The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies- Extended Edition review

When news first broke out that Peter Jackson was going to turn his two-part film adaption of The Hobbit (a 300 page book at most- depending on what edition you have) into a trilogy, reception was mixed at best. I, for one, was excited in the prospect of seeing three more middle-earth movies. And now that all three films are out, still, reception is mixed at best. I know I'm in the minority (or the haters are a very vocal minority), but I really enjoyed the Hobbit trilogy. Sure, it fell into a lot of the same traps as that other prequel trilogy, but at the end of the day, I was satisfied with the end result. Did it need to be three movies? Probably not, but such is the way of things.

But when I heard that there were going to be extended editions of the Hobbit films, that's where I started to get suspicious. I love the first movie: An Unexpected Journey, but I couldn't fathom even one more minute being added into that film. Sure enough, the extended edition didn't too much for me. That's the only middle-earth film where I actually prefer the theatrical version. The new scene of toddler Bilbo meeting Gandalf for the first time was great, but I could've done without the Goblin King's song and nude dwarfs swimming in a fountain.

Desolation of Smaug's extended edition, however, was a vast improvement over the theatrical version (which I never was a big fan of). It included scenes more faithful to the book (the dwarfs introducing themselves to Beorn, and more scenes in Mirkwood like Bombur falling into the enchanted river), more scenes in Lake-Town that really fleshes it out more as a real place than just a set piece, and it's most significant inclusion was the character of Thrain. The entire sequence of Gandalf in Dol Guldur was completely re-edited to include that character, and it ultimately felt like a completely new movie with all the new footage and added backstory. I highly recommend it over the theatrical version.

And now we're at The Battle of the Five Armies. When I first saw this in the theater, something felt off about it. I could tell it was edited. Reportedly, "studio heads" got the best of Peter Jackson and the result was a film that just felt rushed and choppy. It was the lowest reviewed of the trilogy, just making the "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes with a 60%, and it was significantly shorter than the rest of the trilogy (144 minutes compared to 169 and 161 minutes respectively). News or a longer extended edition broke out before the theatrical version was even released. It was reported to have 30 extra minutes (which then became 20) and it was going to be rated R! I knew right then that this was going to be the definitive version of this film.

Let's get on with the review. The film begins immediately with Smaug's attack on Lake Town. I always thought it was jarring how it just jumps right in like that without an introduction, but I don't know how else to begin with the abrupt ending Desolation had. I noticed some quick new shots of Smaug noticing Bard on the rooftops and trying to knock him off. It was a nice inclusion to have the dragon see him as a threat, as opposed to the theatrical edition where he randomly turns around and just happens to see Bard on the bell tower. No idea why those shots were deleted in the first place though.

One thing that really got under my skin in this scene was the deletion of the thrush. I'm the very last person to complain about book-to-film changes, but this one really bothers me. In the book, Bilbo told the thrush where Smaug's weak spot was and told it to tell Bard. Omitting that takes away Bilbo's (the main character) involvement in killing Smaug (the main bad guy), which I thought was a complete betrayal to Bilbo's character development. Bard just noticing the blind spot on Smaug's body was just way too convenient. Regardless, this is still a very well done scene, and the absolute highlight of the trilogy.

Most of the new scenes are dedicated to the battle, but Dol Guldur has some significant changes. There's a whole new set piece of an orc trying to cut off Gandalf's hand to get his Ring. Galadriel shows up with her Ring and destroys the orc (and that's putting it lightly). This inclusion helps flesh out the backstory of the Rings of Power, and puts higher stakes on the scene itself.

Now on to the title battle. It feels much more fleshed out and focused than in the theatrical version. There's more hostility towards the dwarves and the elves, and they fight each other for a while before the orcs show up. When the orcs start pushing towards the mountain, and the dwarves try to push back against them, there's an added scene of suspense where the elves debate whether to help them or not. This help to flesh out the character traits of the elves and their change of heart to help the dwarves fight back. The battle also has some new one-off shots of brutal hits and kills as well, solidifying it's new R rating. When the 13 dwarves finally come out from hiding and fight, there are new scenes of them working together as a team to (creatively) kill some orcs. I wish these scenes would've stayed in the original version, as it helps develop these dwarves as individual characters.

The funeral scene.

But it's in the new chariot scene where the film earns it's new rating. To start off, the chariot wheels have spikes on them, which easily slices and cuts down anyone unfortunate enough to stand in it's way. Six trolls are decapitated simultaneously with blood gushing everywhere. A warg's head gets crushed later on down the road, and a few more heads gets sliced off. It's this scene alone that gives the new version of the film the R rating, and I'm glad WB decided to go through with the rating instead of dumming it down.

For the Alfred haters out there, rejoice! He gets a death scene! He accidentally gets catapulted into a troll's open mouth and crushed by the impact of the ground. It's a great scene, but it unfittingly feels like it's being played out for laughs (or maybe that was just me...)

The absolute MAJOR inclusion was the funeral scene for Thorin, Kili, and Fili. Why this wasn't in the original cut I have no idea. Because it was originally taken out, I thought it was going to be this elaborate 7-minute or so sequence, but it was only 2 minutes! So it baffles me why it was deleted from the final cut. (For pacing reasons Peter Jackson said in his commentary). It makes me feel like some scenes like this were deliberately deleted just for the sake of having an extended cut. Hell, the extended runtime for this (164 minutes) doesn't even surpass the theatrical length of An Unexpected Journey (169 minutes). Regardless, this is a very well done scene and it's hard not to get teary-eyed watching it.

Overall, I thought this extended edition was a vast improvement over the theatrical version, and that goes for The Desolation of Smaug as well. I really enjoyed the extended editions of the Lord of the Rings trilogy quite a bit, but I've always went back to the theatrical versions on later viewings. That won't be the case for this trilogy. The bonus features for each extended edition release always had over 9 hours of extensive behind-the-scenes features and this one is no exception. A commentary track is included with Peter Jackson and Philippa Boyens. It makes me wonder when it was recorded because Jackson talks about Christopher Lee as if he's still alive, and he never mentioned the R rating. The commentary tracks for the Hobbit trilogy are definitely worth listening to, especially The Desolation of Smaug.

This version of The Battle of the Five Armies is the definitive version of the film and the one that feels more complete. It's a real shame that this isn't the version the common audience member will see. People might dismiss the extended editions of The Hobbit because those films were stretched out thin to begin with (their words not mine), but I'd say that they're missing out quite a bit.