The Hobbit - The Cardinal Cut

Hello, and welcome to the official WordPress page for The Hobbit – The Cardinal Cut!

I, like many other massive fans of both Tolkien’s works and Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, was in many ways disappointed with the subsequent big-screen adaptation of The Hobbit. But unlike with many other flawed adaptations, I always felt that with The Hobbit, a single good movie did exist within what we received; it was only a matter of chiseling away the excess. And now, with an abundance of free time and a fledgling YouTube channel on my hands, I have finally set about forging my first fan edit.

My goals with this cut were to trim The Hobbit Trilogy down to a single movie, not to exceed a length of four hours (excluding credits), that was as faithful to the spirit of the novel as I could manage working with the materials I had. I will provide a brief overview of the changes here, but a comprehensive list of the edits, with timestamps and information on transitions, will be available at the bottom of this post.

• Total length of 3 hours, 48 minutes and 25 seconds (including credits)
• Cut the opening titles from DoS and BoFA, and the ending credits from AUJ and DoS
• Cut extended prologue (cut between Bilbo starting to write and “60 Years Earlier…”)
• Cut the “Bilbo goes to the market” scene; trimmed the Dwarves’ arrival
• Cut Azog as much as possible, reducing him to an unnamed background character
• Trimmed the Trolls scene so that they use Bilbo as a hostage right away
• Cut everything to do with Radagast, Saruman, Galadriel, the Necromancer, Dol Guldur, etc.
• Heavily trimmed the chase to Rivendell, and the group’s stay there
• Cut the “stone giants” scene
• Heavily trimmed the “down to Goblin Town” sequence, and the Dwarves’ escape
• Heavily trimmed the “five fir trees” sequence
• Trimmed the stay with Beorn (heavily trimmed the reintroduction of the Dwarves)
• Trimmed the Mirkwood sequence
• Cut the Elves fighting with the Spiders (instead they simply arrive and arrest the Dwarves)
• Cut the scenes with Tauriel and Kili
• Cut the “river chase” (cut from Bilbo falling in the water to the group washing up downstream)
• Trimmed Bard’s introduction
• Heavily trimmed the arrival in Laketown, the Dwarves’ arrest, and the departure ceremony
• Cut everything with Legolas and Tauriel tracking the Dwarves/Orcs
• Cut the Orc attack on Laketown and Kili’s Morgul Blade injury/treatment
• Lightly trimmed Bilbo’s confrontation with Smaug (mainly references to the Arkenstone/Sauron)
• Cut the Dwarves/Smaug chase (cut from Smaug breathing fire at Bilbo to him leaving Erebor)
• Trimmed Smaug’s attack on Laketown, aftermath of attack
• Heavily trimmed Thorin’s descent into madness
• Trimmed the Elves’ arrival and both sides’ preparations for battle
• Trimmed Gandalf’s arrival and Bilbo’s sneaking out
• Trimmed Dain’s arrival; cut the fighting between the Elves and Dwarves
• Cut the “earth eaters”
• Heavily trimmed the Battle of the Five Armies (cut >95% of it)

Before I share the links, I feel it is imperative to ask that everyone please responsibly support the fan editing community and the films’ original creators, and only view fan edits of films for which you already have a legally purchased copy. Thank you.

Note: Please be careful when downloading files from the internet. The three links below (the full film, and the first and second halves) are the only ones whose safety I can attest to.

(If clicking the link does not work, simply copy and paste it into the search bar.)

First, here is the full film, in a single 5.89 GB .mp4 file:

https://mega.nz/file/0JwHlTqZ#nn5PiPzg8zd5_zugj9fhUHR2o2dFiv_grhCz9k1cKp4

If the size of this file proves unsuitable for downloading, I have also split the full film into two halves.

The first half is a 2.83 GB .mp4 file:

https://mega.nz/file/lMhxQZiI#f4YfgmXCWFzSIAPwjKfJ76zaBWHwjCLjxg5bZaeWLLM

And the second half is a 2.97 GB .mp4 file:

https://mega.nz/file/kRoWTa6a#tuYneZ39yIhTQ5W2PNre8BZH0hgnAxtjdqJe1iMn6kc

And there you have it! I’m certain that I have a ways to go in terms of improvement compared to the veterans of the fan editing community, but I hope you all enjoy The Cardinal Cut nonetheless.

Thanks for stopping by, and if you’re still looking for something to pass the time, feel free to check out my YouTube channel, Cardinal West.

____________________________________

Comprehensive list of edits made:

[cross dissolve audio between all cut segments, unless otherwise noted]

An Unexpected Journey (Extended Edition): First Disc

[cross dissolve between 00:01:52 – 00:14:05]

[cut 00:17:27 – 00:18:44]

[cut 00:25:17 – 00:25:54]

[cut 46:30 – 46:47, 00:47:53 – 00:53:03, 00:54:24 – 00:58:06]

[cut 01:02:42 – 01:03:03, 01:03:48 – 01:04:05, 01:04:07 – 01:04:25, 01:05:49 – 01:07:06]

[cut 01:15:01 – 01:21:29, 01:21:50 – 01:21:56, 01:21:58 – 01:22:16]

[cut 01:23:04 – 01:23:31, 01:23:39 – 01:24:05, 01:24:31 – 01:24:37]

[cut 01:28:41 – 01:28:51, 01:31:00 – 01:31:51, 01:32:48 – 01:34:10, 01:37:23 – END]

An Unexpected Journey (Extended Edition): Second Disc

[cut 00:00:00 – 00:00:02]

[cut 00:02:16 – 00:11:21, 00:11:59 – 00:13:58].

