Picked up the Extended cut of The Two Towers tonight

bubba966 · « **on:** 13 Nov 2003, 07:06 am »

Yeah, once again I didn't feel like waiting for something to be offically released.

Why wait 6 days to pick it up when I can get it now!?

Anyway, I've not had a chance to throw it in the player yet. I'm wondering if the DTS ES mix will be worth a damn. I didn't think the DD mix for the theatrical cut was anything special. Seemed kinda blah compared to the first movie.

Hopefully I don't have the same problem with the DTS ES mix on TTT as I did on FOTR. I felt the DTS mix of FOTR drowned out the dialoag too much with the score & sound effects. As such I much prefer the DD mix to the DTS mix on the extended cut of FOTR.

So I'll probably throw the TTT extended cut into the player tomorrow to check it out a bit. Then watch the entire movie Saturday when I've got friends stopping by.

Johng316 · « **Reply #1 on:** 14 Nov 2003, 08:56 pm »

owwww! It burns us! It freeezes!

John G

jqp · « **Reply #2 on:** 14 Nov 2003, 10:10 pm »

Tell us again how you illegally obtain these DVDs?

bubba966 · « **Reply #3 on:** 14 Nov 2003, 10:15 pm »

Illegal? There is nothing illegal here...

You just gotta know where to buy things where they don't mind selling them early.

IF they know you that is...

rosconey · « **Reply #4 on:** 14 Nov 2003, 10:31 pm »

HE WORKS AT BLOCKBUSTER-LOL

bubba966 · « **Reply #5 on:** 14 Nov 2003, 10:34 pm »

Nope, sorry, try again. Have never worked at a video store. Did used to pick them up early at a Hollywood video when someone I know used to work there.

bob82274 · « **Reply #6 on:** 16 Nov 2003, 03:46 am »

So whats your review of TTT? My usual website hasn't posted their review yet so I'm hoping you can shed some light here Bubba.

bubba966 · « **Reply #7 on:** 16 Nov 2003, 08:07 am »

Alright, I just finished watching it. So I 'spose I could say something about it.

I did watch it in DTS ES. And it was a pretty good ES mix. It felt much more balanced than the FOTR DTS ES mix was. I really didn't care for the DTS mix on FOTR as I felt it drowned out the dialog too much by cranking the music & SFX too loud in the mains. But the mix for TTT was much better. The music & SFX seemed about perfect this time. Not once did I notice a time when I felt the dialog was hard to understand due to being overwhelmed by the music or SFX.

I really like this cut better than the theatrical cut. While I didn't really feel the theatrical cut had anything wrong or missing in it, I do now that I know all of what was actually missing from the story. I'm not sure if I'm in any hurry to watch the theatrical cut again. I'd rather watch this version. I can't say the same for FOTR though, I like the theatrical cut better for normal watching.

I really like this cut of TTT. Not only does the added footage pull you into the story even more than before. But there's also a bit more humor in the story with the added footage. And things I didn't even notice that didn't really make sense in the theatrical cut are perfectly clear now. Jackson did a great job at cutting the theatrical release to be fine missing all of the footage that it did (unlike how Once Upon A Time In Mexico felt, there's gotta be a whole lot of footage missing there). So while the theatrical cut seemed ok to me, the extended cut is yards ahead in my book.

I really hope the extended cut of ROTK is more like the TTT than FOTR.

Oh, and the DTS track on TTT is rather quiet. Why, I don't know. But if you up the volume about 4dB over your normal listening level it should be right at the level where you normally watch movies then.

Rob Babcock · « **Reply #8 on:** 16 Nov 2003, 09:10 am »

Hmmm...I actually sold the theatrical version of Fellowship. I feel the extended version is vastly better. The pace of the "original" is just too frantic; the story really opens up and the pace improves with the extended cut. JMO, of course.

I'm very anxious to pick up the extended TT. I'll probably get it Mon nite at Wally World; that way I can get an early start Tues morning. My plan is to watch both extended versions back to back!

That'll take the whole day, but a damn good way to spend it!

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #9 on:** 16 Nov 2003, 09:20 am »

Rob, In your post you mention "Wally World". Not being familar with the term , I thought that it might be a new cd-dvd source. Google search showed it was Walmart, but this was interesting http://www.wallyworldlife.com/index.html .

nathanm · « **Reply #10 on:** 19 Nov 2003, 05:01 pm »

As expected, it is a much better film than the theatrical release. Although there's still a good deal of rubbish in there. Gimli's line about trees discussing squirrel droppings was incredibly lame.

I still find Treebeard's introduction rather unfortunate. What was wrong with a more whimsical "Almost thought you liked the forest!? That's good! That's uncommonly kind of you..." Sure, stomping the orc was great, but there's plenty of time for that later. They way they treated the oldest living being in Arda as a senile old man is kinda pathetic. Ents speak in this rumbling tongue which one assumes can be heard for miles, and yet somehow they would've missed the deforestation around Isengard if it wasn't for a couple of silly Hobbits playing a trick on Treebeard!? Argh!

