‘The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug’ Extended Edition is on the way! Waiting almost a full year to purchase ‘The Hobbit Part 2’ for one’s own home viewing pleasure may be tough, but inevitably Peter Jackson’s extended editions always prove to be well worth the delay. The man knows what the fans want, and has known since he first started doing  extended editions for the ‘Lord of the Rings’ trilogy. They want more content, they want to see scenes linking the movies more closely to the books, and they want an experience that lets them delve even deeper into Tolkien’s world.

Based on the clip below, ‘The Desolation of Smaug’ Extended Edition will have all of that and more. The scene occurs early in the film, when Bilbo and the dwarves are making their way through Mirkwood. They have to cross a swamp/ river area, which looks suspiciously similar to the dead marshes seen in ‘The Two Towers.’ Of course they send Bilbo through first, and it’s great to see Martin Freeman do anything physical in these movies, as his comedy and grasp of the character of Bilbo is not limited to dialogue. It’s also great to see a little more of the dangers in Mirkwood, as the book made it clear that it is not only the spiders that threaten the forest once known as Greenwood. Enchanted waters such as this demonstrate that the land itself is cursed, and not just because of its new spindly residents.

With an extra 25 minutes of runtime, this scene is just one of the many, but I love how it subtly harkens back to the original trilogy, while also moving forward plot ideas for the current movie, such as Balin’s disregard for Bilbo’s safety (which comes into play toward the end of the movie), and the relentless stubbornness of the dwarves. The full Extended Edition will be released on November 4th, just in time for fans to revisit the first two films of the trilogy before ‘The Battle of the 5 Armies’ opens in December.

Source: Cinema Blend