Review Detail

There are various cuts of this edit out there I believe, including “The Messenger does not have his head severed by Aragorn” cut of the movie. DonkeyKonga, the editor, actually considered making that the unofficial title for that edition of the edit (I could be joking here, but I might be accidentally right).

While obviously a wonderful movie, the thing that absolutely bothered me the most in the extended edition was that the audience is told in advance of the decision by the ghost army instead of leaving it as a surprise when they appear. Always better to show then tell in any film.

Another bizarre and poorly explained issue in the theatrical was the mortality of the elf Arwen. Why exactly this is the case was not made clear in the movie. Besides, it effectively nullifies the sacrifice she makes to stay with Aragorn. Her father also makes a huge sacrifice agreeing to let her go as well. Sometimes, it is best to keep your rules in order. If elves are immortal, then we really do not need to make an exception to force a happier ending.

Other positive changes include not showing Aragorn losing the mind battle with Sauron and also Sam does not “leave” Frodo. In all seriousness, everybody watching the movie the first time could figure out Sam was going to come back and rescue Frodo. Therefore, having him leave was something nobody thought was really going to happen.

We have other positive changes, but I am mostly neutral on those because the ones I listed were more problematic for me.

Folks, please watch the Precious editions of this excellent trilogy. These are wonderful as is, but the edits add a bit of seasoning to give us that extra flavor.