ROTK : EE version Mooter reviews!

[Rían]

I saw Millane had seen the EE ROTK, so I wanted to start a thread specifically about the EE additions instead of just tagging onto the end of the "anticipated scenes" thread.

Reviews, please! I have to wait until Tuesday!

[Meriadoc Brandybuck]

*sneaks in* I do too... A whole 4 days of waiting

[Something]

I think the EE is really great.

[Arathorn]

Got my copy last thursday!

Spoilers, anyone?

I like the Saruman scene. I'm satisfied with how he died. He continually puts Grima down and get stabbed in the back by him before finally falling to the kebab itizer below. I'm also glad they gave Denethor a lot more good lines. I just couldn't take him in the theatrical version just being pummelled by Gandalf everytime they meet. Such a waste for a well developed book character to be dumbed down because they wanted to develop others that were originally afterthoughts (elven princesses included). I still wished they'd shoot a scene with Denethor and the Palantir of Minas Tirith.

Disc 4 is very effective in cleaning your eyes out. Plenty of feel good and sad moments there. I also recommend the Horse Masters featurette on disc 3.

BTW, the cast commentary track features Smeagol and Gollum together with Andy and the rest of the cast!

[Millane]

Yeah i keep coming here and plan to talk through all the new scenes individually, well i get a few chapters in and get sidetracked so maybe itll be easier if i just talk about my favourites.
At Orthanc when they talk to Saruman and he asks for peace with Theoden, whom is enraged and says basically peace will come when your dead...
Some people may not like the scene in Edoras with the drinking game, i however love the idea, except Legolas beats Gimli what would dwarves be good for except digging up mountains and drinking
Eowyns dream was a nice little extra, she looks so cute asleep
All of Gandalfs extra bits are great.
The houses of healing are great now that i have come around to liking Faramir.... Ooh oh the little bit where Eomer finds Eowyn "dead" and screams out "NOOOOOOO!"... awesome
The special features (well what ive seen of them) are good, why people pro-nounce Minas as minus ill never know. And the horrendous Aragorn-Sauron fight, that they actually filmed bleargh. Sauron comes out to the gates and everyone else is blinded but Aragorn can see Sauron as Annatar and they talk but then Annatar goes to kill Aragorn and reveals himself in his prologue form, not only going against the books but also the movies. None of the people on the special features seemed that fond of the scene thank god, but they did spend the time to film it
Another little bit of trivia i saw was the rock face in the Paths of the dead scene was the same place PJ filmed the start of braindead, coooooool
So is it released in america yet?

[Artanis]

Just some quick opinions from the north:

The scene with Theoden standing up to Saruman at Orthanc was well done. Theoden needed this moment for his self-confidence. And Grima killing Saruman was ok, but why should Legolas fire that arrow? I don't see the point, and I don't see that he would have any authority to do so.

I liked the extra scenes at Edoras with Eowyn and Aragorn. They served well to emphasize the mutual love that, after all, existed between them.

Eowyn at the Pelennor fields! There were several extra scenes with her fighting. Suuper! And I agree with Millane, the bit where Eomer finds his sister after the battle is heartbreakingly wonderful.

Houses of healing: Great! But waaayy to short! Faramir should have doubled his share of fan-girls after this.

The Mouth of Sauron was ok I guess, though it was almost comical the way he grinned.

The only bits I really did NOT like was the extra scenes during the Paths of the Dead. All those horror ingredients - it was almost like a parody. The skulls were just silly - this is not a Pol Pot documentary.

[Last Child of Ungoliant]

i hope to be receiving EE for xmas,
but mother says it is too expensive

it's only £23.97, TTT and TFotR were both £34.99
when they cam out on EE

fingers crossed!!

[Elfhelm]

I have been informed that, despite the fact that the DVD is arriving today, I will not be able to see it for three days! My daughter has to record Earthsea tonight while I am at quartet practice, I have to sing carols for the elderly tomorrow, and my daughter's high school choir has their Christmas Show on Thursday. I tried to get everyone to agree to watch it one DVD at a time, but there were no takers. So... I'm whining.

