LOTR RTK super massive extended edition

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

OK, I looked this up (Because I have no life)
In a letter Tolkien had written to some reporter who wanted material for a bio, Tolkien says that as a small child, he WAS bitten by a Trantula.  
BUT
He had no memory of the incident and only knew of it because his mother told him of it years later.  
He went on to say that he had no specific problem with spiders and actualy would rescue them when he found them in the bath.  
letters # 168

See, my brother does that too, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have spider issues. He simply wants to avoid angering them.

He claims they have a telepathic link, and when you kill one it sends out a mental death cry that summons it's larger cousins.

He also claims that in the Phillipines he saw spiders that built webs over water in order to catch jumping fish. He's a bit of a baby about it.

[Lieutenant Kije]

In Panama there were spiders that dug squirrel-sized holes in the ground instead of weaving webs, and just waited for things to wander in.  If you peer into one you can see the faintest outline of the front legs.  This isn't off in the jungle, either.  It was in downtown Panama City.

[Mad Dr Jeffe]

What makes RTKSMEE better and a little of what makes it worse...

1. The Scouring of the Shire,... great acting by Christopher Lee, Bernard Hill and Ian Mckellen.

2. Eowyn's dream adds a sense of foreboding

3. Pippin and Faramir, Faramir and Denothor establishes a connection between Pippin and Faramir, and gives him a reason to care if he's burned to death or not.

4. Merry swearing fealty to Theoden... a nice counterpoint to Pippin

5. Merry and Eowyn, establishes their relationship a little more...

6. Gandalf and Pippin meet the Witch King, very dramatic and spooky

7. Sam and Frodo in the Orc army...

8. The mouth of Sauron


and what I didnt like.

The Army of the dead attacking the Corsairs, because it takes all the dramatic tension out of the battle of the Pellinor fields.
not that anyone hasnt seen it, but still..
The way it should have been left, was with Aragorn Gimli and Legolas standing on the hill above the Corsair fleet with Aragorn Weeping, and then a hint of a fell breeze or something and then a fade or a flash to the action somewhere else.

And thats it...
just one thing I think that took away from the movie.

[Fellfrosch]

I agree, that was easily the weakest addition to the movie. I actually thought that a lot of the new scenes were kind of weak--not incredibly weak, but a little bit. The Mouth of Sauron, for example, is cool and creepy but has very little dramatic tension--the scene is just kind of there, and adds nothing to movie aside from some cool makeup effects.

The new scenes that I like the most, actually, are the ones that establish relationship--Faramir and Pippin, and Eowyn and Merry, for example. But even some of those are weak, such as Faramir and Eowyn--there's just not enough there to make Eowyn's sudden change of heart make any sense.

[Mad Dr Jeffe]

which is why I didnt include it... plus the houses of healing is disjointed and a little out of place where they put it. Not enough time passes between the end of the battle and Pippen looking for Merry. I did like Eomer sitting next to Eowyn in the Houses of Healing rocking back and forth in a semi-catatonic state.

Most of the new scenes added had some sort of relationship fleshed out...

I think the reason that the mouth of Sauron scene does work for me is that the mouth is creepy, and is pulling a Sauruman (seeding doubt and despair) and it gives Sauron a better reason to turn his attention from Goragoroth and Mount Doom. So it makes the Sam Frodo hiding from the eye staring right at the spot they are in more dramatic... it also answers the question,... "why did the eye just do that?!"

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

oh come on, people. Admit you thought it was cool when Aragorn tells several ships of people that they'll go no further even though he's standing on the shore.

It just changes the cool ghostly appearance from the docks  to further up the river. We still need to worry about the army getting there. the only thing that removes the dramatic tension is that you already know they get there on time. Which is something you all knew anyway before you even saw it for the first time.

Plus Gimli finally gets something on Legolas. ANd you all know that prissy elf-boy had it coming.

If you're going to cut them challenging the corsairs, you're going to have to cut out ALL the new stuff after he says "What say you" It makes less narrative sense than the way he's done it to have him dispairing and then have them suddenly appearing. The impression that would give would be "just kidding!"

The Faramir-Eowyn scenes may be weak, but they do at least make the film stronger. It's a heckuva a lot better than they just suddenly being an item for no reason whatsoever at the end of the movie. It's not like they make out at all in those scenes. For all we know they're friends. If guys can kiss in this culture, holding hands hardly seems to make them lovers. But from that we can infer the rest of the change to being together at the end.

As for the mouth of Sauron, I mostly agree. However, he does show them Frodo's mithril shirt, which makes Gandalf, who's already dispirited (I'll quote if you want to, but he does it in Rohan and in Gondor) doubt entirely their ability, and it falls to Aragorn to restore the spirit of everyone, which makes sense, since that's supposed to be his role. It adds to his role entirely.

I can't think of anything that wasn't an improvement, actually, with the possible exception of the drinking contest. It has a good line, but over all just makes me want to slap the smugness off of Orlando Blooms girly head. I don't like how Gimli's nothing but a comic relief in the film instead of someone who contributes as much as the elf.

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

how mcuh time do you want between the battle and the healing? It's a day or so, and wouldn't they start healing and looking for their dead immediately? I'm not sure I understand that complaint.

[Mad Dr Jeffe]

It just kind of jumps in and then back,... and Eowyn is healed instantly. I realize this is a kind of nothing complaint, but in the book she and Merry and Faramir are still really messed up when the army leaves.

They dropped the Merry bit, but youd expect someone who had every bone in her arm shattered by a tremendous flail and a guy who received several poisoned arrows to the chest to not be standing up holding hands before Merry is even found lying nearly dead on the battlefield. I'd have rather had him found at the end of the day and then gone to the houses of healing scene.

[Nicadymus]

Is the scouring of the shire in the extra features?  I did not see it included when I watched it, but noticed that it was mentioned above.

[Mad Dr Jeffe]

the scouring, refers to the scene where Grima stabs Saruman,... it happens in the wrong place, but they still call it the scouring...

[42]

I finished watching all of the extras. I found them to be very compelling, or I'm suffering from LOTR Stockholm Syndrom.

[Oseleon]

Yeah, I was telling my wife how the book really ends.. With the scouring etc...
She was upset that they still had junk to deal with when they got home