Synopsis:

This edit is a little under three hours. The edit is missing all of the superfluous material from the trilogy. The edit also works as a true standalone movie and prequel that does not cash in on any Lord of the Rings references that a first time viewer — given he is watching these movies in chronological order — would not know about. This means no old Bilbo, no Sauron, no Legolas, a less menacing Ring, and no Frodo. Needless to say there is also no love triangle.

Intentions:

I tasked myself to edit the trilogy into less than three hours while still ensuring a watchable movie. I basically thought to myself what a standalone cinematic release of a single Hobbit movie would have looked like.

Change List:

Among hundreds of small changes these are the most explicit ones: - No prologue/old Bilbo - Reworked opening monologue - All flashbacks removed throughout the movies - Shortened dwarf arrival - No/as little as possible dwarf silliness and slapstick throughout the entire movie - No dinner song - No "I'm going on an adventure!" - No orcs until BoTFA - Troll scene trimmed/fight removed - Radagast removed - Rivendell trimmed - Added extended scene of Elrond and Bilbo - No council, Galadriel, Saruman - No stone giants - Goblin song removed, slapstick fight removed - Gollum scene intact - no orcs, wargs, eagles - No Beorn - Mirkwood trimmed; spiders severely trimmed; elven capture scene reduced to minimal - No Tauriel, no Legolas, no love triangle - No Gandalf side quest - Barrel chase removed - Laketown reduced to less than five minutes; no politics, no master, no Alfrid - Dwarves find the hidden keyhole right away - No orcs in Laketown - Slapstick dragon fight and gold melting removed - Bard doesn't use his son to fire the black arrow - Laketown survivors plot reduced to minimal - No Dol Guldur - No Bard/Thorin negotiation - Battle trimmed - No auction or old Bilbo.

Additional Notes:

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Special Thanks:

Special Thanks to ssj for his continuous support, feedback, and curation. For their general interest, kind words and suggestions in the project thread I'd also like to thank bumkin, Brumous, hasmak, musiced921, TM2YC, Neglify, revel911, addiesin, BandobrasTuk, douchebag, DigModiFicaTion and darth-gary. Most of all, thanks a lot to my girlfriend Steffi and my good friends Lores and Geoffrey for their valuable feedback on my earliest rough cuts.