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Will LOTR:ROTK Extended Edition Hit Cinemas?
Posted by
timothy
on Wed Jul 07, 2004 05:00 PM
from the I'd-pay-to-see-that dept.
from the I'd-pay-to-see-that dept.
yootje writes "Two articles today on TheOneRing.net about rumours that the extended edition from The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King will come in theaters before the release on DVD. The first article can be found here, the second one here. Both come from people who work in a cinema themselves, one in the UK and one in Denmark."
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Will LOTR:ROTK Extended Edition Hit Cinemas?
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Yep (Score:3, Insightful)
Slashdot LoTR FAQ (Score:5, Funny)
For those not familiar with the story...
Q: Is LoTR really based on Christian Mythology?A: Yes. Tolkien wanted to demonstrate that even the mentally and physically challenged were capable of success and that therefore we should love everyone, regardless of their defects.
Q: So who represents the mentally and physically challenged?
A: Well obviously the hobbits are the physically challenged ones here, but the central mentally challenged figure is Gandalf, responsible for the most horrible attack plan in literature.
Q: What's so horrible about a poorly armed team of two hobbits infiltrating Mordor?
A: Well, basically it ignores the fundamental strengths of the forces of light. Anyone who's played C&C or Warcraft knows that if you have an advantage in air units, you have to use it. Remember that elves can ride eagles, and that elven archers are incredibly potent - early on, Gimli dismounts a Nazgul with a single shot! With about a thousand eagles (given elven archers on each one), the forces of good would have matched up pretty well in the air against Mordor's air units: all nine of them. While the leader of the Nazgul cannot be killed by any living man, this does not prevent a team of twenty eagles from tearing him to little shreds, especially if Gandalf rode along for help. So basically an air battle would have been brief unmitigated slaughter of the Nazgul as about a thousand eagle-mounted elves blew them out of the sky in a hail of arrows.
Q: But I thought that there was some other book that said that the eagles wouldn't help?
A: We're not talking about some other stupid book here, we're talking about the Lord of the Rings. And in this book, the eagles most definitely help out, first by flying Gandalf off the tower and secondly by pitching into the Final Battle in full force, attacking ground units (stupid!) at great risk to themselves. So obviously they would have been content to take part in a brief airborne slaughter of the Nazgul.
Q: Ok so you defeat all Mordor's air units... then what?
A: Well with air superiority, you command the skies. Which means that you can fly right over Mount Doom and drop anything you want right in there... like a ring. Mordor only had nine airborne units, and with them out of the way Mordor has absolutely no way to prevent anyone from flying anywhere.
Q: But the ring would corrupt the eagles trying to drop the ring in, silly.
A: Actually, the ring can only corrupt those who touch it or those in the nearby area. This is a trivial mechanism to defeat. The first step is permanently bind the ring to a weak and helpless creature, like a rat. Second step is of course to put the rat on a long rope, so that the creature holding the rope is out of the sway of the ring. Then the eagle carrying the rope, having total air superiority, flies over Mount Doom and drops the rat in the volcano. An utterly trivial victory.
Q: Ok, so why the elaborately stupid attack plan? Why send the physical rejects as the only hope of mankind?
A: The lesson is that, though they succeed at great cost and great risk, they are still capable of success. This, of course, was the lesson of the Holocaust - that we should never feel so superior to the weak or inferior that we decide they have no place. Even idiot tacticians like Gandalf and weak, pathetic creatures like Hobbits can add some value here & there.
Q: Wait a minute. I just saw the movie, and there's this scene where they're like "this is the last stand of the Men of the West", and all the men of the west are white, and they face of in total war against Indians on Elephants and "black orcs" (er... maybe we just call them "blacks" for short) and the white Men of the West achieve a total genocidal victory. Doesn't that invalidate what you just said?
A: Well, um, no. That's all fine & good, but remember that in the Holocaust we were committing genocide against white people - which is bad. But I'm not sure Tolkien
Special version of that? (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Special version of that? (Score:5, Funny)
(http://www.marotti.com/ | Last Journal: Thursday February 15 2007, @01:48PM)
Of course, this will only cost $139.95 which is inexpensive enough for hardcore and leasure fans to enjoy!
cool beans (Score:5, Insightful)
(http://umich.edu/~jamec | Last Journal: Monday November 19, @08:29PM)
Re:cool beans (Score:5, Funny)
Re:cool beans (Score:4, Funny)
Re:cool beans (Score:4, Funny)
(http://www.gavserver.com/)
I think I speak for everyone when I say... (Score:2, Interesting)
I would gladly shell out the money to see the extended edition in the theater.
