Extended edition commentary

[Churl]

Hello all ... it's been a long time since my last post. I've checked in frequently, but I never got around to posting; I'm sorry for that.

Anyway, I'm interested in hearing people's observations on the various audio commentaries (and the appendices) included with the extended edition of the Fellowship film.

There's so much interesting stuff there, and all of it gives greater appreciation for the sheer volume of work that went on — and is still going on — behind the scenes of the trilogy.

Here's just one great moment:

*** DIRECTOR'S COMMENTARY SPOILER ***

Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, and Philippa Boyens reveal that Peter didn't like the original sound of the Ringwraiths' wail. Eventually, Fran Walsh's screams were substituted to form the "raw material" for the movie's Nazgul shrieks. As she describes her day of screaming into the microphones, she jokes about her motivation … something along these lines: "I imagined Peter telling me that he'd just acquired the film rights to The Silmarillion."

I got a good laugh from that.

One more thing, from the cast commentary … when you stand in line for The Two Towers, you'll recognize the truly obsessed fans: they'll be the ones playing "Tig."

P.S. Moderators — if you think that this post should be moved to an existing thread, no problem. I just thought that since it deals with the commentaries and supplemental material specifically, I'd start a new thread. But again, it's your call.

[WallRocker]

Okay Churl, I guess i'm not a truly obsessed fan. What the heck is "Tig"!?

[Churl]

…Only in the sense of being obsessed enough to listen to all the commentaries.

(By the way, I don't know if info revealed in the commentaries really merits spoiler shading, but for the sake of those who would rather listen to them "fresh," or for those who would rather not alter the movie experience with behind-the-scenes trivia, I'll keep shading until some time has passed.)

Anyway, regarding Tig:

*** CAST COMMENTARY SPOILERS ***

Apparently during the filming of the Weathertop scene, Billy Boyd and Dominic Monaghan decided to have some fun at Elijah Wood's expense. They started tapping each other and saying things like "Tig," "Tig-tag," etc. When Elijah asked them what they were doing, they replied that they were playing a game called "Tig." They proceeded to let him play, all the while telling him that he wasn't doing it right; e.g., "No, you can't tag a tig…" He was baffled, and he didn't learn until a year later that it was all a joke: there were no rules to Tig because it wasn't a real game. I liked that — it really seemed that despite the pressure, exhaustion, injuries, and hours of makeup/prosthetics application every day, they still had fun during the down time.

[BeardofPants]

I watched most of the appendices on the weekend. It's certainly given me a new found respect for the hard work that went into the movie(s). Dunno if I'm up to watching it on commentry mode though.

[Churl]

That's understandable, BoP, especially if you weren't wild about the movie to begin with.

For the record, like many others, I wasn't 100% happy with some of the changes introduced by the screenplay. I'll save those dicussions for other threads, but for now I'll just say that no one can fault the cast and crew for laziness.

[Elf.Freak]

"How many times Elijah, you can't double tig a tag!"

lol, i LOVE the Cast commentry! i love the bit where Orlando says

"I love the way he says, 'One of you...must do this.' Well why don't you do it yourself mate?"

i haven't checked out the Directors bit yet, but i will soon!

[Lollypopgurl]

I liked the Orli-Council thing cause I thought the same thing when I first saw it. I was like, "I don't think that was in the book..."

[Elfhelm]

Christopher Lee is soooooo cool! I've liked him for a long time but now I really really like him! Know what I mean?

[Churl]

I agree … many of us already knew that he reads Rings yearly, but it was incredibly cool to hear Lee (in one of the supplemental documentaries) intone the Ring's untranslated inscription absolutely fluently, almost conversationally. That, my friends, is a fan.

[azalea]

I listened to the cast and director's commentaries, and got as far as the conceptual drawing galleries in the Appendices, then my viewing stalled. I like to do things in order, but those galleries were a bit boring to watch. I'm glad they included them, but I think showing about 5 minutes worth of stuff for each catagory would have been plenty for me to see. I may have to watch more of it tomorrow night before I see TTT, though, as an "appetizer."

[Noahamir]

I think that Dominic Monegan was pretty funny in the interviews and also in the commentary. Great Sense of Humor!

It almost makes me think that he might have been better as Pippin than the more serious Merry, even though I think Billy did a great job as Pippin!

[Khamûl]

I have watched the cast commentary over the past two days and thoroughly enjoyed it. The bit about Dominic's splinter was hilarious (more about that in the appendices). I'll have to take time and watch the director's commentary and the others.

[Churl]

I really found the commentaries to be well worth the time. Only during the design team's commentary did my attention wander, but who knows? Others might find it fascinating.

The commentary by Jackson, Walsh, and Boyens is especially interesting because they go into the decision-making process: what stayed and why, what got cut and why, and most controversially, why departures from the book were introduced. (Their commentary track for The Two Towers should be even juicier, and it will undoubtedly raise certain viewers' hackles even higher. )

[Huan]

I've only got round to playing the director/screewriter commentary and the cast, but both of those are just great, for their own reasons. It is reassuring to hear just how extensive Phillipa Boyens' reading in Tolkieniana is; she's read all the letters and everything. She can go on and on about Morgoth and whatever else. We may not agree with all her decisions, but at least they're informed ones. For the cast, the "hobbits" add plenty of endearing humor and entertaining anecdotes, Christopher Lee is truly knowledgeable about Middle Earth, Ian McKellan adds some interesting tidbits, and Orlando Bloom seems to be the film's biggest fan.

[Khamûl]

By the way, can anyone find a picture of Judi Dench's mother? I want to see if Ian McKellen is right and she really looks like old Bilbo.

[Elf.Freak]

I watched Disk 4 the other day, and my dad told me that he'd found a 'Secret (sp???) Footage' bit by pressing something twice or something. has anyone found this bit and if so, how do you get to it?

[Blackboar]

*sigh* I want a dvd!!!

I have the extended vhs though

[Elf.Freak]

apparently on the first VHS release of LOTR there were some out-takes. if anyone has this is this true? (i know, i ask WAY too many questions!)

[Elfhelm]

The only extra thing I found was the MTV music awards joke - ouch!

Please tell us if your found anything else!

[sun-star]

I was obviously very excited to get the extended DVD for Xmas (goes without saying...) but out of the commentaries I've only watched the one by the cast. Enjoyable, but I don't know that I exactly like knowing just how false it all is. They say things like "I filmed that line in the studio, and the next one six months later" which rather removes the mystery. I want to believe it's real!