The One Ring Forums: Tolkien Topics: Movie Discussion: The Hobbit:
Topher Grace Re-Cut The Hobbit Trilogy Into a Two-Hour Movie



Otaku-sempai
Immortal


Jul 31 2018, 11:46pm


Views: 5020
Topher Grace Re-Cut The Hobbit Trilogy Into a Two-Hour Movie

CBR.com's Sam Stone reports:

Quote
Everyone has their own hobbies and, for former That 70s Show star Topher Grace, it’s re-editing major Hollywood films.

After appearing as real-life Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duke in Spike Lee’s upcoming film BlacKkKlansman, Grace recovered from the experience by creating a fan edit of Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit trilogy, compressing the entire seven-hour saga into a single two-hour film.


The rest of the story is at CBR.com.

"For a brief time I was here; and for a brief time I mattered." - Harlan Ellison


dernwyn
Forum Admin / Moderator


Aug 2 2018, 2:31am


Views: 4915
I just saw a trailer for that movie

That would have been a difficult role; I can understand his need to do something to get his mind out of it.

It seems more like he needed to immerse himself in Middle-earth for a while, so doing an editing in this case would be like skipping through the books to read favorite sections. I hope it worked for him; I've no idea how actors can handle creating certain roles without "losing" themselves or needing therapy afterwards.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I desired dragons with a profound desire"


lurtz2010
Rohan

Aug 2 2018, 2:57am


Views: 4911
A single two hour film wouldn’t do it justice at all

Maybe three hours but even then a lot of good stuff would have to be cut.

I never bother with fan edits but since this guy is a famous actor I’m kind of interested. I hope he releases it online sometime.


2ndBreffest
Lorien


Aug 3 2018, 3:36pm


Views: 4849
oh no i dont think it would be good

I cant see it being good to remove a single second from Peter Jacksons magnifficent movies! I dont see why so many people say these movies are so full of things that need to be removed. Even when Peter Jackson likes to add lots of burping and farting I have to admit I laugh as did many other people in the theater so he knows his audience and what they like. Another thing people always say is that the "there can be anything in my trousers" line is not something Tolkein would ever say but that is because he didn't grow up in these days and didnt need to put things in his story to make people want to read them. I'm sure if Tolkein was a modern day writer he would put things like that and probably farting too


Silmaril
Rohan


Aug 3 2018, 4:45pm


Views: 4828
I want to see that cut.

That 70s show was great btw.


Chen G.
Gondor

Aug 6 2018, 9:53pm


Views: 4723
Yes and no


In Reply To
I cant see it being good to remove a single second from Peter Jacksons magnifficent movies! I dont see why so many people say these movies are so full of things that need to be removed.


I like the extended cuts as they are: I would probably cut the equivalent of ten minutes out of the whole trilogy, and I'd probably add other stuff in its place (more character moments for the individual Dwarves!)

But than, they extended cuts are a kind of movie that one watches in a different frame of mind: more like that of watching an old, 60s epic; and they're meant for the small-screne (where the film isn't as overbearing and can therefore be experienced longer without being exhausting) anyway.

I do think the theatrical cut of An Unexpected Journey should have been much shorter. I think it would have payed to have the "first" entry in this series be a concise, action-packed adventure film, which would be more effective at drawing new audiences in compared to the somewhat lumbering epic that we got.

I do think a one-movie prospect, especially a two-hour one, is preposterous. The Hobbit is a packed, minimalistically-written novel, which is to say nothing of the supplemental material in The Lord of the Rings and the Appendices. There's a reason people were willing to accept a two-film adaptation back in the day.

Also, I think that by reorienting the story to circulate Thorin rather than Bilbo, that inherently makes the story much more "epic" and lends itself to longer features and to a trilogy of them, at that.

I think Jackson's King Kong (another underrated movie) is more poorly paced than any of these three films.


Otaku-sempai
Immortal


Aug 7 2018, 2:06am


Views: 4692
I agree.

