Return of the King - Extended Version

[The Master™]

Well, guys, received the four-dvd extended version - collectors edition (with a lovely model of Minas Tirith - this morning and watched the film this afternoon... with the additional 48 minutes...

Okay, laying it on the line... It isn't anything to rave about... Like the other two extended versions, it is nothing special... You don't get any more insight into things, it just extends some of the scenes...

*****SPOILER ALERT*****

You see the untimely end of Saruman!!! Okay, but a bit pointless... You see the Witch-King confront Gandalf - and you are left wondering why the Nazgul didn't just destroy him there...

All in all, it is just a money-making exercise for Mr Jackson... And he knows that there is a ready market...

If you can watch a friends, I would recommend you do that, than waste your money on it... Especially as the 2 dvd's per film is really annoying when you have to swap to watch the second half of the movie!!!

[Lament Du Lamia]

That is kind of disappointing because i was looking forward to it. Well, i still am. Conveniently one of my uncles plans on buying it. so, guess ill check it out with him first.

[The Master™]

Well, as a gift from someone else, I highly recommend it...

[I, Brian]

Scouring of the Shire is there, is it?

[ommigosh]

Sadly, still no room for the Scouring of the Shire.
But this is still a great movie.

Other extra bits are
extra bits at the Paths of the dead and Corsairs of Umbar scenes.
A bizarre drinking competition between Gimli and Legolas!!
The Mouth of Sauron appears at the black gate. A really creepy character. Mocking and spiteful.

Om

[Teresa Edgerton]

No, the Scouring of the Shire isn't there, though you do get to see a bit more of what might have been on the supplementary disks.

I've always had mixed emotions about the Extended versions of the movies. Although there have been one or two bits that I was glad to see added on, overall, the theatrical versions have seemed tighter, tidier, and more compelling. On the other hand, I find that the very bits I would have kept are the same ones other viewers would have discarded, and vice versa. So I have come to regard them as the "Everyone finally gets a chance to see some of the parts they've been longing to see" Version. Anyone who, on the contrary, hasn't been longing to see some of these deleted scenes, or to get closure on certain characters -- this version is not for you. To be fair to Peter Jackson, I don't think he even implies that it is. It's for the hardcore fans who won't rest until they see what happens to Saruman et al. Personally, for the chance to see some of these scenes and for the supplementary material, I'm finding the set well worth my time and money.

As a writer, I found the "From Book to Script" feature particularly interesting, where Jackson and Boyens explain some of the reasons for the changes they made. I don't always agree with them, mind you, but sometimes I do, and at the very least it allows me to make sense of decisions which otherwise seemed rather arbitrary.

I also enjoyed getting a glimpse of Jackson's interpretation of Sauron as the fallen angel he originally was, in the discarded Aragorn/ Sauron confrontation. Having the two of them fight was, of course, misguided to begin with, as the scriptwriters finally realized, but I'm tending to think that it was a pity they didn't put that version of Sauron into the prologue. It was also interesting to learn that Jackson is, indeed, geek enough to know the name under which Sauron imposed himself on those credulous Noldor elves. Equally enjoyable were tidbits like the fact that Aragorn wears Elendil's ancient armor to his coronation. (Must look more closely at E's armor the next time I watch the Prologue.)

But I'm only partway through the four disk set, and there may be other features equally good that are yet ahead of me.

Bottom line: for those who were really, really looking forward to this version, you're not likely to be disappointed. Not at all. If the previous four disk sets left you cold, this one probably will, too.

[Foxbat]

I'm trying very hard to stay off my soapbox here but 'special extended editions' are my pet hate. This is an evolution of the 'Director's Cut' which was an attempt to right wrongs forced upon the director in chopped cinematic releases (usually done so to provide certain running times to allow the cinema to maximise its audience figures). Jackson had so much control over his films that this reason is nullified.

Now it's just become another marketing ploy. I'm not a 'hardcore fan' so I'll stick with my 'theatrical release

[Teresa Edgerton]

As so you should, Foxbat.

But I hope you don't begrudge some of the rest of us the opportunity to buy and enjoy the longer version, if that's what we want to do.

[Lacedaemonian]

The omission of the scouring of the shire will forever mar these movies for me.

[Foxbat]

Kelpie: I would never begrudge you the way you choose to spend your hard-earned spondoolicks. That is the wonder of a capitalist society - we have the right to spend it on whatever nonsense we choose

[LadyFel]

Originally Posted by Foxbat

Jackson had so much control over his films that this reason is nullified.

I agree with this to a point, but according to him in an interview I read just before the EE release of the first film, he'd been planning to put the complete version in the cinemas, but studio bosses said 'ok, we let you do what you want, but cut out this, this and this, oh, this bit's too long and needless, don't argue, we're protecting our multimillion investment and people won't go for a movie which is four hours long'...

I mean, I have to admit it was a smart move, they knew it would sell in both versions...Although it's the studio that's now saying the whole thing is Jackson's idea...

[Teresa Edgerton]

I guess it's hard for me to see the need for "marketing ploys" when someone has a product for which so many thousands of people are already clamoring, "More, more, more."

The web is awash with Tolkien sites and LOTR movie sites, and the fans in all these places have been begging for new and bigger and more extended editions ever since the first of the three movies came out. I know; I admit to being a geek; I have visited these sites.

So someone decided to give some of us pathetic individuals what we were asking for -- why should we be expected to regard this as somehow sordid and money-grubbing?

[Foxbat]

Originally Posted by LadyFel

I agree with this to a point, but according to him in an interview I read just before the EE release of the first film, he'd been planning to put the complete version in the cinemas, but studio bosses said 'ok, we let you do what you want, but cut out this, this and this, oh, this bit's too long and needless, don't argue, we're protecting our multimillion investment and people won't go for a movie which is four hours long'...

I mean, I have to admit it was a smart move, they knew it would sell in both versions...Although it's the studio that's now saying the whole thing is Jackson's idea...

If this is the case then I stand corrected - simple as that

[ravenus]

It's not just a question of how much control Jackson had over the making of the film. Ultimately even he has to justify the huge investment in terms of profit, so it would have been senseless for him to only cater to the hardcore fans who do not mind holding their bladders through an addtional hour of footage, the bulk of which does nothing for the non-hardcore crowd. It is a daunting task to sit in a theater for more than 3 hours at a go and certainly not justified just for supplementary fanboy material.
As regards the Scouring thing, I think Jackson thought, and quite rightly so IMO, it much more streamlined to make one really big climax than spread it out over 2-3 episodes. Doing it Tolkien's way would have been sheer overkill atleast for the mainstream crowd whose acceptance of the film was crucial for the production to be justified. After all, the book would be read over a matter of days...you can't expect the same proportions to be used when the matter is compressed to a few hours.

[ravenus]

Just to give you my point of reference, I found the theatrical version of FoTR much more entertaining than the book, and I was too bored to read further into the series, so I contented myself with seeing the films.