Review of extended scenes in Two Towers (spoilers)

[billd91]

I do think the additional scenes help, and after watching some of the otehr commentary I understand why they made some of the changes they did -- particularly the Faramir personality bit (though I still think they could have achieved their intent through a couple of clever flashbacks, rather than dragging Frodo to Osgiliath, but whatever).

I agree here. I still think the Osgiliath scene was an unnecessary complication to the film-making. Though, now that we've got a good flashback of Gondor re-taking Osgiliath, it meant they could use the scenery a second time and it's a little more excusable, in my opinion.

I still think they could have dealt with Faramir's handling of the ring without going anywhere, maybe with another flashback of Denethor alluding to Faramir thinking more like a wizard or elf than the way his son should think. That clue would have put him more in line with Gandalf and Galadriel and how they resist the lure of the ring. Add some mental flashes as he reaches for the ring on the chain at Frodo's neck of Boromir's funeral boat, Denethor's voice disparaging his 'quality', and you could still have a good scene.

Then, I think they could have ended the story with the hobbits and gollum making it to the King at the Crossroads and the blackening out of the sky from Mordor. Think of how dramatic the ending might have been if it went like that. Whoo!

 

[Shadowdancer]

If you look at the Map of Middle-Earth in the TTT EE appendices, the one that shows the paths the different characters take, taking Frodo to Osgiliath wasn't that big of a deal. Frodo, Sam and Gollum were going that direction anyway -- both Osgiliath and Shelob's lair are south of where Faramir and his rangers capture the party. Osgiliath is just a little further to the west.

I think PJ did that to help the intertwined stores synch up. Since Shelob's lair was being held until RotK, he had to slow Frodo's party down from reaching it too quickly in relation to when the other events in the movie were happening.

Yes, there probably are other ways this could be accomplished, but the method PJ chose tied in better with his changes for Faramir, and that character's attempts to please his father. It's all a compromise to try to make the overall story arc flow better, and I think it works just fine.

 

[Welverin]

The Legolas mounting the horse scene nearly blew the roof off the theater I was in when I saw it at the theater. Everyone just went nuts at that moment, clapping and cheering. I liked it. If I can accept that an immortal elf is so graceful that he walks on TOP of snow I can accept him being able to do that. Now the sledding down the steps thing is another story....

All of those things just make it even more funny to see him stumble running over some rocks.

 

[Kastil]

It wasn't that Legolas could jump on a galloping horse that bugged me, there are circus performers, etc. that can do that in real life. It was that he defied physics by swinging all the way around the horse while dangling from the harnass. Just have him mount the side of the horse he was already on and I would have been shouting "WHOA! Cool!" like everyone else.

Here's a better question......he swung up and landed in back of Gimli but the next time you see these two 'love birds', Legolas is in front. How'd he do that? Hmm? HMM?

Oh and it's Viggo all the way baby! ::glances around nervously for husband::

 

[Piratecat]

Here's a better question......he swung up and landed in back of Gimli but the next time you see these two 'love birds', Legolas is in front. How'd he do that? Hmm? HMM?

C'mon, Kastil. I am SO not going to say the obvious dwarf vs elf joke here. I'm not. Nope, uh-uh, no friggin' way.

But I am thinking it.

 

[Assenpfeffer]

The Legolas mounting the horse scene nearly blew the roof off the theater I was in when I saw it at the theater. Everyone just went nuts at that moment, clapping and cheering. I liked it. If I can accept that an immortal elf is so graceful that he walks on TOP of snow I can accept him being able to do that. Now the sledding down the steps thing is another story....

Lots of people seemed to think it was really cool. Me, I thought it was kind of dopey-looking, pretty much for the reason kengar says. Just like the shield-surfing scene.

Neither was a movie-busting moment for me, though.

 

[Assenpfeffer]

Even with the Aragorn disappearance scene, the warg scene was pointless. Both should have been cut.

I think there are a couple very valid reasons why the warg scene did need to be in the movie at some point. First of all, it establishes the wargs for their eventual appearance at the Pelennor Fields. For the same reason the oliphaunts were in TTT - if they hadn't been, they'd have needed more screen time in RotK or they'd have just been some vague threat. Establishing their menace with a short scene in which you get a lot of looks at them will let them have more impact in RotK with less screen time.

Plus, from a cinematic perspective, the movie needs to have some kind of action scene in the middle. Otherwise you'd have had about 2 hours of walking and speeches, and, as well-done as I think Gollum's internal conflict was, I doubt it could have carried two hours of movie by itself.

I do not think that the Aragorn cliff thing was necessary. Even so, it hardly spoiled the whole movie. And I do think that the warg battle as a whole is the weakest-looking scene in the whole film, from a special effects perspective. Jackson admits as much in his commentary.

 

[WizarDru]

I liked it. A lot. The extended scenes for Faramir addressed the one complaint I had about the movie, and the rest was just candy.

Fellowship is more interesting with the extra scenes, but Two Tower is just plain better. Both Boromir and Faramir benefitted from all of the extended scenes, and boy if I thought the Steward was a bastard before, I certainly have more reason to mislike him, now.

Say, did they cut Aragorn's speech on the wall at Helm's Deep, or did I just miss it?

 

[Eldorian]

Well.. Osgiliath will be in the next movie. So will the easterlings and the guys with the elephants. So showing em in this movie lets us identify with them sooner. As for the change in faramir's character, I like it. Its good story telling.

And Liv vs Miranda? Well, Liv seems pretty flaky in the interviews I've seen, and Miranda isn't much better, But I'm partial to brunettes, so I guess I'll pick Liv. This is only a fantasy afterall =D

Eldorian

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Both Boromir and Faramir benefitted from all of the extended scenes, and boy if I thought the Steward was a bastard before, I certainly have more reason to mislike him, now.

So I wasn't the only one thinking that...I never liked Denethor in the books, and seeing him in TT:EE just makes me dislike him more(which is a good thing, really. It fits perfectly). Though, I do understand WHY he's so unlikable.