Why are there two versions

Rating: 10/10 (19 November 2003)

I have just finished watching the extended DVD version of this film. When I first saw it - in the mutilated form at a cinema - I found it impressive but unsatifying. There were non sequiturs, misplaced emphasis, deviations from Tolkein which made no sense.
Having seen the film as it ought to have been, I am now of the view that this is the amongst the best few films ever made. The changes are improvements and make the structure more logical- the story has been improved, something just about unique in cinema history; the cinematography is a higher standard than has ever been seen in any film.

This is a film Orson Welles would have made if he hadn't been a bad actor and a worse director.