T-Bone Posted December 20, 2004 Share Posted December 20, 2004 I watched the special extended edition yesterday and was wondering if anybody had this same thought. They cut, for the release, Christopher Lee's big scene where Gandalf and the others have their final confortation with Sauron, and restored it for the DVD. After watching that scene, I cannot believe they cut that and kept all those false endings, e.g. Sam returning to his home and family after seeing Gandalf, Frodo, and Bilbo off to the elf land. Why would Jackson keep all those boring final scenes and cut Lee's scene which really improved the film with it in? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R. Rich Posted December 20, 2004 Share Posted December 20, 2004 I don't know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichFan Posted December 20, 2004 Share Posted December 20, 2004 I am hoping for the boxed set with all three extended editions for Christmas, so I haven't seen the scene you're talking about. My guess is that Jackson thought it was important to provide closure to the characters. Audiences became very connected to each of them over the course of three movies, so I believe it was time well spent. It also made Frodo's leaving due to his inability to fit back in with routine hobbit life more dramatic. ROTK was fairly action-filled, so he probably didn't think he needed more action at the loss of providing such closure. I'm sure word of mouth on this Gandalf scene will also improve sales of the extended edition... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Posted December 20, 2004 Share Posted December 20, 2004 Aren't you talking about their confrontation with Saruman? not Sauron... It was a good scene but the movie was already over 3 hours long. Besides you have to save some good things for the extended version so you can make money selling it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
/dev/null Posted December 20, 2004 Share Posted December 20, 2004 After watching that scene, I cannot believe they cut that and kept all those false endings, e.g. Sam returning to his home and family after seeing Gandalf, Frodo, and Bilbo off to the elf land. Why would Jackson keep all those boring final scenes and cut Lee's scene which really improved the film with it in? 168480[/snapback] had to cut down the theatrical release due to time constraints, RoTK was over 3 hours in theatres. why he kept some scenes in and left others for EE only he knows. and where do you get a false ending out of Sam returning home after Frodo leaves the Grey Haven? thats how the RoTK book ends Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T-Bone Posted December 20, 2004 Author Share Posted December 20, 2004 had to cut down the theatrical release due to time constraints, RoTK was over 3 hours in theatres. why he kept some scenes in and left others for EE only he knows. and where do you get a false ending out of Sam returning home after Frodo leaves the Grey Haven? thats how the RoTK book ends 168566[/snapback] It was not needed, the film could have ended fifteen minutes earlier or they could have kept the Christopher Lee scene in.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T-Bone Posted December 20, 2004 Author Share Posted December 20, 2004 Aren't you talking about their confrontation with Saruman? not Sauron...It was a good scene but the movie was already over 3 hours long. Besides you have to save some good things for the extended version so you can make money selling it 168557[/snapback] Saruman, Sauron, whatever, I never care enough about the characters to remember their names.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nodnarb Posted December 20, 2004 Share Posted December 20, 2004 watch the director's commmentary. there's good reasons for everything. you really gonna question pj's decisions when he pulled off the single most amazingly difficult film job in history? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T-Bone Posted December 20, 2004 Author Share Posted December 20, 2004 watch the director's commmentary. there's good reasons for everything. you really gonna question pj's decisions when he pulled off the single most amazingly difficult film job in history? 168621[/snapback] I actually thought that the Films were not that good and Jackson should have treated Lee much better..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OJ's Glove Posted December 20, 2004 Share Posted December 20, 2004 I actually thought that the Films were not that good and Jackson should have treated Lee much better..... 168657[/snapback] So you didn't like the films that much but forked over the money for the 4-disk EE? Frodo leaving at the end is pivotal to the story. You're trying to bring closure to nine hours worth of storytelling, not three. Fifteen minutes was a perfectly acceptable denoument. Cutting that Saruman scene had less to do with the runnning time and more to do with other things. The film was at the absolute upper limit of what audiences will sit through without an intermission. Since the DVD can be as long as the director wants, I'm grateful for the re-inclusion of those scenes. The longer version is what people will be watching twenty years from now, anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T-Bone Posted December 20, 2004 Author Share Posted December 20, 2004 So you didn't like the films that much but forked over the money for the 4-disk EE? Frodo leaving at the end is pivotal to the story. You're trying to bring closure to nine hours worth of storytelling, not three. Fifteen minutes was a perfectly acceptable denoument. Cutting that Saruman scene had less to do with the runnning time and more to do with other things. The film was at the absolute upper limit of what audiences will sit through without an intermission. Since the DVD can be as long as the director wants, I'm grateful for the re-inclusion of those scenes. The longer version is what people will be watching twenty years from now, anyway. 168847[/snapback] I got the set as a gift from one of my many admirers... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaska Darin Posted December 20, 2004 Share Posted December 20, 2004 I got the set as a gift from one of my many admirers... 168943[/snapback] What's his name? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erynthered Posted December 20, 2004 Share Posted December 20, 2004 I never care enough about the characters to remember their names.... 168615[/snapback] Amazing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasoninMT Posted December 20, 2004 Share Posted December 20, 2004 I liked the scene too.... My impression of why he didn't include it is more that by the 3rd movie, this is more PJ's interpretation of the Tolkien Trilogy than a movie of the trilogy... And that scene in particular flies completely in the face of the book... similar to this love-triangle with Aragorn-Arwyn-Eowyn (not in the books, but hinted at to a degree - and Eowyn does have a thing for Aragorn though in the books his love for Arwyn is unfaltering unlike the movie impression where he has moments of doubt). For those who haven't read the books (and if you can - you should although parts of them are skullduggery to get through, I realize this), Saruman is not killed at all... in fact you meet up with him again later in the books when another aspect of the books which PJ completely ignored - probably for timing more than anything else. Don't take this as a knock against the movies, I really liked all 3 of them, and own all 3 of the extended versions.... but as the movies went on - it became PJ's version of the war of the ring and the ending of the 3rd age - rather than JRR Tolkien's. It is a very entertaining movie trilogy which probably stays as close to the books as any other movie adaptation. There are things I'd have liked to see stay - or be done better (Ent-juice... in the end Pippin and Merry are supposed to be about human sized - not pint sized anymore)... But, I do look forward to when he picks it back up and does the Hobbit - which he says he'll do after a hiatus... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