[cut 00:15:32 – 00:19:06, 00:19:43 – 00:20:03, 00:20:18 – 00:22:33, 00:22:39 – 00:22:41]

[cut 00:22:45 – 00:22:57, 00:24:32 – 00:24:42, 00:25:08 – 00:27:24, 00:27:55 – 00:30:47]

[cut 00:44:19 – 00:44:36, 00:45:07 – 00:46:09, 00:47:29 – 00:51:51, 00:52:26 – 00:52:31]

[cut 00:56:48 – 00:57:02, 00:59:02 – 00:59:56, 01:00:06 – 01:00:10, 01:00:22 – 01:00:25]

[cut 01:00:59 – 01:01:02, 01:01:21 – 01:01:22, 01:01:42 – 01:01:44, 01:01:47 – 01:01:52]

[cut 01:02:17 – 01:05:58, 01:06:12 – 01:06:15, 01:06:31 – 01:06:34, 01:07:06 – 01:07:10]

[cut 01:07:43 – 01:07:50, 01:10:02 – 01:10:38, 01:11:47 – END]

The Desolation of Smaug (Extended Edition): First Disc

[cut 00:00:00 – 00:07:38, 00:07:45 – 00:07:53, 00:08:22 – 00:08:30]

[cut 00:09:47 – 00:09:49, 00:09:51 – 00:09:55, 00:10:12 – 00:10:17, 00:10:24 – 00:10:29]

[cut 00:12:11 – 00:13:00, 00:13:49 – 00:15:40, 00:15:55 – 00:16:04]

[cut 00:16:25 – 00:21:13, 00:23:20 – 00:25:43]

[cut 00:27:03 – 00:28:01, 00:28:27 – 00:29:02, 00:32:00 – 00:33:08, 00:33:50 – 00:34:07]

[cut 00:43:42 – 00:43:55, 00:45:42 – 00:45:57, 00:46:10 – 00:46:48, 00:46:50 – 00:47:06]

[cut 00:47:10 – 00:47:22, 00:49:09 – 00:49:46, 00:52:56 – 00:58:08]

[cut 01:01:04 – 01:01:06, 01:01:12 – 01:01:14, 01:01:28 – 01:12:22, 01:12:31 – 01:12:34, 01:12:51 – 01:13:27]

[cut 01:13:39 – 01:13:51, 01:14:05 – 01:14:39, 01:14:51 – 01:19:49]

[cut 01:20:46 – 01:21:35, 01:22:02 – 01:31:15, 01:33:44 – END]

The Desolation of Smaug (Extended Edition): Second Disc

[cut 00:00:00 – 00:03:55, 00:04:01 – 00:04:10, 00:09:17 – 00:11:07, 00:11:12 – 00:12:46]

[cut 00:14:32 – 00:16:38, 00:17:09 – 00:23:30]

[cut 00:31:11 – 00:32:46, 00:33:23 – 00:36:49]

[clip audio from 00:33:21 – 00:33:23, insert over audio during transition between 00:33:23 – 00:36:49]

[cut 00:46:01 – 00:46:44, 00:47:19 – 00:49:45, 00:50:14 – 00:51:03, 00:52:21 – 00:52:45]

[cut 00:53:20 – 01:19:26, 01:19:32 – 01:19:37, 01:20:03 – END]

The Battle of the Five Armies (Extended Edition): First Disc

[cut 00:00:00 – 00:02:54, additive dissolve at 00:02:54]

[cut 00:03:04 – 00:03:07, 00:03:08 – 00:03:09, 00:03:11 – 00:04:27]

[cut 00:06:22 – 00:06:30, 00:07:18 – 00:07:54, 00:08:55 – 00:08:59]

[cut 00:09:33 – 00:09:38, 00:10:37 – 00:10:57]

[cut 00:12:39 – 00:16:36, 00:17:04 – 00:18:32, 00:18:57 – 00:22:24]

[cut 00:22:50 – 00:24:56, 00:25:07 – 00:39:12, 00:40:41 – 00:43:12, 00:44:05 – 00:44:26]

[cut 00:50:55 – 00:51:10, 00:53:06 – 00:56:15, 00:57:35 – 01:00:26]

[cut 01:02:09 – 01:02:44, 01:05:09 – 01:06:10, 01:06:42 – 01:06:47, 01:12:36 – 01:12:41]

[cut 01:13:25 – 01:13:55, 01:14:40 – 01:17:07, 01:17:11 – 01:17:15, 01:17:21 – 01:17:39]

[cut 01:17:42 – 01:17:43, 01:17:51 – 01:18:08, 01:18:18 – 01:18:36, 01:19:01 – 01:19:12]

[cut 01:19:29 – 01:19:52, 01:19:59 – 01:23:36, 01:23:39 – END]

The Battle of the Five Armies (Extended Edition): Second Disc

[cut 00:00:00 – 00:02:12, 00:02:25 – 00:05:24]

[cut 00:05:39 – 00:20:25, 00:20:40 – 00:22:57, 00:23:01 – 00:28:27]

[at 00:28:32, leave 3 seconds of nothing, faded in and out to; fade audio in 1.5 seconds before video]

[cut 00:28:32 – 00:41:16, 00:41:29 – 00:42:12]

[cross dissolve between 00:44:32 – 00:47:44]

[cut 00:49:17 – 00:49:59, 00:50:51 – 00:50:56]

Total length of the Cardinal Cut: 03:48:25 (including roughly 13 minutes of credits)

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