The Lord of the Rings: Theatrical vs. Extended

Which version of the trilogy is best? Which version did it for you?

I've only seen the theatrical versions of the last quarter of FotR, and all of TT and RotK, but what I saw was pretty amazing. Having sought out videos of some of the extended materials, I can say that the extended versions appear to be equally amazing...

Saruman's Fate

The Witch King Confronts Gandalf

The Mouth of Sauron

I don't think I can go back to the theatrical versions simply because they lack these scenes, and the character development that comes with them.

 

I was a complete LOTR nut even before the movies came out-- I would grumble every time something demonstrably different than the books came up (ie, I'm not talking just cutting stuff out). That being the case, it's EE's for me all the way. Sure, they take even longer, but it's worth it for the extra enjoyment. Merry and Pippin smoking pipeweed outside Isengard alone is priceless.

 

Theatrical Lord of the rings, is one such hell of a drama and I liked it, great movie.


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I don't even own the Theaterical versions anymore. Extended all the way, more LOTR is always welcome.

 

I can't even imagine not watching the Extended versions. The theatricals might as well not exist anymore as far as I'm concerned.

 

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention. The EE's also helped to mitigate Faramirgate... Far-from-the-bookamir... whatever you want to call it, meaning that Faramir was a very different person in the movies than the books. The extra scenes between Faramir and Boromir definitely helped that a lot.

 

I'm not sure why, but your quote somehow reminds me of Lucas talking about Star Wars.

 

Ok, I got extremely carried away with this post, so if you don't want to read every single cut I've made for my own personal LOTR edit, tl;dr.

The extended version of FOTR is nearly perfect... there are very few things I would trim out. TTT is bloated, but not nearly as bloated as ROTK. There's so much unnecessary material in this cut, some of which ruins the mood and tone of the film (ex. the extended Paths of the Dead material). I understand the reasoning Jackson made when making the extended editions, but because of this reasoning, I can't say that they are the 'definite version' of the films. That being said, I've made my own cut of the three films in which I basically got rid of my peeves with the films.

FOTR is down to 3:15, TTT to 3:05, and ROTK to 3:30.

With Fellowship of the Ring, I cut out a scene with Bilbo running around Bag End once he thinks that he's lost the Ring. I agreed with the screenwriters in that it gave the audience odd expectations for his character, and it slowed down the film a little too much. I also cut out the scene with Frodo and Bilbo at the party with the Sackville-Baggineses because it doesn't seem to have any point. Whenever the Nazgul appear onscreen, I lowered the brightness and saturation somewhat to evoke an eerie feeling. I cut out the scene with Aragorn at his mother's grave because it was setting up something that was already properly set up in the scene between Aragorn and Arwen at Narsil's stand. I also recolored Lothlorien and got rid of the depressing blue colors. It's more golden and red toned. In the scene on Anduin after Boromir and Aragorn talk about Gollum, I took out Sam's line explaining why he is helping Frodo (because he promised Gandalf). I thought it spoiled the scene between the two at the end where Sam restates this line again. I think it would be better left as something forgotten to the audience until the end, if that makes any sense.

With the Two Towers, I recolored the Dead Marshes. It has more color, and it feels very brown and gritty. Once again, the screen darkens when the Ringwraiths are on screen. I deleted Theodred's burial; it was unnecessary. The order of scenes in Edoras before they leave is shifted. After Gandalf asks Theoden what his decision is and we go to a closeup on Theoden, I have Wormtongue begin his voiceover about what Theoden's decision will be and where they are going. Saruman unleashes the Wargs, and it cuts to Gandalf's departure. After that, the scene between Aragorn and Eowyn in the Golden Hall follows, then Theoden preparing to leave, and finally, the departure itself. I cut out the "One of the Dunedain" scene because I really just didn't like it. Eowyn didn't seem right here. Nothing changes until after Arwen's departure. I cut out the telepathic "midlogue" between Galadriel and Elrond that sets up Elrond sending Elves to Helm's Deep, which I also (tried to) cut. The scene with Eowyn basically implying her love for Aragorn before being sent into the caves is cut. After the argument between Legolas and Aragorn, I cut to how Entmoot is progressing.

