covered in molten gold despite the fact that the sequence in which he was covered by said molten gold was excised. There's not much the editor could have done in that case, though, and I prefer to have the shorter sequence beforehand.

Best of all, Legolas is reduced to a cameo, and I can't even remember if Tauriel appears at all!