Of course, with a little re-wiring, I might be able to set it up to record Earthsea while we watch ROTK, and I could blow off practice... nah!

I'll keep checking in to read other people's reviews.

[Rían]

Oh Elfhelm, that's cruel and unusual punishment!

I'd get up in the middle of the night, if I were you, and at least watch the new scenes!

OK - dropped the kiddos off and headed straight to the store! Bought a few other things, too, so I didn't look like some Tolkien nerd ("Who me? Counting off the days until this movie was released? Coming to the store first thing in the morning only for the movie? Nah, it was this scarf that I really wanted!" ) Watched the single-asterisk scenes right off (it's not like I don't know the ending!). Most of them quite good, and like the other EEs, with dialogue STRAIGHT from Tolkien! Also found the infamous drinking scene (silly) and the scene with Eomer finding Eowyn ( *sob*!! ) in the double-asterisk scenes (existing scenes with some new footage). I was SO glad to hear Faramir's line about not using the ring! Gave him a bit more backbone and made him a little more like the great guy he was in the book. Additional scenes with Denethor make me wonder how this guy ever got any acting jobs - SO over the top! Nice how they have the crown of flowers on the king at the cross roads! So glad Theoden's defying of Saruman is in!

OK - let's see - additional moments for Elfhelm to pre-numb himself to - Sauron showing the piccy of Arwen lying on her bed like she's dead to Aragorn in the Palantir - I could SWEAR you hear Sauron saying "neener neener!" and of course, the Saruman shisk-ke-bab scene Oh, but Legolas didn't shoot Saruman, he shoot Grima when he was attacking Saruman, which IMO was OK. Also Aragorn decapping MOS - this was not in line with Aragorn's character, IMO. Also Eowyn scooching away on the ground from bumpy-orc-guy, who is scooching along after her - that must be some homage to some horror movie scene or something - just came off as kinda silly to me.

Anyway - overall, MUCH more good than bad

C'mon, Elfhelm - you KNOW you can't resist!

[Elfhelm]

Originally Posted by RÃ*an

Oh Elfhelm, that's cruel and unusual punishment!

I'd get up in the middle of the night, if I were you, and at least watch the new scenes!

Oh, I know!!! Now the box is here and it's calling my name... Sar-u-mon-ke-bob hehehe You know I kept hoping they left it out of the theatrical because they secretly planned a scouring. I wish they had at least done The Choices of Master Samwise. Thanks for the warnings.

[Meriadoc Brandybuck]

'The Voice of Saruman' is... er... see reaction of Merry and Pippin [which is total shock and eekness] and that's mine.
I didn't understand a word Sam said in 'Sam's Warning'. Except something about "no more Stinker, no more Slinker"
The drinking game was... er... different?
I was dissappointed with Merry swearing service to Theoden.
When Gandalf choked on the smoke I nearly yelled, "Cough it up!"
The conversation between Merry and Eowyn was very good.
I waited anxiously for Sam to take the Ring from Frodo when he thought he was dead. Didn't happen.
I thought the Mouth of Sauron was pretty good. Except the decapitation that occured in the end. Aragorn at least had a semi-good excuse for it, though.
Eomer finding Eowyn was good. What creative diologue.

Your not the only one in this world, or, for that matter this state of California who counted off days, RÃ*an.

[Artanis]

I must say - on the second viewing the scenes that really stands out are where Faramir and Pip has their little convo in Minas Tirith, and the bit where Merry talks to Eowyn before they ride to the battle.

[Rían]

I don't remember that first bit, Arty - where is that?

[Artanis]

Just before Pip swears his loyalty oath to Denethor. Scene 25 I think.

