The Hobbit - The Desolation Of Smaug -2013- Ext...
One of the biggest complaints about the theatrical Desolation of Smaug was the constant cutting away to Gandalf (Ian McKellen) investigating the High Fells of Rhudaur. It felt like a trailer for The Lord of the Rings rather than part of The Hobbit .
Smaug in the extended cut is more than a lizard with a monologue. He plays with Bilbo, chasing him through tunnels while speaking of the Arkenstone—not as a jewel, but as a contract . “Thorin promised you one-fourteenth of the hoard,” Smaug purrs. “But he didn’t tell you, did he? The Arkenstone is not part of the share. It belongs to the King. And Thorin will never be King without it. He sent you to die for a family heirloom, little thief.” The Hobbit - The Desolation of Smaug -2013- Ext...
The theatrical version presented the Master of Laketown (Stephen Fry) as a cartoonish greedy politician. The Extended Edition adds a 6-minute sequence showing him conspiring with his henchman, Alfrid (Ryan Gage). We see them rigging grain prices, starving the poor, and actively plotting to betray Thorin. This transforms the eventual burning of Laketown (in the third film) from a disaster movie set-piece into the collapse of a corrupt state. One of the biggest complaints about the theatrical
