LoTR RoTK Extended Edition Specs Released

It's pre-pre-Christmas season, and ThePrinceofWands writes "OMG! It's official, 25% more unbelievable greatness in this version." The linked description (on the official LotR site) starts "DISCS 1-2: The Feature FEATURE (approx. 250 minutes) - A new version of the final installment in the epic trilogy! The Academy-Award winning film now has 50 minutes of never-before-seen footage incorporated into the film for this highly-anticipated video release." The extended version can be ordered starting on Oct 1st.

Comments

These things keep getting longer and longer...

[wrinkledshirt]

Jesus. Does the extended edition come with a coffee machine?

Re:These things keep getting longer and longer...

[KitFox]

Dear Creased Shirt,

Thank you for asking whether this edition comes with a coffee machine. We considered adding this feature for a while, however in testing, we discovered that the caffeine levels consumed combined with over four hours of feature film resulted in too many trips to the restroom. This not only had the downside of random interruptions for everybody when multiple people were viewing the movie at the same time, but it also caused the premature failure of numerous 'Pause' buttons on DVD player remotes.

When technology allows for remote control buttons with higher life expectancies, we will reconsider this feature. This will likely be around the time we release the Uber Mega Ultra Extended Beyond All Possible Belief And Sanity Edition. We highly recommend that you begin accruing a year's worth of vacation time so you may fully enjoy this upcoming release in one sitting.

Sincerely, Middle Earth Marketing Department

Re:These things keep getting longer and longer...

[KitFox]

Dear Middle Earth Marketing Department,

what the hell did you learn at marketing school, if they didn't teach you that making an announcement NOW and starting accepting orders FOUR DAYS from now will make the whole announcement useless. Who will remember that he wanted to order something a week ago...

Dear Mr. Coward,

While we appreciate your concern for our marketing strategies, we do observe a number of factors. The first being that there are seven days in a week, not four. The second being that we knew that upon making this announcement, the Slashdot crew would have an article up within a matter of moments. Had we been accepting orders at this time, our order system would have been tremendously overwhelmed by what is fondly known as the Slashdot Effect, and the vast majority of our other customers would be unable to wade through the tide of Slashdot readers attempting to order our merchandise. The losses due to negative word of mouth publicity would have been substantial.

By creating a four-day buffer, we are able to encertain that the initial flood of Slahsdot readers will have ALMOST forgotten, but still have a three day period within which to remember to order this horrendously long movie. Thus, the orders stemming from them will be spread over a larger time period as neurons begin to fire and they remember.

Overall, we appreciate your input, and have we will be sending you a free coffee maker in a show of our gratitude. (We recommend that you alternate between the pause button on the remote and the pause button on the DVD player itself while watching the movie when needing to use the restroom. It will help to prevent premature failure of your remote.)

Sincerely, Middle Earth Marketing Department

In this version...

[CrackedButter]

Frodo bit his finger first

Now...

[Anonymous Coward]

Now with 25% more "Oh, Sam!"

Tom Bombadil is not important to the plot of LOTR

[Anonymous Coward]

Despite all the arguments to the contrary, Tom Bombadil is not really an important character in LOTR. Yes, he's an interesting character and probably is used as a foreshadowing of future events, but when it comes down to the actual plot, he is just a short meander off the main line.

God knows the main plot is long enough as it is, why in the world would you want to make it longer by adding an insignficant character? This is a movie, not a book. The point of a movie is to tell a good story at a fast enough pace so that the viewer feels he got his money's worth. A book allows the author to do all the meandering he likes and the reader to take as much time as is necessary to absorb it all.

Patience

[EngrBohn]

Patients, we is. Yes, patients. We waits for our boxed set, our preciousssss.

Extended?Oh.

[oddmake]

I really want to see...Saruman's demise.

Re:Wow, just wow

[CrackedButter]

Charge them for the meals.

badgers?

[wobblie]

Were all the badger scenes restored, or what?

Box colours, still wrong...

[beeglebug]

Now I know it's not the end of the world, they are still greats films and all, but this one thing just bugs me about the extended DVD's. I just can't get my head around the decision to make the boxes Green, Red then Blue.

Green for Fellowship is fine, it's the most nature centric of the trilogy, so it makes sense. To me though, The Two Towers predominant colour is blue, the film is full of old stone, dark forests, and rainy battles, it's a very cold film. Likewise, the color of ROTK is red. The film is full of fire, lava, blood, passion and anger. So why flip those two around?

Am I on my own on this one?

Re:Box colours, still wrong...

[Archwyrm]

Yes!! Why, oh why..? Oh the humanity..

In Other News...

[Dystopian Rebel]

A distraught Lord Of The Rings fan has climbed Buckingham Palace disguised as Batman to protest the absence of the valley of Tom Bombadil in the popular movie trilogy.

