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Lord of the Rings Media Movies

LotR: RotK Extended Edition Preview Available 148

Posted by timothy from the ha-ha-only-the-preview dept.
Topoimagery writes "After months of speculation and a few low-quality bootleg video clips, we finally get some official video from New Line. The Official Lord of the Rings Site has a preview of the upcoming Return of the King EE in Quicktime format. Here are direct links to the small version (4 MB) and large version (9 MB). Highlights include Voice of Saruman, Mouth of Sauron, Houses of Healing, and Aragorn confronting Sauron. Released date is December 14, and you can pre-order now. (For those of you who can't get enough spoilers, here's a site describing all anticipated new scenes on the DVD)."
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LotR: RotK Extended Edition Preview Available More

LotR: RotK Extended Edition Preview Available

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  • Super Box Set? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by TheAntiCrust ( 620345 ) on Sunday October 17, 2004 @11:06AM (#10550419)
    Does this mean soon we get to buy the super box set with all three of the extended editions?? I hope so =)

  • Endings? (Score:4, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 17, 2004 @11:07AM (#10550423)
    How many more endings does it have?

    • Re:Endings? (Score:2, Insightful)

      by NeoSkandranon ( 515696 )
      Did you see the credits run? What was that? Once? Then it had one ending.
      • Oh come on. Tell me you didn't completely expect to see the credits during the movie, and yet there was more movie to see. If this happened to you any less than two times, then I would be surprised.
        • It happened to me exactly zero times. Sorry to dissapoint you.
        • WTF? It ends where the book ends. Blame Tolkein for this if you must, but those of us who read the books got pretty much what we expected, minus "The Scouring of the Shire" (which is one of my favorite parts, but wouldn't really have fit well with the rest of the movies).

    • Re:Endings? (Score:3, Funny)

      by hsa ( 598343 )
      I personally would like to see the ending where they attack Shire and do some killing.

      That ending was probably removed, so they could have half an hour of that cheesy stuff..
    • I'm hoping they include the Scooby-Doo ending:

      <The victors, returning to the Shire from Gondor, encounter Saruman and Grima on the road home>

      Gandalf: Saruman, look where your path of evil has led you. You've been defeated.

      Frodo: But there's still one more mystery to reveal.

      <Frodo pulls off Saruman's mask to reveal, to the amazement of everyone looking on, Boromir>

      Merry: But how is that possible?

      Frodo: When his plan to take the ring failed, he faked his own death. They were his orcs,

  • Pete Said... (Score:3, Informative)

    by Kid Zero ( 4866 ) on Sunday October 17, 2004 @11:11AM (#10550438) Homepage Journal
    There won't be a boxed set of all the Ext Editions until the next High Def DVD format is finalized. I guess it means you won't be buying it on a spindle. :)

  • Scouring of the Shire (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Xpilot ( 117961 ) on Sunday October 17, 2004 @11:14AM (#10550452) Homepage
    I'm sorry Peter Jackson didn't film The Scouring of the Shire. It would have made a nice addition to the Extended DVD, even if it didn't "work" for a box-office feature. The Voice of Saruman, and Shelob's attack are both in The Two Towers, and personally I think Jackson should have filmed it that way, removing the unnecessary Arwen scenes to compensate. But that's just me.

    • I'm sorry Peter Jackson didn't film The Scouring of the Shire.
      Same here... it would also have made for a better winding down of the story. As it stands now, many people complain about the way the movie seems to end 3 times or so. Although personally, I would have hated this movie to end with a bang, say, with the celebration and coronation thingy on top of Minas Tirith.
    • I belive he didn't film The Scouring of the Shire because if he did the movie would have two climax. The first would be The Battle at the Pelennor fields, and the second would be the Hobbits' battle at the Shire. The audience would get [even more] tired IMHO.

      Tough it would be very interesting to see that scenes screenplayed.

