ROTK:EE Trailer Released

artemis67 writes "A six-minute trailer for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Extended Edition, has been released, and it's quite good. We get to see some snippets of the final confrontation between Gandalf and Saruman, as well as some other intriguing scenes that will add a lot of depth to the final movie. The Extended Edition will add an additional 50 minutes to the film, bring the total for the Extended trilogy to 11 hours and 20 minutes."

Comments

Re:Realtime

[__aahlyu4518]

12 hours is about the amount of time to read the original 6 books (in 3 well-known volumes)
Ah.. speedreader are we?

Sharkey and the Shire?

[Paul Crowley]

Does anyone know if the EE covers all the stuff with "Mr Sharkey" (have I remembered correctly?) and the Shire? Did they even film that stuff?

Re:Sharkey and the Shire?

[C0deM0nkey]

Bravo!

I will probably be flamed into oblivion for saying this but I've never understood why some fans get so wound up over Tom Bombadil. I am currently more than half way through the 12-volume History of Middle-Earth (HOME) (I've completed volumes 1-4, 6, 7 and am more than half-way through volume 5. Volumes 6-8 deal with Lord of the Rings) and Bombadil did not factor into any of Tolkien's pre-LOTR Middle-Earth writings. Yes, there were a few poems and such that were written but these were outside the mythology and early history of Middle-Earth.

Tom Bombadil always struck me as little-more than a deus ex machina and I've never particularly cared for him.

From what I have read, Tolkien struggled to find a story to write (he was under pressure from his publisher to produce a Hobbit sequel) and did not have a strong grasp of what the tale would be until Elrond's Council (which, I believe, explains why the story got very focused after that point). The material prior to the Council, in my opinion, reflects this struggle to find a story. Do not mistake me, the Old Forest and the Barrow-Wights were cool [book] scenes that did turn out to serve a purpose later but, as Jackson has demonstrated, they could easily be written out (e.g. replace Barrow-Wight (Numenorean/Dunedain?) blades with Noldoli daggers given by Galadriel, remove Old Forest and explain that trees could be more than just silent stalks of wood in Fangorn, etc.)

If you are an aspiring fantasy author, like critical analysis or constructed languages or if you would simply enjoy reading about the evolution of Middle-Earth, I would highly recommend the HOME books. They are not for the non-Middle-Earth geek; I've tried getting other people to read them and so far I've failed - I think you really have to have an interest in Middle-Earth (as a literary creation) in order to tolerate reading and re-reading the same stories over and over as they are emended from draft to draft. I've read and re-read versions of the Silmarillion (the Quenta, the Silmarillion, the Quenta-Silmarillion, *must...keep...sanity*) so many times with so many minor changes that it is difficult, at times, to keep the canon straight from the evolving story.

Re:Realtime

[vidarh]

I'm really curious as to what would be a typical average reading speed for a native English speaker. For me it's my second language, and I don't have much problem with +/- 100 pages an hour depending on typesetting and language, and provided I start out reasonably rested. My fiancee who grew up speaking English reads a lot faster. I wouldn't be at all surprised if she could finish LOTR in 7-8 hours and still remember it better than me.

Re:Extended Versions

[Gudlyf]

Although, I believe I read an interview with Peter Jackson somewhere where he says that even these extended releases don't have everything he'd like in them, and that when they release the full extended edition boxed set, he suspects there will be even more footage.

If that is true, then people will be really pissed off.

RoTK with the good bits restored (finally!)

[mihalis]

I just don't understand how Peter Jackson thought the following were optional :-

• Gandalf/Saruman rematch at Orthanc
• Aragorn reveals himself in Palantir of Orthanc
• Gandalf confronts Witch-King at Minas Tirith
• Voice of Sauron at the Black Gate

Luckily they are ALL in the EE! I can't wait

Re:RoTK with the good bits restored (finally!)

[mihalis]

Here's how these good bits could have made it into RoTK cinematic release easily :

Put Shelob back into the Two Towers where she belongs. By the end of that book, Sam is lying senseless outside the orc stronghold and Frodo has been taken by the enemy. That would have been a fine ending for the film.

Find the time for this, in turn, by drastically shortening the Helms Deep stuff. It's dull.

You can dump the Aragorn falls off a cliff guff too.

See, easy-peasy!

Disclaimer : IHNDMOEHM (I have not directed my own 11 hour movie)

Re:Direct link to the hi-res quicktime video

[Khomar]

Our first baby is on the way, so I know I'll never get to do something this irresponsible and useless again.

Funny, our son will be 5 1/2 months old by the time we have our LOTR party, but we are going through with it anyway. It has been a tradition in my house for the past two years to watch whatever extended editions existed at the time (my wife and I actually met at the first one). We look at it as a good time to get together with friends and hang out for a weekend (we will be watching the movies over two days).

Kids don't end the fun; they just change the parameters a bit.

Re:Direct link to the hi-res quicktime video

[microTodd]

Remember when RotK was first released, some theaters did a "Trilogy Tuesday" where they played all three back-to-back-to-back. My wife and I drove 150 miles to a theater to participate. It was great! We got free gifts from New Line, the theater brought in catered free food from Sonny's BBQ, and theonering.net reps were there giving away gifts.

Ah, a very fond memory. I still have the tickets (and lanyard pass) hanging on my cube wall.

Strangely enough, but...

[tarsi210]

Background: I am a rabid LOTR fan, have been since I first read the trilogy when I was 11. I went to the midnight showings of each of the three movies and own the EEs of each of the first two.

I've only seen ROTK once. In the theatre, at midnight.

I'm not entirely sure why, really, because I loved it. I *shivered* as the movie started from the sheer excitement of it all. The world disappeared as I watched, fully captivated by PJ's amazing artistry.

But, I think I'm waiting. I think I'm waiting for those pieces that will really complete the movie the way PJ really intended it to be and yet was hampered by the movie industry. Character development? Hell yes! Give me more of it. I want to see more of what makes each of them tick. Eowyn's character -- only touched upon, with so much depth left to explore. I want to see those little nuances that only the avid fans of the book will catch. I want to see the vision as it was intended.

I don't agree with everything PJ has done to the story itself, but I give him his leeway given what he had to try to accomplish. But if I'm going to bother seeing it, I want to see it the way he wanted me to.

Right now, I'm planning an all-day marathon to watch all three EEs in a row with my ex-roommate. I think I shall shiver again.

Things I got from the trailer:

[dswensen]

I love Sean Astin. He is such a movie nerd, and so unabashedly enthusiastic about what he's doing. On the commentary and in the interviews, he's kind of dorky, but I just can't help but dig him.

Gandalf's confrontation with the Witch-King gives me chills just from the trailer. I am so excited about that.

I once again have to hand it to Andy Serkis for having to spend so much time in that goofy-looking blue-screen outfit, give a great performance, and then be essentially removed from the film digitally. Serkis is awesome.

Looks like Merry gets to fight Sloth! "Baby Ruth! Baby Ruth!"

Same feelings...

[SuperKendall]

I loved the third movie more than any of them, but like you I only saw it once... it just makes sense to wait and see the thing in as complete a state as possible. From watching the video it seems like a good choice as there have been many fantastic momets from the book added back in!

Re:Realtime

[Feanturi]

Years ago I read it out loud, to a girlfriend who was into fantasy but had never picked up Tolkien. I took it upon myself to make sure she was introduced properly. It took us almost exactly a month, reading every day for hours each day after work. Very satisfying experience for both of us. She went and got her own copy the day after we finished so she could read it again herself, and did so twice more in succession at that time. The experience really 'took'. The slower pace of reading aloud, combined with doing character voices and such, made it the most enjoyable reading of that story I'd ever done, before or since. I would be reaching the end of a chapter, and be hoping she'd want to let me go on, and on the other side she would be hoping I could keep going, at least one more chapter tonight please? I highly recommend this activity, if you have a listener that can stay patiently listening.

I can read in my head very quickly, but usually prefer not to. Unless I'm trying to study something, that I will fly through. For me it's not just about retaining what happened, that's easy, but savoring an experience takes more time. It is not enough for me to remember later that such and such happened in the story. To me it feels like reading fast just leaves me with access to memories of stored information. Taking the time to fully savor what is happening, pacing one's progress through a scene closer to the real-time of the characters, leaves me with memories of an experience that I actually lived through.