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

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!

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.

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.

I loved these. Not to much to say about it that hasn't been said by other reviewers, but if you're a Lord of the Rings fan, check these edits out.

(Watched this a couple years and forgot to review.)

(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!