It's probably just speculation at this point, but people are already talking about Two Towers Extended DVD. It has been consistently mentioned as being 4 hours long. True or not, I am sure we would all watch the movie at least once at that length, or any length for that matter. But, How long is too long? How many times would you realistically find yourself watching that 4 hour long version? I have enough trouble finding time for the 3 hour version as it is.

Should Jackson show restraint or do you think he should damn the running times and just release as much footage as he sees fit?

I have to admit, part of me wishes there were 6 movies released every 6 months. though, this may be a bit much for the average filmgoer.

Even for good movies, anything past 3 hours starts to get pretty diffucult. Though I did watch the entire EE of LOTR without break (other than changing the dvd).. but I was also sick and culred into blanekts..

It's only been out 7 days, but I think already the general consensus from Tolkien purists and casual fans alike is that this new film needs an Extended Edition much more than The Fellowship of the Ring did. And I agree. Fellowship worked superbly at 3 hours. The recent EE only improved an already terrific film with additional character moments and beautiful Tolkien-esque touches(ie. the Tinuviel song). As it stands, however, TTT, while a terrific piece of entertainment, feels very incomplete and compromised. Almost as if it was a contractual obligation that Jackson make it under 3 hours. The film could easily use an extra half-hour, some more aforementioned "character moments" and especially more screentime for Faramir who is almost unforgivably shortchanged. I'm not too upset because I'm sure some of my misgivings will be taken care of with the EE, which Jackson has already confirmed will include a hobbit drinking Ent-draught scene. As for how long is too long? My two favorite films, Lawrence of Arabia and The Godfather II are both 3 hours 40 minutes and 3 hours 20 minutes, respectively. I think somewhere around there would be a good final running time, we'll see.

I'm with invisigoth. TTT really sort of did seem to be rushed and a lot of characters seemed to get the short end of the stick.

Here's a list of things we *might* see in an EE:

http://www.theonering.net/perl/newsview/8/1040672176

Hopefully most, if not all, will make it back into the EE. And think about all of the things that didn't make it into trailers or extra material!

I think a 4 hour version of the film probably would be too long but it's all a matter of perspective. If the additional 60 minutes help to smooth out the storyline than maybe it wouldn't seem too long. I also agree with the thought that TTT could greatly benefit from an extra 30 minutes, I really thought the theatrical version seemed too choppy. Lastly, I don't think everyone should put such a big emphasis on how many minutes are added, but how many different parts are added. Those of you who've seen the EE of FOTR know that several :30 or 2 minute clips make a big difference.

Faramir has a very small part in TTT, he's maybe present as a character for 50 pages and most of that time is conversations recounting Boromir's part in the Fellowship, Gandalf's "death", the Fellowship's journey and their purpose; some recap and a little filling in of gaps in the story.

Had Faramir not taken the hobbits off to Osgiliath and had Faramir not been tempted by the ring he would have (appropriately) received much less screen time. Of course, they could have had Frodo and Sam take 10 to 15 minutes sitting around a fire with Faramir telling the tale of the Fellowship, but that's completely unecessary the way PJ has structured the movie...

4 hours isn't too long at all. Only a fan would buy the Extended Edition anyway.

I was under the impression that the rough cut of the film clocked in at around 4 hours, while the Extended Edition has been rumoured (confirmed?) to be 3 and a half hours.

Frankly, I'd kill for a 4 hour edition of TTT - the more the merrier (no pun intended of course).

-matt

I think Peter Jackson mentioned in an interview that the EE would be 30-35 minutes longer, just like Fellowship. I sure can't wait for this

Brian

It certainly needs to be longer. So many characters got short-changed. (Eomer, Faramir, Treebeard, and Saruman especially).

I might actually skip the theatrical dvd and only get the extended, so bothered was I buy this version in the theaters.

I agree.

Plus, if a movie is GOOD, and so far the series is very good, 3 or 4 hours go by without a hitch.

