My husband and I got to view the digital projection of the Fellowship of the Ring Extended version at Universal City Walk in Los Angeles.
We were able to get reasonable seats ( center back ) even though a large central area was taped off for VIPs. I was surprised that the theater wasn’t completely filled. I was expecting a real crowd for something like this. Those who didn’t come really missed out.
We were really impressed with the digital projection. We have seen FOTR many times before, but never with this much clarity and sharpness. It was really beautiful! And each new scene seemed like a new gift, like finding something more under the Christmas tree after you thought everything had been opened.
We liked most of the additional scenes… the sections on the Hobbits and the Shire, more camping out on the trail, more on Lothlorien, more Gimli. The two scenes we weren’t too sure about: the addition to the Council of Elrond and the extended scene of Boramir and Aragon in Rivendale looking at the shards. I am not sure wether or not the actions of the characters made as much sense with the new edit. But, they were a lot of fun to see.
I didn’t feel the film was too long, even for sitting in a theater. Of course, being fairly familiar with something can make it seem to go by faster, so it is hard to know how I would feel if it had been released this way.
However, I do remember that I wished the first release was longer, giving more time to fulfilling the richness of the books. This extended version goes a long way to reaching that goal. It also has more humor in it, with the scene leaving Rivendale my favorite humorous addition.
I hope “The Two Towers” will be shown digitally, because that is definitely the way to see it.
