LOTR-extended version

For Christmas,our family gift was LOTR-extended version.I have to give this one four stars for sheer spectacle,sweeping landscape shots,and stunning cinematography.Most importantly,it fills in almost all of those missing questions,so,if you loved LOTR,and didn't read the books,you really need to rent or buy this behemoth,and just let it all roll over you.Absolutely breathtaking-Enjoy!

I have purchased all of the extended release LOTR movies as they have become available (each year).

About 6 weeks ago I hosted a small LOTR viewing party and we watched ALL of the extended release DVDs back to back.

In total we spent almost 12 hours watching movies. We broke it up with hobbit like meals. For breakfast we had ham, bacon, eggs and potatos. Lunch we had chicken pot pies with beer. Dinner was more beer (ale not light beer) pot roast with steamed carrots and potatoes and finished it all off with a berry pie.

When it was all done, we were exhausted!!!!

It was a great time. I will probably do it again in a couple of years.

The death of Saruman should have been in the original cut of the film.

I mean, the fellowship were all standing around outside of his tower having a conversation, and there was no sign of the guy. BIG plot hole for those who haven't read the books (the vast majority of the audience).

So glad it's on the DVD, at least.

ooops, was that a spoiler?

Well, at least I didn't tell you all that Darth Vader is Luke Skywalker's dad.

D'OH!

Tiki relevance: 0.

ummm... Mai tais rule.

I am very happy with the restored scenes in the extended version. Most of my complaints are minor, and peculiar to my inner vision of particular scenes, and some things that should have been in but weren't.

Oh, if any of the LOTR tc'ers in the Los Angeles area are interested, FIDM will be holding their annual Hollywood Show with costumes from Academy Award Nominated films from this year, with 5 costumes from last years winner for best costume. Which happens to be Return of The King.

The Opening is Saturday, but is invite only.

BUT after that, it is open to the public for FREE. Right now they have a life sized Nazgul on steed in the entryway. You can walk righ in and have a gander at him.

And if you need more incentive to see the show, let me just say if you've ever wanted to meet the Witch King of Angmar with his BadAss Morningstar, your chance is upon you.

TG

I'm a big fan of the extended cuts. I really enjoyed the new scenes. The Death of Saruman was great and the whole thing was perfect for Christopher Lee (stake through the heart). I liked the additional paths of the dead scenes, filled in the gaps on how Aragorn and company take over the ships. The scene where Frodo and Sam get caught up marching with the Orcs was pretty good too (and true to the book)
The best additional scene of all (for me anyway) was the Mouth of Sauron at the black gate. What a wicked looking character. I loved how his head would jerk back and forth with that evil grin. Fantastic. Can't believe it got cut out of the original, It was such a great part in the book. I'm glad it's in the extended cut now.

I only wish they hadn't killed the Mouth of Sauron so quickly. It would have been far better in my own mind if Aragorn had battled him instead of the troll.

I know that the trol was cgi'd in over a filmed sequence of Sauron ( I'm so glad they didn't use this idea! It is so far from the book that I can't believe they even entertained the idea. ) and Aragorn fighting.

It would have been very cool seeing the The Mouth of Sauron put on some cool moves in battle.

I was always intrigued by this character. I was happy he made the directors cut, but I had inside info that he would. I just wish that they might have given him a few minutes more exposure. After all whats two more minutes in a 3 hour film?

And I loved that my hunch as to who played the Mouth of Sauron was right. I saw that mouth, and thought who the hell is that... and then the gyro captain came to mind... Bruce Spence, pure genious casting.

...and speaking of the Gyro Captian, when the hell is someone going to issue a de-luxe edition of The Road Warrior (Mad Max II to those of you outside North America)? Seems like this one would have been an obvious choice to do years ago. They did a nice edition of Mad Max I long ago...

Tiki.

I am confused...I bought the twin cassette version, and none of those scenes are on there!

I especially was looking for the scene of Frodo and Sam being caught up with the ORCS, because in the first flick, when Frodo is looking into the mirror of galadriel, it briefly shows the scene.

Is all of this stuff (the death or saruman, the motuh of sauron..etc..) only on the DVD?

Mick

All three LOTR movies are each available on 2 different DVD releases.

They are available in their theatrical versions, with a small amount of documentaries and other bonuses as 2-disc sets, and in extended cuts with scads of bonus features as 4-disc sets.

There are no Tikis in these films, but the guys who arrive at the battle in big boats MAY have come from an island full of Tikis.

Monkeyman,that sounds like it was a blast! We're planning on viewing them all sometime,and we figured that 12 hours would do it.The food thing was a great touch.

On 2005-01-27 14:25, docwoods wrote:
The food thing was a great touch.

Except they forgot second breakfast. :wink:

We, too, have all the 4-disk sets and the movies are truly mesmerizing. The day we got ROTK, we stayed up and watched the whole (nearly 4 hour) movie. For us that's quite a feat on a weeknight.

I'm getting very amped up for PJ's King Kong, especially after seeing the making-of diary movies. It looks sweet and I'm so happy he's doing it as a period movie (1930s).

The idea of extended versions of LOTR still makes me laugh, because it's just so enormous in every aspect to begin with (in a good way!).
Philosophical question: How much extended version LOTR is too much? How much more gi-normous would the Special Director's Secret Stash Extended Anniversary Edition be?

...tiki.

On 2005-01-27 16:52, Tiki-bot wrote:

On 2005-01-27 14:25, docwoods wrote:
The food thing was a great touch.

Except they forgot second breakfast. :wink:

What about "ELEVENSIES"?

Just had dinner tonight with a rep from Weta, lots of scoop about King Kong.

But if I tell anything, it may jeopordize my appeal for citizenship in New Zealand.

tg

What I'm waiting for is a super-deluxe, everything in one giant box, even includes the stuff we only thought about but never filmed, 12+ disk LOTR set; Something that costs over $500 bucks & includes an actual movie extra (Hobbit, Orc or Elf, your choice)... Does anyone know if it's a possibility? :wink:

Gollum and Brad Pitt, does anyone else see the resemblance?

The Missus and the Witchking of Angmar

Sauron (Sala Baker) challenges the 'Lope of the Rings for our travel scrapbook at Trek Expo 2004 in Tulsa.

Not as cute as Tikigardener's wife, I know, but there's a tiki connection. Here is an account of Baker and other LOTR actors performing a Maori ritual called the Haka at an Oscar party: http://www.theonering.net/ringers/oldsite/dancing_down.html Unfortunately, the pictures on that website don't work.

I did get some shots of Baker in ritual-like poses in Tulsa, but when another actor (the kid from Phantom Menace) asked him to actually perform a dance he politely replied that it was inappropriate (at that time and place, I guess?).

Its apparently only appropriate for dignataries and very imprtant people or events.

Thats my understanding