      • Re:Scouring of the Shire (Score:5, Insightful)

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 17, 2004 @12:21PM (#10550776)
        The book (which the movie is supposed to be based on, remember) was NOT an 'action flick'. It was the story of a group of people (the Hobbits) who... grew up. They went from a carefree life to participating in a year-long adventure (even if the movies only seem to cover a few weeks). They went from never leaving their local town to crossing the better part of the known world.

        And, they went from being children, to being adults.

        The Scouring of the Shire IS the climax of the books. It shows that they have, in effect, grown up and are able to stand on their own two feet and take care of themselves. (I'll stop now before the cliche police bust my door down.)

        BTW- did you know the entire battle at Pellenor Fields took only ONE chapter in the book, but almost an hour in the movie?

        • Re:Scouring of the Shire (Score:5, Interesting)

          by gustgr ( 695173 ) <(gustgr) (at) (gmail.com)> on Sunday October 17, 2004 @12:36PM (#10550837)
          I know how many chapters the battle at the pellenor fields takes at the book, I have read it.

          The point is that the movie needs to make money. If the audience don't like it or gets bored with it, the movie will not be profitable. That's all about Hollywood.

          I don't agree with the movie in several aspects, but I will not mourn or cry because the movie is crap compared with the book. I am just glad I had the chance to read the book before the movies were released, so my visions and imagination were not interfered or messed up by Jackson's point of view.
          • The point is that the movie needs to make money. If the audience don't like it or gets bored with it, the movie will not be profitable.

            There were already tons of whiners with the few fades at the end besides. Jackson had to cut back because people don't care if it's complete, they just don't want to be "bored". It's a shame IMO because I think Jackson would've done a great job on the scouring.

            I thought the movies were pretty damn good and got quite a bit of the essence of the the books.
          • While I see your point, I felt that the ending to RotK movie was more sad than it needed to be, and that The Scouring would have helped make it less sad overall. I dont know about anyone else, but I cracked a tear or two at the very end, which is rare. From the point where the hobbits are honored at Aragorns crowning on, its all 'downhill' emotionally. The Scouring would have helped offset that 'awww, im so sad that its all over now' feeling. I agree though they a massive battle or anything like that would

          • Re:Scouring of the Shire (Score:1, Insightful)

            by Anonymous Coward
            The point is that the movie needs to make money.

            And cutting back 5 (or, god forbid, 10) minutes of battle scenes and Arwen dream-sequences to insert the Scouring would have made all the three movies flops that lost money, right? I mean, no one would EVER go see the third movie if it actually contained a scene from the last quarter of the book, would they?

            If the audience don't like it or gets bored with it, the movie will not be profitable.

            Personally I watched and liked the movie, even though I was...
          • The point is that the movie needs to make money. If the audience don't like it or gets bored with it, the movie will not be profitable. That's all about Hollywood.

            But isn't these EE's intended for the true fans of this series?

            The cinematic release is, on the other hand, produced by cutting together the action parts better to hopefully not bore the audience. I thought Peter Jackson even said something like this himself -- that the EE's are intended for the different kind of viewing you can do at home.
          • Making films and writing books are two different things. Like it or not, a movie has to keep an audience more or less paying attention. It's interesting to watch the movies with the director's and screenwriter's commentaries. They explain many of the changes they made and why they made them. You can't just take a book and translate the text straight into screenplay. It doesn't work.
        • Frodo was in his early thirties by the time he finally left the Shire with the ring.

          • Incorrect! (Score:1, Informative)

            by Anonymous Coward
            Frodo was in his thirties when he took custody of the ring, and fifty when he set off on the quest: Gandalf was off researching for many years.

            The film glossed rightly glossed over that.

        • Re:Scouring of the Shire (Score:1, Insightful)

          by Anonymous Coward
          I agree, but would take it even a step further. The fact that she shire needed scouring in the book showed how EVERYONE was affected by this war. Nobody escaped, even the idyllic Hobbiton felt the press of the dark lord. And Frodo and Co. returned as heros who retake the shire.

