[TheHutt]

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As for the EE, well it was fantastic. At four hours and ten minutes, it will tax your attention span and focus. Overall, I have followed this board for the past few days, read the rumors and wanted to reserve judgment until I had seen the finished product myself. A few things:

The Voice of Saruman: Well even the script has been on-line so there's not much surprise here. Let's just say that this segment is one of the BEST if not the best of the EE. Christopher Lee is breathtaking. Now, captured on film, you fully realize the POWER of the Voice of Saruman that Tolkien wrote. The hateful diatribes against Theoden and Gandalf really shakes you . . . it is BAAAD stuff.

In fact, the words of Saruman go on to have reverberations throughout the movie. Now, Theoden's words to Eowyn when he states how it was not he who led the victory at Helm's Deep and his shame that he had let down his forefathers makes more sense. Various character arcs that didn't feel "right" in the TC makes a LOT more sense.

Gandalf's scene where he states at the Last Debate that he has sent Frodo to his death is a direct reflection on Saruman's accusation that he sacrifices those he loves and also depicts the deep guilt that Gandalf feels for this.

The drinking game is actually hilarious and the belching farting Gimli completely fits in with the party theme at that point. I enjoyed it quite a bit and I suspect many will also.

It is shocking to me how incredibly DEEPLY PJ and crew went into Lord of the Rings for this EE. Guys there are themes and information that they take out of not only the Appendices but some out of even the Silmarillion and History of Middle Earth. The extra layered depth is awe-inspiring and it amuses and saddens me that all of that went COMPLETELY OVER THE FIRST REVIEWER'S HEAD when he kept saying how extra scenes weren't needed etc.

Here's a few simple examples: Eowyn's dream in Meduseld is NOT about Aragorn just comforting her. Her dream is a translocation of a scene between Faramir and Eowyn on the walls of minas Tirith in the book: There Faramir speaks of his vision of a great tide impossibly high and about to sweep over him. Eowyn also speaks of her feeling that she is at the edge of an abyss. This concept of a huge tidal wave miles high that then sweeps everything away is something that Tolkien himself often dreamt off and which he incorporated in the Fall of Numenor where such a wave was indeed sent by the Valar and destroyed Numenor. A very nice nod to the books by the filmmakers.

Immediately after the showdown with Denethor, Gandalf comments on Denethor's "mad ambition" with disgust. There is an added "Decline of Gondor" where Gandalf goes to talk about why the line of Anarion ended and how the Gondorians began to pay more attention to their past and their future and how death became more important than life. Mausoleums and tombs became more grandiose than the houses of the living, people made more attention to their lineage than their sons and there was a preoccupation with longetivity. For those who have read the Silmarillion, it is immediately apparent that this description is a nod to EXACTLY what led to the Numenorean's downfall and the final subversion of Al-Pharazon by Sauron in the Second Age.

Another deep theme of the Lord of the Rings is the tension between hope and despair. Denethor's great tragedy and fall from grace is that he GAVE IN TO DESPAIR. That is where his madness lay. In the EE, it becomes now completely obvious that his mind has broken because he is without hope and in complete despair. Of course, in Tolkien's writing this is a great fallacy. Despair is for those who KNOW what is going to happen. Only the Iluvatar, the One in Tolkien's mythology TRULY know this. Thus, no matter what there is ALWAYS HOPE and the HOPE of divine providence. When you give in to DESPAIR you give in to Sauron.

In the book, the Palantir of course is what drives Denethor ultimately to Despair. While too confusing to EVER present in a film to book-neophytes, the THEME of despair and it's role in Denethor's fall is wonderfully fleshed out in the Extended Edition. In fact before he tosses the flaming brand into the pyre, Denethor even stares staright at Gandalf and says the great book line: "You may be victorious on the field of battle for one day but against the Power in the East, there can be no final victory." Against this backdrop is the sad, sad, sad irony that as the audience we KNOW there is hope, the King WILL return and in one scene . . . even while Denethor leads his troupe to commit ritualistic suicide because of DESPAIR, we see a tiny flower budding on the Tree of Hope.

