Review Detail

The Lord of the Rings trilogy is excellent as is. However, a bit of editing can function as the “cherry on top” to get them even better.

First and foremost, using the extended edition as the base is the right decision as there is simply a lot more excellent material. The changes help enhance the movie. For example, I personally suggested removing Gimli’s burping while Aragorn and Theoden were having a heated exchange, but the editor had a better idea by moving the shot to after watching the kids eat. This turned the moment from one of disrespect to a nice warm-hearted one. A small change that makes a huge difference when looking at the context.

The other critical changes relate to Faramir. He was portrayed as bit overly nasty early on along with too much animosity from the father. This made him very unlikeable early on. He is now portrayed with more mysterious intent and a bit friendlier. His character is improved quite a bit.

The final critical change involves Frodo offering the ring to the Nasghul. The editor correctly indicated that Frodo displaying the ring should have resulted in Sauron sending everything he has towards Frodo’s location. The fact that he does not makes our primary villain an outright imbecile. A simple cropping out of Frodo showing the ring salvages that moment.

In terms of audio and visual quality, I will always state that I am not the most qualified to judge because I will only notice things that blatantly stand out. Nothing negative stood out so the average viewer can watch and hear this movie without any hiccups. I am glad I finally have an official version of the trilogy that incorporates the extended edition and cleans up some of the minor issues to get this to an A+ movie.