If they lopped off the all the bullshit with Arwen\Elrond\Galadriel and the bullshit of Sam and Frodo in Osgiliath there would've been tons of room for a proper Shelob's Lair cliffhanger ending instead of the absurdity of Frodo holding up the ring to the freaking Nazgul, who being the pansy ass fell beast he is, seemingly couldn't have grabbed him right there cause uh, Sam knocked him over?! Yeah right! HOW many years have they been actively pursuing the ring, and then the hobbit offers himself up and you still cock it up? Right. Well, the EE ending is a little better as it lets you forget that cheesy speech of Sam's. Why not have all the characters say "Oh gosh, look at the time! Okay, roll credits!" Maybe John Cleese could've showed up behind a desk and said "And now for the end of the film!" *sigh*

byteme · « **Reply #11 on:** 19 Nov 2003, 06:34 pm »

Fortunately or unfortunately I've not read the book so my only exposure to this series has been the movies. I wholeheartedly agree with Rob, even though his avatar sucks

about FOTR, MUCH MUCH MUCH better in the extended version. Now, if his team continues to crap the bed I'm sure we'll have a lot more in common!!

From what I've read elsewhere and seems to have been confirmed here, those who are familiar with the book didn't have much of a problem with FOTR but did have many more issues, especially with the extended cut of TT.

For me, TT wasn't the increadible experience that LOTR was but it was still a very good movie and I'm sure the extended version will have me believing that even more. Thanks for the preliminaries, hopefully I get time to watch this on Saturday!

Rob Babcock · « **Reply #12 on:** 19 Nov 2003, 08:53 pm »

D'oh! Yeah, Maxcast will likely redicule me into changing Avatars if my boys keep screwin' the pooch like they have lately. Now they're the Vikes I've grown up watching!

I went to Wally World to buy LotR:TT on Mon at midnight, but they wanted $28 for it, so I decided to wait til morning and get it at BB for $25. After doing so, I stopped by WW again to pick up a some ice & soda, and wouldn'tcha know the bastards had dropped the price to $22.57?!

At any rate, I'll be watching the extended version later tonight. And I'll probably sell my original theatrical version (I sold my original LotR when the X-tnd'd version came out too.).

Rob Babcock · « **Reply #13 on:** 20 Nov 2003, 05:37 am »

Okay, just watched it; I think they improved upon the originally significantly. I have to work early tommorrow, so I won't elaborate except to say it's a different film in a lot of ways (esp the revelation about Aragorn's true nature- I can't believe they edited that out! It completely changes the way we look at him.). No spoilers here, if you didn't read the books or see the original.

Of course, it's strange in a way that I never read any of the books (I'm a big fan of sci fi and fantasy and have read hundreds of books in those genres! How'd I miss Tolkien?

).

Rocket · « **Reply #14 on:** 20 Nov 2003, 09:42 am »

hi,

know one has mentioned how much longer the extended version is compared to the theatrical version.

i saw the directors cut of alien the other day and there may have been a bit more than 5 minutes extra included.

regards

rocket

bubba966 · « **Reply #15 on:** 20 Nov 2003, 03:01 pm »

It's about 45 minutes longer. Don't recall the exact number off hand.

It's a very significant amount of time. Enough time to drastically alter the film (for the better).

byteme · « **Reply #16 on:** 23 Nov 2003, 08:08 pm »

Quote from: bubba966

It's about 45 minutes longer. Don't recall the exact number off hand.

It's a very significant amount of time. Enough time to drastically alter the film (for the better).

I have to agree. I watched it last night and like the first film I feel it adds just a TON of extra info and really rounds out the story. I totally disagree with the DVDTalk reviews that said the addl. material just slows the pace down and goes down paths that don't need to be gone down. Especially the stuff about Aragorn, as Rob mentioned. It really fleshed things out for me, who didn't read the book, and I am SO jazzed about return of the king, I just can't wait.

Tyson · « **Reply #17 on:** 23 Nov 2003, 08:30 pm »

Yes, in the EE I liked a lot that the whole "love triangle" w/aragorn was more of an "Aragorn and Arwen love each other", while Eowyn is more in "hero worship" mode. I really hated the whole implied love triangle in the theatrical cut.

I think the backstories, additional info, and flashbacks did slow the story down, but then I LIKE when a movie slows down to do character development. If I wanted an "efficient" movie that is all plot and "moves quickly" I'll go see a Michael Bay movie.

Rob Babcock · « **Reply #18 on:** 23 Nov 2003, 09:30 pm »

Three hours of relentless action is too long. Adding the other material lengthens the film but improves the pace to the point that I didn't notice the extra length. I won't dispute that it may be 45 minutes longer, but I'd have seriously told you it was only 10 or 15 minutes longer, but I wasn't staring at my watch!

I'm seriously amped about RotK; since I haven't read the books I seriously don't know how it will end. Sure, I suppose they'll succeed in destroying the One Ring, but who will survive I won't know until I watch it.

Or until someone posts spoilers...

nathanm · « **Reply #19 on:** 23 Nov 2003, 10:44 pm »

I believe they said there is an extra 43 minutes. Worth every bit, I think. Also, the filmmakers usually make good explanations about the script decisions in either the commentary tracks or in interviews; and hearing that always softens my Tolkien purist grumpiness. Yeah, I guess having Shelob's Lair in there would've been pretty difficult. Can't wait to see her in ROTK though! It's just too bad they can't do the extended cuts in the theaters.

Oh well, whaddaya gonna do?