          In the movie though, the shire was never really aware of the war. And we see how it's difficult for the hobbits to readjust to living once again in their isolated, idylic home.

          They really are two very different conclusions. I t

        • Your points are all absolutely correct. You could even go so far as to look at the whole journey taken by the four hobbits as being a trainer for dealing with the Scouring. From the perspective of Frodo and friends, it is still something as a periphery matter when considering the well-being of the Shire.

          did you know the entire battle at Pellenor Fields took only ONE chapter in the book, but almost an hour in the movie?

          In my edition of The Two Towers, the battle of Helms Deep took a little over 6 pages

        • The Scouring of the Shire IS the climax of the books. It shows that they have, in effect, grown up and are able to stand on their own two feet and take care of themselves.

          Hear hear!

          My gripe is that one of the points of Tolkien's book is that evil was pervasive and had to be rooted out everywhere. The perversion of the Shire was what brought it all home, and the Scouring is where it was set right through great effort.

          Without the Scouring, the movie makes it look like the hobbits came back from their tre

    • Re:Scouring of the Shire (Score:4, Insightful)

      by UpnAtom ( 551727 ) on Sunday October 17, 2004 @12:37PM (#10550844)
      The Arwen story provides a lot of relief from the endless stuggle and angst about Sauron destroying Middle Earth. It also explains the Elves' (lack of) involvement and the Last Ship scene.

      I'd also suggest it adds a subtle magical side to the film, which would otherwise be restricted to Galadriel's mirror, The Ring effects & Gandalf's charge at Helm's Deep.

      Oh yeah, Arwen is also stunning...

      I'd have cut the Aragorn nearly drowning scenes, although they say Viggo nearly did drown. They are utterly useless to the plot.

      • Re:Scouring of the Shire (Score:5, Interesting)

        by jdbo ( 35629 ) on Sunday October 17, 2004 @01:15PM (#10551041)
        Actually, the Aragorn almost drowning scenes fo accomplish several things relevant to the plot:

        1. by separating Aragorn from the larger refugees party, he is able to encounter the Uruk-Hai army before Theoden does - this sets up the conflict between him and Theoden, as Aragorn (apparently) sees a greater threat than Theoden does.

        2. Eowyn's belief in his death dramatizes her feelings for Aragorn (something that's much harder to accomplish in cinema than in text).

        3. provides an opportunity to shift away from the Rohan story and reflect on what happening with the elves (otherwise the appearance of the elves would not have made as much sense/had as dramatic an impact.

        While it's certainly acceptable to state that these elements are uncessary changes to the book, they are all set-up and supported by the Aragorn-nearly-drowning "twist". Despite the obviousness to the audience that Aragorn will survive, this plot device actually sets up the second half of the Helm's Deep storyline very well.

        • 1. by separating Aragorn from the larger refugees party, he is able to encounter the Uruk-Hai army before Theoden does - this sets up the conflict between him and Theoden, as Aragorn (apparently) sees a greater threat than Theoden does.

          Yes, another of Jackson's mistakes. Theoden isn't supposed to be incompetant. Aragorn is the greater hero, but Theoden should have been portrayed much stronger than he was.

          2. Eowyn's belief in his death dramatizes her feelings for Aragorn (something that's much harder to ac

          • > Theoden isn't supposed to be incompetant.

            It's an oversimplification to say that he was portrayed as incompetent; he was protrayed as a leader coming back into his own, with moments of weakness.

            The major departure from the books's characterization was a shift from Tolkien's iconic approach to dramatic motivation by drawing out the arcs of the character's personal transformations. In the case of Aragorn, his arc in the book essentially ends at Rivendell; in Theoden's case, with release from Wormtongu

            • Feel free to disagree with these choices, but dismissing them out-of-hand doesn't give anyone much to think about, and gives the impression that you didn't bother to consider the other side of the story.

