A couple of comments--
1st, though I understand what Rev. Giese is driving at, PJ did not make 80% of a movie, he made 130%. The storyline that he chose could have been presented in at least a half-hour less. It seriously dragged at points, even (and perhaps especially) in some of the most "action-filled" parts. An extended version will only prolong the agony if it does not "tie up loose ends" and bring more of the masterpiece, which is the book, into the movie.

From the beginning of this movie trilogy, it has not been nearly as good as the LotR movies. (With which I and all true Tolkien fans have had seriously bones of contention, also!) That is said both in terms of faithfulness to the original books (which is what we Tolkien fans are always looking for) and in terms of quality of movie-making. PJ certainly did his Tolkien research for LotR, and there are even some surprisingly *good* additions to his story-telling there--bringing in some good stuff from the Appendices, and adding some details which, imo, actually support some of the major themes of the books (e.g., the scene where Arwen, who is on her way to the Havens, has the vision of her son--an extension of the "Estel"/Hope theme wrt Aragorn and "the Age of Men").

But in The Hobbit movies, the "research" doesn't help maintain the integrity of the stories; rather it becomes an excuse for cartoonish episodes (e.g., "Wizard Smack-down, Part 2" where Galadriel, Elrond, etc. drive Sauron from Dol Guldur. Part 1 in LotR was bad enough.)

"“Farewell, Master Burglar. Go back to your books, your fireplace. Plant your trees, watch them grow. If more of us valued home above gold, it would be a merrier world.” The last sentence contains the moral of the whole story and is Thorin’s word of repentance in the face of the sin of coveting and every temptation that leads to greed and discontent."

In the end, with his whole movie-making endeavor this time around, PJ ironically misses this point, himself. It really does feel like this trilogy was mostly just another cash-cow to him.