I was completely on-board with Guillermo del Toro when he gave his reasons for a two-film adaptation (even before the addition of material from the appendices). At the same time I would be interested in viewing the Topher Grace cut. I assume that his version places much of the emphasis back squarely on Bilbo.

"For a brief time I was here; and for a brief time I mattered." - Harlan Ellison


skyofcoffeebeans
Rohan

Aug 7 2018, 4:18pm


Views: 4607
That's the beauty of Jackson's Hobbit trilogy

You can recut it in so many different ways.

A concise 2-hour story about a hobbit finding his courage in the face of danger and death? Sure!

A 4 hour cut that tells Bilbo and Thorin's story and also manages to squeeze in the White Council subplot? Go for it.

The re-constructed two-film structure that Del Toro, Boyens, Walsh, and Jackson originally envisioned? It's in there!

A trilogy of 2 hr action-adventure films in the vein of Indiana Jones? Si, señor.

A 4 episode 1.5-2 hour miniseries that tells the story of the wider scope of the Hobbit in more manageable chunks? Why not?

The material as released is an editor's dream.


(This post was edited by skyofcoffeebeans on Aug 7 2018, 4:20pm)


Chen G.
Gondor

Aug 7 2018, 6:30pm


Views: 4579
Meh

I'm not a fan of fan-credits anyway. I know my editing, and very few movies are without flaw, editorially or otherwise. None of The Lord of the Rings features are flawless. Does anyone bother with fan-cuts of those?


skyofcoffeebeans
Rohan

Aug 7 2018, 6:48pm


Views: 4577
I'm not talking about flaws

... so much as materials.

But you're correct. No films are flawless. LOTR is also good fodder for fan edits, especially if you wanted to reconstruct the book's structure with a six part miniseries. It's understandable if said restructuring isn't to your taste or interest, but it's just another way of interacting with the films.


Chen G.
Gondor

Aug 7 2018, 7:37pm


Views: 4560
Fair point

While I like this trilogy treated more as the story of Thorin and Company than Bilbo, I would like it if there was a canonical altenate cut to satiate the Bilbophiles. And if people who want to get into filmmaking get their first taste of professional editing in doing a fan edit of this sort than have at it.

Actually, I'm making an edit. But I'm not touching the films themselves, I'm just creating separate prelude, intermission and entr'acte reels that can be seen before the first film and in switching between the two discs. They're epics as much as they are fantasies - they should be experienced like epics.


(This post was edited by Chen G. on Aug 7 2018, 7:38pm)


skyofcoffeebeans
Rohan

Aug 7 2018, 8:34pm


Views: 4543
I love entr'acte title sequences!

Back in the day, I did the same thing for each LOTR film, with an overture, intermission between discs, and entr'acte titles, graphics, and music fitting each film.

I have one 4-hour cut of the Hobbit in particular that feels very much of that genre, escalating from a drunken party to nihilistic war in the space of a single film while retaining some of the geopolitical intrigue and wider scope of the trilogy. The way you can play and manipulate structure with these films is fascinating.


Eruonen
Half-elven


Aug 18 2018, 1:45pm


Views: 4387
I never had a problem with the trilogy, for me t was just an issue of some of the

decisions and choices that were made to fill it out. Two hours is too short of a time...I imagine all non-company material was cut...no Galadriel, no Saruman, no Dol Guldur, no Radagast, The battle was probably shaved to 10 minutes.


Otaku-sempai
Immortal


Aug 18 2018, 1:53pm


Views: 4382
Guillermo del Toro seems to agree with you.

When GtD broke down the book into individual episodes and sequences, he determined that a comprehensive adaptation could not be done as a single film. He saw it as a two-part adaptation even without additions from the LotR's appendices or other expansions.

"For a brief time I was here; and for a brief time I mattered." - Harlan Ellison

(This post was edited by Otaku-sempai on Aug 18 2018, 1:54pm)