I held back from buying KK just for this release.. now I have to decide which one of the two new versions to get! It will depend on how good the "statue" will be..
I suppose you're right. And PJ probably overplayed his hand a little bit in terms of how many times the principals were able to nimbly dart between the legs of these monstrosities without getting squashed. In truth, they'd all have been killed. Still, I find I'm able to suspend disbelief and enjoy the sequence every time. The animation itself looks fine upscaled to 720p via Momitsu on my 50" HDTV.
Anyhow, back to the EE. 13 minutes, 230 FX shots. Sounds about right. Man, we've come a long way from the days of the original Star Wars, which I believe had 300-something FX shots total.
And echoing Ron...what about hi-def? I'd really prefer not to have to buy this again in 2007. My nightmare scenario is they release this only on SD initially, followed by the HD version of the theatrical cut...then followed some time later by the HD version of the EE.
Hell, as long as we're branching, let's encode a shorter version on there as well and watch Peter Jackson sell out his artistic integrity entirely!
The rampant consumerism in the WETA camp is really starting to becoming frightening... I love the Rings:Ext but four different packagings on a mediocre Kong remake in one year just makes me roll my eyes.
When Jackson announced he was making this movie, I was pleased. I bought a ticket opening day and enjoyed the movie moderately well, but thought it was indulgently-paced.
Now indulgent has become the key word in Jackson's career. George Lucas is looking more sane with every Jackson DVD announcement...
EDIT: My biggest disappointment stemming from this trend is that the art of forming a single, ideal cut of a film is becoming lost to film directors. They release a too-short version in the theaters (often, though not in the case of Kong) and then swing to the other extreme and over-indulge with an extended version. I think it's fair to say that the Peter Jackson who directed Heavenly Creatures and Fellowship of the Ring was more thrifty and responsible than the director who made Return of the King and King Kong. I miss him.
Except George Lucas is releasing the original unaltered SW trilogy in non-anamorphic, so I think PJ is still saner than lucas. Look at how many times SW was released on VHS.
It's hard to imagine there would be much of a market for an extended edition of a movie most people, even those who loved it, seem to feel was overlong in the first place. Let's face it, when the movie came out, you'd only hear the very occasional Jackson devotee asking for a longer cut. Is this longer version part of Jackson's contract with Universal, which has no option but to indulge him?
Overlong means one thing when it is said by people sitting in movie theater seats, and another thing when said by people in the privacy of their own homes where they can stretch out comfortably.
While the film runs 13 minutes longer, who is to say that he hasn't removed some things and added others?
Also, the commentary tracks on the LOTR EE sets are some of my favorites. The only thing missing in this commentary is Fran, who makes a good comedy partner to Phillipa on their tracks on LOTR.
Phillippa (to Fran): "While they were doing this [the fx team dressing up as mercenaries on the vessel and Pete getting shot with Legolas's arrow], what were you and I doing?"
Fran: "Trying to save the film."
Phillipa: (laughing) "Trying to save the film!"
Great stuff. (Okay, so it doesn't transcribe very well.)
i was just reading a blurb in home media retailing that mentioned the newer version will be "boosting the movies' alreading considreable length to more then four hours."
i jjst hope there is an hd dvd version that is the same as the sd version.
This 'over indulgence' attributed to George Lucas and Peter Jackson is far from insane. There is nothing insane about making money. If anybody is insane, its all us idiots who keep buying multiple versions of the same movie. They wouldnt make them in the first place if we didnt buy.