"Two Towers" Extended Edition DVD News!

cinematic Happenings Under Development (CHUD) ^ | December 29,2002 | Mike Arsenault

[Long Cut]

News on the Extended DVD is out already! Among the highlights to be found at www.chud.com:

There will again be 30-35 minutes of extra footage;

The battle at Helm's Deep may get an "R" rating after the new footage is included;

More footage of Gollum will be included.

Hit the link for more info: CHUD Article on TTT DVD

[Long Cut]

"- I wish Jackson would find a few more hours of footage to add. "

Whattya wanna bet he DOES, after "The Return Of The King" is released, to be included in the all-encompassing Special Edition Ultra Collector's Extended Edition Super 10- DVD LOTR Boxed Set?

Note: I have no such inside iggy. I would not, however, be at all surprised at such a release. Nor hesitant, it must be said, to purchase it.

Actually, Lancey, I believe he was contractually obligated to bring the theatrical releases in at under 3 hours, for ticket sales purposes. He simply preserved the cut footage for the Extended Releases. One good bit of news that I heard was that the studio (New Line Cinema), due to the extraordinary positive response to both the films themselves and the Extended Editions, allowed him to exceed the "3 hour" rule for "The Return Of The King".

[BradyLS]

Talk to me about it in 10 years. ;-)

[montag813]

Oh, yes, 20 years ago films were MUCH more violent, even with a PG-13 or a PG.

Agreed. Especially Sam Peckinpah. "Straw Dogs" is one of my faves.

[Maigret]

From one who lives nowhere near a movie theater I have only one question about the DVD, WHEN?????

[sweetliberty]

"These are the types of creatures who operate through that walking/talking corpse we know as Hillary Rodham Clinton."

LOL! You are much too flattering to her.

[sweetliberty]

"Gimli as comedy relief?"

I loved that and given the dark and heavy nature of the story line itself I thought that the humor along with the love scene was a great way to take a break from the intensity which could get overwhelming otherwise.

[motzman]

Saruman's Tower - Orthanc

Sauron's Tower (where the flaming eye is) - Barad-dur

[Long Cut]

Tell you what, very few people younger than me believe me when I tell them how truly violent and sexual (sometimes simultaneously) the films of the late '70s and early '80s actually were. Movies voted the most violent of all time were made then.

Furthermore, the ratings system was all but ignored. I was seeing R-rated films at the tender age of ten, and UN-rated films like "Dawn Of The Dead" and "Cannibal Ferox" were widely available, no questions asked, at the local video store.

Sam Peckinpah? How about George Romero, Lucio Fulci, or Ruggero Deodato? Talk about gorefests.

[Scott from the Left Coast]

I have just finished my first viewing of the FotR extended version -- and if the TTT extended version matches that, we're all in for another treat. The extended version of FotR is a tremendous improvement on an already-magnificent film. We can only expect the same for TTT. Hard to wait.

[Long Cut]

Expect the Theatrical Version in the Spring or Summer of next year. The Extended Edition should arrive in November, precisely one month before the release of "Return Of The King", if the pattern set for "Fellowship" holds.

[marajade]

Its a trilogy... about good and evil... Just like its counterpoint ESB in the SW world TTT will probably be remembered for being better because the darker ones always are...

[sweetliberty]

"the EE of "Fellowship" tracked more closely with the books."

Especially the parts in Rivendale and Lothlorien. A lot of gaps were filled in.

[marajade]

Actually New Line bet their existence on these movies and it looks like it was a gamble that paid off big time...

[Cultural Jihad]

... and my apologies for being a ham-fisted poster.

Main Entry: ham-fist·ed
Pronunciation: 'ham-"fis-t&d
Function: adjective
Date: 1928
: HAM-HANDED

Harry Potter does that to people.

[dglang]

There is an application called 'Total Recorder" that allows you to capture any sound that that comes from your sound card. It loads a DLL that enables your computer to record the output from the soundcard directly to disc even when the inputs are nonrecordable. It can easily be used to record real player audio streams that can't readily be captured from the net.

[sweetliberty]

You haven't watched Fellowship of the Ring yet???? Did you see the Two Towers or have you seen none of them??? Mo, where did we go wrong? Bad girl!

[KneelBeforeZod]

some LOTR n00bie questions for anyone who cares to answer:

in the Two Towers...who were those guys riding elephants that got slaughtered?

and who were the similar looking guys going into Mordor (that almost discovered frodo and pippin?)

and... the flamboyant looking elf with the big nose that leads the elf army to the fortress towards the end of the movie?

and what is the significance if these three entities... I'm sure there must be some history within the books.

thanks

[Capriole]

• Explain to me why this isn't a shallow movie -- 90% spectacle and 10% character exploration.

OK. It's not a shallow movie because it's about the Great Questions. What is honor? What is courage? Are we innately good, or innately bad, or a bit of both? How much free will do we have, and can we exert our own efforts to redeem ourselves from evil? Is there really an evil force operating in the world, and if so, how can ordinary people of good will do battle against it without being corrupted? Should we live for ourselves, or for history? How do we keep faith? Stuff like that. Tolkien was a devout Catholic and said that this was a Catholic work; the movies address his themes.

[Long Cut]

"Harry Potter does that to people"

Never watched/read "Potter". I always thought it to be a poor knockoff of "Rings". Why have a McDonald's Cheeseburger when fine steak is available?

On the plus side, "Potter" seems to have led quite a number of young readers directly to...Middle-Earth!

That series has also lost a bit of steam, methinks. Not only is its audience growing up, but it seems to be collapsing under the weight of its own hype machine. Plus, it is now looked upon by kids as "wimpy", while "LOTR" is the "cool" series to see.

[HairOfTheDog]

There is a much bigger battle to come, and you know that. No, I do not think "Why was TTT was a gore fest?" will that be the subject ten years from now.

Gorefest? - No... it wasn't... It is brutal, and dark, and the fighting is terrible. But it is supposed to be. In the book Gimli whacks the heads off orcs with his axe left and right! It isn't a sweet part of the story, they have to get through these wars to win them.

My favorite parts, the parts that make me smile through tears, will always be the beginning part and the end, because that is where my heart is. TTT is not my favorite part of the story, neither is the battle of Pelennor fields or Cormallen. I am a chick... I like the walking and talking parts. I read quickly through Helm's Deep to get back to Frodo.

But the films have helped me both picture the battles, which I could never do well before, and also FEEL them more. So I think the film is great.