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by James Robertson.
Original Post: Two Towers Extended DVD
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I ran right out and bought the Two Towers Extended DVD yesterday - and then proceeded to sit down and watch it. With the Fellowship DVD, I felt like a lot of the added material was not strictly necessary. I liked the extended DVD, but it didn't seem to me that it was a huge improvement over the theatrical release. With Two Towers, I do feel like that. There are new scenes with Pippin, Merry, and the Ents - and I think they add to the film. Interestingly, they have a scene that merges in a bit of the Bombadil material - old man Willow. While Pippin and Merry drink the Ent droughts (and get taller), there's a nearby Willow tree. When they get too close, it hauls them in, just as it happened in the old forest in the first book. In this case, Jackson has Treebeard rescue them. Not sure that adds a lot, but it was nice to see the Ent droughts.
There's also a few new scenes that show Eowyn's attachment to Aragorn - something the theatrical release hinted at, but really didn't do justice to. One of the nicest additions was a flashback for Faramir - in the scene where he's sitting alone, before he goes to question Frodo about the ring - there's a flashback to the retaking of Osgiliath. Boromir is the hero, and Denethor is shown denegrating Faramir - something the books went into, but was completely lost from the theatrical release.
I was very happy to see the Huorns march - When the Uruks flee Helm's Deep, they are destroyed by the Huorns sent by Treebeard. The theatrical release didn't even allude to that - the extended DVD shows the Huorns marching off, and shows the Uruks being destroyed - as the Rohirrim look on astonished. There's also a scene added between Gandalf and Aragorn where Gandalf explains that the Ents have woken up, and will play a role in the downfall of Saruman.
All in all, I really like the additional material. The only dark cloud I see is this news on the Saruman scenes being cut from the theatrical release of ROTK. on the one hand, as a huge fan of the books, I dislike this. On the other hand, I've wondered for quite awhile how the whole scouring of the Shire and Saruman's fall piece could be anything but an anti-climax in film terms. It'll be in the extended edition (another whole year of waiting!) - but I think I understand the decision. Maybe I'll have a different opinion after I see the third film; we'll see then.
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