Lord of the Rings DVD question...What to watch (1 Viewer)

[Matt Butler]

Ok, I know I suck but I havent seen all of Fellowship and never touched Two Towers. I fell asleep in the theatre during Fellowship and have tried a couple times to watch the DVD but get distracted or something comes up where I never get to see it. I dont own any of the DVDs but have friends that do.

My question is: What version should I watch if im going to have a marathon Rings session? Id really like to lock myself in my apt and finally see these two films and understand what this phenomenon is all about; and maybe see Return of King next month.

Thanks for the advice friends.

 

[JustinCleveland]

If you're dedicating yourself to a marathon, pick up the extended editions. There are little details that will enhance the viewing of each sequal.

 

[HankM]

Watch the extended versions of Fellowship & Two Towers as they are both available on DVD. I will almost guarntee you will wanna see Return Of The King next month in theaters.

 

[Dan Hitchman]

Yes, I concur... watch the extended cuts of both. The Two Towers, even more than Fellowship was shot with a directors cut on DVD mentality in mind where the extra footage really does add truly meaningful story developments rather than expanding upon certain points. So much so that strange instances and somewhat odd editing decisions in the theatrical cut are explained in the extended version, or so I'm told.

I can't wait for The Return of the King's extended cut as that supposedly has had the most excised footage because the theatrical version already runs over 3 hours!!!

As with all of these films, I see them once on the big screen and then wait for the extended DVDs.

If you have a DTS-ES decoder and a good, hard working sub (the bass is clean and deep, and very, very powerful in some instances) then the extended cuts are even more dramatic as they remixed the films' soundtracks specially for the extended DVD's because of the extra discrete back channel that is available via the DTS-ES Discrete format added in these collector's sets.

Do take a couple of pit stops at least during the disc breaks or you really will have trouble keeping your attention going. They are quite detailed and dense films. Obviously, because their source and inspiration was too (and even more so).

Dan

 

[Matt Butler]

Dan,
I have a Yamaha DTS/DD 5.1 reciever with a 29in 4x3 TV. (I do plan to upgrade to 16x9 within a year or so) My sub is very good but Ive heard deeper sounding subs.

I wish I had a DTS ES decoder; I heard that the DTS ES is AMAZING on the LOTR DVDs.

 

[Dan Hitchman]

Matt, I have an Outlaw Model 950 pre-amp that has DTS-ES (both discrete and matrix flavors) and Dolby EX (of course, just matrix) and 24 bit/192 kHz digital to analog converters, an ATI multichannel amp that does about 200 watts per channel, 7 main speakers (that I hope to upgrade to all matching B&W's some day), and a passive SVS subwoofer with Samson pro-amp driving it.

When I have my Lord of the Rings extended cut parties, my neighbors leave town!!

Dan

 

[Matt Butler]

Dan,


Nice!

 

[Timo_T]

If you seriously fell asleep during the theatrical cut of FotR, I doubt you will enjoy this marathon. But yes, the EEs are definitely better

 

[Matt Butler]

Timo,
I had worked all day that day on little sleep and then went to an evening show (8 or 9 ish) that night. I shouldnt have done that. I couldnt keep up and was bored. Im really hoping to like these films; I want to try again.

 

[DanFe]

I guarantee that you will fall asleep when it comes to the Arwen scenes in Two Towers, EE or TE. I know I did.

 

[DonRoeber]

My brother was also bored by Fellowship. However, he LOVED Two Towers. Go figure. After seeing Two Towers, he went back and watched Fellowship, and this time really enjoyed it. So maybe watching them backwards will do it for ya.

 

[Brian W.]

I don't know that I'd agree the Fellowship EE is better. We were just having that discussion in another thread.

But I think the second half of Fellowship EE is better, so laugh if you will, but I'd recommend watching the theatrical version of up to the arrival in Bree (the scene where it's pouring rain at night, right after they escape the black riders -- there's a chapter stop there on both versions), then switching to the Extended Edition.

The EE is very slow paced during the first hour of the movie, and no important plot information was added before this point. Even I sometimes think, "Damn, this thing takes forever to get going, doesn't it?"

Two Towers... I'd certainly recommend the EE, even though I haven't seen it, since I was disappointed in the theatrical version, which felt like it was edited within an inch of its life.

 

[Brian W.]

My brother was also bored by Fellowship. However, he LOVED Two Towers

I have a friend who felt the same, and another who loved the first one, but liked Two Towers theatrical even better. Go figure.

If action movies is your thing, you may prefer Two Towers.

 

[Dave H]

After seeing Two Towers, he went back and watched Fellowship, and this time really enjoyed it. So maybe watching them backwards will do it for ya.

I can relate to this slightly.

When I first saw Fellowship in the theater, I thought it was "OK." I had never read the books and seeing the movie for the first time wasn't enough for me to grasp "everything" going on.

When I saw the extended version on DVD, I really liked it. Then, when I saw Two Towers -- liking it more. Then, I went back to watch extended Fellowship and then it REALLY clicked and I liked it more than ever before --- now one of my very favorite movies.

I really look forward to the extended Two Towers next week.

In essence, it took me a few viewings before I fell in love with Lord of the Rings. This may be true for other people who never had any background of the story.

 

[Matt Butler]

Well it took a buddy of mine a couple viewings to "get it". So I can understand where you guys are coming from.

Thanks for all the replies.

 

[Brenton]

When you finally sit down to watch these movies, I guarantee that you will like them, that is unless you are one of the following 1) an elitist bastard and avid reader of the Tolkien books who doesn't like them because they changed too much from the book, 2) have a short attention span. But since you are definitely not 1 and probably not 2, I can say you'll probably like them.

My advice to you is to rent the two-disc theatrical versions. Then, when you find out how much you love them, go out and BUY the extended editions.

 

[Damin J Toell]

When you finally sit down to watch these movies, I guarantee that you will like them, that is unless you are one of the following 1) an elitist bastard and avid reader of the Tolkien books who doesn't like them because they changed too much from the book, 2) have a short attention span. But since you are definitely not 1 and probably not 2, I can say you'll probably like them.

I'm neither an elitist bastard (only read Tolkien's books once) nor do I have a short attention span, and I didn't much care for The Two Towers. I'll be giving it another shot when the EE comes out, though.

DJ

 

[Steve Christou]

Wow I didn't know 'Lord of the Rings' was such an acquired taste, after all its only the most read book of all time and close to being the most popular films of all time too.
Maybe this thread should be retitled 'Bored of the Rings' or 'Lord of the Yawns?'
My advice to people who find these fantastic films a hard slog to sit thru is don't even bother with 'Return of the King', it'll probably send you into the land of nod within the first ten minutes. Well there's always...Star Wars-Lord of the Clones.[wink wink]

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Wow I didn't know 'Lord of the Rings' was such an acquired taste, after all its only the most read book of all time

Uh, you ever hear of something called The Bible?

 

[Randy_M]

What has religion got to do with this????