              What other side of the story? LOTR was written to the classic heroic epic model. The characters are bigger than life, and the heroes aren't like ordinary people. Trying to eliminate that to fit a 20th/21st century idea of a novel turns LOTR into something else. The "iconic approach" is essential to what mak

      • Re:Scouring of the Shire (Score:3, Informative)

        by danila ( 69889 )
        I'd have cut the Aragorn nearly drowning scenes

        Check out the Purist Edit [wikipedia.org]. They (and other useless scenes) are cut there.

    • Re:Scouring of the Shire (Score:5, Funny)

      by Lethyos ( 408045 ) on Sunday October 17, 2004 @06:57PM (#10552921) Journal
      removing the unnecessary Arwen scenes to compensate

      Yes, how perfectly Slashdot-nerdesque: remove the hot, busty chick with the sheer top so that we can see a bunch of short, fat, hairy hobbits run around and beat up on old wizzards. Sheesh man, get your priorities straight! ;)

  • Can't resist... spoiler... video--

    I managed to tear myself away half way through.

  • oh boy oh boy oh boy! (Score:4, Funny)

    by ilovelinux ( 129476 ) on Sunday October 17, 2004 @11:18AM (#10550472)
    oh man, I can't wait! I'm so exited I think I just pissed myself! Extended edition 3 movie marathon coming up!

    This is going to be awesome!

    • oh man, I can't wait! I'm so exited I think I just pissed myself! Extended edition 3 movie marathon coming up!

      This is going to be awesome!

      I picked up a widescreen HDTV a few months ago, and this last week I picked up a surround sound system. Oh yes, there will be lots of Lord of the Rings, lots of beer, lots of fatty fried food, and ten hours with my friends... I cannot wait until December 18th, the Saturday after the extended edition comes out.

      • hey I was thinking. That's pretty much what we had planned out here.

        Wouldn't it be interesting if we had a massive BBQ/campout for all the geeks on slashdot? Organise it a year in advance put it somewhere central in the US, and have a massive geekout /starwars/lotr/video game/beerfest.

        It might be a pile of fun to meet new geeks from all over.

        How about it Rob?

    • Comment removed (Score:5, Funny)

      by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Sunday October 17, 2004 @11:41AM (#10550578)
      Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • By "exited" I assume you mean you've more than pissed yourself?

  • yes but... (Score:4, Funny)

    by m0RpHeus ( 122706 ) on Sunday October 17, 2004 @11:29AM (#10550527)
    Yes, but does it include the very important character and scenes [bbspot.com]?

  • Extended Trilogy Boxed set... (Score:3, Informative)

    by kikensei ( 518689 ) <<joshua> <at> <ingaugemedia.com>> on Sunday October 17, 2004 @11:33AM (#10550543) Homepage
    has been available for pre-order for weeks.
    http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000 654ZK0/qid=1098030658/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/103-701367 5-2021468?v=glance&s=dvd/ [amazon.com]
    Not a very savvy group of LoTR geeks on Slashdot... ;)
    • Does anyone know if there is any reason to get the extended trilogy boxed set over the three seperate extended editions (other than any price differences)? I looked at the description from the link to amazon and couldn't see any differences, other than a slip case to hold all three movies...

  • 50 more minutes! (Score:4, Funny)

    by UnknowingFool ( 672806 ) on Sunday October 17, 2004 @11:41AM (#10550577)
    Note to self:
    1)Clear out 1 day to watch LOTR:RTK extended edition
    2)Get those adult diapers that I used last year for LOTR:RTK movie edition out of storage.

    I knew those would come in handy again.

