Tractor Tire Award of the Week - The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Have you ever watched a trailer and had that one scene, that one shot that made you go "Wow, that was cool!"? Or maybe there was something you saw that stuck with you, something that for some reason was in the back of your head and despite how insignificant it was you were waiting for it to show up in the final cut of the film. But when you watched the movie that scene was nowhere to be found or has been altered in a significant way. Well, that is what the Tractor Tire Award of the Week is all about. We try to track down those scenes that didn't make it into the final version of the film and make sense of them. Where in the film was it supposed to be? Why might it have been cut? Why has it been changed? We may not always have the answers for you but at least you will have your piece of mind and know that you aren't crazy. So, this weeks award goes to "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"!
  

Cut Scene #1-A

Where are you going Gandalf?

Cut Scene #1-B

This looks like the Necromancer's fort...

 Cut Scene #1-C

 Could he have actually gone there?

 Cut Scene #1-D

 Gandalf faces off with an unknown foe.

 Cut Scene #1-E

 Could that be the Necromancer?

Apparently Gandalf wanted more answers about the supposed Necromancer than we were led to believe as we clearly have a number of scenes showing him not only traveling to the abandoned fort, but also looking around in it and eventually facing off with someone who certainly looks to be the Necromancer. From the looks of it and how much of it was used in the trailer, this seems to have been a fairly significant amount of footage cut from the final film. But it is also a necessary one due to the already extreme length of the film. This scene will undoubtedly make an appearance on the inevitable extended cut of the film and I look forward to it since this appears to be a really moody and atmospheric sequence possibly filled with some cool magic tricks.

Cut Scene #2

Did the dwarves have a run in with some spiders?

File this one under, meh. Used as an image solely for the purpose of introducing the dwarf in the frame, this one image doesn't really stir the imagination. However, one cannot deny the link between the spider webs covering the dwarves and the scene involving spiders attacking the brown wizard's home. We see the spiders retreat to the Necromancer's fort so perhaps this is linked in some way with Gandalf's visit to the fort above. If so, then this could be one of the biggest omitted sequences of any film this year and has me extremely curious about what we missed out on.

Cut Scene #3

Bilbo finds Isildur's sword.

Clearly from the moment in the film where the dwarves reside in Rivendell, we find Bilbo exploring the mystical city a bit and located the broken sword of Isildur. The sword that would later be reforged by the elves and delivered to Aragorn so that he may claim his rightful place as the king of men in "The Return of the King". This is likely a scene in place for fans of the series and most likely intended as nothing more than fan service (this is even more likely due to the amount of fan service still left in the final cut). None the less, it would be interesting to find out what exactly this scene entails and if there is any sort of foretelling going on in it.

 Cut Scene #4-A

 Gandalf makes his way to the Goblin kingdom.

Later in the film Gandalf is separated from the dwarves and is forced to catch up with them. His arrival in the final cut is a surprise despite the fact that we knew he was following them. The scene in question here shows Gandalf traversing either a mountain side of a large cave by himself. The only time we know he was on his own was while the dwarves were held captive by the Goblin king, so it isn't too much of a stretch to believe these are edited scenes showing Gandalf making his way to his friends. It isn't a stretch to understand why it was cut either, as the eventual arrival of Gandalf is played as this huge surprise and any scenes showing him making his way there would likely ruin that effect.

Cut Scene #4-B

Gandalf stumbles into a dark cave.

Nothing much to say about this one, this is clearly connected to the cut scene above. We see Gandalf in a hurry and stumbling across this chasm of some sort. Then he apparently turns on the lights with his staff in the scene above. The only real strange thing about these two scenes is how they are not in the same trailer together.

 Cut Scene #5

 Gandalf hurries through an unknown corridor.

This appears to be how Gandalf gets into the mountain from scene 4, however it looks far too bright behind him given that it is night time for the entirety of the mountain sequence. This could very well be just a random scene from an as yet unknown cut scene that has not been alluded to. In any case, Gandalf seems to be in quite a hurry and once again on his own. It's clear now more than ever that there are a TON of scenes involving Gandalf that were left out of the theatrical cut and this is just another one to add to the ever growing pile.

While we have known for some time that Peter Jackson intends to do extended cuts for The Hobbit films much in the same way he did for the Lord of the Rings trilogy, it is still rather surprising at just how many scenes from those cut sequences made it into the trailers. This signifies a possible large amount of last minute edits to get the film down to a reasonable length for its theatrical run (which many still feel is far too long as it is). These edits are not that saddening with the knowledge we will likely see them integrated back in at some point. All they do is get me more excited to see what other additions await us with the extended cut of "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey".

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey trailer #1:

Cut scene #2 at :38

Cut scene #1-B at 1:16

Cut scene #1-C at 1:18

Cut scene #3 at 1:22

Cut scene #4-A at 1:35

Cut scene #1-A at 1:52

Cut scene #1-D at 1:57

Cut scene #1-E at 1:57

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey trailer #2:

Cut scene #5 at 1:05
Cut scene #4-B at 1:07

Posted in: Tractor Tire Awards