Lord of the Rings, The: Book V – The War of the Ring

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9.3 (32)
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6%
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9.3
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7.8(6)
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10.0(6)
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9.8(6)
Narrative
 
9.7(6)
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9.3(32)
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(Updated: May 22, 2023)
Overall rating
 
9.0
Audio/Video Quality
 
5.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
10.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0
(Speaking of the entire set of 6 films) This is by far the best version of Lord of the Rings, in my opinion. For any book fan who despaired at the over-the-top ridiculousness of Legolas surfing on a shield or Gimli talking about the orc's nervous system, or who despised the mischaracterization of Treebeard, Faramir, or Denethor, this is the set of films you need to see.

Yes, there's a minor bit of day/night switching when it comes to the Pelennor fields battle, but the editor had to work with the material he had. Given the way Peter Jackson mangled the storyline more the further on it went, this salvaged most of the major errors amazingly well.

I also personally like the narrative flow better when it comes to the different storylines as regards to Frodo & Sam vs. The Three Hunters (Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli) vs. Merry & Pippin. Rather than constantly cross-cutting and spoiling what happened, by following the book's approach it maintains the same level of anticipation and interest that I loved from reading, and I thought it a major improvement.

I really enjoyed the DVD menus and following the path of the characters through Middle-earth. The choice of alternate music at the end was good, though I do confess missing Into the West just a bit.

I had to rate the video quality low only because it's not hi-def. It's still worth it, and worthy of the title of best LOTR fanedit for any book-loving fan. I'd be curious how it feels to someone who's never read or seen any LOTR before, though!

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Yes
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DVD
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Overall rating
 
8.8
Audio/Video Quality
 
5.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
9.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0
--This review is about all six books, not only about this one--
So, I finally got to see Kerr's vision here. In total, it's about 7 1/2 hours long and therefore around 1/3 shorter than the extended editions.
That said, I don't think the pacing of this "Red Book" series is too fast, but the events told sometimes (really only sometimes, like the fellowship's voyage from Rivendell to Moriah, Frodo's encounter with Faramir or Aragorn's meeting in the path of the dead) feel a bit rushed - but that might also be just because I knew what's been cut out...
What I like about Kerr's approach is that his Middle-Earth landscapes feel bigger, more epic and more fitting to the story - yes, even though Jackson always gos for bigger, I really always thought the movies felt small regarding the landscapes! So wonderfully, Kerr achieves to let LOTR happen in more adequate geographic surroundings. This and his use of alternative music (besides of course the well-known various themes of LOTR) give his edit a more mythical and awestruck quality.
What I do not like is (and yes, I know it's this edit's trademark) - or put better, what didn't work too well for me was Kerr's approach to tell the several story lines each by itself and without switching from one to the other.
I mean, it's okay and one might like it, but imo it's one of the original book's strenghts and tricks to achieve a certain grandeur that gets lost when ignored.
Now for the cutting itself, I think it's rather flawless - Kerr is successfull in keeping in all significant highlights in all their glory and removing much of what could be considered lenghty, inadequately blown-up or simply unnecessary. He also changes the placement of backstories (or puts them back in the original book's order) in convincing style, meaning Peter's changes for the better of the movies themselves are all "corrected", and still Kerr's cut is not suffering from that, which is quite an achievement!
All in all, his LOTR feels more serious, more mature - but then again, I must admit I haven't seen the original Extended Editions for years, maybe these are not as overloaded as I remember them?
I also want to add that I saw Kerr's edit in compressed DVD resolution which just looks not too good on today's HD TVs.
I definitely can recommend this edit, and it was a joy to watch, but it won't be my go-to-version.

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Yes
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DVD
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Overall rating
 
9.4
Audio/Video Quality
 
9.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
9.0
Narrative
 
9.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0
I liked how this cut removed a lot of unneeded silliness and side plots. All the characters were improved. Denethor felt less insane up until he thought Faramir was dead--then it makes more sense to lose his mind to despair. Reducing the intercuts and just following each group's experience helps.

My biggest quibble with the whole series is the reworking of the Siege of Minia Tirith & Battle of Pelennor Fields. Unfortunately, putting things back into book order and working with the material available caused continuity issues with day & night. Jumping back and forth was a bit jarring, but there was only the footage available to work with.

The choice of intro music was unexpected and I liked not just re-using the same piece as would be the obvious decision.

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Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
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Overall rating
 
10.0
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
10.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0
I can only give this fanedit a perfect review since I just truly loove this version of LOTR so much more than the original cut / edit (both theatrical and EE). To me all of Kerr's 6 books are a masterpeace. Only thing distracting is that, as far as I know, there is no HD-version of it available, so when watching the Hobbit fanedit beforehand, the quality difference is noticable. Let's hope an HD version comes out someday. This will be the version I will watch from now on if I watch the LOTR. Thank you Kerr for the work you put in!

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Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
DVD
Report this review Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 2 0
Overall rating
 
9.8
Audio/Video Quality
 
9.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
10.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0
Splendid and meticulous editing, as usual. The entire cut list seems reasonable and nothing felt missing. As close to the book as it gets, with the material available. Masterful works, these book edits.

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Yes
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Digital
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