LotR Extended versions on the way?

[hoytereden]

Amazon has the pre-order option on their site (about $84). No official word yet concerning a release date though.

[Steve T Power]

more or less official now thanks to Futureshop.ca



Let me just say, GREAT GOOLEY MOOGLEY!

[hoytereden]

A new transfer of Fellowship of the Ring is a welcome addition to this set since it was the weak link of the previous Blu-ray release and the extended versions will be on 2 discs per film to give these films breathing space rather than cram them onto 1 Blu-ray disc.

[Dan Mancini]

A new transfer of Fellowship of the Ring is a welcome addition to this set since it was the weak link of the previous Blu-ray release and the extended versions will be on 2 discs per film to give these films breathing space rather than cram them onto 1 Blu-ray disc.

Unless the transfer is markedly better, I don't think I'm going to bite. Even though there are things I prefer about the Extended Editions, the truth is that I only watched them once or twice the entire time I owned them on DVD. They're just too frickin' long for me to carve out enough time to work through the entire trilogy. The theatricals are better paced, and sitting down to watch them over the course of a week every now and again isn't unthinkable.

[Steve T Power]

A new transfer of Fellowship of the Ring is a welcome addition to this set since it was the weak link of the previous Blu-ray release and the extended versions will be on 2 discs per film to give these films breathing space rather than cram them onto 1 Blu-ray disc.

Unless the transfer is markedly better, I don't think I'm going to bite. Even though there are things I prefer about the Extended Editions, the truth is that I only watched them once or twice the entire time I owned them on DVD. They're just too frickin' long for me to carve out enough time to work through the entire trilogy. The theatricals are better paced, and sitting down to watch them over the course of a week every now and again isn't unthinkable.

The extended editions, at least where Fellowship of the Ring and Return of the King are concerned, are a constant source of frustration for me. There's material in both that REALLY should have been included in the theatrical versions; the gift giving and the early scene with the Elves leaving for the Grey Havens in FOTR - then there's the reveal that Denethor possessed a Palantir, and the Mouth of Sauron in ROTK. The kitchen sink approach however certainly does mess with the flow of both films (The new tone of Fellowship's opening doesn't mesh for me, over 4 hours of ROTK is just way too much, and the Saruman resolution BLOWS).

Then there's The Two Towers, which pretty much only works for me in its extended form. The theatrical cut of that one just feels so damn erratic and chopped to pieces, while the extended cut really turns it into something special in my mind.

Being a Tolkien geek who has read LOTR every spring since I was 12, along with every ounce of middle earth material I could find (including Christopher Tolkien's exhaustive History of Middle Earth, The Children of Hurin, and even the "Isildur" fan-written novel that popped up on theonering.net a while back) I'll have this on day one, i'll eventually get a Sunday to myself where I can bolt the doors, turn off the phone, and watch these suckers from beginning to end. Maybe I'll let Abby join me.