edits for the desolation of smaug

1/19/2015

No prologue at the Prancing Pony
Once again, no Dol Guldur/Necromancer subplot
Once again, no Radagast
Legolas and Tauriel. Another unfortunate addition by Jackson that cannot be removed entirely. They make a brief appearance in Mirkwood when they arrest the dwarves, and are briefly in the orc skirmish during the barrel chase. Every other scene with them in DOS is gone.
The barrel chase has been heavily cut. No more Bombur rolling all over orcs or Legolas tap dancing on the dwarves heads
Laketown scenes have been cut or trimmed, especially regarding Alfrid (can’t wait to cut his scenes in the third film!)
Bilbo’s encounter with Smaug is pretty much untouched. This was one of the high points of the Hobbit films.
Smaug playing hide and seek with the dwarves is gone, along with the dwarves lighting the furnaces and throwing flashbangs at Smaug’s head. Dumb.
The gold dwarf statue is still there. This is because there needs to be a reason why Smaug is covered in gold when he breaks out of Erebor. So I’ve basically trimmed the molten gold stuff down to what is absolutely needed to explain everything. No more Thorin surfing a gilded river though!
Other cuts here and there

Levi47

1/20/2015 02:31:04 am

Have you thought of releasing your edits as an AVIsynth file? there should be no copyright issues with that. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AviSynth . You will simply need to fix it on a specific release(ideally the full bluray remuxed into an mkv) and specify how to go about obtaining that from the originals.

Jon G

1/20/2015 04:33:28 am

Is there any way to cut the barrel scene down to under a minute by removing the orcs and elves?

Dustin Lee

1/20/2015 05:14:23 am

Technically yes, I could remove the gate battle between orcs and elves, but that would start a domino effect of continuity issues. Kili is shot with an arrow during that battle and that is why he and three other dwarves remain in Laketown while his wound heals. While I was able to remove Legolas & Tauriel from Laketown, I'm not sure I could cut the dwarves since they obviously are not with the company when they reach Erebor.

Another domino effect issue I'm running into is Azog and Bolg. I can't remove them entirely since their roles are expanded in the third film, so there's a delicate line between showing them too much or not enough.

Carter

2/24/2015 10:39:25 am

how did you handle beorn? I'm really looking for a cut that leaves his extended-edition scenes in...(at least gandalf's one-by-one introductions, as is in the book)

Dustin

2/24/2015 10:45:00 pm

I've received a lot of comments about that EE scene with Beorn! Right now I don't have it in my version, but it is something I'll revisit once the BOTFA EE is out and we can see how much Beorn is included there. They really slighted his character in the third movie.

The main issue I have with it is that it is a long scene- nearly five minutes. Even though it's close to the book it slows the film's pace down quite a bit. Like I said though, I'll revisit that scene once the third EE is released :)

2/25/2015 12:46:39 pm

great; i think in terms of execution/visuals/faithfulness to the book that scene is a standout. love the edits you've made so far. did you think about ex-ing the GoPro moments out of the barrels scene? I think your editing there is amazing overall! Good stuff.

Trevor

11/27/2015 10:31:21 am

While it might slow the film a tad, it really took me out of the movie to have Beorns extended scenes gone. I'd love them in the final cut.

Ambaryerno

10/22/2017 08:08:16 am

I know it's been a couple years, but I hope you're still willing to revisit the Extended Beorn scene. It was SO much better than theatrical cut's introduction, and would make the transition from AUJ and DOS smoother, since you can show the Eagles dropping them off at the Carrock, and them arriving at his home.

2/25/2015 09:44:19 pm

Since I uploaded my edit of the barrels scene on Vimeo, I have actually gone back and cut the GoPro shots out! They were very distracting visually.

James Webber

4/14/2020 08:39:35 am

Well one Go Pro shot still remains!

TCZ

3/30/2015 09:14:03 am

I think you could remove tauriel even more. Just take out that whole look back after kili jumps in his barrel, and take out the shot of her seeing the trap door close when Bilbo falls into the river. Love what I've seen and looking forward to the edit! Also, I think showing the dwarves in lake town is better than trying but imply they are off screen at the lonely mountain when they clearly aren't.

3/30/2015 12:00:18 pm

Actually, since I posted this I have gone back through that scene and removed Tauriel even more. I cut that long clip of her looking at Kili when he jumps into his barrel.