Re:I think I speak for everyone when I say... (Score:5, Funny)
(http://scottgant.blogspot.com/)
There have always been long long movies. "Gone With the Wind" had an intermission in the middle (right after the "as God is my witness, I'll never be hungry again" speech).
Ben Hur, The Ten Commandants, Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago...all are very long movies.
It's the media again. They think that only things are happening right now, as if for the first time to "make" the news. Like when these idiots go out on a live remote at an expressway in Chicago when it's snowing as if "what is this white stuff falling from the sky?!?! are the gods angry with us!?!?!". Gee, it's only been snowing in Chicago in the winter for what...10,000 years or so?
All New ROTK (Score:5, Funny)
(http://www.psycht.net/ | Last Journal: Tuesday December 24 2002, @01:32PM)
Re:All New ROTK (Score:4, Funny)
Re:All New ROTK (Score:5, Informative)
(http://traumstadt.org/)
The "Grey Havens" were where they left from. They were going to the Blessed Realm of Aman, specifically to the city of Valinor where the gods live. It's kind of like dying, because 1) it's paradise and 2) you don't get to come back. Gandalf being an Istari (which is just Quenya for wise) means that he was one of the Maiar, a race of demiurgic beings similar to the lower choirs of angels in Christian mythology. He was born in the West, in Valinor, and so he gets to go back. All of the Elves who originally went to Aman from Middle Earth in the First Age (including Galadriel and Elrond) also get to come to the West when they are ready. Frodo and the other Ring-bearers get to go because they touched a ring of power, and this makes them special.
And actually, yes... I did take a class on this shit.
Re:All New ROTK (Score:5, Informative)
All of the Elves who originally went to Aman from Middle Earth in the First Age (including Galadriel and Elrond) also get to come to the West when they are ready.
Actually, *all* of the Elves get to go to Valinor, even the ones who haven't been there before. Only a very few of the Elves in Middle Earth in the Third Age had ever been to Valinor (Galadriel, for one), most either refused to go in the first place, or have been born since then (like Elrond).
It's also worth mentioning that Sam eventually goes West, since he was (for a brief time) a ring-bearer. It is also suggested that Gimli goes, too, though I don't remember what allows him to go.
Gimli (Score:5, Informative)
(http://jseliger.wordpress.com/)
Actually, it's not suggested that Gimli departs, it's stated in the Appendices to The Return of the King.
"1541: In this year on March 1st came at last the Passing of King Elessar. It is said that the beds of Meriadoc and Peregrin were set besides the bed of the great king. Then Legolas built a grey ship in Ithilien, and sailed down the Anduin and so over Sea; and with him, it is said, went Gimli the Dwarf. And when that ship passed an end was come in Middle-earth to the Fellowship of the Ring."
I don't feel like looking it up, but I recall that Gimli was allowed into the West because of his great friendship with Legolas and Galadriel.
Also, this post addresses a question elsewhere in this thread: there is no hard time limit on when Elves can depart from the Havens; in fact, Galadriel, Elrond and others tarry for a few years in Middle Earth, after the destruction of the One Ring. Those that stay longer, however, were subject to a sort of fading. That is what the Three, the Elven rings, were forged to protect against. Thus those Elves who wielded the rings held the the memory of the Elder days.
What ultimately happens to Elves who remained in Middle Earth is never explicitly stated so far as I know.
The Elves... (Score:5, Informative)
(http://www.devphil.com/)
...can go to Valinor whenever they feel like it. Frodo and Sam pass such a group in the extended first DVD, and in the books there's a much longer sequence involving them.
(And there's no rush; the "last ship" in the movies wasn't about to sail, because there was no last ship. Plenty of Elves were left in Middle-Earth, and Cirdan "sail all you want, we'll make more" the Graybearded just kept building the damn things...)
Galadriel, however, was special. She was the only remaining one of the Noldor who had been banned from Valinor. (The others were dead or had returned.) The ban was rescinded at the end of the First Age. She was still too proud for her own good, though, and refused to accept the invitation. Also, she was one of the first to rebel, so the Valar were not keen on letting her back in.
Once she had learned how to get along with others, and in reward for her work against Sauron, the invitation was re-extended to her, and she accepted. So in her case, yeah, she had to wait until she was ready.
Re:All New ROTK (Score:4, Informative)
To extrapolite a little more geekily:
First there was Ilúvatar:
"The name among Elves of Eru, the One, from whom the Ainur had their being. Through the Music of the Ainur, Ilúvatar created the World and the beings who inhabit it, and only he fully knows its fate."
