The offical ENWorld The Return of the King Extendend Edtion DVD reaction thread.

[MrFilthyIke]

Now to get the thread back on track:
I’ll be picking the Deluxe set up today, can anyone tell me about the quality of the Minas Tirith mini?

Ah, spoken like a LotR dork. I was wondering the same thing. Glad to see you're in our club.

 

[The Grumpy Celt]

And the easter egg on disc one is funny, as well.

So, what are the Easter Eggs? Are there eggs aside from the one of the first disc? Where and what are they?

 

[Mystery Man]

*sigh*

I'm under orders from my wife that under no circumstances am I to buy anything until after Christmas. I strongly hinted to her just how much I wanted this movie and that if it's not bought when it's released it is significantly more expensive. So, if I don't get this movie on Christmas I'll be posting to this board from prison.

 

[Talmun]

*sigh*

I'm under orders from my wife that under no circumstances am I to buy anything until after Christmas. I strongly hinted to her just how much I wanted this movie and that if it's not bought when it's released it is significantly more expensive. So, if I don't get this movie on Christmas I'll be posting to this board from prison.

I had to patiently explain to my wife that this was not a gift, this was a household necessity, and as such, it would be bought as soon as it was available...

 

[Mystery Man]

Heh...wife just called from cell phone

Wife: Say do they have Return of Jafar on sale? I can't find it anywhere? (loud music ad TV sounds in the background)

Me: Where are you?

Wife:.......NEVERMIND! *click*

 

[Berandor]

So, what are the Easter Eggs? Are there eggs aside from the one of the first disc? Where and what are they?

They're in the same place as in the first two movies.

Last scene selection "chapter", scroll down from last scene, klick the ring.
Side A:

Spoiler

Dominic Monahan (sp?) interviews Elijah Wood as German interviewer "Hans Jensen" via telephone/cable. Elijah can't see Dom, but Dom can see Elijah. We can see both. It's hilarious.

Side B:

Spoiler

A sketch from MTV Movie Awards where Ben Stiller and Vince Caughn interview Peter Jackson ("may I call you Pedro?") as movie producers and want him to make a sequel to LotR. it's also very funny!

 

[Mark]

Side A:

Spoiler

Flipper is dead?

Side B:

Spoiler

But what if it wasn't?

 

[Storm Raven]

* Building up the One Ring as the biggest threat EVER (even one that demigods are terrified of facing), and then having a simple man (Faramir) walk up and not be affected at all by the pull/promise of the Ring does objectively weaken the threat they worked so hard to build.

Or, as it does in the book, reinforce the goodness of Faramir.

* Having Frodo and Sam be simply by-standers at the conclusion of this epic journey, while Gollum beats them, takes the Ring, then luckily (for all the Good Guys) slips and falls into the lava thereby succeeding in their quest is a much worse ending than having them be active participants.
Their decision to re-write and re-shoot that scene is critical to acheiving a satisfactory conclusion to the quest. The version they decided upon also has the benrfit of further reinforcing the pull of the Ring (Frodo fighting Gollum for possession, dragging them both over, instead of him pushing Gollum off or Gollum falling off).

Which misses the point of the story completely. And thus, is a stupid reason to make a change. Middle-Earth is saved by the grace of God, not by the hand of man (or hobbit) no matter how humble. Making that change transforms the story into a boring and mundane "adventure" tale. It isn't. And shouldn't be.

Changing the sequence of events at Sammanth Naur was the weakest change in the whole movie, and the one that showed just how little Jackson et al understood about the story of LotR.

 

[Talmun]

(snip)
Changing the sequence of events at Sammanth Naur was the weakest change in the whole movie, and the one that showed just how little Jackson et al understood about the story of LotR.

More accurately and to the point, doesn't it show that Jackson doesn't understand your interpretation of the story of LotR?

Tolkien himself said he abhorred analogy, and preferred that each reader of the story decide what it meant for them.

 

[Storm Raven]

More accurately and to the point, doesn't it show that Jackson doesn't understand your interpretation of the story of LotR?

Actually, it means that Jackson didn't understand Tolkien's intent with respect to this element of the story of LotR. Read some excerpts from Tolkien's letters to see for yourself: http://www.mythictruth.com/MainPages/mercy_and_forgiveness_nn.htm

Tolkien himself said he abhored analogy, and preferred that each reader of the story decide what it meant for them.

Tolkien didn't say he "abhorred analogy", he said he abhorred allegory. Middle-Earth being saved by the grace of God (more specifically, in the personification of Eru) is not allegory. Learn what your literary terms mean before you start trying to discuss what Tolkien meant or did not mean.