Return of the King EXTENDED EDITION Discussion

[Luke Skywalker 1,795]

Im scared...

[John Crichton 4]

"PLZ GET KLAUS BAEDLT 2 DO SONGS FOR GOF!111111! LOL HED B SO MUCH BTER THAN TAHT O WILIMSON DUDA1!1!! OMG WTF"

I don't know whether to laugh or be very scared. I helps that I don't understand half of it.

Thank God everyone here types in full English, even those for whom English is not their primary language. Well, there's KM's hatred of the spacebar, but we can live with that.

Was that an actual comment from a HP board Drax, or is it just you doing a very good impersonation?

[A24 4,335]

Thank God everyone here types in full English, even those for whom English is not their primary language. Well, there's KM's hatred of the spacebar, but we can live with that.  

It keeps me awake at night. He robs me of my sleep.

[Henry B 50]

Was that an actual comment from a HP board Drax, or is it just you doing a very good impersonation?

It's clearly a joke. However, people really do hold that opinion, they just manage to articulate it slightly better.

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

The Academy-Award® winning film now has 50 minutes of never-before-seen footage incorporated into the film for this highly-anticipated video release:  

Only 50 minutes, what will I do with the rest of my day?

Watch the end credits.

And the extras. I remember FotR took me a full week. And I saw everything. From all commentaries to every single picture in the galleries, including the audio commentary on those.

TTT took me three or four days. I watched every bit of documentary, but I did not bother with every picture in the galleries this time.

Can't wait for this one. The Christmas marathon is going to rock!

Abandoned Concept: Aragorn Battles Sauron

This should be very interesting. I hear they even went as far as shooting parts of that scene. I hope we'll get to see some of it.

- Marc

[QMM 4]

This should be very interesting. I hear they even went as far as shooting parts of that scene. I hope we'll get to see some of it.  

That was going to be in the ROTK videogame

[Danielle 0]

The Christmas marathon is going to rock!  

So... How many others here have got nothing better to do with their lives than watch all three EE's back to back?

Count me in. :oops:

[QMM 4]

So... How many others here have got nothing better to do with their lives than watch all three EE's back to back?

You know you want to

Count me in.  

Atta girl

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

They should make the days longer because of these DVD sets.

[diskobolus 3]

Over the summer I'll probably do a LOTR marathon. Still have to do the 24 ones too...

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

Hmm... I've never done a 24 marathon. Not yet. I did watch season one spread over six days, though (a disc a day).

[Marian Schedenig 8,193]

I tried to...ended up watching season two in three days though. That's tough enough.

Marian - who wants to see season #3.

Scaramouche (Victor Young)

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

Apparently, the DVD comes out here on Wednesday.

If only I had money...

US DVD will arrive December 7th (I know that's what you're waiting for).

- Marc

[Marian Schedenig 8,193]

Well, primarily I'm waiting for money. I have yet to decide what release to get...the US version would match my Season 2, but the European Season 1 seems to be superior to the US one, so I can forget about continuity anyway.

Marian - who recently found out that William Devane is in Season 3.

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

Yes, the R2 version of Day 1 has some additional footage in the later episodes.

But then the PAL speed-up destroys the real-time aspect.

Well, whatever rocks your boat.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

*cough* this is a LOTR thread. *coagh*

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

There is a surprising lack of debate or speculation about the upcoming ROTK EE DVD.

Stefancos- who ordered one from Kanadia.

[fommes 153]

I'm getting it soon, and I hate to read spoilers, so it's perhaps for the good that there are no posts.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Yeah same here, but I just thought it odd that nothing what so ever was posted yet.

Very unlike the previous 2 years.

Maybe we are growing blasé?

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

It appears some Bart Smit stores have already been selling the EE.

Nothing here, though.

[Jay 37,364]

There's a 6minute trailer for ROTK:EE here

[Luke Skywalker 1,795]

I cant believe noone is discussing the EE here. I saw it today in Stores...

