RotK spoilers: The Sauruman Problem

[Holy Bovine]

Eh, so what? The extended DVD is the only one that'll end up mattering, since that's the one I'm going to actually buy.

nods head enthusiastically

That's how me and most of my friends feel (those that like the movies anyway). We refer to the theatrical releses as 'extended trailers' for the real versions that come out on DVD

 

[jdavis]

I also heard that part of the reason Christopher Lee is so mad is because Peter Jackson or anyone from New Line did not tell Him themselves that the scene was cut, He read it on the net.

Well that is a little cold, he deserves a little bit of respect.

 

[Corinth]

Until I see that confirmed in a legitimate outlet, that is no more than a rumor. AICN is hardly a credible outlet.

 

[Welverin]

but what works in print just does not work on film.

"You only say never because no one ever has."

I've been pondering the whole Pippin/Palantir issue. In other words, without the "Voice of Saruman" scene, why does Gandalf take off with Pippin to Gondor? The only thing I can come up with that doesn't jar continuity-wise

Stop right there!

PJ either doesn't care for continuity or is incapable of maintain it, which he so clearly illustrates right off the bat in FotR. Gandalf told Frodo to go to Bree and that he'd be waiting at the Prancing Pony for him. Mind you Gandalf was making detour to Isengard first! Illuvatar himself could beat Frodo to Bree with a detour like that!

 

[Shadowdancer]

The Internet Movid Database is saying Lee's scenes cut from RotK, Lee found out about it on Internet, Lee is pissed. The link.

 

[jdavis]

Until I see that confirmed in a legitimate outlet, that is no more than a rumor. AICN is hardly a credible outlet.

apparently Cinescape thinks they are: http://cinescape.com/0/editorial.asp?aff_id=0&this_cat=Movies&action=page&type_id=&cat_id=270338&obj_id=40116

 

[KenM]

I also heard it was some studio head that told PJ to cut the scene. Peter jackson fought as much as He could to keep it in, and New Line bascially said. "Cut the scene with your own people, or our people will cut the film the way we want".

 

[hong]

Of course it COULD be properly presented. Of course, done right, the non-book-reading movie fans would find it thrilling. Of course it can work -- the idea that the Scouring is an "epilogue" isn't one I find very easy to agree with. The Scouring is the CLIMAX of the story, to me. It's the most satisfying bit in the whole story -- done right, it should be the most satisfying part of the movie, too.

It's not the climax. It's the afterglow.

 

[Tom Cashel]

I wouldn't be suprised if the final battle is Arwyn and Frodo fighting Sauron with swords...

Dude! Spoiler tags...!!

"You only say never because no one ever has."

No one's ever made a bad movie by trying to be too loyal to the source material? Come on, now...

 

[hong]

No one's ever made a bad movie by trying to be too loyal to the source material? Come on, now...

Kenneth Branagh's 4-hour-long Hamlet comes to mind.