[Last Child of Ungoliant]

well, as i got the EE for christmas, (yaayyyyyyy!! )
i thought i best post a few comments

extra battle scenes a good thing, i love a good battle, not sure about the way aragorn and gimli teamed up to hack gothmog into tiny bits, though . The extra quotes from the book were good, even if given to the wrong people. Mouth of Sauron, not at all how i imagined him, i thought of a perfect nemesis to aragorn, a black numenorean, such as some of the nazgul were before their descent mayhaps? Eomer finding Eowyn, nice touch. Houses of Healng - not enough thereof. Gandalf's coughing fit - just plain worng,not at all in keeping with the books. Sarumans death, different but nice for a bit of closure. Legolas and Gimli's drinking game, ridiculous. In the Company of the Orcs - nice to have that reinstated. Aragorn & Palantir - wrong, not at all how should therehave been. Pippins "well, this is Minas Tirith, then, where are we off to next?" just wierd.

[Telcontar_Dunedain]

I got the EE for christmas but haven't been around to review it yet so here we go:

Voice of Saruman: I loved this scene. Especailly Theodens part in it. I think the camera switching to Aragorn now and then and him looking like there was something he really wanted to say but couldn't was alright but not great. I think another good touch would have been to show some of the Men of Rohan's response to Theoden denying Saruman peace as it was in the book to show the power of his voice. Theoden forgiving Wormounge was a nice touch as it showed that Wormtoung was now serving Saruman through fear more than lust for power. I think this was one of if not the best in the whole of RotK and should have been kept in the theatrical edition.

Drinking Game: Not nessecairy(sp). This light relief was given by Merry and Pippin. And the Legolas' reaction to getting tinglinfg fingers was wierd.

Eowyn's Dream: I thought this would have been better kept with Faramir as it was him dreaming of Numenor and didn't really make sense with Eowyn.

Sam's Warning: I liked this scene. It showed that Sam would kill another rather become a murderer of things other than orcs than have Frodo killed.

Paths of the Dead: I thought the extended parts were good but I'm not quite sure about the skulls.

Corsairs of Umbar: I was disappointed with PJ's death. I thought they could come up with more than having Gimli hit Legolas' bow with his axe.

Merry's Simple Courage: Another good scene. It showed that he wasn't a great warrior like Aragorn or Eomer but that he would fight for good.

Gandalf vs Witch-King: I didn't really like this. The Witch-King didn't have the power to break his staff as he wasn't chief of the Order or even part of it.

Eomer finding Eowyn: Brilliant.

Houses of Healing: What was there was good but there should have been more eg. Faramir and Merry being healed and more Faramir and Eowyn.

Aragorn masters the palantir: This I think was done well until it showed Arwen and Aragorn threw the palantir away.

Mouth of Sauron: Another good scene until Aragorn beheads MoS.

[Selwythe]

I really liked the "The Witch-king's Hour", simply because it made that part of the movie, incidentally my favorite part in the book, 100% like how I imagined it when I read it those years ago in the dim light on that plane. When I was watching the theatrical version, it almost mirrored my imagination exactly, but for the lack of the Gandalf-Witchking confrontation. In the EE, it was 100% how I imagined it: WK raising his sword, then the horn blows (no cock crowing though), and even the sound of the horn was almost exactly how I imagined it.

That scene, and the subsequent charge, always brings tears to my eyes.

[barrelrider110]

[QUOTE=Telcontar_Dunedain]I got the EE for christmas but haven't been around to review it yet so here we go:

Drinking Game: Not nessecairy(sp). This light relief was given by Merry and Pippin. And the Legolas' reaction to getting tinglinfg fingers was wierd.

And plain wrong. Elves do get drunk. Remember the chapter "Barrels out of Bond" in the Hobbit? Elves can get snockered just like the rest of us.

BTW - It was really the only part I found objectionable. I suppose I am too easily amused. I was really glad that they scrapped the Aragorn vs. Sauron duel and changed it to a troll.

[Lizra]

I knew one of my Hobbit buddies would think of the guard get zonked on that Dorwinion wine!

[Ezora]

The extended version of the lord of the rings trilogy is way better, especially the scene in return of the king when peter jackson gets shot with an arrow by legolas, that scene rocks