Return of the King, extended edition (Spoilers)
I just finished watching The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (Extended Edition) DVD, and I must say, I'm very impressed. Have you seen it yet? Any particular thoughts? Some of the extended scenes are listed below, followed by my personal opinions.
As always, if you don't want any major spoilers, don't look down.
Key: ** = extended scene. * = brand new scene.
The Finding of the Ring**
I only noticed eight extra seconds of footage in this section of the movie, and those eight seconds were of Smeagol strangling Deagol. Perhaps the sight of Deagol kicking and squirming his legs whilst suffocating was a little bit too gruesome for Mr. Jackson to include in the movie release. It did add to the drama of the scene quite well, I thought.
The Road to Isengard**
Merry and Pippin exchange a little more idle banter in this extra scene, most of which is highly amusing.
The Voice of Saruman*
One of my favourite new scenes from this edition of the movie. Christopher Lee once again amazes audiences with this fantastic portrayal of Saruman, and some of the exchanged dialogue between him, Gandalf and Theoden is quite moving. The ending of this scene is also excellent, even though it wasn't quite the same as the one in the book. Wormtongue does get his revenge by stabbing Saruman repeatedly in the back, but Tolkien didn't have him fall onto a large spike afterwards.
Eowyn's Dream*
Not a long scene by any means, but a pleasant one. More interaction between Aragorn and Eowyn is definitely a good thing, and Eowyn's description of her dream is quite graphic and spellbinding.
Cross-roads of the Fallen King*
A brand new scene involving Frodo, Sam and Gollum here, and a very good one at that. Even on the brink of Mordor, beauty is still to be found in middle earth as the light of the sun shines gently onto the face of the fallen king of Gondor. A beautiful scene with some nice dialogue.
Aragorn Takes the Paths of the Dead**
This scene contains some excellent dialogue from Legolas, who explains the story of the traitors in much more detail. The camera work in this scene is also very impressive.
Dwimorberg - The Haunted Mountain**
A brilliant scene with lots of extra footage. Instead of ending with the dead king's laughter, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli have to escape the mountain whilst avoiding thousands of skulls that are threatening to bury them. The king then agrees to help Aragorn after the three heroes escape.
The Witch King's Hour*
This is the new scene that I was most looking forward to when it was announced. A confrontation between the Witch King and Gandalf was teased in the movie trailers, but we never got to see it happen on the big screen. Although this scene is little over a minute long, it is very powerful. The Witch King spouts some excellent dialogue, produces a flaming sword from his sheath and shatters Gandalf's staff into a million pieces.
The Houses of Healing*
I'm glad Peter Jackson decided to at least acknowledge the fact that Eowyn and Faramir become involved in a relationship. This short (but sweet) scene shows us how the pair act around each other, and it's very nice to see. Very moving indeed.
Aragorn Masters the Palantir*
Aragorn speaks to Sauron in this very good scene, via the Palantir that nearly destroyed Pippin. As I keep saying, this scene contains even more good dialogue, and the sight of Aragorn threatening Sauron with Elendil is just wonderful to watch.
The Captain and the White Lady*
More Eowyn/Faramir in this scene. Very beautiful and moving words.
In the Company of Orcs*
When I read the book, I wondered why Jackson hadn't acknowledged the fact that Frodo and Sam marched with the Orcs for a while before diverting off to Mount Doom. This scene is another brand new section of the movie that doesn't fail to deliver.
The Mouth of Sauron*
This scene genuinely disturbed me. Once the Black Gate opens, Sauron sends out his "Mouth" or messenger to speak with Aragorn, Gandalf and the others. The messenger is wearing Sauron's helmet, and speaks in the voice of Sauron himself. The cuts around his mouth are quite disgusting, and it genuinely scared me. The booming, commanding voice of Sauron is also very impressive.
Mount Doom**
A little more climbing with Frodo and Sam, and a little more dialogue which doesn't fail to disappoint.
Note: I haven't included all the extra scenes in this "Review", just the ones I enjoyed the most. There are plenty more.
So, all in all, I'm very pleased with this edition, and it's lived up to all my expectations. For those of you who haven't seen it (and have ignored my spoiler warning) - I'd advise you to purchase it now. It won't disappoint you.
For those of you who have seen it, what are your thoughts?
