Like everyone else who has written in, I was lucky enough to win one of the passes to see the Special Edition DVD on the big screen. However, I may have driven farther than anyone else to take advantage of the privilege … 8 hours each way from Charlotte, N.C., to Merrifield, Virginia, just outside of Washington, D.C. Two hours into the journey, I stopped off in Winston-Salem, N.C., to pick up my faithful elven sidekick, Lithilien Quicksilver, and we made the rest of the jaunt to our nation’s capital together.
We were the first in line at noon Tuesday, much to the dismay of the manager at the National Amusements Lee Highway Multiplex. Despite the sad shake of his head that clearly conveyed he thought we needed to get a life, he and his staff made us welcome, letting us hang out in the lobby rather than the cold driving rain and allowing us unfettered use of the facilities.
We were the entire line until about 3 p.m., when two local Ringers and members of council-of-elrond.com, Erendis and Iorethdttr (who also leads the TOR.n line party for Washington, D.C.), arrived in full costume, including gorgeous hand-made elven cloaks.
Ultimately, the D.C. showing was rather sparsely attended (approximately 90 fans), which was a blessing given the fact that New Line had distributed 400 passes for a 300-seat theater and then reserved the 100 prime seats – virtually all of the center section of the theater – for VIPs who never showed up. Fortunately, New Line did not consider the first six rows of the theater to be prime real estate, so those of us at the front of the fan line were able to snatch the very seats we wanted most. It was sad, however, to see the rest of the fan faithful, packed into one narrow side section, outside the best audio zone, while all of those sweet seats in the center section went unused. (To be fair to New Line, they did open up the unused section just before the movie began, but moving was awkward so most fans stayed put in their original seats.)
Others have covered the new scenes in great detail, so let me just say that while many will insist on calling the Special Edition the “Director’s Cut,” I will always think of it as the “Book Lovers’ Cut.” So many wonderful touches from the books are there – the charming new “Concerning Hobbits” section that gives us so much more insight into the nature of hobbits; Bilbo’s battle with the Sackville-Bagginses; Frodo’s wonderful quote explaining to his hobbit companions that he is choosing to trust Strider because servants of the Enemy would “look fair and feel foul” while Strider “looks foul and feels fair”; Merry’s reflection on what midges in the Midgewater Marshes eat when they can’t get hobbit; a glimpse of Sam’s father, The Gaffer; the first mention of Gollumhttp://theonering.net/movie/char/smeagol.html’s real name; substantial new insight into Aragorn’s reluctance to lead and his ongoing conflict with Boromir; and, of course, the brilliant gift-giving scene (although some of the gifts are changed from those in the book).
Those fans who thought Peter Jackson drew too generous a picture of Boromir in the theatrical release will find plenty in the Special Edition to balance the portrait. The Boromir in this version is much darker and sinister, and more well-rounded
Marton Csokas’ Celeborn is reborn in this version as well – his new lines and scenes give us a completely different view of Galadriel’s husband and the actor who plays him. The vicious running jokes about Csokas should begin to dissipate once fans get to see the new-and-much-improved version. Haldir, Gimli, Merry and Pippin fans also will find much to like. Boromir’s death scene, which I would have sworn to be the peak of perfection in the theatrical release, is even more powerful here.
Howard Shore’s additional score is, in places, even more hauntingly beautiful and grand (who would have thought that possible?) than the music in the theatrical release. His touch is absolutely unerring, and there were times when I was so swept away by his stunning new musical phrases that I could barely absorb what was happening on the screen.
DLP Cinema, a Texas Instruments Company, deserves mega-kudos for their incredible digital projection system. It was electric to see the movie in all its glory – flawless, crisp, richly hued and free of those annoying black dots and jumps that mark film reels. The sound, too, was far and above anything I had heard before, even in far more modern theaters. You didn’t just see and hear the flood at the Ford of Bruinen – you could actually feel it rumble through the core of your body, as if the weight of the water were about to crash down on you personally. It literally swept us away.
Be prepared, however. Once you see the SE DVD, you’ll never want to watch the theatrical version again. This has to be the movie as PJ truly intended it, and it is brilliant beyond belief.
Like everyone else who has written in, I was lucky enough to win one of the passes to see the Special Edition DVD on the big screen. However, I may have driven farther than anyone else to take advantage of the privilege – 8 hours each way from Charlotte, N.C., to Merrifield, Virginia, just outside of Washington, D.C. Two hours into the journey, I stopped off in Winston-Salem, N.C., to pick up my faithful elven sidekick, Lithilien Quicksilver, and we made the rest of the jaunt to our nation’s capital together.
We were the first in line at noon Tuesday, much to the dismay of the manager at the National Amusements Lee Highway Multiplex. Despite the sad shake of his head that clearly conveyed he thought we needed to get a life, he and his staff made us welcome, letting us hang out in the lobby rather than the cold driving rain and allowing us unfettered use of the facilities.
We were the entire line until about 3 p.m., when two local Ringers and members of council-of-elrond.com, Erendis and Iorethdttr (who also leads the TOR.n line party for Washington, D.C.), arrived in full costume, including gorgeous hand-made elven cloaks.
Ultimately, the D.C. showing was rather sparsely attended (approximately 90 fans), which was a blessing given the fact that New Line had distributed 400 passes for a 300-seat theater and then reserved the 100 prime seats – virtually all of the center section of the theater – for VIPs who never showed up. Fortunately, New Line did not consider the first six rows of the theater to be prime real estate, so those of us at the front of the fan line were able to snatch the very seats we wanted most. It was sad, however, to see the rest of the fan faithful, packed into one narrow side section, outside the best audio zone, while all of those sweet seats in the center section went unused. (To be fair to New Line, they did open up the unused section just before the movie began, but moving was awkward so most fans stayed put in their original seats.)
Others have covered the new scenes in great detail, so let me just say that while many will insist on calling the Special Edition the ‘Director’s Cut’, I will always think of it as the ‘Book Lovers’ Cut.’ So many wonderful touches from the books are there – the charming new Concerning Hobbits section that gives us so much more insight into the nature of hobbits; Bilbo’s battle with the Sackville-Bagginses; Frodo’s wonderful quote explaining to his hobbit companions that he is choosing to trust Strider because servants of the Enemy would look fair and feel foul while Strider looks foul and feels fair; Merry’s reflection on what midges in the Midgewater Marshes eat when they can’t get hobbit; a glimpse of Sam’s father, The Gaffer; the first mention of Gollum’s real name; substantial new insight into Aragorn’s reluctance to lead and his ongoing conflict with Boromir; and, of course, the brilliant gift-giving scene (although some of the gifts are changed from those in the book).
Those fans who thought Peter Jackson drew too generous a picture of Boromir in the theatrical release will find plenty in the Special Edition to balance the portrait. The Boromir in this version is much darker and sinister, and more well-rounded.
Marton Csokas’ Celeborn is reborn in this version as well – his new lines and scenes give us a completely different view of Galadriel’s husband and the actor who plays him. The vicious running jokes about Csokas should begin to dissipate once fans get to see the new-and-much-improved version. Haldir, Gimli, Merry and Pippin fans also will find much to like. Boromir’s death scene, which I would have sworn to be the peak of perfection in the theatrical release, is even more powerful here.
Howard Shore’s additional score is, in places, even more hauntingly beautiful and grand (who would have thought that possible?) than the music in the theatrical release. His touch is absolutely unerring, and there were times when I was so swept away by his stunning new musical phrases that I could barely absorb what was happening on the screen.
DLP Cinema, a Texas Instruments Company, deserves mega-kudos for their incredible digital projection system. It was electric to see the movie in all its glory – flawless, crisp, richly hued and free of those annoying black dots and jumps that mark film reels. The sound, too, was far and above anything I had heard before, even in far more modern theaters. You didn’t just see and hear the flood at the Ford of Bruinen – you could actually feel it rumble through the core of your body, as if the weight of the water were about to crash down on you personally. It literally swept us away.
Be prepared, however. Once you see the SE DVD, you’ll never want to watch the theatrical version again. This has to be the movie as PJ truly intended it, and it is brilliant beyond belief.
