Musings on a DVD set
Nov. 20th, 2003 08:39 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ebonlockGuess who got her copy of TTT the extended edition yesterday?
First, I didn't get several sequences I was hoping for. I wanted a little more tacked onto the beginning of the whole rabbit stew scene, second, no sequence with Faramir that actually showed the angle that was used on so much pre-release publicity, and third there's an amazing image that was in all the commercials of Frodo gazing skyward at the winged wraith over Osgiliath. None for me.
But, a more troubling thing was the fact that the huge, gaping, obvious editing errors in the theatrical version were not fixed in this one. Gah!
Ok, enough bitching, here's the good stuff:
1) I was right, all the most charming and heartwarming scenes and about 90% of the character development did end up on the list of "For the extended DVD". It makes me feel a bit cheated that we didn't get it in the theatrical version, but at least it's here.
2) Gandalf actually acted/sounded like Gandalf in the added scenes. Go figure.
3) Why, why, why didn't they open the trek to Mordor stuff with the "Elven Rope" scene? I think it's my favorite scene from the entire film...though I was puzzled by the dropped box bit. I know what I expected it to be, and it wasn't.
4) Many (but not all) plot holes filled!
5) More Saruman plotting and not just being "Exposition Guy"!
6) Two really nice Merry and Pip scenes, including my second favorite in the movie, "Flotsam and Jetsom". Pip's skyward look for invisible apple trees harkening back to FOTR damn near broke me. Though it made me sad that the Hobbits were given so little to do in the theatrical version so we could make time for more Arwen looking pensive and sexy and Aragorn taking a header off a cliff. Grr.
7) More direct dialogue from the novels!
8) I kinda dug Faramir's nattering on about the dead Easterling, though I had to MST it slightly when they cut back to Frodo. "Dear god, I've been kidnapped by a philosophy major!"
9)![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
tersa's head is going to explode when she sees the new Boromir stuff. The Faramir line about showing his quality actually has a context now, and nice foreshadowing with Denethor. Faramir's character makes a good bit more sense now, thankfully.
10) Finale of Helm's Deep finally explains what happened to all the thousands of Orcs that were retreating when Gandalf showed up all glowy. Sure they were spooked, but couldn't they just turn around, organize, and attack again? In this version, thankfully, no. Though why not one of them paused to ask, "Say, I don't think I remember that forest being there when we marched through, do you?" Legolas' expression at the seriously pissed off trees was priceless. Almost makes up for that dumbass animated horse mounting scene earlier.
11) Nice Frodo and Gollum moment when they first enter the Dead Marshes. The line, "Once it takes hold of us it never lets go." makes me shiver. Andy Serkis was so robbed at the Oscars.
12) More Eowyn! She's still my hero even if she can't cook. And the scene where Aragorn tells her how old he really is was fabulous.
That's all I can think of at the moment, only having watched new and extended scenes, of course. Can't wait to view it with the commentaries, which I hope will be as enlightening as the first DVD set's. It's probably a good thing I have class tonight or I'd be tempted to stay up way too late watching the extras as well.
Is it time for ROTK yet?
First, I didn't get several sequences I was hoping for. I wanted a little more tacked onto the beginning of the whole rabbit stew scene, second, no sequence with Faramir that actually showed the angle that was used on so much pre-release publicity, and third there's an amazing image that was in all the commercials of Frodo gazing skyward at the winged wraith over Osgiliath. None for me.
But, a more troubling thing was the fact that the huge, gaping, obvious editing errors in the theatrical version were not fixed in this one. Gah!
Ok, enough bitching, here's the good stuff:
1) I was right, all the most charming and heartwarming scenes and about 90% of the character development did end up on the list of "For the extended DVD". It makes me feel a bit cheated that we didn't get it in the theatrical version, but at least it's here.
2) Gandalf actually acted/sounded like Gandalf in the added scenes. Go figure.
3) Why, why, why didn't they open the trek to Mordor stuff with the "Elven Rope" scene? I think it's my favorite scene from the entire film...though I was puzzled by the dropped box bit. I know what I expected it to be, and it wasn't.
4) Many (but not all) plot holes filled!
5) More Saruman plotting and not just being "Exposition Guy"!
