The Fellowship of the Ring - Extended Edition

Is it worth it?? How many times have we all watched the ‘director’s cut’ of a film just to see those extra 2 or 3 scenes that were cut out? Is the Lord of the Rings director’s cut released yesterday (November 12, 2002) really worth watching again?

Well, as you all know, in my opinion, The Fellowship of the Ring is by far my favorite movie of all time! Oh, I know it has it’s differences from the books. But in my personal opinion, the movie flows so well and I do not think a better movie could have been made. I’ve seen it at least 30 times, I think 10 in the theater, once while on my way to Singapore and about 10 times on video. So, I anxiously awaited the directors cut, expecting to see a few cut scenes, like the giving of gifts, and maybe some more fight scenes.

What I got in return was completely unexpected. This movie is so transformed, it’s like hundreds of clips were added or changed. As I sat back to watch the opening sequence I was looking thru the books during the narrative, looked up to discover that even in the first 5 minutes the movie was changed. During the narrative of the history of the ring, the original version just showed Isildur floating dead in a stream and say ‘the ring betrayed Isildur…’. Well, it shows Isildur riding with his troops only to be attacked by orcs, during the battle, Isildur puts on the ring and turns invisible to escape. While crossing the river, you see the ring slip from Isildur’s finger and as he reaches for it as it sinks past him, the orcs on the shore take up their bows and shoot the now visible Isildur. Wow!

I thought ok, but I truly did not expect what was next. The entire opening sequence was completely different. Instead of starting with Frodo by the tree waiting for Gandalf, we were instead in Bagend, watching Bilbo write his book and telling us some history about ‘concerning hobbits’ and there was just so much more to the movie.

The director’s cut is so much better then the original movie if that was even possible. There was just so much more ‘feel’ to the picture, and so much more character development. Even once Strider and the Hobbits left Bree, instead of seeming to make it to Weather Top in just one day, you see that it’s a long difficult journey and you see how the relationship between Strider and the Hobbits develop.

This version is a must see for ANYONE who enjoyed the original movie, and I would highly recommend buying it.
 

The Two Towers - December 2002 ~ Click to view the trailer

The Return of the King - December 2003

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Order the Director's Cut of The Fellowship of the Ring.