Lorie didn’t even have a ticket, but was resourceful enough to get in nevertheless! [More]
Lady Illanir of Gondor said that the Extended Edition brought back the same feelings of adrenalin rush she experienced seeing the theatrical version. [More]
Davros’s said the detail was amazing and that the only disappointment was to have to surrender his invitation. (This one contains minor TTT spoilers – Dem.) [More]
Josh’s is really brief:
How in the world did New Line decide not to show this version originally is beyond me. The extra 30 minutes helps development all the characters immensely. The only added footage that didn’t work for me was that of Bilbo in the beginning talking about hobbits. It was good, I enjoyed it, but it didn’t seem as smooth and seamless as the rest of the added footage. I will never again watch the theatrical version, EXTENDED version all the way. I can’t wait for Tuesday.
Kato’s favourite addition was the ‘gift’ scene in Lothlorien. [More]
DPM drove 3.5 hours each way to see it says it was well worth the effort. [More]
Lhunsarniel wrote this very comprehensive review for us all. [More]
Gregg: “The original cut of FOTR was a great, great movie. But this is so much better.” [More]
Rosamunde agrees with our Miami report. The sound and total digital experience was fantastic! [More]
Yesiquilt: “It’s got all the frosting on the cake now, and they should have put it out this way in the first place.” [More]
Lori: “I was expecting a real crowd for something like this. Those who didn’t come really missed out.” [More]
Jim writes: “FOTR, the extended version is the ONLY version I will ever watch again! It was pretty much everything I hoped for and more.” [More]
Fozzer wrote a that review you can read here. [More
Lee writes: “Watch every moment of this new version carefully, as you may be in for some real surprises!” [More]
Paul made some very interesting comments about the new pacing in this excellent review. [More]
Brendan: “Much more depth into the characters, especially Aragorn.” [More]
Thanks to everyone who wrote a review and sent it in! These were exhausting to compile, but very very interesting to read! Sounds like we’re really in for a treat.
Wow! I was one of the lucky few to see the extended edition of The Fellowship Of The Ring, and I was able to see it on AMC’s Digital Projection screen!
Let me just say first that seeing The Fellowship Of The Ring DIGITALLY with ADDITIONAL SCENES was incredible! The quality was superb in every aspect! The new Two Towers trailer was shown right in front of the viewing of the extended edition and looks incredible! I believe it looks better than the trailer for The Fellowship Of The Ring that released last year and let me tell you, seeing the trailer on a digitally projected theater screen is quite different than seeing it on my computer screen!
The Extended Edition of FOTR itself was spectacular and WAYYYYY better than the theatrical version! It gives much more depth into the characters, especially Aragorn, who has the majority of the new scenes to his benefit! In one new scene for example, we see Aragorn at the grave of his mother and then Elrond comes up behind him and how he made it into Rivendell with the elves is fully explained. I won’t go in depth into the scenes just because I know there have been plenty of reviews of the extended edition lately and probably almost everybody knows the new scenes.
There are two quite funny scenes added as well that will please everybody. I can’t do them justice here so I won’t try.
There is another scene with Gollum although it is very brief and only his hands are seen. Also a reference to him and how his name was once Smeagol and a bit of explaining on the part of Gandalf on a little bit of the history of Gollum while him and Frodo are in the Mines Of Moria after Frodo spots Gollum tracking them.
And of course the best scene is the gift giving scene which does justice to the book.
All in all, I was very pleased with this edition as the original theatrical version will be gathering dust on my shelf for quite some time now that we have this much better edition.
I can’t wait until Tuesday when It comes out and I can watch it again with the commentary’s and the DTS sound! A great experience that I was glad to be able to partake in!
Review of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring – Extended Edition
First, a thank you to Cinemark Legacy in Plano (TX), and to Amberly (sic?) of New Line for allowing me to view the special screening as a stand-by in line. My daughter won a ticket to the screening, but opted to take her brother as her guest. I had to be there to drive them both home. The rest of the family came to see Santa Clause 2 – when it finished, Amberly also let the rest of the family come in (they saw about 3 hours of the film).
