You are a much stronger person than I am. I think what I'll probably do is watch the films in groups of two across a few days; AUJ + DOS, TABA + FOTR, TTT + ROTK.
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'The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King' Was Released Ten Years Ago This Week
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You are a much stronger person than I am. I think what I'll probably do is watch the films in groups of two across a few days; AUJ + DOS, TABA + FOTR, TTT + ROTK.
Leatherface
Member
There is no worldly love greater than the love I have for Lord of the Rings <3
When you're sixty you can do the Silmarils, too.
As much as The Hobbit (Jackson trilogy) seems to get derided on here, I only want to see Jackson do it
As much as The Hobbit (Jackson trilogy) seems to get derided on here, I only want to see Jackson do it
A Jackson trilogy of movies about the War of the Silmarils would be the best thing ever.
No wonder I didn't recognize it. I've never seen the extended cut. I personally felt it was a bit goofy looking based on the YouTube vid I just watched.
It's chilling in the context of the movie. He serves to taunt the characters.
D
Deleted member 80556
Unconfirmed Member
God damn, I was eight and I still remember this.
ScreenSplitter
Member
Mouth of Sauron makes so much more sense as a narrative device when the exploits of Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli & co. are set before Frodo & Sams part even begins so for all you know, Frodo's really dead.
Yep, and that's exactly why Jackson cut it from the theatrical release. There was no real tension because we know that Frodo is still alive.
The trio does not and it makes the "For Frodo!" all the more powerful.
OneEyedKing
Member
You are missing out on so much. The EE is the only way to watch it.
Confusion Illusion
Banned
LOTR is first and last movie trilogy that watched all three movies in the theatre. At the time I felt had to experience these movies on the big screen. Watching them with my friends made from a very memorable movie going experience.
I've never been more excited for a movie then for ROTK. Saw it 3 times, pinnacle theater experience for me.
This actually sounds kind of awesome.
I agree entirely. When I first sat down to watch the EEs, I was salivating to finally see what all the fuss was about. Even better than the originals?! I was stoked.
The EEs do just about nothing for me. Besides often crushing the pace of the movies to a tedious crawl, most of the additional scenes are absolutely useless. And it shows. The Mouth of Sauron is a perfect example. Someone very wisely cut the scene in the editing room because they realised that by the end of it, no changes take place in any character, no information is revealed, a character is introduced and disappears by the end of it. That's why when it's not there in the theatricals, it's entirely seamless.
See, at the start of the scene, Aragorn fears Frodo might be dead but hopes he's alive. Considering there's a chance he's alive, Aragorn is determined to create the diversion. We as an audience know that Frodo is alive, too. Then, The Mouth of Sauron comes out and tells Aragorn that they've killed Frodo, and here's his Mithril. Aragorn doesn't believe him and decides to chop his head off. So... by the end of the scene Aragorn... fears Frodo might be dead but hopes he's alive. Aragorn is still determined to create the diversion. We as an audience aren't gaining any information either because we already know of Frodo's status. All they've done is introduce a character and then swiftly kill him off. Aragorn goes back to his troops and continues on his way.
A scene, for it to be an effective scene, in any film, requires a chance in 'charge.' It can be simply an information dump but generally you want a character in the scene to gain information, change in some way, gain/lose power over another character etc. Otherwise it's a non event and an easy choice to cut in the editing room. It's extremely jarring and awkward and it's clear something is off when a scene doesn't do this.
And this happens a number times in the EE scenes. There are so many jarring and awkward moments. Sometimes they're hugely unnecessary. Sometimes they detract from the original version. The Concerning Hobbits scene is a good one of these. For an LOTR fan excited to see more of The Shire, this scene is a cool extension. But from a film perspective, it no doubt detracts. All the knowledge we need about The Shire and Hobbits is perfectly communicated to us as Frodo and Gandalf ride into town. And it's organic. We just take it all in visually. There are the lush hills and trees. The big banners being put up. The beer being drunk. The kids chasing after the cart hoping for the fireworks. The snooty old couple fed up with adventure and magic as Gandalf rides in. And we as an audience are entering this world with them. It starts out in the forest with Frodo and then we all slowly roll into The Shire. And all this world building is happening in the background while our two characters talk naturally to each other. It's just about perfect.
The EE adds an entirely new scene before this that just dumps this information in the form of brutal exposition. Fine for a novel. Not so much in a film. Stop telling me what Hobbits are like. Let me take it in organically. The following Gandalf/Frodo ride-in scene feels like it's treading on familiar territory so it doesn't have the same punch to it. It's so much less efficient.
I could go on for a while, but this post is already bloated. But it extends to a huge number of scenes like the awkward Saruman scene, Gimli blowing smoke, Legolas drinking game, Pippin/Merry height water fun etc. Just about the only EE scenes I think that are worthwhile are the ones involving Boromir. They generally add a lot of character and humanity to him and by the end I had a much stronger bond with him than I did in the theatricals. But he's still a fantastic character without the EEs anyway.
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