Product Description
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A new version of the final installment in the epic trilogy! The
WINNER of 11 Academy Awards including BEST PICTURE is now 50
minutes longer! This extended version of the epic conclusion of
"The Lord of the Rings" trilogy includes new score by Howard
Shore and over 350 new digital effects s. The once-great
kingdom, watched over by a fading steward, has never been in more
desperate need of its king. But can Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen)
answer the call of his heritage and become what he was born to
be? In no small measure, the e of Middle-earth rests on his
broad shoulders.
.com
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The greatest trilogy in film history comes to a grand conclusion
with the extended edition of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of
the King. Not only is the third and final installment of Peter
Jackson's adaptation of the works of J.R.R. Tolkien the longest
of the three, but a full 50 minutes of new material pushes the
running time to a whopping 4 hours and 10 minutes.
One of the scenes cut from the theatrical release but included
here, the resolution of the Saruman storyline, generated a lot of
publicity when the movie opened, as actor Christopher Lee
complained in the press about losing his only appearance. It's an
excellent scene, one Jackson calls "pure Tolkien," and provides
better context for Pippin to find the wizard's palantir in the
water, but it's not critical to the film. In fact, "valuable but
not critical" might sum up the ROTK extended edition. It's
evident that Jackson made the right cuts for the theatrical run,
but the extra material provides depth and ties up a number of
loose ends, and for those sorry to see the trilogy end (and who
isn't?) it's a welcome chance to spend another hour in
Middle-earth. Some choice moments are Gandalf's (Ian McKellen)
confrontation with the Witch King (we find out what happened to
the wizard's staff), the chilling Mouth of Sauron at the gates of
Mordor, and Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin) being
mistaken for Orc soldiers. We get to see more of Éowyn (Miranda
Otto), both with Aragorn and on the battlefield, even fighting
the hideously deformed Orc lieutenant, Gothmog. We also see her
in one of the most anticipated new scenes, the Houses of Healing
after the battle of the Pelennor Fields. It doesn't present
Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) as a savior as the book did, but it
shows the initial meeting between Éowyn and Faramir (David
Wenham), a relationship that received only a meaningful glance in
the theatrical cut.
And for those who complained, no, there are no new endings, not
even the scouring of the Shire, which many fans were hoping to
see. Nor is there a scene of Denethor (John Noble) with the
palantir, which would have better explained both his fore
and his madness. As Jackson notes, when cuts are made, the
secondary characters are the first to go, so there is a new scene
of Aragorn finding the palantir in Denethor's robes. Another big
difference is Aragorn's confrontation with the King of the Dead.
In the theatrical version, we didn't know whether the King had
accepted Aragorn's offer when the pirate ships pulled into the
harbor; here Jackson assumes that viewers have already
experienced that tension, and instead has the army of the dead
join the battle in an earlier scene (an extended cameo for
Jackson). One can debate which is more effective, but that's why
the film is available in both versions. If you feel like watching
the relatively shorter version (
/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0001VL30O/${0} ) you saw in the theaters, you
can. If you want to completely immerse yourself in Peter
Jackson's marvelous and massive achievement, only the extended
edition will do. --David Horiuchi