The Doctor
12-14-2004, 07:00 PM
Well last night at midnight I went out and bought the Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King extended edition dvd. I've been so excited about this special edition ever since I saw the theatrical version. I knew that if the regular edition was that good, the Extended cut could only be so much better. So this morning I woke up early to watch it, because it is a staggering 250 minutes long, almost 4 and a half hours. But every minute of that movie is great. Some scenes have completely changed, and some have had new parts added on.
For example, a scene that has changed is the scene in Minas Tirith where Pippin and Gandalf are talking about the coming war. The scene was reshot and Gandalf was coughing from his pipesmoke through it. The opening of the film was extended a bit, but people who havent religiously studied the movie wont notice. All they extended was the choking of Deagol by Smeagol.
The new scenes were outstanding. The first new scene shown is the final confrontation between Gandalf and Saruman. An argument is exchanged by the two until Wormtounge gets tired of being ordered around by Saruman, so he stabs him, Legolas shoots Wormtounge, and Saruman falls from the roof of Orthanc onto the orc spike wheel. The most memorable scenes for me were not necessarily the longest, but were very profound.
There is an all new scene that stood out for me, because it involved the Witchking fighting Gandalf. Gandalf is riding to the top of Minas Tirith to stop Denethor from burning Faramir alive, but the Witchking stops him. Gandalf threatens him, but the Witchking brushes it off and raises his sword, claiming it to be "his hour." Flames engulf the Witchking's sword until he gains so much power that it destroys Gandalf's staff and sends him flying from Shadowfax. Pippin is about to attack the Fell Beast tha the Witchking rides until they hear the horn of Rohan, where the battle ends.
The second memorable scene was one that I have waited for since I read the book, and it involves only one character. The Mouth of Sauron. Played by Bruce Spence (Finding Nemo, The Matrix Revolutions), he portrays the Mouth of Sauron perfectly. He comes out of the Black Gate, saying that Sauron has yet to unleash his full force, and he throws taunts to Gandalf. The Mouth of Sauron shows his true malevolence when he says, "I have a token I was bidden to show thee." He then pulls out Frodo's mythril shirt, stolen from him when he was captured by the Orcs. He throws it to Gandalf and says that Frodo was dead and suffered through great torture before dying. His twisted nature is shown because the Mouth of Sauron is sporting a full faced smile while he says this. Aragorn grows furious and rides to the Mouth, where he is stopped when the Mouth says, "And the heir of Elendil, coming with his elvish sword." But the Mouth's words are cut off when Aragorn decapitates him. It's a very powerful scene and my personal favorite.
Altogether, the movie was brilliant before. With 50 minutes of added footage, it became greater. The special features (called The Appendices) show hours of documentary through the filming process, and even shows things that might have been. They have a feature where you can see the storyboard for an original yet abandoned concept, "Aragorn battles Sauron." At the final Black Gate scene, Aragorn was originally going to battle Sauron head to head. Thankfully that scene was never created because it would throw off the entire plot of the trilogy. In the end Sauron was replaced with an armored troll.
I give this movie a 10 out of 10, not just because I am a die hard Lord of the Rings fanatic, but also because this dvd is quite possibly the most outstanding filmmaking I have ever seen. I definitely suggest this dvd to anyone who enjoyed the theatrical cut. It may be ungodly long, but it is worth every minute.
For example, a scene that has changed is the scene in Minas Tirith where Pippin and Gandalf are talking about the coming war. The scene was reshot and Gandalf was coughing from his pipesmoke through it. The opening of the film was extended a bit, but people who havent religiously studied the movie wont notice. All they extended was the choking of Deagol by Smeagol.
The new scenes were outstanding. The first new scene shown is the final confrontation between Gandalf and Saruman. An argument is exchanged by the two until Wormtounge gets tired of being ordered around by Saruman, so he stabs him, Legolas shoots Wormtounge, and Saruman falls from the roof of Orthanc onto the orc spike wheel. The most memorable scenes for me were not necessarily the longest, but were very profound.
There is an all new scene that stood out for me, because it involved the Witchking fighting Gandalf. Gandalf is riding to the top of Minas Tirith to stop Denethor from burning Faramir alive, but the Witchking stops him. Gandalf threatens him, but the Witchking brushes it off and raises his sword, claiming it to be "his hour." Flames engulf the Witchking's sword until he gains so much power that it destroys Gandalf's staff and sends him flying from Shadowfax. Pippin is about to attack the Fell Beast tha the Witchking rides until they hear the horn of Rohan, where the battle ends.
The second memorable scene was one that I have waited for since I read the book, and it involves only one character. The Mouth of Sauron. Played by Bruce Spence (Finding Nemo, The Matrix Revolutions), he portrays the Mouth of Sauron perfectly. He comes out of the Black Gate, saying that Sauron has yet to unleash his full force, and he throws taunts to Gandalf. The Mouth of Sauron shows his true malevolence when he says, "I have a token I was bidden to show thee." He then pulls out Frodo's mythril shirt, stolen from him when he was captured by the Orcs. He throws it to Gandalf and says that Frodo was dead and suffered through great torture before dying. His twisted nature is shown because the Mouth of Sauron is sporting a full faced smile while he says this. Aragorn grows furious and rides to the Mouth, where he is stopped when the Mouth says, "And the heir of Elendil, coming with his elvish sword." But the Mouth's words are cut off when Aragorn decapitates him. It's a very powerful scene and my personal favorite.
Altogether, the movie was brilliant before. With 50 minutes of added footage, it became greater. The special features (called The Appendices) show hours of documentary through the filming process, and even shows things that might have been. They have a feature where you can see the storyboard for an original yet abandoned concept, "Aragorn battles Sauron." At the final Black Gate scene, Aragorn was originally going to battle Sauron head to head. Thankfully that scene was never created because it would throw off the entire plot of the trilogy. In the end Sauron was replaced with an armored troll.
I give this movie a 10 out of 10, not just because I am a die hard Lord of the Rings fanatic, but also because this dvd is quite possibly the most outstanding filmmaking I have ever seen. I definitely suggest this dvd to anyone who enjoyed the theatrical cut. It may be ungodly long, but it is worth every minute.