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- Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug - The Precious Edition, The
Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug - The Precious Edition, The
Updated
Faneditor Name:
Original Movie/Show Title:
Genre:
Franchise:
Fanedit Type:
Original Release Date:
2013
Original Running Time:
186 minutes
Fanedit Release Date:
Fanedit Running Time:
127 minutes
Time Cut:
59 minutes
Time Added:
5 minutes
Subtitles Available:
Available in HD:
Additional Links:
Contact:
Synopsis:
The edit is made entirely from the idea of making it a good movie. Book accuracy is thrown out of the window if a cut is simply more clean
without it. We have a plethora of incredible book accurate cuts, but I miss some of the added drama Peter Jackson sometimes correctly added.
without it. We have a plethora of incredible book accurate cuts, but I miss some of the added drama Peter Jackson sometimes correctly added.
Intention:
To challenge myself, and to complete the circle. There are now 6 Precious Editions.
Other Sources:
Poster created by reddit user Max Beech Creative
Special Thanks:
Special thanks to all the other Hobbit faneditors for inspiring me.
Special thanks to chipbayless for his feedback, and pushing me to make this as good as can be. The edit would have not been as creative without the input!
Went really in depth in feedback and previews and came up with extremely good ideas which were a pain in the ass to realise, but completely worth the trouble.
Special thanks to GarStazi for being my personal quality control manager for this edit.
Special thanks to chipbayless for his feedback, and pushing me to make this as good as can be. The edit would have not been as creative without the input!
Went really in depth in feedback and previews and came up with extremely good ideas which were a pain in the ass to realise, but completely worth the trouble.
Special thanks to GarStazi for being my personal quality control manager for this edit.
Release Information:
Blu-ray
Editing Details:
What I aim to do is:
Cut humor that's excessive. Cut action that's excessive.
Keep humor that's cute.
If there is a scene with cringe and good quality (and there are a ton of those), remove the cringe,
but keep the quality. This helps pacing and storytelling.
Cut humor that's excessive. Cut action that's excessive.
Keep humor that's cute.
If there is a scene with cringe and good quality (and there are a ton of those), remove the cringe,
but keep the quality. This helps pacing and storytelling.
Cuts and Additions:
Added a nice film grain layer, which does not affect highlights as proper film grain should.
Created a new opening, with narration. Taken from the first film. This cuts to the title screen in an utterly dramatic fashion.
Removed all early viewings of the bear. We now hear Bilbo saw a bear, and can experience the same disbelieve the dwarfs have. We don't need to see it, far better to keep the mystery. A rare example of: tell, don't show.
Removed all heavy handed exposition done by Beorn. We don't need to have him and his family killed by Azog. The universe becomes smaller if everyone knows that pale orc. Also, how is he going to be useful in the war if he's such a pushover?
Cut the flash to the eye when gandalf sees the painting of an eye. Keep the mystery.
Kept everything that works about the battle with the barrels, and cut everything that is too expositiony.
Cut Tauriel as much as necessary but not completely. She is a guard, nothing more. Book accuracy is not the goal, creating lean cuts is the goal. Plus, she is absolutely gorgeous.
Kept the orc interrogation, but removed all the cringe/heavy exposition. Mystery kept. This orc attack prompts legolas to go on his own investigation in the third film.
Cut the cringe of bard entering lake town with Alfrid being overly evil, but kept the toilet dwarfs. He's a smuggler, ofcourse he smuggles them in his house. Plus, it's comedy gold. This often get's cut in the search for book accuracy, but I can keep it.
Kept Bard's children, but cut Tauriel and Legolas completely here. This was very tricky, but ultimately leads to a far more satisfying climax.
Kept some of the dwarfs missing the boat. This is good added tension, and helps some of the dwarfs go against Thorin's decision to NOT help the laketowners in the third film. They saw their suffering first-hand. Good change, Peter Jackson.
Removed Alfrid cringe moments. This was rather easy.