As for the four dwarves not being Laketown, I did some VFX work on a shot as the company approaches Erebor. There's a wide shot where you see the whole company in a line, and I digitally added four more dwarves to the shot. It sells the illusion that the entire company is there.

3/30/2015 01:40:19 pm

That's awesome! Your edits are great from what I've seen, and super creative. Are you expecting to have the first draft of your edit complete by April? Or will you wait for BOTFA EE to be released first?

3/30/2015 01:53:42 pm

That's awesome! Really looking forward to your edit! Are you planning on a first look release in April? Or just waiting until the BOTFA EE is released.

Charlie

5/29/2015 09:50:39 am

Does this mean that the Orc and Elf battle at the gate can be cut then?

3/30/2015 02:47:38 pm

I will have my first draft of the film ready within the next couple days. It won't be completely finished until the EE comes out in Nov/Dec, but I figure it will be nice to share it beforehand and get people interested in the final release. Stay tuned!

5/31/2015 02:14:30 am

The battle at the Mirkwood gate has been shortened, but I still had to show how Kili was wounded. Also, the entire sequence builds up to some kind of action, and that is difficult to remove or change.

Stone

3/31/2015 04:45:17 am

I think you should take out Kili being hit with the arrow and the Dwarves begin stuck at the gait.

I'd also rather see Smaug bursting out of the mountain covered in gold (with no explanation why) then see that golden dwarf again.

gerardo

7/22/2015 04:49:10 pm

I agree with Stone, In both accounts.

If I saw that part of the movie when Smaug leaves Ereberor dripping gold not knowing anything of the golden dwarf I would have had assumed it was golden coins falling by bits off of his body.

Ultroman

5/3/2016 03:47:25 pm

I completely agree! That gold scene is detrimental to the movie.

4/1/2015 12:56:25 am

I respectfully have to disagree with Stone. Dustin, the way you are editing with very little to none plot inconsistency is one of the most exciting parts of this edit. The film should stand alone without having to know what happened in the PJ version. Just my opinion, can't wait!

Gerardo

7/22/2015 04:39:58 pm

In the part of the barrel ride I still would like to see trimmed down every scene of legolas and also that part where the elves closes the gates and Kíli gets shot on the leg while attempting to open it.

Emrys

11/28/2015 11:13:56 am

First of all, I want to say that your vision for this edit sounds fantastic, and I'm very much looking forward to enjoying the fruits of the labour!
I was just wondering-have you seen the current version of The Hobbit: Dwarfed Edition? It is a fantastic example of how to trim down unnecessary plot points-through clever use of editing, the whole section where Smaug is covered in gold is cut out and we go straight to him flying to Lake-Town after telling Bilbo of his plan. This is just one suggestion but I think that I speak for a lot of people when I say that I would love to see this part removed entirely.

While I'm generally not concerned about inconsistencies in the name of staying faithful to the text, I like that you're trying to avoid them where possible. Obviously there are some that you can't explain (like Gandalf turning up in BotFA with a new staff), but alas, some things are irreparable.

Very best of luck, Emrys

11/30/2015 07:58:37 am

Hello, I watched some of the Dwarfed Edition and do recall that scene you're talking about. It was a clever edit but my film is structured a bit differently, plus I still LOVE that shot of Smaug bursting out of the gate and flying away. I fixed the gold coating as best as I could- hopefully you viewers will be happy with it!

Itay

4/2/2016 09:45:24 am

I cannot understand the choice of door opening scene: first the dwarves standing in front of the door frustrated, then moon with Bilbo alone, and then everyone is standing again.
There is was no preferable to the moon without Bilbo alone, then zoom in on the bird and the door, and then it connects to the other without the disappearance of all their mysterious and back?

unsound

5/6/2017 04:36:09 am

First, let me say I love this edit. It actually feels like the hobitt without all of the extra crap in it. I do agree though that the edited door scene was confusing and was probably better just left alone. It showed Thorin and Bilbo as a team which was nice.

10/23/2017 04:42:17 pm

I can't help but wonder if it would have been possible to rebalance the colors of the moonlit parts to fit the sunset (as it was in the book) rather than using moon LIGHT, if the whole key scramble was being omitted.

Rvier

3/21/2017 01:06:41 pm

I'm sad the Enchanted River crossing is ommited, though it'd probably slow the pace. It's a nice part of the book and I was sad it was excluded from the theatrical cut, only being introduced in EE.

