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Could The Hobbit trilogy be reduced to a single film?

I just finished watching a really well-done fan edit of An Unexpected Journey. The editor's stated goal was not to make a purist cut like so many fan editors are doing, but to keep to most of the same basic plot Peter Jackson used in his films, but trimming a lot of the excess that bogged things down. He mixed in scenes from the theatrical and extended editions, reordered a couple of scenes here and there to make things flow better (this was mostly done in Rivendell), and cut out a lot of the fat. The EE ran 182 minutes, and his cut was around 140 minutes. There were a couple of cuts he made that I wouldn't have, but overall the pacing is vastly improved.

Peter Jackson reused a lot of music from LOTR while leaving a good chunk of Howard Shore's original score for AUJ on the cutting room floor, and the editor went in and removed the LOTR music where appropriate, replacing it with the music Shore composed for the specific scenes. The worst offender of the LOTR music, IMO, is when the Nazgûl theme blared over the dramatic moment when Thorin charged down the burning tree to confront Azog. The editor replaced that with Shore's original composition and it works so much better.

The editor went above and beyond to remove a lot of the "prequely" feeling of the movie, suggesting that it should work as a movie that can be watched prior to LOTR (a view that I agree with), cutting out a lot of callbacks to LOTR that wouldn't make much sense if you're watching The Hobbit first. He removed Frodo from the prologue, and spliced in some of Bilbo's dialogue from FOTR to cover up the "My dear Frodo..." parts. He also deemphasized the One Ring, cutting out the ominous close-up on it as it fell from Gollum's pocket (for example), since at this point in the story all a first-time viewer would know is it's just a magic ring that makes you invisible.

It's honestly one of the best fan edits I've ever seen, and I actually really liked AUJ. The editor hasn't done The Desolation of Smaug yet, but hopefully he's working on it.
 
I think I know the version you mean, I've just spent far too much of this weekend watching fanedits of the first two films myself!

There's a similar edit by another Faneditor (running 150 minutes) that is also worth a watch (notable for moving the Dale attack flashbacks to later in the film). There are elements of both cuts that I like and will definitely emulate whenever it is I get round to cutting my own version.

Just need to wait for the kids to grow up and leave home... ;)
 
Skywalker said:
The editor went above and beyond to remove a lot of the "prequely" feeling of the movie, suggesting that it should work as a movie that can be watched prior to LOTR (a view that I agree with), cutting out a lot of callbacks to LOTR that wouldn't make much sense if you're watching The Hobbit first.
Click to expand...

Right now Jackson is pulling a Lucas and claiming the films can be watched in chronological order.
 
the hobbit could actually be made into one film.

cut of turiel parts

cut off majority of the Elvish part, rivendale, merkwood and so on

remove the romantic triangle

let smaug get to the point instead of wasting time talking to Bilbo.

remove all the Galadriel parts as well.

remove 60% of the action scenes.

you would get a solid 3 hours film
 
While you could probably compress the events of the story into a 3 hour film, the characterisations would be pretty sketchy and the protagonists would be lurching from one action sequence to the next.

Two films is fine, but certainly no more.
 
I thought two films made more sense than three films.

To me the worst parts of the films are the parts that aren't about the hobbit. They really strain to draw a connection to the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and in the process give Gandalf knowledge he didn't have in the original movies. Inaccuracy to the books, okay, it's a different medium. Inaccuracy to the previous movies, give me a freaking break. Also they made a lot of changes that traded a better story for better action scenes. In the books the barrels were closed. I thought that was one of the worst scenes of Desolation of Smaug when they escaped in the open barrels because it was the hardest scene to believe. They should have kept the barrels closed like in the books.
 
In the book Bilbo uses his strengths to sneak the Dwarfs out of prison, employing stealth and putting himself at risk (he can't swim) for the sake of his comrades. The Dwarfs' exit is not discovered for many hours after they are gone!

In the movie the Dwarfs are being attacked on all sides mere moments after they land in the river. It's an exciting, well done scene in its own right but adds little to the story as a whole and actively diminishes Bilbo's role in the rescue of his friends.

You know what was missing from these films - ANY invisible man antics! For goodness sakes, the scenes practically write themselves in the Elven King's palace, with floating keys, doors opening by themselves, etc etc. Why no antics?
 
Bilbo did use stealth and guile to sneak the Dwarves out of the Elvenking's prison. The movie didn't change that aspect of the scene at all. The only significant change was what happened after he got the Dwarves out. Instead of the not-very-cinematic idea of the Dwarves floating down the river in closed barrels, with no one the wiser, they added in an entertaining action scene to ramp up the tension. Sure, the action went on too long and was often over the top, but that was an issue throughout the whole trilogy. The basic concept was fine.
 
I'm scratching my head too, but possibly in reference to how specific the knowledge was on Sauron?

Skywalker said:
Bilbo did use stealth and guile to sneak the Dwarves out of the Elvenking's prison. The movie didn't change that aspect of the scene at all. The only significant change was what happened after he got the Dwarves out. Instead of the not-very-cinematic idea of the Dwarves floating down the river in closed barrels, with no one the wiser, they added in an entertaining action scene to ramp up the tension. Sure, the action went on too long and was often over the top, but that was an issue throughout the whole trilogy. The basic concept was fine.
Click to expand...

Just my POV, but I consider the escapade down the river as much a part of the dwarfs' escape as much the departure from the cellar. However, I agree that the scene in the book would have required a different style of film making - and I can't deny that the theatrical version is a very exciting scene!
 
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