My edits refocus three sprawling films by: -Focusing on Bilbo’s story, neither slavish to the book nor indulgent of Jackson’s additions. -Cutting the goofiness, gore and dread for a consistent tone balancing the book’s exuberance and the sequel films’ grit. -Unifying the narrative with fewer flashbacks, cross-cuts, establishing and reaction shots. -Closing dozens of plot holes, inconsistencies, implausibilities and redundancies. -Mining all three Extended Editions for character moments and visual storytelling. I reviewed seven other fan edits before and during my process, and took bits and pieces from all of them, most notably Dustin Lee’s. My edits are particularly lean on Bard–now just a roguish archer–and Thorin, whose corruption is more natural and human. Unlike most other edits, I kept Gandalf’s side quest and Thorin’s beef with Azog.