DVD Review HTF REVIEW: Return of the King Extended Cut - Absolutely Recommended (1 Viewer)

[Phil Dally]

No mor gay midjets

 

[LorenzoL]

Excellent review David. This is my favorite movie of the trilogy and the addition of certain scenes makes it even better.

 

[Jeffrey_K]

Hey, let's get on that part 2 review, can you!

 

[Soah]

I heard popping noises too and thought it was a defective disc. But if others also have this I wonder if it's a batch or all of them have this problem. Surprising this is the only stuff I read on this though when audio problems usually have entire threads devoted to them.

I heard it around ch 4-5 on second disc when merry is at Gondor and Faramir is being carried out after the shot zooms in on the single white flower blossom on the white tree.

Then there is a chorus of loud popping/crackling around ch 34-35 when Sam tells Frodo to toss the ring into the lava right before Frodo puts it on his finger instead. Can anybody else confirm whether or not the audio glitches are in the same places as where I noticed it?

btw I watched it on 2.0 and I'm from Canada so this may not be a concentrated bad batch or a DTS problem only.

 

[Bill Williams]

I picked up my set last week (sorry guys, no Christmas present, but that's okay), and found that there was a pressing glitch on Disc 1. It occurred very early in the film, at the 4:00-5:00 mark, when Smeagol had obtained the ring and begun his transformation into Gollum. For some unusual reason the disc kept skipping forward and missing about 10-15 seconds several times, and I found it rather bothersome. I cleaned the disc, replayed it several times, and the skipping continued. There's no skipping on any of the other discs at all.

Any contact information to New Line where I can get in touch with them about getting a replacement Disc 1?

 

[Richard Travale]

You would probably have better luck just returning the set to the store you bought it from. It sounds like just a bad disc to me.

 

[Ryan FB]

That was great! I also nearly died laughing when they were talking about how Orlando Bloom practiced for climbing the oliphant/mumakil.

 

[DanielKellmii]

Gimlis OK

You can call me a tolkien purist. I have read the series many times, the Silmarillion a few times and even glanced trough some of the other Middle Earth books. The Gimli of the movie is different than the Gimli of the books. But I think that it was necessary. Here is a pasage from The Encyclopedia of Arda:

In nature, the typical Dwarf is stubborn and secretive. Though they make loyal and good friends, they are also a proud and stern race. They do not suffer grievance or insult, and their enmity is long-lasting. They are said, though, to be quick to learn new skills.

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With that being said, a stubborn and secretive Gimli would have been difficult to have as a movie character. His characters role in the book was supporting the other chracters. I can't see any other big role than as a literary tool to get them into the Mines of Moria. In the movie, to have a character just hang around and have very little to do would be... distracting. So, Jackson decided to use him as some comic relief. Fine with me. He was making a movie. Not a literary study of a book.

I also think that John-Rhys Davies (sp?) did a great job.

 

[Michael Harris]

I am holding my breath for this.

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

I had a great experience yesterday!

My brother came over to my place just to get out of the house for a couple of hours and hang out. Well, he hadn't seen the last two films yet, at all, and he had borrowed my copy of 'Fellowship EE' this past week and watched it on his tiny 20" monaural tv, not the most ideal way to watch that film I know. He freakin loved it thought proving, I guess, that if a film is great enough and engrossing enough, it can overcome such technical shortcomings.

Anyway, a couple of hours turned into several, as I asked him if he'd like to watch 'Two Towers EE' on my 96" projection system because he hadn't seen it yet or 'RotK EE', he said "Sure!". After the film was over, he was beside himself with how huge the film was and how awesome it was!

Then, knowing my brother like I do, I said to him "Just wait until you see RotK dude, it's the biggest of them all." knowing that he would ask "Do you want to watch it?" which he did and I said "Hell yeah, if you've got the stamina for it, I do!"

Over 4 hours later, the film had ended, and my brother was speechless, he knew he had just watched the fantasy epic to rule them all (sorry) in his lifetime! It was one of the single most satisfying times i've had with my HT in a long time, it felt like an event, and at the end of it we felt as weary and hardened as Frodo and Sam did when they were making their final push up Mount Doom! I was teary eyed and I think he was too, when Sam made his "I can't carry it for you, but I CAN carry you!" speech and that gorgeous Howard Shore music came in when he picked Frodo up. It took us 7 and a half hours to get their, and it was amazing, I had never watched two of these films back to back before.

I know their are those of you who have watched all three back to back and saying "eh, your a light-weight.", but it was new to me to do that. Just watching TWO of those films felt like an achievment to me.

Anyway, I just wanted to share with you all how much these films can move and bring together two guys who expected to have an otherwise boring Saturday.

 

[Bhavesh]

My only gripe with the extended edition is Alan Lee mumbling to himself on the Design commentary. He has many interesting things to say, but he's barely audible. Grant Major is almost as bad. If only they'd raised the level of his comments in post it would have helped a great deal. Ah well.. i guess not everyone can be as clear as Richard Taylor.

They've treated us by having each of the participants in the Writers commentary coming out of a discrete speaker channel. However the rest of the commentaries are all essentially in mono.

 

[MatthewKolden]

I absolutely loved this DVD and would recommend it to anyone. The entire LOTR series is totally worth buying.

 

[AndreGB]

Hey guys, sorry bringing this topic back up. But was there ever a Part II? I searched the forum and found nothing. So I guessed either it was hidden or David never did it.

Thanks a lot.