6) Two really nice Merry and Pip scenes, including my second favorite in the movie, "Flotsam and Jetsom". Pip's skyward look for invisible apple trees harkening back to FOTR damn near broke me. Though it made me sad that the Hobbits were given so little to do in the theatrical version so we could make time for more Arwen looking pensive and sexy and Aragorn taking a header off a cliff. Grr.
7) More direct dialogue from the novels!
8) I kinda dug Faramir's nattering on about the dead Easterling, though I had to MST it slightly when they cut back to Frodo. "Dear god, I've been kidnapped by a philosophy major!"
9)
tersa's head is going to explode when she sees the new Boromir stuff. The Faramir line about showing his quality actually has a context now, and nice foreshadowing with Denethor. Faramir's character makes a good bit more sense now, thankfully.10) Finale of Helm's Deep finally explains what happened to all the thousands of Orcs that were retreating when Gandalf showed up all glowy. Sure they were spooked, but couldn't they just turn around, organize, and attack again? In this version, thankfully, no. Though why not one of them paused to ask, "Say, I don't think I remember that forest being there when we marched through, do you?" Legolas' expression at the seriously pissed off trees was priceless. Almost makes up for that dumbass animated horse mounting scene earlier.
11) Nice Frodo and Gollum moment when they first enter the Dead Marshes. The line, "Once it takes hold of us it never lets go." makes me shiver. Andy Serkis was so robbed at the Oscars.
12) More Eowyn! She's still my hero even if she can't cook. And the scene where Aragorn tells her how old he really is was fabulous.
That's all I can think of at the moment, only having watched new and extended scenes, of course. Can't wait to view it with the commentaries, which I hope will be as enlightening as the first DVD set's. It's probably a good thing I have class tonight or I'd be tempted to stay up way too late watching the extras as well.
Is it time for ROTK yet?
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no subject
Date: 2003-11-20 09:10 am (UTC)I'm gonna have to ask for this for Christmas now.
no subject
Date: 2003-11-20 09:11 am (UTC)Also, because I only saw it once, which editing errors do you mean?
no subject
Date: 2003-11-20 09:16 am (UTC)Top of my head? Merry's side switching head wound and Pip's miraculous "I'm tied up, no wait, I'm not, no, no I really am" trick. Grima's standing pretty damn close to Eowyn and menacing her after Theodred's death, she then tells him his words are poison, and suddenly they're half a room apart. My first thought when I originally saw it, "Hey, did she just teleport?" I could go on, but it just gets depressing after a while.
no subject
Date: 2003-11-20 09:16 am (UTC)I'm gonna have to ask for this for Christmas now
Yeah, you really, really should.
no subject
Date: 2003-11-20 09:35 am (UTC)Are you planning on watching it again this weekend? Because I don't have my copy yet. And so much free time!
no subject
Date: 2003-11-20 09:55 am (UTC)Twist my arm *G* Would Saturday afternoon work? C- is coming over after work and we're probably going to watch Cradle 2 Grave that evening, but that leaves the afternoon free. I've gotta drop L- off at the airport that morning up in Oakland, but after that I'm pretty much free.
no subject
Date: 2003-11-20 10:39 am (UTC)I loved the Flotsam & Jetsam scene...and I'm glad they added more Faramir and the best side of Boromir (loving big bro)...it made me a lot less pissed off at how I thought they portrayed Faramir in the movie.
no subject
Date: 2003-11-20 10:47 am (UTC)I'm all free Sunday though.
no subject
Date: 2003-11-20 11:03 am (UTC)Yeah, Faramir just made more sense in this film. You really need to understand the relationship he had with Boromir and his dad if you're going to have a clue what's happening with him in the next film. And more Hobbits = a good thing in my book.
no subject
Date: 2003-11-20 11:23 am (UTC)Hmm, I set aside Sunday for memorizing my new choreography. Perhaps the weekend after Thanksgiving? Aelf will be back too so we an all sit down and watch it together.
no subject
Date: 2003-11-20 01:23 pm (UTC)Maybe that Friday or Sunday, sure. :) I have plans on Thursday and Saturday.
no subject
Date: 2003-11-20 03:20 pm (UTC)Ack!
Date: 2003-11-21 01:18 pm (UTC)