The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power wrapped up its first season just a few months ago, but production has already begun on the first of what Amazon Studios has intended to be a five-season series; considering that $1 billion was poured into gaining the rights to what would become the most expensive television series ever made, it's safe to say that we'll be getting much more dwarves, elves, goblins, dragons, and hobbits in the next few years. It makes right now a great time to look back on one of the weaker entries into the Middle-earth saga. Turning J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic children’s novel into an epic film trilogy was never going to be an easy feat. Although it is a prequel to The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit is not an “epic” in the same sense, nor is it a particularly dense piece of literature. Ironically enough, a 1977 animated film managed to translate the story fairly accurately in less than 90 minutes. That’s a far cry from the nearly ten-hour epic that Peter Jackson delivered.

As detailed in the extensive behind-the-scenes footage on The Hobbit trilogy’s Blu-ray release, the production was beset with challenges from the very beginning. Guillermo del Toro was developing the project for two years, but delays ultimately forced him to abstain from directorial duties. Jackson was forced to return to Middle-earth without time to prepare and begin shooting before the films could be mapped out. On top of the rushed nature of the production, Jackson wasn’t able to use as many practical effects as he wanted. He was also forced to include a love triangle between Legolas (Orlando Bloom), Tauriel (Evangeline Lily), and the Dwarf Kili (Aidan Turner).

RELATED: Why Did Saruman Fall To Evil Between 'The Hobbit' And 'The Lord Of The Rings'?

We Didn't Really Need a Third 'Hobbit' Movie

Most of the Dwarves from The Hobbit: The Battle of The Five Armies

As a result of the botched production schedule, The Hobbit was turned from a two-part storyline into a trilogy shortly before the release of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey in December 2012. This decision ended up benefiting the first two installments; An Unexpected Journey mirrors the story of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, and The Desolation of Smaug functions as a darker, more epic sequel. Unfortunately, this didn’t leave the third installment with much of a story to tell. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies is essentially a 140-minute battle that’s desperately trying to conclude a misconceived series on an emotionally resonant note.

The Battle of the Five Armies became the lowest-grossing film within Jackson’s Middle-earth saga, and the only one to receive a “rotten” critical score on Rotten Tomatoes. Given that one of the chief criticisms of the trilogy was that it stretched out the material, some loyal Tolkien fans may not have checked out the extended version of the films. Unlike The Lord of the Rings' extended editions, the extended cuts of The Hobbit films don’t add that much more story details. However, The Battle of the Five Armies is something else entirely; it's a bonkers, crazy fantasy adventure that saw Jackson returning to his horror roots. The demented, crass take on a children’s novel earned Middle-earth its first R rating from the MPAA.

'The Battle of the Five Armies' Has Confusing Character Arcs

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Image Via Warner Bros.

Jackson’s disillusionment with the franchise was evident at this point. The Battle of the Five Armies had to conclude character arcs that weren’t established in the beginning; Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage) is beset with “dragon sickness” that turns him into a power-hungry jerk, but somehow manages to overcome his issues and turn hero in a matter of moments. The extended version at least gives some insight into why Thorin changes in the first place. He’s been fighting to restore his homeland for nearly his entire life, but it's Bard the Bowman (Luke Evans) who is crowned a hero for slaying Smaug (Benedict Cumberbatch). Jackson allows Armitage to campily stew in the background amidst Bard’s heroism.

The franchise was clearly struggling to determine who its central narrative should focus on. In The Lord of the Rings, Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood) was introduced as the central protagonist but arguably shared the starring role with Aragon (Viggo Mortensen) in the next two installments. The Hobbit trilogy attempted to do the same thing with Thorin and Bilbo, but the messy nature of the trilogy resulted in some uneven development. Bilbo’s arc makes up a majority of An Unexpected Journey, but The Desolation of Smaug focuses mostly on Thorin’s growth as a leader. Despite its confusing elements, The Battle of the Five Armies offers a happy medium between the two, allowing both to be a little more cheeky. Although they both get to deliver some fun one-liners, their final moment of bonding is an oddly touching moment in an otherwise silly movie.

What Happens in the R-Rated Version of 'The Battle of the Five Armies'

The Hobbit- The Battle of the Five Armies
Image Via Warner Bros.

One of the things that distinguished Jackson as a filmmaker early on in his career is his gleeful use of practical effects. Bad Taste and Braindead are the products of a filmmaker who is just having fun with what they can get away with. Even with all the resources at his disposal, Jackson brought back some of that energy in The Battle of the Five Armies. The extra 20 minutes of footage add extended shots detailing the different creatures that make up the “five armies.” Even if he didn’t have a story worth telling, it's evident that Jackson still has respect for the creatures of Middle-earth.

