Synopsis:

This is the lean version which retains all the greatness of the movie and drops all the fluff, making it a better paced and more entertaining movie overall. Fire of the Dragon dispenses with many superfluous elements of the film like the elf-dwarf love triangle, the dwarves being left behind in Laketown, the orc assault on Laketown, as well as any other deviations from the main narrative.

Intentions:

When I watched Desolation in the cinema, I remember what a good start the movie had, and how awesome and well crafted the scenes with Smaug were, while how frustrating it was every time they cut away to some nonexistent plot device (ie. Tauriel and Legolas, Bard running around Laketown, Bolg attacking Laketown, etc.). I don't know why but the way they drew this movie out to nearly 3 hours by padding it with extra materials which took great liberties with the source material, a book I loved since I was a kid. As much as I admire Peter Jackson as a director, I felt like Desolation was a good 2 hour movie trapped in a 3 hour mess. This version cuts out the extra material and keeps the narative focused on Bilbo.

Change List:

1. The prologue with Gandalf and Thorin in Bree is deleted. 2. Other than a brief shot of them chasing the dwarves, all the scenes of Azog and Bolg (the orcs) stalking the dwarves as well of the scene of them at Dol Guldur are deleted 3. Bilbo being tempted by the ring outside Mirkwood forest is cut, along with the Sauron eye shot (I felt the brief shot of him being tempted earlier was sufficient to tell us the ring was evil) 4. Legolas' Gimli reference is cut 5. Entire scene of Tauriel and Kili, and Tauriel with Thranduil is deleted. There is no love triangle. There is only one exchange between Kili and Tauriel in the jail cell 6. Shots of orcs ceeping up on Mirkwood are cut, making the orc attack more of a surprise. 7. Gandalf at the Nazgul tombs trimmed-- cut the lines "You're asking me to abandon my friends, etc." 8. Barrel scene left intact. The Kili/Tauriel concerned glance is cut. Kili's arrow to knee is bound and never spoken of again. He's all better in this version. 9. Cut scene of Legolas interrogating an orc, as well as Bolg tracking the dwarves. 10. Trimmed Laketown scenes for pacing. 11. Cut all scenes of the four dwarves being left behind. Cut all scenes of Tauriel/Legolas (after the Mirkwood battle.) 12. Cut all scenes of Orcs attacking Laketown. 13. Gandalf vs Sauron, is kept in, but moved to before Bilbo enters Smaugs lair. 14. Entire Smaug sequence intact in one flow, except a brief cutaway for about 30 seconds where Bard tells his kids he'll kill the dragon and grabs the black arrow. 15. Cut scenes of Bard running around Lake town and getting arrested. 16. Cut Bilbo's last lines "What have we done". Last lines now Smaug's. 17. The end credits scored with Misty Mountins Cold from An Unexpected Journey, before I See Fire.

Additional Notes:

I used Adobe Premiere Pro to edit the Desolation of Smaug blu ray. I took notes on how I wanted the scenes to flow and edited them as such.

Other Sources:

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey--song Misty Mountains Cold.

Special Thanks:

Aztek463, njvc