Dissapointing, really.

[diskobolus 3]

I cant believe noone is discussing the EE here. I saw it today in Stores...

Dissapointing, really.

How is that possible, when it comes out in two weeks?

[Luke Skywalker 1,795]

See for yourself:

here

[Luke Skywalker 1,795]

If you want to know, they also are selling a pack with the three EE editions...

Note, i saw in Amazon.com it is coming 14th december. How is that we got it first?!

PD: Wouldnt it an irony i would be the 1st one to review it?

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

It comes out here tomorrow, although some stores have been selling it for a week now.

- Marc, who will get his copy in less than 18 hours.

P.S.: For those interested this site has links to many spoiler-filled videos, including the scenes with The Voice of Saruman, The Mouth of Sauron, and Gandalf vs. The Witch-King.

[Luke Skywalker 1,795]

Any new scenes with the Lord of Winds?

Surely not

I'll have to stick with Buckbeak, the best CGI feathered creature i have ever seen.

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

Any new scenes with the Lord of Winds?

Don't think so. There's no reason to either, I guess.

BTW, the folks over at IGN.com already have their full review online.

[Luke Skywalker 1,795]

Any new scenes with the Lord of Winds?

Don't think so. There's no reason to either, I guess.

I think you are right...

Would have been cool though

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

Well, it is done. After over four hours, the end credits have just finished.

There's a shitload of new stuff in there, and while most of these scenes could easily have been missed, they are great to watch nonetheless.

There is one scene that should have been in the TC, though, I think. It's a scene between Faramir and Denethor, right after Faramir returns from Osgiliath, and before Pippin swears his oath. It gave Denethor a lot more depth, it made him human, instead just a nutter, and replaces the Palantír subplot from the book really quite nicely. It did not miss that part now that we have that scene. And kudos to John Noble. The scene features one of his strongest performances in the entire film (which was already great to begin with).

I wish they'd moved the disc break just one chapter forward, though. It now ends right after the first appearance of Grond, and starts with a new scene on Disc 2. If they'd placed the break 1 chapter earlier, it would have ended with the new ending of the Paths of the Dead sequence, and started with the beginning of the battle of Minas Tirith on disc 2. The cut seems rather harsh now. But I guess that's just picky.

Howard Shore's score sounds awesome in DTS, and the image looks clearer and brighter now that it's been spread over two discs. I haven't done a side-to-side comparison yet, but I think the EE's colors are really brighter. You might want to bolt your subwoofer down to the floor, though, or it'll be running circles around your room throughout the enitre film. There's a huge amount of low end on this film, and not in a bad way like on Reservoir Dogs, where every kick and punch gets a thump from the LFE channel. Your room will be shaking each time the Ring starts pounding, and when it falls into the lava on Mount Doom it will cause a minor earthquake.

The fan club credits feature several long unreleased pieces of music, and a longer version of Faramir's departure from Minas Tirith than on the album. I think there's also a long piece of music written specifically for these credits. It's rather lengthy, it wasn't in the TC, and I can't place it in the EE either.

- Marc, who'll be watching all three EE's back-to-back during Christmas night - which will take a while.

[Danielle 0]

The fan club credits feature several long unreleased pieces of music, and a longer version of Faramir's departure from Minas Tirith than on the album. I think there's also a long piece of music written specifically for these credits. It's rather lengthy, it wasn't in the TC, and I can't place it in the EE either.

I agree that the lengthy piece was probably written for the credits. It was great to hear the fan club credits kicking off with unreleased music from the Mumakil battle as well.

[KarmBee 0]

So is there anything about the Scouring of the Shire? Or Wormtongue attacking Saruman?

[Greg1138 3]

Without giving too much away, there is a scene with Wormtoungue and Saruman,

Greg - who really thinks the Academy should have a category for "Best DVD Presentation" - just so tat this movie can get that extra little bit more recognition....if ever there was a movi that deserved it - ths is it.....