It's the frantic action sequence that truly pushes The Battle of the Five Armies into “splatter” territory. While the theatrical edition felt like a poor recreation of the Battle of Gondor from The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, the R-Rated cut includes some demented jokes that suggest Jackson isn’t taking anything that seriously. A chariot rides through the battle, decapitating trolls and spraying blood at the screen. When Legolas stabs Bolg to his death, Jackson includes a few extra shots that show the Orc withering in pain. There’s even a comical moment when the Dwarves literally “use their heads” to get the best of one of their pursuers.

The entire tone of the battle changes. When the Dwarves rally behind Thorin, we don’t get an epic speech like the one given to the Riders of Rohan in The Return of the King. The cries “For the King!” feel like they’ve been lifted straight out of Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Jackson even manages to apologize for one of the worst characters in the trilogy. The obnoxious deputy master of Lake-town, Alfrid Lickspittle (Ryan Gage), is gruesomely tossed to his death when he tries to hide in a catapult.

It’s a great return to the “splatter” horror genre for Jackson, who despite being one of the foremost pioneers of the genre, has not returned to it since beginning his Middle-earth adventure. While there were traces of practical horror effects in Jackson’s King Kong and The Lovely Bones, in recent years he’s turned away from narrative filmmaking to handle documentaries like They Should Not Grow Old and The Beatles: Get Back. Ironically, a younger generation that grew up with The Lord of the Rings may not realize that the same man responsible for this gorgeous franchise also created some wild puppet movies when he was younger.

The R-Rated Cut Shows What Could Have Been

Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins holding the One Ring in The Hobbit- The Battle of the Five Armies
Image via Warner Bros. Pictures

Although Jackson mostly uses the added run time to add details to the battle, there are a few instances that suggest that he may have been able to do a better job with the trilogy had he been given more time. Thorin’s funeral is an afterthought in the theatrical cut. However, the added scenes in the extended cut include some heartfelt words from both Bilbo and Gandalf. Bilbo’s shattered spirit explains why he has grown so reclusive by the time of The Fellowship of the Ring.

This R-Rated cut offers us a brief glimpse of what a “creature feature” set within the world of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit would have looked like. When he was developing the project as a two-part series, del Toro admitted that he was not a huge fan of Tolkien’s original work, and likely would have radically redesigned some of the iconic characters and locations. Del Toro has an obvious affinity for monster movies, as even his franchise features (such as Blade II, Pacific Rim, and the Hellboy films) managed to incorporate classical horror elements into a previously existing universe. It’s unfortunate that del Toro’s wild Middle-earth romp never saw the light of day, but perhaps the R-Rated cut of The Battle of the Five Armies is the closest thing we'll ever get to seeing it.

Although the Lord of the Rings' extended editions are largely considered to be the “definitive” versions of the films, The Hobbit director’s cuts haven’t reached much of an audience beyond niche fan communities. It’s easy to see why, as the first two films don’t have that many additions that are exciting. An Unexpected Journey simply includes a few more Dwarf songs and monologues, and The Desolation of Smaug includes more details about Thorin’s family than we really needed to know. If you passed on the longer cut of The Battle of the Five Armies because you thought it had nothing to offer, it's worth giving it a shot to see how drastically different the two editions are.

What's Happening With the New 'Lord of the Rings' Movies?

Elijah Wood in lord of the rings the return of the king
Image via Warner Bros

Interestingly, Warner Brother CEO David Zazlav made an ambitious announcement that revealed that new The Lord of the Rings films were in development; Zazlav has made it clear that Warner Brothers will remain almost entirely focused on expanding its most valuable franchise properties with new movies made for the big screen, guaranteeing that Middle-earth, the Wizarding World, and the newly rebooted DC universe will be getting a lot of attention within the next few years. It's unclear what exactly these new films will be; many fans perceived the announcement as an indication of a full-on reboot, but it's possible that his statement was simply referring to another Tolkien adaptation set within the same timeline.

If this is the case, then The Hobbit trilogy, in particular, deserves credit for helping tie in elements of the original appendices into the films, as Tolkien's original notes provided some interesting context clues on the background of the universe and the complete timeline. That being said, Jackson also invented plenty of things on his own with The Battle of the Five Armies; there's nothing in the original novel that refers to a sled that decapitates goblins and Orcs. It's unlikely that any new film Zazlav is cooking up will contain anything quite as demented.

At the end of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Jackson was showered with praise and received numerous accolades. Return of the King won 11 Oscars (three awarded to Jackson), tying the record for most victories with Ben-Hur and Titanic. At the end of The Hobbit trilogy, Jackson admitted that he was “making it up as I went along.” He may not have delivered the epic that he intended, but Jackson managed to turn the Middle-earth saga into a ridiculous, demented splatter picture. That itself is an achievement worth celebrating.