/dev/null Posted December 20, 2004 Share Posted December 20, 2004 It was not needed, the film could have ended fifteen minutes earlier or they could have kept the Christopher Lee scene in.... 168610[/snapback] the christopher lee scene isn't quite right anyway as the last half of RoTK was actually left out of the movie. treebeard set saruman and wurmtongue free and they then go to the shire and wreak havoc. the 4 hobbits set things right and at the end of that is when wurmtongue kills saruman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toledo Bill Posted December 20, 2004 Share Posted December 20, 2004 I liked the scene too.... My impression of why he didn't include it is more that by the 3rd movie, this is more PJ's interpretation of the Tolkien Trilogy than a movie of the trilogy... And that scene in particular flies completely in the face of the book... similar to this love-triangle with Aragorn-Arwyn-Eowyn (not in the books, but hinted at to a degree - and Eowyn does have a thing for Aragorn though in the books his love for Arwyn is unfaltering unlike the movie impression where he has moments of doubt). For those who haven't read the books (and if you can - you should although parts of them are skullduggery to get through, I realize this), Saruman is not killed at all... in fact you meet up with him again later in the books when another aspect of the books which PJ completely ignored - probably for timing more than anything else. Don't take this as a knock against the movies, I really liked all 3 of them, and own all 3 of the extended versions.... but as the movies went on - it became PJ's version of the war of the ring and the ending of the 3rd age - rather than JRR Tolkien's. It is a very entertaining movie trilogy which probably stays as close to the books as any other movie adaptation. There are things I'd have liked to see stay - or be done better (Ent-juice... in the end Pippin and Merry are supposed to be about human sized - not pint sized anymore)... But, I do look forward to when he picks it back up and does the Hobbit - which he says he'll do after a hiatus... 169108[/snapback] Unless I remember incorrectly due to the "70's haze" I read the books in... wasn't Saruman killed in the Shire? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T-Bone Posted December 20, 2004 Author Share Posted December 20, 2004 What's his name? 169023[/snapback] Darin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasoninMT Posted December 20, 2004 Share Posted December 20, 2004 Toledo Bill Said: Unless I remember incorrectly due to the "70's haze" I read the books in... wasn't Saruman killed in the Shire? I don't recall if he was or not.... I remember they run into him on the way back with wormtongue.... he's in disguise if I recall... but I don't remember if he's killed or just slinks off in his more or less powerless state... Somewhat more galling about that scene is when he casts some sort of fire spell at Gandalf.... when (for being a wizard) not much is the way of magic is used in the books - due to it being the end of the age.... (from - http://www.lord-of-the-rings.org/books/saruman.html ) For his foul deeds Saruman got an awful death – Grima sprang on him and sliced his throat. Saruman’s spirit rose from his body like smoke from a fire, looked toward the West, and disappeared with the wind. So, Grima kills him - but it is after his sacking of the shire... Which while I think it's important character development, I can understand not further developing characters "after" the climax of the movie.... Tolkien himself states that he flipflopped it's inclusion in the books - but left it as he thought it worthy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest RabidBillsFanVT Posted December 20, 2004 Share Posted December 20, 2004 I UNDERSTAND. The book was SO GREAT when it ended, and yet the movie really was a MAJOR dissapointment when it didn't include the mysterious stranger who kept the Shire in fear till the end, where he is revealed as Saruman, and he gets his by an unexpected source. The saccharin, looking for development closure ending SUCKED, IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fashionformillenium Posted December 20, 2004 Share Posted December 20, 2004 I liked the scene too.... My impression of why he didn't include it is more that by the 3rd movie, this is more PJ's interpretation of the Tolkien Trilogy than a movie of the trilogy... And that scene in particular flies completely in the face of the book... similar to this love-triangle with Aragorn-Arwyn-Eowyn (not in the books, but hinted at to a degree - and Eowyn does have a thing for Aragorn though in the books his love for Arwyn is unfaltering unlike the movie impression where he has moments of doubt). For those who haven't read the books (and if you can - you should although parts of them are skullduggery to get through, I realize this), Saruman is not killed at all... in fact you meet up with him again later in the books when another aspect of the books which PJ completely ignored - probably for timing more than anything else. Don't take this as a knock against the movies, I really liked all 3 of them, and own all 3 of the extended versions.... but as the movies went on - it became PJ's version of the war of the ring and the ending of the 3rd age - rather than JRR Tolkien's. It is a very entertaining movie trilogy which probably stays as close to the books as any other movie adaptation. There are things I'd have liked to see stay - or be done better (Ent-juice... in the end Pippin and Merry are supposed to be about human sized - not pint sized anymore)... But, I do look forward to when he picks it back up and does the Hobbit - which he says he'll do after a hiatus... 169108[/snapback] I read the books years ago (it was slow going - took me a whole year to do it). I always thought Eowyn and Aragorn should've ended up together. Didn't care for Arwyn. I want to see the extended version, I missed Christopher Lee as Saruman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts