The extended scenes with the ents tie very nicely to several Bombadil bits – “Heed no nightly noises” and the tree roots and the singing. I think it’s very nice to combine those two episodes, which have lots of similarity anyway.
I found one “easter egg” on disk 1, clicking to the end of the scene selections and then going down gets to the wonderful Gollum acceptance speech for the MTV award.
Are there others?
Yeah, I was wondering the same. Is there a nice long RotK preview on this edition like the long TTT preview on FotR?
This sounds a lot like the problem with the defective disc I returned yesterday; after the first 20 minutes or so, it would freeze-frame for longer and longer periods, until it finally stopped dead, and the chapter selector for later chapters didn’t work. However, it was definitely the disc that was the problem. It did the same thing in my computer’s DVD player and the one in the media center here at work, while Disc 2, and the replacement copy I watched last night ran fine.
My favorite addition on Disc 1 is the ent draught scene, since:
a. It gave Merry and Pippin something to do beyond sit in Treebeard’s branches the whole movie.
b. It was fun to see them get up to some mischief again.
c. They got eaten by a tree! While I was not one of those people who was terribly upset by the excision of Tom Bombadil, I enjoyed seeing something of the danger of Old Man Willow reused here. Also, the lines Treebeard uses when he rescues the hobbits are Tom’s lines from the book.
Since both Tom and Treebeard are some sort of spirit-of-the-woods, it makes a lot of sense for a movie to combine them into one – like combining various other elves into Arwen.
Indeed. It was a nice amalgamation. Although
I’ve been thinking about the ent-wives. Here, as in the book, Treebeard asks if M&P have seen them, and they haven’t. Now, I recall a conversation that Sam, Sandyman, the Gaffer and some of the older, rustic hobbits have about someone seeing walking trees in the Shire. Were there entish or huorn-like creatures in the area? I’m at work now and the books are at home, so I can’t go look this up.
Indeed. It was a nice amalgamation. Although the hobbits’ reaction to Treebeard’s poetry made me think more of a certain Vogon captain than Tom Bombadil. 
I’ve been thinking about the ent-wives. Here, as in the book, Treebeard asks if M&P have seen them, and they haven’t. Now, I recall a conversation that Sam, Sandyman, the Gaffer and some of the older, rustic hobbits have about someone seeing walking trees in the Shire. Were there entish or huorn-like creatures in the area? I’m at work now and the books are at home, so I can’t go look this up.
I concur with all of the opinions expressed herein about the additions; I enjoyed every single one of them and now think that TTT is as brilliant as FOTR.
My favorite is the bit where Gandalf recounts the story so far to Aragorn, and outlines his strategies and reasoning. Boy, it was wonderful to hear him utter that line (paraphrasing): “That we should have it and wish to destroy it has not yet entered his darkest dreams.” That’s something which desperately needed to be said somewhere in this movie. It’s the idea upon which the whole third movie hinges. I think I’ve watched this scene five times now.
OT: After having watched Sir Ian in Richard III and Macbeth now, I’m learning to listen for that inflection that only a practiced Shakespearean actor can give to his lines. He’s able to speak with a classical rhythm without sounding at all artificial. What a joy he is to listen to!
http://dvd.ign.com/articles/440/440963p1.html?fromint=1
Here is an 8-page review of the DVD which should be of use to anyone making up their mind about whether to buy it. It includes a description of the additional scenes in the extended cut. Like the FOTR-EE dvd.ign gives the DVD a rare 10/10.
Ok, people, Eowyn was chanting, not singing. Chanting isn’t always very melodic.
And color me curmudgeonly over TTT. I really HATE the following things:
Gimli the Comic Relief Dwarf
Faramir’s “I’ll make my dad LOVE me by bringing home the ring” bit. The new bits with Boromir and Denethor REALLY highlight this, and it made me mad. That’s now how Faramir was, sorry.
The trivialization of the Ents: “I always like going south – it makes me feel like I’m walking downhill.” Arrrggggghhhhhh,
Aragorn the Uncertain King. Please. Nobody had to talk him into being king.
I did like some new things:
The Huorns
More Merry & Pippin (they’re ok for comic relief by me)
The elf rope returning to Sam
I sure hope ROTK mends the mess that TTT made of this series for me.
Jeezopete.
Just some rebuttals on Archergal’s post…
Gimli as comic relief was probably taken too far, but they did need some moments of levity that wasn’t Pippin or Mary. I put Legolas the gravity defying skater punk in the same category of being taken too far. The scene of his mounting the horse during the warg attack was too much. This was all in the theatrical release though and not an addition due to the extended version.
It’s not?
possible RotK book spoiler:
I remember passages where Denethor derides Faramir’s abilities as compared to Boromir. I also remember Faramir was pushing himself too hard to gain Denethor’s approval. His many sorties against the enemy for just this reason was how he fell under the black breath.
I think uncertain is a good description of Aragorn. I would have to read the books again to get sites of why I thought that.
Oh yeah, be it chanting or singing, it still wasn’t good. I still think that the correct amount of time was spent on Theodred’s burial in the theatrical release.
YMMV.
Nope.
Nope again. He fell under the Black Breath when he was struck down as he tried to regain the gates of Gondor. In the book, Boromir demanded to be allowed to go to Rivendell. Faramir was willing to go, but Boromir wouldn’t let him.