Then the Ainur:
The primordial spirits, who existed with Ilúvatar, and with Him created the world through the Music of the Ainur. After the creation of Arda, many of the Ainur descended into it to guide and order its growth; of these there were fifteen more powerful than the rest. Fourteen of these great Ainur became the Valar, or Powers of Arda. The fifteenth, Melkor, turned aside from that path and became the first Dark Lord. The many lesser Ainur that accompanied the Valar into Arda are known as Maiar.
"'Valar' is the name given to the fourteen powerful spirits who took physical form and entered Arda after its creation to give order to the world and combat the evils of Melkor. They dwelt originally on the Isle of Almaren, but after its destruction long ages before the Awakening of the Elves they removed to Aman and there founded the realm of Valinor."
On the Maiar:
"Of the many spirits that descended into Arda at its beginning, those of lesser stature than the Valar, though they were still powerful, were known as Maiar. Each of the Maiar was attached to the 'people' of a particular Vala. So, for example, the Maia Ossë, as a spirit of the sea, belonged to the people of Ulmo, while Curumo, the Maia who came to Middle-earth as Saruman, belonged to the people of Aulë the Smith.
In the Third Age, there were still Maiar in physical form to be found in Middle-earth. The most important of these were Saruman, Sauron (originally also of Aulë's people), and Olórin, known as Gandalf, who belonged to the people of Manwë and Varda. " (Manwë and Varda are, in essense, the King and Queen of Arda; Arda being Elder Speech for the world and all taht is in it)
Notably speaking of Gandalf:
"In origin a Maia of Manwë and Varda, Gandalf came to the northwest of Middle-earth after a thousand years of the Third Age had passed, with four others of his order. At the Grey Havens, Círdan entrusted him with the Red Ring, Narya, to aid him in contesting the will of Sauron.
Gandalf wandered widely in Middle-earth, and learned much of its races and peoples. Unlike his fellow Wizards Saruman and Radagast, he never settled in a single place. He was instrumental in the victory of the War of the Ring, but during that conflict he battled with a Balrog, and though he was ultimately victorious, his spirit left his body, but was sent back to Middle-earth to complete his task.
Gandalf finally left Middle-earth in 3021 (Third Age), when he departed over the sea with the Ring-bearers."
And no, I didn't memorize all this, but everyone who is curious about the twisty, turny, more-involved than any sane fiction should be world of Middle Earth should check out The Encyclopedia of Arda [glyphweb.com]
Crazy (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:Crazy (Score:4, Funny)
That depends, are you a fan of LoTR? I heard somewhere that if you aren't that interested in it, you don't actually have to buy it.
Longer?? (Score:5, Informative)
(Last Journal: Friday August 27 2004, @01:39PM)
Re:Longer?? (Score:5, Insightful)
As with the two films before ROtK, I felt that there were places that were cut poorly, or didn't fit well together.
Once I saw the finished extended editions, they were a more pleasant experience.
After the "two-hour" limit is removed (even though ROtK was > 2 hours) it made a good deal of difference to the final output.
I expect that ROtK EE will be in the same vein.
Will it hit cinemas? Of course!! (Score:2, Insightful)
I love the movies (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:I love the movies (Score:5, Funny)
(http://somethingstirring.blogspot.com/ | Last Journal: Wednesday November 14, @02:17PM)
I can't wait (Score:5, Funny)
(Last Journal: Wednesday January 18 2006, @06:02PM)
Marathon! (Score:1, Funny)
m'eh.. I'll prolly wait for the DVD.
Re:Marathon! (Score:5, Funny)
(http://www.dwheeler.com/ | Last Journal: Wednesday July 07 2004, @05:59PM)
Article Text (Score:5, Informative)
Article one:
Extended Editions Headed to the Cinema?
7/06/04, 9:43 pm EST - Xoanon
Gandalf of Denmark writes: I work in a cinema in Denmark, and on the latest list of releases, it was mentioned that in mid-October Lotr 1,2 & 3 Extended version would be shown in a select number of cinemas. It would seem likely that they are showing the extended versions, a few months ahead of them coming out on dvd, so the December release, seems like a good bet for the dvd's so far.
Article two:
Further Evidence ROTK EE Coming to Theaters
7/07/04, 11:59 am EST - Celeborn
Ringer Baggins of the Shire sends in this tidbit: I work for Odeon cinema chain in the UK, we recieved a letter on Tuesday 6th July explaining that during October the 3 extended editions of the Lord Of The Rings films will be shown on Sunday's. This means ROTK EE will be shown before it is available to buy on DVD!