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

So is there anything about the Scouring of the Shire? Or Wormtongue attacking Saruman?

The Wormtongue/Saruman bit is replaced into The Voice of Saruman.

Obviously, the Scouring does not appear in the cut, but they talk about it in the extras, and there is actually some addtional footage that was shot for the Mirror of Galadriel, but has never been seen before, showing more of the destruction, featuring shots of Orcs and Uruks setting the Shire on fire, and Hobbits being led away in shackles.

- Marc

[KarmBee 0]

Well that's too bad. I've always thought it was an important part of the story. It kind of says that you can never truely return home. It also shows how the 4 hobbits have matured and gained confidence in themselves.

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

Yes, well, we'll always have the book.

I just finished disc 4, and in some way, I'm a bit disappointed in the extras. You wouldn't think so with two discs stacked with additional material, but there's a bit too much focus on the emotions involved, and they mention it so much, it becomes redundant. They could've shown a bit more footage of just what and how they were doing everything, than just endlessly repeating people saying goodbye.

In terms of film music, the most interesting features are obviously found on Disc 4, which deals with production and post-production.

The music feature focuses mainly on the songs, which makes sense, as there isn't really any new thematic material, apart from "Into the West," which is covered extensively. There's also a short bit featuring snippets of the alternate end song "Use Well the Days." There's some coverage on solo performances and the very un-LotR cue Shelob's Lair, and they talk about how the sound for that came about.

There's also material about the new song that's featured in the Extended Cut but not in the Theatrical Cut, that's sung by Liv Tyler, and was originally going to be played over the scene where Arwen has a vision of her child, which was ultimately replaced by "Twilight and Shadow" sung by Renée Fleming. It is now played over the new Houses of Healing sequence.

It closes with a short bit about the Symphony, featuring footage from the concert in Wellington (I think; certainly wasn't Antwerp).

Interesting tidbit: Shore conducted both the Symphony and the recording sessions of RotK without baton.

There's also a small part about the music in the Sound FX documentary, where you get just a couple of seconds out of the scene where Sméagol kills Déagol with the original music that Howard Shore composed, which is featured on the soundtrack album in the second half of the very first track (incidentally, the title of that track is actually said by Pippin in the EE).

Then there's something I found quite interesting following these two documentaries. It's called The End of All Things, and it deals with the last weeks of post-production as all departments were scrambling to get their work done before the final deadline. Turns out Howard Shore was already scoring while they were still editing the film, FX shots were getting tweaked, and new footage was still being shot for FX shots. So this deals basically with the stress put upon the Editing, Sound, VFX, and Music Departments in the last weeks before the final deadline.

So it's been fun, these four years. Certainly changed my look at films, and as much as some people hate it, I still think it's my generation's Star Wars, and I'm glad to have been able to follow it so closely.

- Marc, hoping King Kong will be great as well.

[ridan 0]

Ach! I wish I didn't have to wait 'til Christmas for this!

[Luke Skywalker 1,795]

I saw it in the big screen.

Cool new scenes, but again one third are Gimli jokes. :/

It was cool too seeing some parts of the videogame come true...

And I remembered the Eagles shot larger.. must have been the emotion...

[Luke Skywalker 1,795]

Everyone is having it as Christmas preset or what?

Luke, who cannot believe he saw it before Stefan, Ren or Marian....

Unless they are too busy watching them

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

I saw it just now.

Pretty censored great!

Like with TTT, this EE gives the film a little more room to breathe.

The new song with liv tyler sounder interesting, weird though to hear English singing in the actual film.

The Houses of Healing scene is weirdly placed though.

Eomer finds his sister on the battle field, we then get few minutes of Eowyn through several stages of discovery, indicating a passage of time of at least days...

And then we go back to the scene were Pip finds Merry on the battle field.

The Houses of Healing scene could have been better placed after that.

