ROTK the Extended DVD (07.08.04 by Pieter Collier) - Comments

Return of the King Extended DVD


A lot of people are asking about ROTK Extended. I see people are getting excited about it, since they start asking questions to me... and i am normally not in to these things a lot. But ok, this is what i know:

• It's due out on DVD on December 10, 2004 (previous editions came out in November, but now they would wait for december...)
• It will come in a blue box
• It may be released in theaters before that (some say around October they will be in theaters)
• It will be 49 minutes longer than the theatrical cut
• There are an additional 351 FX shots
• There will be four commentaries, and the appendices will be quite lengthy
• The Collector's Gift Set will come with a model of Minas Tirith (which opens up), with an option to purchase the companion piece, a model of Minas Morgul. It will also include the LOTR Symphony DVD.
• The Platinum Series will cost about $30 in the U.S. and the Collector's Gift Set will cost about $70.

Added scenes include:
- Gandalf confronts Saruman at Isengard (finally we get to see it!)
- Merry pledges his allegience to Theoden
- Aragorn looks into the Palantir and reads the mind of Sauron, which leads to his disturbing dream of Arwen dying.
- Big showdown between Gandalf and the Witch King at Minas Tirith. The Witch King breaks Gandalf's staff.
- Gamling dies on the Pelennor Fields and Eomer cries like crazy.
- Aragorn heals people at the Houses of Healing.
- Faramir and Eowyn fall in love
- Frodo and Sam at the cross-roads (see that statue... something we will all want to have!)
- A disguised Frodo and Sam join a column of marching orcs on the way to Mt Doom. There's actually a shot of this in the theatrical cut, but we didn't know Frodo and Sam were with the Orcs. "Come on you slugs!" is shouted to Frodo and Sam.
- At the Black Gate, the Mouth of Sauron appears. Just like the book, he has Frodo's Mithril shirt. He tells everyone that Frodo is dead, the Ring is on its way to Sauron and they might as well give up and all that. Our friends believe him, and when Aragorn says, "For Frodo," he's actually saying it with the meaning, "Let's avenge Frodo!" and they all think they're going to die.
- Possibly Galadriel closes it with a monologue... that was planned (as Peter says in the commentary of FOTR), but this one might have been changed.

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