Hmm... (Score:4, Funny)
(http://hoodlumzproductions.com/)
Way to milk it for every ounce... (Score:1, Flamebait)
(http://www.eeg3.com/)
I, for one, am not going to spend $20 on movie tickets to go see the same movie extended a tad bit. But, alas, i'm sure the die-hard people will, and that's why they do it. I didn't really like the trilogy anyway, which might make me a little biased.
Re:Way to milk it for every ounce... (Score:5, Insightful)
The Lord of the Rings was too large and had too much happening to be done in one film. The book itself is split into 3 volumes. As it is, they probably should have shot 6 movies to match the 6 books Tolkien wrote, they had to cut out way too much.
Do you honestly think the 3rd movie was stand alone? You'd have no character advancement, missed all the buildup on the ring and the world of middle earth, and started with 2 guys wandering in a swamp and a bunch of others in a military camp. It wouldn't have made sense. Do you dislike the Star Wars trilogy too?
See the Flying Palantir? (Score:4, Insightful)
(http://eddy.me.uk/ | Last Journal: Thursday July 08 2004, @01:59AM)
How about seeing the /second/ palantir at all?! (Score:5, Insightful)
(http://www.devphil.com/)
I was greatly disappointed that Denethor was never revealed to have been using another palantir (as was his right and duty as Steward). The movie portrays him as generally being a hardass until he goes insane, but the book shows that Sauron had played a large part in driving him insane via the palantir.
Holy crap (Score:5, Funny)
Marathon Catheter Madness (Score:5, Funny)
12 hours of LOTR
+ Pshychotic LOTR-crazed fans
+ several hundred litres of movie-theater pseudo-soda
+ no catheters
-----
= one helluva carpet cleaning bill
and you can bet that those theaters will be full of psychotic LOTR-crazed fans... You can also bet that such a theater would be a great place to sell special movie-theater priced catheters to go with the special movie-theater priced colas...
in the cinema? (Score:4, Interesting)
For each of the three films, i was pretty disappointed when i saw them in the cinema for the first time. Yes, they were pretty spectacular, but they just were not as great as i'd hoped. Yet, several months later, when i bought the extended version on dvd and watched it, i found myself to be much more impressed. Those extra half hours in each of the films makes a very real difference. Getting the chance to see the "proper" version on the big screen would certainly make the wait for the dvd a little more bearable ^_^
It seems a little strange (assuming my memory is to be trusted on this) that they would choose to show only the last of the trilogy in the cinemas. Unless of course they mean to show all three (now that would be worth waiting for.)
Ow, it hurts already (Score:3, Interesting)
My wife and I have already spent the GNP of a small African nation going to see these movies (what was it, 5 times for FOTR, 4 for TTT and 3 for ROTK, plus a shyteload of popcorn and hot dogs) and I guess we'll be in the theaters to see this as well.
I myself have no problem giving my money away to this particular cause though. Damn good movies, and they're absolutely worth every last penny.
Festival Setting (Score:4, Interesting)
Sitting in the theatre for three hours without so much as an intermission was difficult enough, I could not imagine a full day of sitting on my ass without moving. My legs would fall asleep and I would have to crawl out of the theatre.
Most of the people I've talked to feel that three hours was too long time without an intermission.
Re:Festival Setting (Score:5, Funny)
Don't work in software, do you?
Both previous extended versions released in UK (Score:4, Informative)
And now... all three in a row! (Score:1, Troll)
(http://www.danielimrich.net/ | Last Journal: Wednesday November 15 2006, @12:06PM)
For Comparison... (Score:5, Interesting)
ROTK STARTED at 3 and a half hours... How long is the *extended* edition going to be!?!
(and will it include the destruction of Hobbiton scenes?)
Re:For Comparison... (Score:5, Informative)
FOTR theatrical: ~ 3 hours
FOTR EE: ~ 3 hours, 30 minutes (not counting the "fan credits" tacked to the end, which take a -long- time to run)
diff: 30 minutes
TTT theatrical: ~ 3 hours
TTT EE: ~ 3 hours, 40 minutes
diff: 40 minutes
ROTK theatrical: ~ 3 hours, 20 minutes (incl. 8 minutes of credits)
ROTK EE (announced): ~ 4 hours, 10 minutes
diff: 50 minutes
(The "Scouring..." chapter was never filmed (outside of a series of "hommage" shots shown in the "Mirror of Galadriel" sequence of FOTR; however, scenes depicting the fate of Saruman himself have been announced for inclusion.)