3/21/2017 05:51:09 pm

jibreel

6/27/2017 12:35:20 am

This is truly an amazing edit - the transitions are smooth, and the work is overall pretty close to the book in comparison to the original Hobbit trilogy (finished reading The Hobbit three weeks ago, although I saw the movies beforehand). But I was wondering, at least in regards to the digital copy since I havent tried the iso files, was the gold dwarf ultimately removed? Because after downloading and watching the digital copy, I noticed Smaug randomly flies out of the mountain covered in gold after saying "Perhaps it is time I paid them a visit," whereas in the sample clips on this site it shows the gold dwarf scene right before he flies out. That is, in my perspective, the only avoidable, major flaw (inconsistency) I've noticed so far. I will greatly appreciate your reply!

6/27/2017 02:14:39 am

This has been in wide discussion, but ultimately the gold dwarf is a ridiculous scene, that has no place in this edit, as it was only in the movie, for the effect shots. Think of it, as if Smaug is simply covered in coins, that are falling off of him. That helped the transition fall home for me.

6/29/2017 12:34:50 am

I see. And yeah, it really was a weird scene (and wasn't even in the book).

6/29/2017 07:25:57 am

Blaineo

1/13/2018 06:14:11 am

I'm loving the sound of the edit. When I finally watched them all at home I sat and edited it in my mind while keeping an eye on the plot. I found you could edit it down to two great movies easily. So I'm looking forward to watching this.
The only bit I'm a little disappointed in was the choice to remove Dol Guldur. It was an interesting sub plot and was based on the appendicies from the actual book so I feel it has a right to be in the movie.

1/26/2018 01:09:17 pm

Not to worry, I actually made a separate fan edit that exclusively follows the Dol Guldur subplot. Here is a Vimeo link!

https://vimeo.com/130716015

Danny

3/3/2019 11:39:35 am

Is it possible for me to edit out the molten gold scene keeping in mind that I have almost no skills as an editor? If it is something that you think I could manage, how would I go about doing it? I am just thinking of cutting out the part entirely and skipping to the part where he flies over lake town.

3/3/2019 06:19:50 pm

You are welcome to do as you wish! I don't own the rights to the Hobbit films. You'll probably want to get yourself an editing program like Adobe Premiere Pro, iMovie, Final Cut or Davinci Resolve however.

3/3/2019 08:19:27 pm

I wish I had that ability. I'd love to match Bard firing his last arrow to the Black Arrow hitting Smaug. I DESPISE the makeshift ballista scene. It looks absolutely ridiculous, and WOULD NOT WORK (seriously, the amount of tension required would have ripped the ends of his bow right out of the wall, to say nothing of the horrendous friction burn he would have given his son.

Lucy Logan

4/16/2020 04:12:11 pm

I thought apart from the cuts to the Last Light of Durin's Day scene being slightly jarring, but particularly Smaug's emergence from the mountain and land to the sky and sea, I think I'd prefer cut entirely so it's already in the air considering the bizarreness of it's appearance, although I understand no perfect solution exists, otherwise it's a perfect edit.

4/16/2020 04:22:24 pm

Thank you once more.

Edwin van de Scheur

4/24/2020 01:18:41 am

I'm a bit confused... In both the descriptions and the preview I get the idea that the golden statue scene is included, and from some comments here as well... However having downloaded both versions now, I see that it is removed all of the sudden? Is that a unnoticed change or did I download an old version?

I've looked at many edits and I was always really happy seeing these previews that the molten gold scene was included in this version. The only thing that ever disturbed me was the gold surfing and perhaps the never-ending chase scenes. But besides that I agreed with your initial observations that removing it would hurt continuity of Smaug's exit. Sure the gold is a bit improbable, but your preview made it more believable and I think it actually has a symbolic and narrative purpose... Allowing the Dwarves to work the forges and fight back utilizing their knowledge of the mountain and their dwarfcrafts. The gold statue symbolizing their return in gold... Smaug shaking off that gold and exiting in such a rage also had a lot more impact... Now he's just escaping because he couldn't catch Bilbo for a couple of second? Letting them work the forges also gives A BIT of a prelude to the Golden Bell that is later used to rally the dwarves...

edits for the desolation of smaug

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edits for the desolation of smaug

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