Faramir did see the wisdom of Gandalf’s advice where Denethor didn’t, although we find out later that Denethor had been sent into despair by the visions he saw in the palantir.
From the very first of the book, Aragorn indicated that he knew the verse that begins “All that is gold does not glitter/Not all those who wander are lost…” could refer to him. He carried Narsil (the broken sword) with him. He says to Sam (in one of their first encounters): “But I am Aragorn, and those verses go with that name.” He drew out his sword, and they saw that the blade was indeed broken a foot below the hilt. “Not much use is it, Sam?” said Strider. “But the time is near when it shall be forged anew.”
To my mind, those aren’t the words of a guy who doesn’t think he’ll be king some day. Aragorn the Uncertain is a fiction of the movie.
I forgot another thing that pissed me off: Gandalf the Exorcist. PUH-LEEEZZZZEEEE!!! Theoden was NOT possessed by Saruman!!!
I’m not a total book purist. I didn’t mind Arwen (instead of Glorfindel) taking Frodo to Rivendell and doing her Magic Elvish Chant ™ chant over the river. I didn’t miss Tom Bombadil. I won’t miss the Scouring of the Shire. But things that totally change the sense of the characters and the book, THAT I mind.
And it’s Pippin and Merry, not Mary. Please.
This is the movie that I wanted to see last December, not that silly 3 hour thing we all had to sit through. It was so much richer and deeper than the theatrical release.
I know this is rather trivial, but my favorite extra scene was the nod to Tom Bombadil and Old Man Willow.
I initially hated the change to Faramir’s character, but the extended and added scenes really helped explain movie Faramir’s motivations and choices. I still wish he hadn’t been altered so much, but now I just dislike the change.
I’ll definitely be watching this over and over while waiting for ROTK to come out.
One critical “new” bit – the conversation between Gandalf and Aragorn, where Gandalf states explicitly that Sauron isn’t expecting them to try to destroy the ring. This was never made clear in FELLOWSHIP, nor in movie version of TWO TOWERS, but it’s a major plot point.
Archergal, From reading the books its always been obvious that Denethor favoured Boromir over Faramir, in a series of 3 two hour movies in which we only see Boromir in the first, Farmir in the second and Faramir & Denethor in the third, how exactly did you expect Jackson to convey this?
As for trivialising the Ents, puh-leazze right back at you, was Gandalfs line of 'something that has not happened for an age is about to begin, the ents are going to wake up… '* I think the idea of lines like the walking downhill one is to make the characters seem more humane.
And Aragorn was a Reluctant King, thats always been apparent upon reading the books, he wouldnt set foot inside Minas Tirith until he was told his friends needed his help. I think the fact that he lived the life of one of the Dunedain of the North, and lived in Rivendell too, chose how he was this Reluctant King.
Your right about one thing, Gandalf couldnt exorcise people, but he was now the White Wizard, the leader of the Istari, I think the purpose of that scene was to show us the power Gandalf held over Saruman… IMHO.
Anyway with regarding the DVD, my favourite seens were the stew/87 one and the flashback. Anyone else get the Gollum figure? Hes wicked cool!
Three hour movies not two, sorry!
And I was suppose to add a footnote hence the * basically saying, obviously that quote isnt word for word
The Gollum figure is very cool. Over on theonering.net, they’ve been giving suggestions on how to get the statue out of the box without damaging any of the packaging. They say to open it from the bottom, but I haven’t even taken mine out yet.
Well, I AM a Tolkien purist, buddy, and the things you mentioned didn’t change the sense of the movies at all. Frankly, I find Aragorn’s uncertainty of his destiny more in line with the rest of his character as laid out in the book… he was cautious, very critical of the follies of men (the primary reason for his uncertainty in the film), and accepted the possibility that they might fail.
And Gimli’s comic relief is appropriate… he and Legolas were set up as the comedic duo in the book, especially with their Kills contest during the battle of Helm’s Deep. Sure, they’re not Laurel and Hardy, but Tolkien certainly set up the Elf/Dwarf tension to feed off the friendly rivalry.
I sort of agree, but I maintain that Faramir wasn’t torn up about it. He just went out and did his duty.
[quote[And Aragorn was a Reluctant King, thats always been apparent upon reading the books, he wouldnt set foot inside Minas Tirith until he was told his friends needed his help… [/quote]
Uh, no. He didn’t enter Minas Tirith when he first got there because he didn’t want anyone to possibly have any divided loyalties while the war was raging:
Aragorn intended to declare himself King, as was his right. He wasn’t reluctant. It’s a movie artifact.
I like it that he’s noble and knows what he wants. That’s why I don’t like the way the movie portrays him. Movies don’t know how to show nobility and courage. That’s why they had to bugger up Faramir too.
JM curmudgeonly O
<< Movies don’t know how to show nobility and courage. >>
Cough, cough, cough, cough.
Well, Aragorn did spend rather a lot of time in Minas Tirith during the reign of Ecthelion II, during which time Denethor reportedly became rather put out at being second best, not that he realized that he was placing second to Isildur’s heir.
I can’t see any way of reading Aragorn as a reluctant king either. Deliberate, and not about to go rushing in, yes, but not reluctant. Anyways, he has incentive - “She shall not be the bride of any Man less than the King of both Gondor and Arnor.”