Removed some out-of-place looking extra's. This was tricky, but worth it to create a more consistent looking Middle Earth.
I kept the tapestry scene for ONE reason and ONE reason only: The merchant sounds exactly like Patches from Dark Souls ( can someone confirm if it's the same actor? ). The cross-over we never asked for, but we got anyway!
Removed Bilbo backing up the Dwarfs. There is no reason for him to somehow be a valid voice, this is the Master's decision only.
Removed EVERYTHING regarding the Dol Guldor scenes with Thorin's father. Instead, we get something.. that.. you guessed it.. keeps the mystery.
Cut around everything to keep Bard out of jail, keep as much Dragon scenes as possible, and have the dragon attack laketown afterwards. Bard is not with his children, because he's being searched for by the time Smaug shows up.
The Dragon attacks laketown, the dwarfs and the kids try to escape. The rest continues as in the original. Zero Tauriel and Legolas here. This allows for a climactic version with the boy being used as a ballista (Bard has a son in the book as well, so yay!). Rediculous? I suppose so, but now we have visual consistency. Plus, with all other cringe removed, this becomes far more tolerable.
Created a completely unique, new ending. I will not spoil anything, but it tells us what we need to know about the war in part three and raises the stakes dramatically! This is where Chipbayless went all out with crazy suggestions.
Some micro-edits I can't recall.
Created a new opening, with narration. Taken from the first film. This cuts to the title screen in an utterly dramatic fashion.
Removed all early viewings of the bear. We now hear Bilbo saw a bear, and can experience the same disbelieve the dwarfs have. We don't need to see it, far better to keep the mystery. A rare example of: tell, don't show.
Removed all heavy handed exposition done by Beorn. We don't need to have him and his family killed by Azog. The universe becomes smaller if everyone knows that pale orc. Also, how is he going to be useful in the war if he's such a pushover?
Cut the flash to the eye when gandalf sees the painting of an eye. Keep the mystery.
Kept everything that works about the battle with the barrels, and cut everything that is too expositiony.
Cut Tauriel as much as necessary but not completely. She is a guard, nothing more. Book accuracy is not the goal, creating lean cuts is the goal. Plus, she is absolutely gorgeous.
Kept the orc interrogation, but removed all the cringe/heavy exposition. Mystery kept. This orc attack prompts legolas to go on his own investigation in the third film.
Cut the cringe of bard entering lake town with Alfrid being overly evil, but kept the toilet dwarfs. He's a smuggler, ofcourse he smuggles them in his house. Plus, it's comedy gold. This often get's cut in the search for book accuracy, but I can keep it.
Kept Bard's children, but cut Tauriel and Legolas completely here. This was very tricky, but ultimately leads to a far more satisfying climax.
Kept some of the dwarfs missing the boat. This is good added tension, and helps some of the dwarfs go against Thorin's decision to NOT help the laketowners in the third film. They saw their suffering first-hand. Good change, Peter Jackson.
Removed Alfrid cringe moments. This was rather easy.
Removed some out-of-place looking extra's. This was tricky, but worth it to create a more consistent looking Middle Earth.
I kept the tapestry scene for ONE reason and ONE reason only: The merchant sounds exactly like Patches from Dark Souls ( can someone confirm if it's the same actor? ). The cross-over we never asked for, but we got anyway!
Removed Bilbo backing up the Dwarfs. There is no reason for him to somehow be a valid voice, this is the Master's decision only.
Removed EVERYTHING regarding the Dol Guldor scenes with Thorin's father. Instead, we get something.. that.. you guessed it.. keeps the mystery.
Cut around everything to keep Bard out of jail, keep as much Dragon scenes as possible, and have the dragon attack laketown afterwards. Bard is not with his children, because he's being searched for by the time Smaug shows up.
