gglass4269

Ok. I'm really conflicted about buying the BD set coming out this Spring, and wanted a thread that would be the "Be All End All" of the EE vs Theatrical discussion. For me, I feel I like the Theatricals better, because that's what I fell in love with in the movie theater. The EE dosn't quite replicate that experience I had the first time I saw the films. So convince me guys! Which version is better and why?

Solid Snake

well to be honest, no home theater set up would be able to produce the size and sound you got in the theater so that's a big one. It's a big epic set of films. It's meant to be on the screen and while I do love the theatrical the EE adds more depth to the films. Specifically Two Towers. Fellowship hits perfection, Two Towers becomes better, Return is a bit better.

Dr. DVD

Unfortunately, I don't feel any of the versions are perfect. I will say that I feel the EE of FOTR is the best version of those two bar none, and I'll stand by that claim. However, the others I feel could have benefited from a little more and a little less in each version.

I would have a cut of the following:

The Two Towers-prefer the Theatrical Cut, but would like to have the scene at Osgiliath with Boromir, Faramir, and Denethor included.

Return of the King-again, prefer the Theatrical Cut, but would include the scene of Saruman at Isengard.

I guess this doesn't help you, but I guess I am leaning towards Theatrical versions.

Troy Stiffler

I have absolutely no reason to ever watch the theatrical over the extended. I enjoyed all of the extra scenes. I still don't see why they removed the 'stomping trees' shots towards the end of The Two Towers.

Blah, whatever. I liked the EE's more.

mattressman

I actually vastly prefer the extended cuts. Particularly the Return of the King extended cut. It was probably my least favorite in theaters but after seeing the extended cut it has become my favorite of the trilogy.

tommyp007

For me, I only watch the EE anymore. Going back to the theatricals, there just seems to be so much missing

milo bloom

The extended Fellowship was the film that deserved the Oscar.

joefrog91

Here, here. Big thumbs up. EEs are the only way to go. They flesh out the films in a way that deserved to be seen in the theaters.

maxfisher

I preferred the extended editions for FOTR and ROTK and the theatrical for TT. These are the only movies I can see myself buying two versions of, so I won't bitch too much about getting both sets. It would be nice if they offered a rebate to those that bought both. Didn't they do that with the dvds?

mndtrp

EEs.

Although, sometimes I'm not in the mood to invest 9+ hours into the trilogy, so I kind of wish I had the theatricals around.

Supermallet

Of the three, I prefer the TE of Fellowship, the EE of Two Towers, and portions of both versions of ROTK.

The pacing on the TE of FOTR is as tight as you can get without feeling rushed. Yes, it does give rise to the criticism that Middle Earth feels like a biodome, but frankly, I don't think the extended edition improves on that aspect. It adds more culture, such as the song Aragorn sings when escorting the hobbits, and little references to the greater Tolkien narrative (the stone trolls from The Hobbit), but ultimately none of it adds to the plot or the greater forward momentum. One of my biggest problems with the books were how much time everything took. It's something like 13 years between Gandalf's first visit and his second, and then another 3 years or something before Frodo leaves the Shire to start the quest. One of the great things about the movies is how they tightened the focus. The EE of FOTR undoes that.

On the other hand, The Two Towers felt far too truncated in the theater. Moments would pop up, seem to have no resolution, and everything felt too rushed. The EE rectifies all that, making the character moments work and giving the film the scope it sorely needed. I would say that of all the versions of all the films, the EE of The Two Towers is the best.

Return of the King is a difficult one. The theatrical cut leaves out some important stuff (the resolution of Saruman, Aragorn wrestling with the seeing stone, the Mouth of Sauron, etc), but at the same time has some very good edits. For example, leaving the fate of Aragorn unknown after he recruits the ghosts is a brilliant move. The EE ruins that for a stupid in-joke involving the crew. The EE also does a poor job of the sequence where Aragorn takes control back of the seeing stone, one of the most thrilling moments in the books. So it's a mixed bag. I'll tend to watch the TE of it, if only for the better editing, but I do wish I could make my own mix and match cut of it.

TheMadMonk

Books > EE > TE

RichC2

Yeah, Fellowship = Theatrical, Two Towers = Extended, RotK = both have their high points, I'd go with the EE despite some minor issues.

superdeluxe

EE's, they just fill in the little parts that were cut from the movies.

superdeluxe

I thought the allure to get both was that neither set had the same extras, so you didn't feel like you were double dipping..

Giles

while I liked seeing the previosily deleted scenes from Return of the King reinstated for the extended edition, I thought the movie even in it's theatrical form, the mutliple endings just went on and on and on. What's interesting about listening to the Director/Producer/Writer commentary on 'Return' apparently there's still alot of missing footage that they tease they might restore for "another version" of the trilogy - I've always wondered where the scene when Eowyn is stalked by an Orc (as seen in a Two Towers early teaser) I love how in the extended cut of Two Towers we see the Ent's end the battle at Helms Deep as it did in the book.

MoviePage

Some of the deleted scenes that were inserted back into the EEs should have remained deleted, because they're terrible. On the other hand, some are great and should have been kept, so I'm torn on this issue.

Having said that, I'll buy any and all versions they release, so it doesn't matter.

milo bloom

I'd gladly buy this version, esp one with every bit of footage and all in chronological order (even if it does spoil some stuff for later in the movie).

Sean O'Hara

I wish there was a shorter version of TTT -- the whole thing with Aragorn falling off the cliff, the long recap from Galadriel, and then the second recap by Faramir's lieutenant is useless padding. You could cut the film down to two or two and a half hours without excising any material from the books.

islandclaws

There's too much missing from the theatricals, and I want all the footage I can get, so I'll likely never watch them again.

Travis McClain

I think I, too, favor the theatrical cut of Fellowship because it's a rather long first act as it is. The Two Towers is my favorite of the trilogy, and while there are some redundancies, I favor the extended cut. I love the build-up to the siege, and I just want to wallow in the battle itself. Return was great until it turned into a feature-length montage of epilogues. It became comical after the third, ridiculous by the seventeenth and outright obnoxious by the fifty-third ending.

As for talking the OP into one cut over another, I suggest renting both before purchasing. Decide for yourself which cut of which film you feel belongs in your library. I only own the extended editions (even though I prefer the shorter cut of Fellowship, it just looked wrong on my shelf to not have the extended version). The main drawback to only owning the EE is that the run time makes it far less likely that I am going to re-watch these on a whim.

taa455

I prefer the EE's. But I do agree that some of the scenes grow tiresome. The scenes with Liv Tyler always drag for me personally. The multiple "endings" of Return of the King don't bother me. Some of the extended gazing into each other's eyes could have been shortened but that's another discussion.

Josh-da-man

I've never understood the complaints about the various "false-endings"/epilogues on ROTK.

First, it's not just ending "Return of the King," it's providing closure for three films. There are a lot of character beats that need to be played out and closed. We're talking nine hours of story and about a dozen main characters that need closure. If you take out something like Aragorn becoming King and taking Arwen as his wife, then his character doesn't get the required closure. And it would be near-criminal not to close the movie wth the Grey Havens scene.

This is a big, epic fantasy tale, and you can't just end it with Frodo looking at the camera after destroying the ring and saying "Eat it, motherfucker!"

Rainet

Dr. DVD

Have you heard what Kevin Smith prescribed as an ending? That definitely would have had people talking!