  • Novel quote from Sauraman: (Score:4, Funny)

    by Tandoori Haggis ( 662404 ) on Sunday October 17, 2004 @11:44AM (#10550597)
    "You are all going to.."

    buffering 1%

    Where is buffering? :-)

  • Cannot be destroyed? (Score:3, Funny)

    by apocamok ( 196093 ) on Sunday October 17, 2004 @11:53AM (#10550635) Homepage
    From the linked site http://www.rotk-see.de.vu/ [rotk-see.de.vu] :
    If www.rotk-see.de.vu one day suddenly does not work, try http://home.datacomm.ch/betaversion/index.html [datacomm.ch] . If this site is can not be visited, try alternatively the following URL (this is an other server and can not be destroyed): http://www.hdr-see.de/ [hdr-see.de] - Webmaster Indrid Cold E-Mail

    Cannot be destroyed? Never underestimate the Slashdot Effect...

  • Not /.'ed ? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by gustgr ( 695173 ) <(gustgr) (at) (gmail.com)> on Sunday October 17, 2004 @11:56AM (#10550648)
    Before I click on the link to the .mov I tought: "The site will be down for sure, after all, it is LOTR, it is a movie, and it is a DVD preview. The nerds will not forgive". For my surprise the site is still up.

    Are the nerds losing their power to slashdot sites?

  • Zen (Score:4, Funny)

    by chill ( 34294 ) on Sunday October 17, 2004 @12:00PM (#10550666) Journal
    What is the sound of ten thousand geeks updating the Amazon.com wish list all at once?
  • How about a CONDENSED version?! I think that all three movies could be condensed into a single 2.5-3 hour film that would actually be GOOD. Then they can edit together all the shots where the camera is slowly zooming in or out on Elijah Wood's face on a separate special edition 1.5 hour disc for all you LOTR suckers.

  • So if this is a preview (Score:3, Funny)

    by Laebshade ( 643478 ) <laebshade@gmail.com> on Sunday October 17, 2004 @12:48PM (#10550885)
    Does that mean this preview is the original theatre release of LOTR:ROTK? ;)

  • Come not between the Slashdot and his prey... (Score:5, Funny)

    by mav[LAG] ( 31387 ) on Sunday October 17, 2004 @02:02PM (#10551381)
    If this site is can not be visited, try alternatively the following URL (this is an other server and can not be destroyed): http://www.hdr-see.de/

    Or he will not slay thee in thy turn. He will bare thy server away to the Houses of Lamentation, beyond all darkness, where thy processes shall be devoured and thy shriviled configs be left naked to the lidless eye."

  • Not good enough (Score:5, Funny)

    by ballpoint ( 192660 ) on Sunday October 17, 2004 @03:05PM (#10551776)
    I'm waiting for the extended edition box set in WMVHD 1080p.

    Please don't mod me Funny: I mean it.

  • If its not royal blue, i dont want it. no matter how pressssssious it is, and i'll put the my 2 extended editions on ebay. Might still buy if its gold tho. :D
  • My Grandma will be happy hearing this. She's been waiting for the EE since they released the original dvd. It's amazing how much of a Star Wars/LoTR nut.

  • How to connect up with the previous EEs? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Flyboy Connor ( 741764 ) on Sunday October 17, 2004 @06:30PM (#10552793)
    I am very interested to see how Jackson manages to connect up with the previous EEs. There are scenes added to the previous two EEs, which are not in the theatrical releases, which will have an impact on scenes already shown in the cinemas. I am thinking, for instance, of the scene where Merry and Pippin drink the Ent's stuff that makes them grow. At the crowning, the four hobbits are standing next to each other. In the theatrical release, the hobbits are of equal length. In the EE, Merry and Pippin need to be at least a head taller than Frodo and Sam! Will new special effects do the trick here?

  • What About Critical Scenes Cut From TTT? (Score:3, Funny)

    by Lethyos ( 408045 ) on Sunday October 17, 2004 @07:06PM (#10552964) Journal

    I'm very disappointed that Peter Jackson has decided not to include a very important scene [weebls-stuff.com] in The Two Towers. One day I hope that future generations will get to see these movies with the badger scenes [badgerbadgerbadger.com] fully restored...

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