The Dragon attacks laketown, the dwarfs and the kids try to escape. The rest continues as in the original. Zero Tauriel and Legolas here. This allows for a climactic version with the boy being used as a ballista (Bard has a son in the book as well, so yay!). Rediculous? I suppose so, but now we have visual consistency. Plus, with all other cringe removed, this becomes far more tolerable.
Created a completely unique, new ending. I will not spoil anything, but it tells us what we need to know about the war in part three and raises the stakes dramatically! This is where Chipbayless went all out with crazy suggestions.
Some micro-edits I can't recall.
Faneditor Name:
Original Movie/Show Title:
Genre:
Franchise:
Fanedit Type:
Original Release Date:
2013
Original Running Time:
186 minutes
Fanedit Release Date:
Fanedit Running Time:
127 minutes
Time Cut:
59 minutes
Time Added:
5 minutes
Subtitles Available:
Available in HD:
Additional Links:
Contact:
Synopsis:
The edit is made entirely from the idea of making it a good movie. Book accuracy is thrown out of the window if a cut is simply more clean
without it. We have a plethora of incredible book accurate cuts, but I miss some of the added drama Peter Jackson sometimes correctly added.
without it. We have a plethora of incredible book accurate cuts, but I miss some of the added drama Peter Jackson sometimes correctly added.
Intention:
To challenge myself, and to complete the circle. There are now 6 Precious Editions.
Other Sources:
Poster created by reddit user Max Beech Creative
Special Thanks:
Special thanks to all the other Hobbit faneditors for inspiring me.
Special thanks to chipbayless for his feedback, and pushing me to make this as good as can be. The edit would have not been as creative without the input!
Went really in depth in feedback and previews and came up with extremely good ideas which were a pain in the ass to realise, but completely worth the trouble.
Special thanks to GarStazi for being my personal quality control manager for this edit.
Special thanks to chipbayless for his feedback, and pushing me to make this as good as can be. The edit would have not been as creative without the input!
Went really in depth in feedback and previews and came up with extremely good ideas which were a pain in the ass to realise, but completely worth the trouble.
Special thanks to GarStazi for being my personal quality control manager for this edit.
Release Information:
Blu-ray
Editing Details:
What I aim to do is:
Cut humor that's excessive. Cut action that's excessive.
Keep humor that's cute.
If there is a scene with cringe and good quality (and there are a ton of those), remove the cringe,
but keep the quality. This helps pacing and storytelling.
Cut humor that's excessive. Cut action that's excessive.
Keep humor that's cute.
If there is a scene with cringe and good quality (and there are a ton of those), remove the cringe,
but keep the quality. This helps pacing and storytelling.
Cuts and Additions:
Added a nice film grain layer, which does not affect highlights as proper film grain should.
Created a new opening, with narration. Taken from the first film. This cuts to the title screen in an utterly dramatic fashion.
Removed all early viewings of the bear. We now hear Bilbo saw a bear, and can experience the same disbelieve the dwarfs have. We don't need to see it, far better to keep the mystery. A rare example of: tell, don't show.
Removed all heavy handed exposition done by Beorn. We don't need to have him and his family killed by Azog. The universe becomes smaller if everyone knows that pale orc. Also, how is he going to be useful in the war if he's such a pushover?
Cut the flash to the eye when gandalf sees the painting of an eye. Keep the mystery.
Kept everything that works about the battle with the barrels, and cut everything that is too expositiony.
Cut Tauriel as much as necessary but not completely. She is a guard, nothing more. Book accuracy is not the goal, creating lean cuts is the goal. Plus, she is absolutely gorgeous.
Kept the orc interrogation, but removed all the cringe/heavy exposition. Mystery kept. This orc attack prompts legolas to go on his own investigation in the third film.
Cut the cringe of bard entering lake town with Alfrid being overly evil, but kept the toilet dwarfs. He's a smuggler, ofcourse he smuggles them in his house. Plus, it's comedy gold. This often get's cut in the search for book accuracy, but I can keep it.
Kept Bard's children, but cut Tauriel and Legolas completely here. This was very tricky, but ultimately leads to a far more satisfying climax.
Kept some of the dwarfs missing the boat. This is good added tension, and helps some of the dwarfs go against Thorin's decision to NOT help the laketowners in the third film. They saw their suffering first-hand. Good change, Peter Jackson.
Removed Alfrid cringe moments. This was rather easy.
Removed some out-of-place looking extra's. This was tricky, but worth it to create a more consistent looking Middle Earth.
I kept the tapestry scene for ONE reason and ONE reason only: The merchant sounds exactly like Patches from Dark Souls ( can someone confirm if it's the same actor? ). The cross-over we never asked for, but we got anyway!
Removed Bilbo backing up the Dwarfs. There is no reason for him to somehow be a valid voice, this is the Master's decision only.
Removed EVERYTHING regarding the Dol Guldor scenes with Thorin's father. Instead, we get something.. that.. you guessed it.. keeps the mystery.
Cut around everything to keep Bard out of jail, keep as much Dragon scenes as possible, and have the dragon attack laketown afterwards. Bard is not with his children, because he's being searched for by the time Smaug shows up.
The Dragon attacks laketown, the dwarfs and the kids try to escape. The rest continues as in the original. Zero Tauriel and Legolas here. This allows for a climactic version with the boy being used as a ballista (Bard has a son in the book as well, so yay!). Rediculous? I suppose so, but now we have visual consistency. Plus, with all other cringe removed, this becomes far more tolerable.
Created a completely unique, new ending. I will not spoil anything, but it tells us what we need to know about the war in part three and raises the stakes dramatically! This is where Chipbayless went all out with crazy suggestions.
Some micro-edits I can't recall.
Created a new opening, with narration. Taken from the first film. This cuts to the title screen in an utterly dramatic fashion.
Removed all early viewings of the bear. We now hear Bilbo saw a bear, and can experience the same disbelieve the dwarfs have. We don't need to see it, far better to keep the mystery. A rare example of: tell, don't show.
Removed all heavy handed exposition done by Beorn. We don't need to have him and his family killed by Azog. The universe becomes smaller if everyone knows that pale orc. Also, how is he going to be useful in the war if he's such a pushover?
Cut the flash to the eye when gandalf sees the painting of an eye. Keep the mystery.
Kept everything that works about the battle with the barrels, and cut everything that is too expositiony.
Cut Tauriel as much as necessary but not completely. She is a guard, nothing more. Book accuracy is not the goal, creating lean cuts is the goal. Plus, she is absolutely gorgeous.
Kept the orc interrogation, but removed all the cringe/heavy exposition. Mystery kept. This orc attack prompts legolas to go on his own investigation in the third film.
Cut the cringe of bard entering lake town with Alfrid being overly evil, but kept the toilet dwarfs. He's a smuggler, ofcourse he smuggles them in his house. Plus, it's comedy gold. This often get's cut in the search for book accuracy, but I can keep it.
Kept Bard's children, but cut Tauriel and Legolas completely here. This was very tricky, but ultimately leads to a far more satisfying climax.
Kept some of the dwarfs missing the boat. This is good added tension, and helps some of the dwarfs go against Thorin's decision to NOT help the laketowners in the third film. They saw their suffering first-hand. Good change, Peter Jackson.
Removed Alfrid cringe moments. This was rather easy.
Removed some out-of-place looking extra's. This was tricky, but worth it to create a more consistent looking Middle Earth.
I kept the tapestry scene for ONE reason and ONE reason only: The merchant sounds exactly like Patches from Dark Souls ( can someone confirm if it's the same actor? ). The cross-over we never asked for, but we got anyway!
Removed Bilbo backing up the Dwarfs. There is no reason for him to somehow be a valid voice, this is the Master's decision only.
Removed EVERYTHING regarding the Dol Guldor scenes with Thorin's father. Instead, we get something.. that.. you guessed it.. keeps the mystery.
Cut around everything to keep Bard out of jail, keep as much Dragon scenes as possible, and have the dragon attack laketown afterwards. Bard is not with his children, because he's being searched for by the time Smaug shows up.
The Dragon attacks laketown, the dwarfs and the kids try to escape. The rest continues as in the original. Zero Tauriel and Legolas here. This allows for a climactic version with the boy being used as a ballista (Bard has a son in the book as well, so yay!). Rediculous? I suppose so, but now we have visual consistency. Plus, with all other cringe removed, this becomes far more tolerable.
Created a completely unique, new ending. I will not spoil anything, but it tells us what we need to know about the war in part three and raises the stakes dramatically! This is where Chipbayless went all out with crazy suggestions.
Some micro-edits I can't recall.
Cover art by Chipbayless
(VIEW IN GALLERY HERE)
Trusted Reviewer review
1 review
Overall rating
10.0
Audio/Video Quality
10.0
Audio Editing
10.0
Visual Editing
10.0
Narrative
10.0
Enjoyment
10.0
The new prologue narration is great, it really adds to the feeling and the new tone.
Nice idea in removing the “big bear seen in the distance”, this was a great improvement. Also, cutting the “Beorn’s family killed by Azog” thing was the perfect way to go here, that subplot adds nothing to the story (and is another example of PJ’s fixation on Azog…).
Btw, someone should teach the Woodland Elves how to build defensive outer walls, these are not only very short but also fully scalable. What were they doing the previous several centuries, drinking wine all day? They should have worked on these walls. Great job again, Thranduil…
The many changes with the Smaug scenes at the end are great (no more cringe golden statue and Scooby-Doo chases), as is the removal of Tauriel.
The ending (starting with the end of Smaug and going into the Dol Guldur fight) works well like this, I really like it. And what a way to end the film (the last few seconds). Just like the changed ending for Part 1, the new ending for the second film of the trilogy looks impressive now, I cannot praise it enough!
Congrats for all this work! I’ve seen a few edits of The Hobbit, including 3-to-1 film and 3-to-2 films edits. In terms of maintaining the original 3-film structure while improving pretty much all there is to improve, this is my go-to version.
Disclaimer: I’ve watched DonkeyKonga’s trilogy before release, and made a few (minor) suggestions to the author that ended in the final version. My review is not changed by that, though.
Nice idea in removing the “big bear seen in the distance”, this was a great improvement. Also, cutting the “Beorn’s family killed by Azog” thing was the perfect way to go here, that subplot adds nothing to the story (and is another example of PJ’s fixation on Azog…).
Btw, someone should teach the Woodland Elves how to build defensive outer walls, these are not only very short but also fully scalable. What were they doing the previous several centuries, drinking wine all day? They should have worked on these walls. Great job again, Thranduil…
The many changes with the Smaug scenes at the end are great (no more cringe golden statue and Scooby-Doo chases), as is the removal of Tauriel.
The ending (starting with the end of Smaug and going into the Dol Guldur fight) works well like this, I really like it. And what a way to end the film (the last few seconds). Just like the changed ending for Part 1, the new ending for the second film of the trilogy looks impressive now, I cannot praise it enough!
Congrats for all this work! I’ve seen a few edits of The Hobbit, including 3-to-1 film and 3-to-2 films edits. In terms of maintaining the original 3-film structure while improving pretty much all there is to improve, this is my go-to version.
Disclaimer: I’ve watched DonkeyKonga’s trilogy before release, and made a few (minor) suggestions to the author that ended in the final version. My review is not changed by that, though.
User Review
Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched
Digital
User reviews
5 reviews
Overall rating
9.8
Audio/Video Quality
10.0(5)
Audio Editing
9.8(5)
Visual Editing
9.8(5)
Narrative
9.4(5)
Enjoyment
9.8(5)
Overall rating
10.0
Audio/Video Quality
10.0
Audio Editing
10.0
Visual Editing
10.0
Narrative
10.0
Enjoyment
10.0
It felt clean. Especially after they get into Lake Town. It felt like it was supposed to be that way.
No Legolas no Tauriel, just little moments with them. Legolas does have a larger role than I'm used to in Hobbit edits. Which is nice, because I enjoy his scenes.
The Fire and Water section is done so well. I love it.
The ending is a nice treat as well.
This is all round a great edit.
No Legolas no Tauriel, just little moments with them. Legolas does have a larger role than I'm used to in Hobbit edits. Which is nice, because I enjoy his scenes.
The Fire and Water section is done so well. I love it.
The ending is a nice treat as well.
This is all round a great edit.
User Review
Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched
Digital
Overall rating
8.8
Audio/Video Quality
10.0
Audio Editing
9.0
Visual Editing
9.0
Narrative
7.0
Enjoyment
10.0
Loved it
User Review
Do you recommend this edit?
No
Format Watched
Digital
Overall rating
10.0
Audio/Video Quality
10.0
Audio Editing
10.0
Visual Editing
10.0
Narrative
10.0
Enjoyment
10.0
Really good, honestly. Having the dragon fight in the movie named after the dragon just feels like an absolute no brainer. Also removing Alfrid and the Master as much as possible and the cringey elf-dwarf romance half storyline also adds to the actual emotional payoff of the movie. A nitpick though is there's one cut when Kili seems to be checking his leg that feels like it was cut too short and feels too abrupt. Other than that I thought this was about as good as it could have been.
User Review
Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched
Digital
Overall rating
10.0
Audio/Video Quality
10.0
Audio Editing
10.0
Visual Editing
10.0
Narrative
10.0
Enjoyment
9.0
While weaker than the first one, the hobbit part2 offers some of the best scenes/moments in the trilogy (i'm fire, i'm death beats i'm vengeance hands down). But it also feels more stretched and somewhat atonal than the others with serious and quite dark scenes followed by comedic nonsense. This cut improves on all of that and offers the most entertaining version of this film. A clear highlight for me was the opening and the way smaugs end was resolved. Like the first part the editing was great.
User Review
Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched
Digital
Overall rating
10.0
Audio/Video Quality
10.0
Audio Editing
10.0
Visual Editing
10.0
Narrative
10.0
Enjoyment
10.0
This should have been the movie we saw in theaters
After finishing DonkeyKonga's Hobbit An Unexpected Journey which I loved my expectations for Desolation of Smaug were very high. The disclaimer for reviewing these edits asks us to be honest and gives a breakdown on how the ratings work with 10 being flawless I bring this up because when I say this IS a flawless edit Its not just hyperbole. To me this is the definitive cut of Desolation of Smaug I can't think of any faults in this edit even small things everything here just works. The pacing and edits work so well I was never lost and never noticed any breaks in continuity, all the fake cgi has been removed so no giant golden statue or shield ride, and Smaug no longer dies an anticlimactic death before the title of movie 3. I could go on and gush but I will finish by saying this is my go to version for Desolation of Smaug Well Done DonkeyKonga.
After finishing DonkeyKonga's Hobbit An Unexpected Journey which I loved my expectations for Desolation of Smaug were very high. The disclaimer for reviewing these edits asks us to be honest and gives a breakdown on how the ratings work with 10 being flawless I bring this up because when I say this IS a flawless edit Its not just hyperbole. To me this is the definitive cut of Desolation of Smaug I can't think of any faults in this edit even small things everything here just works. The pacing and edits work so well I was never lost and never noticed any breaks in continuity, all the fake cgi has been removed so no giant golden statue or shield ride, and Smaug no longer dies an anticlimactic death before the title of movie 3. I could go on and gush but I will finish by saying this is my go to version for Desolation of Smaug Well Done DonkeyKonga.
User Review
Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched
Digital