I know there was disappointment in the lack of the Palantir and Denethor but mostly I was disappointed because Denethor in the Return of the King came off as nothing more than a mad hatter with little motivation. He benefits TREMENDOUSLY in the Extended Edition and regains essentially ALL of his character complexity. Now we know the source of his madness, it is MUCH more explicitly spelled out. I loved it.

Faramir is redeemed like CRAZY in the Extended Edition. There is now NO DOUBT of his nobility and grace. What makes this better is that now that we can appreciate the entire arc of his character development we see the wisdom of Fran and Philippa's choice. The great line "I would not use the Ring to save Minas Tirith even were it falling in ruin around me and only I could save it" IS IN THE MOVIE!!! But it's placement AFTER his temptation is much more believable, much more powerful. The line from Gandalf that "Boromir would have stretched out his hand to take this thing and then fallen and you would not have known your son" is given to Faramir again with fantastic results. A small part of the essential difference between Faramir and Boromir and Denethor from the books is now added in when Faramir speaks to Pippen.

Remember there is SOOOO much complexity in the book . . . more than can be captured by ANY filmmaker. In the book, we KNOW that the blood of Numenor runs more true in Denethor and Faramir than in Boromir. The heritage allows you to see more clearly and more deeply into the hearts and motivations of men but while in Denethor it moved him more to contempt . . . in Faramir it moved him to pity. Boromir was ever the simple soldier, more an example of the "fallen Gondorian" than the true heritage of noble Numenor.

All of this is glimpsed at in the EE when Faramir tell Pippen how his brother and father were stubborn but strong and how Pippen replies that Faramir is strong too but just in different ways . . . This of course is true because from the book's reading we know that for any MAN to resist the Ring is incredible. In the Trilogy there is only TWO Men who are noble and strong enough of will and spirit to resist: Aragorn and Faramir.

The battle of the Pelennor fields is extended but here a few highlights. We now see Eowyn fight on foot and we see her worth. She is an INCREDIBLE fighter and fencer and we see her take down at least 3-4 orcs while PROTECTING THEODEN'S back. He sees her but does not recognize her. Merry is also shown killing a few orcs surprising them with his ferocity.

This once again completes a very deep character arc that is established earlier when in another EE sequence, Eomer tells Eowyn that "she knows as little of war as that hobbit." In the heat of battle when the stench of death is all around, Eomer says Merry will flee. He tell her "war is the province of men." This remark once again encapsulates much of the theme of the book where the sexism of the Rohirrim culture against women is graphically depicted by Gandalf as Eowyn recovers in the Houses of Healing.

By the way, here is the final answer to Gothmog's death:

FIRST, after being unhorsed by the Mumakil she killed, Eowyn slaughter a few orcs to protect Theoden. THEN she duels with Gothmog and slices through his one good hamstring. The crippled orc general now is even MORE slowed. She then leaves him to continue to shadow Theoden and also look for Merry who has become lost in the carnage. LATER after killing the Witch King, she is unhelmeted and now has a paralyzed arm and of course the poison of the Black Breath. Gothmog finally catches up to her on his own two lame legs and seeing him she desperately CRAWLS away from him. She is trying to reach a sword from a Rohan soldier's corpse. SHe doesn't make it, while still stretching Gothmog catches up to her and raises his MACE to kill. At this point, Aragorn and Gimli arrive. Aragorn NEVER SEES EOWYN. He just sees a stupid orc with a mace raised in the air and calmly slices the arm clean off. Gimli chops his axe in Gothmog's upper chest/neck and finishes him.

The AWESOME part of the scene is that the two don't even know Gothmog is the general they lliterally GLIDE through the scene killing him and saving Eowyn's life as an afterthought. It looks supercool . . . trust me on this.

Well, this is already getting way too long for anyone normal to read so I'll stop. Feel free to ask any questions, I know I still haven't covered the Houses of Healing, the Corsairs, the Paths of the Dead, Aragorn and the Palantir, the Mouth of Sauron, etc, etc and also have not addressed why there is no epilogue but I'll stop for now and let the questions begin.

By the way, all of this detail is after ONE viewing of the Extended Edition from ten pm to 2 a.m. after being post-call and haveing slept 3 hours the previous night.

Dennis