18 November 2003: Millions of Lord of the Rings fans run to their local store (or wait by the mailbox) for the Extended Edition of The Two Towers. For some, the original three hours of Hobbits, Orcs, Ents and Men is long enough, but others never seem to grow tired of it. No less than 4 DVDs filled with new movie scenes, documentaries and production photos.

But what do these 4 DVDs have to offer us? And can they actually enhance the already fantastic second part of Tolkien’s trilogy?

“I think that the extra minutes added to the film will make other happenings seem a whole lot clearer. I finished reading the books before I even saw the original version of The Two Towers, but when I saw the movie, I was a still a bit confused on some things.”

Most of the extra scenes are background information on the characters or further explanations of little things. A perfect example of the latter is the scene in which Aragorn tames the late Théodred’s unruly horse Brego by whispering soothing words in Elvish. “The scene in which Aragorn tamed Brego is a very good addition, as it explains why Brego returns for him after he is (supposedly) killed by the Warg-riders. That was always one of these things that made me think ‘how on Earth did that horse get there?’.”

All around the internet there were spoilers to be found, from blurry pictures to complete transcripts. On top of that, many fans have already read the books, so they basically know what to expect. Aren’t there any surprises left? Of course, Peter Jackson makes sure there are always surprises…

“I was shocked at Éowyn’s little confession of love to Aragorn. That completely floored me! I thought ‘How brazen can you get?’ considering that is not in the book at all. It seemed a bit overboard on the love tension between Éowyn and Aragorn.”

The character who has benefited the most from the extra scenes, however, would probably be the Steward’s youngest son, Faramir. We see a scene in which Denethor completely turns Faramir down, bluntly telling him he is not good for anything. Boromir refuses to go to Rivendell for the Council, Faramir volunteers to go in his place, but Denethor refuses to send his youngest. “After seeing Boromir chosen over Faramir, it made sense why Faramir would want the Ring. That may not happen in the book, but at least it was explained to us why in the world Faramir runs off with Frodo and Sam to Osgiliath.”

“I think the enhancements to TTT were better than those to FotR, if that is possible.”
“I think it’s a very wise decision to extend these movies.”
“The extra scenes just make it all more complete.”
“You can tell that a lot of hard work and love went into these movies.”

— Thanks go to Charis, Malifur14 and a person who wishes to remain anonymous for sharing their thoughts on the Extended Edition!

by LadyRanger

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