The new Dwarf jokes were good for the most part

And i liked the avalange of skulls

Saruman's last scene was good, though purist might have preferred it differently.

The Mouth Of Sauron was not as sinister as I had hoped.

Shore's music was great, and the intergration with the excisting music was pretty much flawless.

I agree with Marc about Denethor, the few new scenes give depth to his insanity.

It is not now the Palantir that drove him mad, but the loss of his favorite Son, and the thought that he will be the last of his line.

I actually felt a poignanty for him this time round.

We get a few more scenes with Theoden, so that is ALWAYS good, Bernard Hill really nailed this role, I could really feel his anger towards Saruman.

I definatly liked the scene were Aragorn and Gimli killed Gothmog, glad to see that censored finally die!

Stefancos- tired, but gratified.

[Danielle 0]

I actually felt a poignanty for him this time round.

I think you can get treatment for that nowadays.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Something with leeches, no doubt.

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

I agree with you on the Houses of Healing sequence, Steef. I noticed that too. The montage plays out like several days have passed, yet the next scene is Pippin looking for Merry on the battlefield at dusk the same day.

This is probably because the Houses of Healing sequence wasn't intended as a montage in the first place. I think they mentioned somewhere in the extras or one of the commentaries that they decided to turn this scenes into a montage, and I also remember reading somewhere that Ioreth had been cast, but she does not appear in the EE either.

The only thing I really wanted to have in the EE that isn't there is the scene with the Sentinels outside the Morgull Pass watchtower. It's one of the more vivid images I remember from the book, and they mentioned they actually shot the scene. I've also noticed every time since my first viewing that the establishing shot of the gate, and the shot where we see Sam enter the stronghold look very much like there should be something in between. You can see something's been cut, by the way these images were shot, and I notice it because it's something I really remember from the book. Bit of a disappointment, but I'm happy with the other 50 minutes nonetheless. :spiny:

[Ren 75]

aaaaahhhhhh the torture of scrolling quickly past these spoilers. . . ..i have to wait for christmas to see the Extended Edition. . ... . .

aaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

I'll live. .. just barely.

[Luke Skywalker 1,795]

What puzzles me is that some leaves and branches were in the healing sequence, but they didnt mention them nor Aragorn asked for or used them.

Unless there is more unreleased footage...

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Of course there is more unused footage...

[Marian Schedenig 8,193]

Luke, who cannot believe he saw it before Stefan, Ren or Marian....

I got my DVD today and just watched it. Took a little longer than in the last two years, but then I only had to pay about 50 euros for the gift set, so I won't complain.

Re the Mouth scene: Awesome. Shame they had to chop his head off at the end though, otherwise it would have been a perfect scene.

I've also noticed every time since my first viewing that the establishing shot of the gate, and the shot where we see Sam enter the stronghold look very much like there should be something in between. You can see something's been cut, by the way these images were shot, and I notice it because it's something I really remember from the book.

My thoughts exactly. One other thing I'm still missing, even though the climax is otherwise quite perfect: Gandalf's "Stand men of the West! Stand and wait. This is the hour of doom." One of my most vivid images from the book.

Marian - who will watch the extras during the next days.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

What's wrong with this tread?

The MB indicated there were 9 pages, yet the 9th does not seem to be there at all.

Stefancos- who thinks Marian broke the MB.

[King Mark 3,631]

I have watched the RotK Extended Edition.Overall I like the new scenes.I think the Mouth of Sauron was sufficiently impressive looking,but why did they have Aragorn chop his head off "just like that"?That sort of ruins the idea that this was some sort of formidable "unique" creature who has seen many battles before this one and a top evil guy.He should have just backed away as the army came out of the gate.

Anyhow.I also liked the extra footage showing Frodo and Sam crossing the plains of Gorgoroth,that sort of missed in the theatrical edition.

K.M.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Hey. KM fixed the MB

HURRAY FOR KM!