Extended Edition review. Throw away your theatrical edition DVD!

Rating: 10/10 (11 December 2004)

** Spoilers throughout! **
It's a shame that a review of the Return of the King extended edition has to mention the shortcomings of the theatrical edition, but unlike the theatrical editions of the Fellowship of the Ring and the Two Towers, The Return of the King felt naggingly incomplete. Story threads both major and minor are set up and either not followed through at all or come to an unsatisfactory shorthand conclusion. I'm thinking particularly of the Witch-king's threat to "break" Gandalf, which never happens, and of course, the conclusion of Saruman's story  as far as I am concerned "he has no power any more" just didn't cut it. Worse still, there are a number of places where the editing shows the 'joins' where you just know something is missing from a scene. So the EE has double the work to do: to fill in the blanks, and to provide the wealth of extra detail that the previous two Extended Editions have led us to expect.
Don't let my negativity fool you into thinking that I didn't like the TE, but now Peter Jackson and his crew have delivered us the EE well, let's just say I'll put my copy of the TE on eBay in a few days. The Return of the King now feels complete.
I think it's safe to say that most fans were holding their breath for the Voice of Saruman scene, and I'm thrilled to say it was well worth the wait. Truly a mighty actor, Christopher Lee demonstrates the true power of Saruman's (and his own) voice in an exciting, grisly and tragically ignominious end that makes me wonder more than ever why Jackson would cut such a powerful scene from the TE. Lee proves yet again how perfectly cast he was as Saruman simply by intoning the line "You are all going to die." Shivers down my spine! It seems that all characters get some benefit from the extra breathing room allowed by those extra 50 minutes. In the scenes that follow Saruman's death, Pippin's compulsion to look into the palantir is much better explained: it's not just a hobbit's curiosity - we see it preying on his mind.
Small changes see Legolas's character finally allowed to breathe, and we can now really believe in the friendship between him and Gimli, who provides useful comic counterpoint to the intense action scenes to come, making sure the action stays rooted in character and doesn't stray too far into groundless spectacle (though there is an enjoyable amount of extra shots of mumakil smashing through the Rohirrim and, speaking as a Witch-king groupie, I don't think I'll ever get to see enough Nazgul shots). Eowyn has a few nice new moments, particularly her intimate scene with Aragorn in the Golden Hall (plus a beautiful tracking shot of that wonderful set) and it's good to see her fighting more on foot in the Pelennor Fields battle. Eomer gains a few more lines of dialogue  nothing significant, but the film is all the better for his presence.
Frodo and Sam's exhausting trek across Mordor, and the march to the Black Gate are both now given a more appropriate timescale, and we get some sense of how arduous the journey across Gorgoroth was for poor Frodo and Sam. The scene with the two hobbits forced to march with the orcs is an unexpected bonus and a nice touch. Frodo's relationship with the ring is deepened too  now we see that he collapses due to the physical weight of the ring rather than simply through exhaustion alone.
The economy of the TE is still admirable in places  the shorthand treatment of Denethor for example, in which we find out exactly what we need to know about his character to explain his actions. Even here, however, the EE can make tweaks for the better: his motivations are now given added gravity: what we formerly saw simply as madness is now revealed to be more like despair. Not every addition is for the benefit of the film, however - I could have done without Faramir and Eowyn gazing wetly at one another, for example.
Overall the story is allowed to flex and breathe, but doesn't become flabby. There is a feeling of luxury, but Jackson still keeps the tension high while allowing the subtle richness of the production to shine. Throw away the TE Peter Jackson and co have finally given us the film we've been waiting for.
And I haven't watched the appendices yet!