I’m debating getting it, but at 80 bucks for the 4 disc version and no-one to go halfsies with (non of my friends have a DVD player) it may be a ways off yet.
Anyway, one of the things that I read they were going to add was violent bits that were cut out to get a PG 13 rating. Are there any noticible differences to the fight scenes now? Is the editing smoother?
80 bucks!!! Where in the world are you shopping? And why?! I just got mine for $25.99 through Amazon (Just the 4 disc Extended Edition version, not the “gift set”, which is around $50).
Can’t give you the verdict on the differences in the fight scenes yet – it just arrived this afternoon (YIPPEE!!), but I haven’t had the chance to watch the new scenes yet.
The fight scenes do have several nice added parts, but I don’t think they were removed to keep the PG-13 rating. If they were, then why does the Extended Edition still have a PG-13 rating?
Eh, I read that the DVD was gonna be reclassified R. Obviously, that was wrong :).
And Monstre, look at my location . ;j
The first thing I noticed about the fight scenes is that Gimli actually does something. He gets a lot more of his action on the screen. I think that the extended version is flat out a much better film.
The biggest thing I noticed is that Legolas is even more of a bad-ass in the extended scenes. Remember that scene where he nails three orcs in rapid succession at close range with arrows? I believe in the new version, the number increases to six before there’s a cutaway.
I don’t agree, though, that the extended version is “flat out a much better film.” I mean, I like it, and I own it, and I’ll watch it over and over again, no question, but I think the cuts (especially those in the first half of the movie) were wise; I feel that they gave the movie a better flow and made it more palatable for the mass market.
The fight scenes, for me, were much smoother in the new cut. You could really tell what was going on better, and the action flowed more naturally. The best improvement was seen in the Moria fight scene with the orcs and the cave troll, but the Uruk-Hai fight at the end also made more sense. The Fellowship kicks more ass all around. The scene where Legolas takes out a number of Uruk-Hai with his bow is extended, and even better as he hits about a half-dozen as they’re milling around. I loved it.
Probably the only scene that I would consider more graphic was when Aragorn was fighting the big Uruk-Hai at the end. He stabs it in the leg with his Elvish knife (given to him by Celeborn), then the Uruk-Hai pulls the kinfe out and licks the blood from the blade, then throws it at Aragorn. The blood-licking was left out of the original cut, as I recall. Nothing that really merits an R rating, though.
The fight scenes showed an all-around improvement in the Extended Edition, I think.
Heheh… Max Torque and I think alike, it seems. 
The fight scenes were much much better, IMHO. The Moria fight scene was one of my biggest disappointments in the original. I thought it was very choppy and hard to follow. The DVD version kicks ass.
Absolutely! When I saw that the first time in the theater, I was cheering. Definitely a scene that shows he kicks serious ass in a fight!