Director's License

[architimmy]

Hayden Christensen isn't at the end of the extended version is he?

never-before-seen?

[tomee]

Never-before-seen footage doesn't sound good. I insist that Peter Jackson look at the footage before releasing it. There just has to be at least some level of quality assurance before these things can be released to the masses.

Jackson vs. Lucas

[H_Fisher]

You, sir or madam, may be a troll, but it's Sunday and my wits need exercising. :)

Fun that everyone bashes Lucas for his multiple releases but it is quite silent about Jackson.

The difference is the handling of the whole thing. Lucas created a story with the original theatrical releases of the Star Wars trilogy - he wasn't using a story that'd been around in one form or another more > 50 years. After he created his story, he went back and changed the story around - making some changes that seem to have pissed off a couple of people here and there...

Biggest difference with LOTR is the attitude behind the DVD marketing. The changes & omissions from LOTR (especially the cutting of Saruman from ROTK) pissed off some people as badly as Greedo "shooting first." But instead of hiding behind artistic license or "piracy concerns" a la Lucas, Jackson's giving people a choice. He's releasing versions which reincorporate scenes that got cut - AND he's still marketing the theatrical versions for those who want them. (Do thank Jackson for not wetting on your childhood memories when you can load up your DVD, or your BD-ROM rip or whatever, of the original LOTR in 25 years.)

It's shrewd marketing, of course. Plenty of people will buy the LOTR theatrical disks and then go back and buy the expanded triology. Say what you will about Lucas and his rights to do what he wants with his movies, but I think Jackson's creating a better public image than Lucas - AND he's getting paid for it.

Re:50 Minutes!

[hanssprudel]

Here is a preview that talks about exactly what scenes have been added (huge spoilers, of course.)

Re:Wow, just wow

[big-shoulders]

OK, we did this just yesterday. We had a party for Bilbo's Birthday (9/22 of course) and screened all three movies (the first two in extended editions, the third in theatrical release) We started at 8AM, took short intermissions (at the changing of the disks) and meal breaks in between (including a lambas bread bake-off) and finished at 11PM. I must say it was exhausting. I don't know if we'd have made it with the extra 50 min. You are thinking that we are major LOtR geeks and you'd be right (3-4 hobbit costumes in the bunch) but we had 20 - 30 people in the house to watch it. Everyone had a great time.

THE SECRET DIARY OF ARAGORN SON OF ARATHORN

[Hyperhaplo]

Day One:
Ringwraiths killed: 4. V. good.
Met up with Hobbits. Walked forty miles. Skinned a squirrel and ate it.
Still not King.

Day Four:
Stuck on mountain with Hobbits. Boromir really annoying.
Not King yet.

Day Six:
Orcs killed: none. Disappointing. Stubble update: I look rugged and manly.
Yes!
Keep wanting to drop-kick Gimli. Holding myself back.
Still not King.

Day Ten:
Sorry no entries lately. V. dark in Mines of Moria. Big Baelrog.
Not King today either.

Day Eleven:
Orcs killed: 7. V. good. Stubble update: Looking mangy.
Legolas may be hotter than me.
I wonder if he would like me if I was King?

Day 28:
Beginning to find Frodo disturbingly attractive. Have a feeling if I make
a move, Sam would kill me. Also, hairy feet kind of a turn-off.
Still not King.

Day 30:
In Lothlorien. Think Galadriel was hitting on me. Saucy wench.
Nice chat with Boromir. He's not so bad.
Took a shower. Yay!
But still not King.

Day 32:
Orcs killed: none. Stubble update: subtly hairy.
Legolas told me that a shadow and a threat had been growing in his mind.
I think Legolas might be kinda gay.
Nope, not King.

Day 33:
Orcs killed: Countless thousands. V. good.
Boromir killed by Orcs. Bummer. Though he died bravely in my arms, am now
quite sure that he was very definitely gay.
Not so sure about Gimli either.
RIP Boromir.
Still not King, but at least Boromir seemed to think I was. Might however
have been blood loss.

Day 34:
Frodo went to Mordor. Said he was going alone, but took Sam with him. Why?
My God, is everyone in this movie gay but me?
Not so sure about me either.
Still not King, goddammit.

Re:Tom?

[hypnagogue]

Good news! Peter Jackson is currently producing the story of Tom Bombadil. Unfortunately for us hard-core Tom Bombadil fans, I have heard rumors that the role of Tom is being played by a 60 foot tall ape.

Re:Wow, just wow

[jeffasselin]

From now on, when some people say I'm obsessed with LotR because I wear a One Ring replica and own a few sword replicas from the movies, I'll just have to link to your post and appear perfectly normal.

Thank you.