From there, it goes to the scene with Aragorn and the boy. What follows is the scene with Theoden having his armor put on. I cut out as much of the Elves as I could, which is why this shift in the buildup was necessary. The battle is not intercut with Entmoot, which I actually regret. The reason everyone thought this battle was so long was because it was intercut with Entmoot, and ultimately, I think Helm's Deep might seem too short a climax. But the reason is because I basically deleted the subplot with the Ents refusing to fight. After the retreat into the Hornburg, Treebeard tells the hobbits they've just agreed. We cut to a wide shot of Fangorn as Treebeard cries out. After that, we cut to the latter half of the "Last March of the Ents," just as the Ents appear out of the forest. Nothing really changes after this. I deleted all of the extra scenes added at the end except for "Farewell to Faramir." It sets up ROTK quite nicely.

I probably made the most c

 

The EE of FOTR is great. They sort of go downhill from there.

 

The extended Two Towers is the superior version of that film by far. The extended Fellowship bothers me a bit because of the inferior alternate intro (with Bilbo's voiceover interupting Frodo and Gandalf's ride). Extended Return of the King is okay but doesn't really add anything substantial.

 

I agree.

I don't think there's even a contest as to which versions the fans prefer. The only way to get any real discussion/debate on the subject would be to pit the books against the movies.

A lot of characters seemed different from book to movie. The most obvious one to me was always Aragorn. Of course, I personally believe the movie Aragorn was far more dynamic and intersesting than the Aragorn in the novels.

 

I generally love the extendeds for the added color they give, like the scene in TTT where Eowen figures out Aragorn's age. But the Gandalf-Witchking scene is an abomination -- it totally perverts the book, where they meet, but before the fight can begin, the Witchking leaves upon hearing thee horns of Rohan. To have Gandalf defeated by him so easily is just absolutely wrong.

 

The extended scenes in TFOTR were very minor yet they really added to an already great film. The added shire scenes were interesting, loved the tidbits found throughout the film.

TTT extended only added to a film that suffered from being in the middle. Things just kinda dragged on in some spots. Though more Grima Wormtongue was welcome.

TROTK was a mixed bag. The scene between Gandalf and the Witch King was akward, yet it makes more sense to keep it in then to have the Witch King randomly tell Gothmog that he will break the white wizard, only to never even come into contact with him. The stuff at Cirith Ungol and in Mordor with the orcs was pretty cool and they should never have cut the death of Saruman out despite the information he gives being rather obvious. The Mouth of Sauron could have been planned better though with the mythril vest news and I blame the planning of the film on how that barely matched up. They wanted Aragorn to face something menacing during the battle at the black gates and I always felt that instead of a troll, he could have had a sword battle with the Lieutenant of Barad-Dur (sp?). Then after he kills him, the troll comes. Sure it's not exactly like the book has it, but things needed to be altered anyways.

 

I own both versions... love them both. Which one I watch depends entirely on how much time I have.

 

Of the EEs I prefer all, except TTT, to the theatrical cuts. A lot of added stuff to TTT is in relation to Treebeard, and I'm not too big on the character.

 

EE for me. I liked the scenes that added a little more to Faramir's character. Even though different from the books.

 

The EEs are worth it for the hidden content alone...Jack Black parody, Gollum's acceptance speech, and the TT trailer that played at the end of FOTR.

 

I prefer the EEs, but I agree with some of Bacon's issues, especially with ROTK.

 

I say go with EE.

The only one I sort of prefer the Theatrical version with is FotR - simply because it already had plently of smaller characterization scenes. And since those are mainly what the EEs add, they aren't really as necessary for FotR and only slow it down. FotR is still my favorite of the three flicks though, EE or Theatrical. And I always watch my EE version.

TTT and RotK definately improve with the EEs - especially TTT. If you get only one Extended version make it TTT. It really fleshes out Faramir's character, and his relationship with Denethor and Boromir.

 

I actually prefer watching the theatrical cuts. They're much better paced. Two Towers EE is one long movie that doesn't have an ending. The ROTK EE just adds weird stuff that didn't need to be added. FOTR theatrical was perfect.

I really only watch the EE's when I want to hear the commentaries.

 

I prefer the EEs of all three films.

 

I haven't even watched Theatrical, let alone Extended...

 

Shameful.

 

Yes, I know.