I just had a friend who's a casual fan of FOTR tell me this very thing the other day.

I've watched FOTR:EE three times already, and I suspect I'll watch it many more times. I would love a 4 hour EE of TT.

For me, there is no such term "Too long", I like everything that had been filmed as long as they are based on the novel.

Roger Ebert is a tool, but one of the few smart things he's ever said was that a good movie can never be too long and a bad movie can never be too short.

As a LOTR geek, I would have preferred five two-hour movies. Maybe they'll do something like this for network TV (cringe). As a movie geek, I realize that we are extremely lucky New Line didn't try to cram the entire trilogy into a single two-hour feature.

It will be hard to wait 11 months for the extended cut. I really would have preferred that the studio release a two-hour cut for the Ritalin-addicted Armageddon-loving morons out there, and simultaneously release Jackson's extended cut for ereryone else.

well, I say that 16 hours would probably be a little too long.

What an a$$hole!!! Remind me to never take your advice in the future!!!

Good point from ole Raj


But I think it's easier to have a hit with three long movies than a bunch of flicks stretched out over time. Think about the "FRIDAY THE 13th" series. Plus, people seem to HATE IT when a movie ends with "opening for a sequel". Of course LOTR is the exception in this case.

It's too bad they couldn't have released DUNE at 3 hours instead of the hacked up 2 hour release that was totally screwed up.

I would have no problem w/ a four-hour cut of the film for the EE, and I have also heard many rumors of this sort, too, but I would suspect that he will only release an EE w/ an extra half-hour or so added to the theatrical addition. Either way, a few minutes here or seconds there can go a long way to helping a scene and the movie look more complete in telling its story.

4 hour extended edition of the The Two Towers? Bring it on!

I hate to paraphrase Roger Ebert of all people, but I do agree with his principle that “no good film is too long and no bad film is short enough.” I have read a few recent interviews with Peter Jackson where he states that there wasn’t as much cut out of TTT as FOTR (not counting rough footage--hell, according to some sources, they shot 20 hours of battle sequences to cover Helm's Deep), so I wouldn’t be surprised if the extended cut is shorter than 3.5 hours (although I hope it will be longer). If a filmmaker were doing a more literal adaptation of LOTR, each film would easily be 12 hours long.

Once the trilogy is out on DVD, people are going to space watching it over a few nights anyway, so why not tack on as much footage as needed. Trying to watch three 3 1/2 hour movies back to back (10 hours) in a single marathon would be quite challenging. Although I wonder if some local theaters will come up with a bright idea of having an all-day showing of the extended edition trilogy and have a catered lunch, dinner, etc.

Has anyone seen Bernardo Bertolucci's 1900? An excellent movie on Italian history through the beginning of the first half of the 20th century with Donald Sutherland as a nasty black shirt, Robert Deniro, Gerard Depardieu, Dominique Sanda and many others along with a score by Ennio Morricone. That was a *long* movie even in the theaters. The "edited" U.S. version was 245 minutes from the full 318 minute version. I'm still looking forward to getting the EE version of that movie on DVD some day. There have also been other "long" theatrical releases in the past, but the dollar is king these days in making sure that most released to theaters are under 3 hours.

I can't believe the EE would be any longer than the one for FOTR.

Although many may hate me for saying so, I hope he doesn't just throw everything into the Extended Version. One of the things I read was that PJ still had plenty of footage left over even after creating the extended edition of FOTR, but that it didn't fit, had problems, or didn't make for a complete version. I hope he only includes footage that "fits" and adds to the movie, not just every little snippet.

However!!!, I wouldn't mind if he adds this extra footage as deleted scenes on the DVD!. I just don't want everything crammed into the Extended Edition. I loved the way the FOTR extended edition made so much more sense, had a better feel about it. I have non-tolkein loving family who watched the extended edition and felt it was a far better movie. We need to make sure the Extended Edition of TTT is a better movie too.

Exactly. Why didn't PJ put some of those extra scenes on disks 3 or 4 of the EE?