6. Stone Giants
In Peter Jackson's film, the sequence - admittedly well-filmed as it is - in which the stone mountains surrounding the gang come to life and begin to fight each other doesn't really serve much of a purpose, and in this sense, Jackson is being true to the novel, because it doesn't serve any purpose there either. The only difference is that in the novel, the stone giants are only mentioned in one sentence, yet PJ devotes a five-minute sequence to them, which gets the story nowhere and really only benefits the marketing department who can use the clips in a snazzy trailer. The scene is nothing but visual effects eye candy, serving zero purpose in the story, and literally the only event it sets in motion is Thorin saving Bilbo from the cliff and declaring his disdain, something we're already abundantly aware of. Of all the scenes in the film that felt perfunctory, this is one that could have easily been left for the Extended Edition, but at least it's more exciting than the moribund Rivendell sequence.