Second, this was the finest theater I have ever been in (including Cinerama Dome in Hollywood); this is the only DLP (Digital Light Processing, Texas Instruments) in the North Texas area. The video was beautiful, clear and unblemished (none of the scratches or end-reel burns of film); the sound system was incredible. I highly recommend to all that if you get the chance to view a film in one of these theaters, do it – you will be impressed. I met a man in line who had actually worked on the DLP engineering here in the Dallas area for TI; he explained some of the rudimentary techniques and principles. He was excited about seeing his product at work with this film (he also got in as a stand-by).
One more note before the review. Cinemark Legacy has not yet finalized their commitment to showing The Two Towers. I found out that one thing they are waiting on is word from New Line as to the availability of a digital version of the December 18th release. Apparently New Line is at least contemplating making a digital version for theatrical release.
On with the film (feature?, this was a digital version, no film was in the room).
First of all, this was NOT a showing of the DVD. This was a digital copy of the extended edition; no intermission or break of any kind. The viewing began right on time (6:00 p.m.) with the new Two Towers trailer – looked great on that screen, with that sound system.
Rather than review the details of the changes to the feature, I’ll just give my overall impressions and thoughts:
1) The additional scenes are evenly spread throughout the feature. I checked my watch throughout the viewing – the first half of the film (Pippin: Right! Where are we going?) originally timed at about 1 hour, 30 minutes – it is now at 1 hour, 45 minutes. The second half has also gone from about 1 hour 30 minutes to 1 hour, 45 minutes (including end credits). 2) The two most significant benefactors from the additional scenes are a) the Shire/Hobbits and b) Boromir. I realize there are other significant additions (Council of Elrond, the door to the Mines of Moria, Lothlorien), but the changes in the Shire and in Boromir most changed my impressions and expectations in this version (compared to the original release). In the Shire, Peter has completely recut our introduction to hobbits in general, and to the Baggins’ in particular. This refocusing really sets up the entire story line (all three films/books) and just what is at stake. Boromir’s character is given much more interplay with the entire fellowship; his own inner struggle with loyalty, honor and power is much more prominent. This, of course, further intensifies the emotional ending with his fall, repentance and personal sacrifice (girls, and maybe some guys, make sure your hankies are available). 3) The pace of the film is not nearly as frenetic. I didn’t think just 30 minutes interspersed throughout would make such a difference, but we now get opportunities to catch our breath and regroup our emotions (just as the characters do). My biggest critique (not complaint) with the original version is that Peter, due to time constraints, had to quickly pace the film; it moved so fast, it didn’t seem like three hours long. 4) In some ways, this reminded of comparing a long theatrical movie that gets shown on commercial television and is edited for time, against the full-length, uncut version of the film. Many years ago my wife and I would annually watch “The Sound of Music” on TV. This 178 minute film was somehow shown in a three-hour time frame including 45 minutes of commercials. We eventually watched the full-length version, and saw the directors’ intentions in certain responses from the actors. It was actually the short chunks that got cut which better enhanced the film when added back in. We saw the same thing last night – some of what you have already seen (close up actor’s looks, short responses) will have more context around them – I believe we are seeing a better representation of Peter’s vision and intention when he was actually filming the movie.
Overall, I consider the original release to be a wonderful, sufficient expression of the first book in the trilogy. That release is one of my top 5 favorite movies of all time.
The extended edition fleshes out a story that already had skeleton, muscle and sinew. The original stood and walked on its’ own merit; the extended edition not only stands and walks, it runs all over any other fantasy/adventure competition. If choosing only one of the releases, this is the one to see.
Only 41 days until the Two Towers – see y’all in line.
Extended Edition Report, Los Angeles, November 5, 2002:
I won’t go into detail, as I expect so many other TORn reporters will cover the DVD in detail. Let me just say this:
This is a different movie. Footage has not merely been “dropped in” or added; scenes have been CHANGED, and in some case footage removed because of material added elsewhere. I hate to be a spoiler for those who might like the surprise of seeing this for themselves. So it merely remains to be said: watch every moment of this new version carefully, as you may be in for some real surprises!