For FOTR and TTT the new footage was re-integrated into the main film, and significant parts of the score re-recorded to accomodate these changes.
As someone who has watched both the theatrical and EE cuts multiple times (and expierenced the "Trilogy Tuesday" oening of ROTK last December), I am confident that the ROTK EE will improve the pacing and characterization issues of ROTK (that also afflicted FOTR and TTT) in the same way that the EEs improved those films*.
While additional eye candy and additional treats for those who want to see "more of the books" onscreen are more or less a given for these EEs, it's actually the pacing changes and deeper characterization thatmakes the EEs improvements over the theatrical cuts.
* For those who wonder about the whole "EEs feel shorter" assertion, here's a quick explanation: while the EEs are longer in timespan, the more measured pacing in the EEs gives more chances to the audience to breathe and "catch up" with the events of the film, while becoming more familiar with the characters; more varied pacing allows the audience to re-engage and become more involved with the characters and their experiences, thereby extending their patience for long sequences and making the film "feel shorter" to them despite the longer running time.
Here I go again... (Score:3, Funny)
(And no, sitting around while reading /. doesn't count. My sofa is very comfortable, thank you.)
Does this mean.. (Score:2, Funny)
Agh! It's trying to kill me! (Score:1, Funny)
theaters smell bad enough (Score:2)
Extended is better? Not necessarily. (Score:3, Insightful)
(http://www.alteringtime.com/)
While extended versions can be great for people who "just can't get enough" of their favourite franchise, they can be annoying to those who just like movies. For example, while I like The Matrix movies, but if that robots-coming-through-the-roof-and-being-shot scene went any longer, I'd be reaching for my fast-forward button.
Of course the Extended Collectors' Editions are made with fans in mind, but sometimes that's the only one you can buy in the store. I ended up with the Extended edition of The Lion King, for example, that stuff that was new to me and took away from the nostalgia and wanes the kids' attentions pan. Just my $2/100.
Hey, whatever it takes (Score:3, Funny)
No thanks... (Score:1)
1. Pause whenever I feel like it. My undersized and overworked bladder thanks me.
2. Equivalent price for equal volume of carbonated beverage is savings enough to help offset the cost of my HDTV. Why willingly support the wretched business practices of the "poor" Movie Industry so that I can enjoy a Coke or two during the show?
3. Not having to smell the foul reek of pure unadulterated nerd - is there a cost associated with this?
I'll pass... I guess I'm still one of those non-social geeks.
Extended Edition eh? (Score:1)
(http://www.fragtopia.com/)
LOTR EE (Score:3, Funny)
In theatres first? One reason to think so. (Score:2)
(http://ninjamonkeyspy.livejournal.com/)
Of course, they could just be working on putting together some special stuff for a final release with special stuff for the extended edition trilogy.
Or Peter Jackson and crew could be devoting more energy to a sixty-foot ape.
"Extended"? (Score:2)
(http://rockbandit.net/)
Wasn't LOTR:ROTK extended enough?
My opinion is probably tainted by the uncomfortable movie theater seats that I was eventually fused into by the end of the movie.
Oh, god! I had to pee so bad with the SHORT one! (Score:2)
READ THE BOOK (Score:2, Insightful)
(http://darkmantle.spaces.live.com/)
Tell you what... (Score:2)
(Last Journal: Sunday January 11 2004, @03:55AM)
Break or no break? (Score:2)
(http://www.lingula.org.uk/)
That's the best bit of the Extended Edition DVDs.
I'm waiting for the Michael Moore cut (Score:2, Funny)
I'm there (Score:1)
I missed the half day full trilogy showing at the release of RotK. Only one theater near me showed it, and the tickets were sold out the day it was announced, three days before I even heard about it. I'll be watching this time.
Too long? P'shaw. I have a strong bladder, and there's a restaurant right next to my favorite theater.
The DVD's announced release date is 12/17. I thought this odd because it's a Friday. Videos are typically released on Tuesdays. I was thinking this was going to coincide with a re-release in the theaters. October is much better. A couple of months to see it on the big screen before bringing it home.
I liked someone's idea of a festival. A theater would do well to have a gaming convention in parallel with showings of the LotR EE's. Have a regular daily schedule of movies, and have dealer tables and gaming rooms running all day and into the night. A 2 day con would go well with these movies.
Re:Cinema is selling out waaay too much... (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Cinema is selling out waaay too much... (Score:5, Informative)
Re:is this the one... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:More nerds in line! (Score:1)
Re:The War of the Silmarils centology? (Score:2)
(Last Journal: Wednesday February 04 2004, @01:04PM)