lord of the rings extended trilogy length

The investigation of Dol Guldor has been completely excised, including the appearances of Radagast, Saruman and Galadriel.

Well, okay, it’s closer to 4.5 hours, but those are some long-ass credits! This new version was achieved through a series of major and minor cuts, detailed below: So, over the weekend, I decided to condense all three installments ( An Unexpected Journey, The Desolation of Smaug and The Battle of the Five Armies) into a single 4-hour feature that more closely resembled Tolkien’s original novel. Back in 2012, I had high hopes of adding The Hobbit to my annual Lord of the Rings marathon, but in its current bloated format, I simply cannot see that happening. What especially saddened me was how Bilbo (the supposed protagonist of the story) was rendered absent for large portions of the final two films.

Overall, however, I felt that the story was spoiled by an interminable running time, unengaging plot tangents and constant narrative filibustering. Let me start by saying that I enjoy many aspects of Peter Jackson’s Hobbit trilogy.

Lord of the rings extended trilogy length