Okay, now it's a ten

Rating: 10/10 (18 November 2003)

After seeing the extended version of this movie, I'm going to have to change my vote for this movie from a 9 to a 10 (pretty much what happened with the first one). They fixed everything I found wrong with the first. The theatrical was a great thrill ride. It was fast paced, and you could really feel the doom upon all the good guys. But the extended was an epic of biblical proportions on its own. Jackson expands the depth of every character in the movie, often going beyond what even Tolkien depicted. The most important thing is that Faramir's character is completely redeemed. Although still not quite the same character he was portrayed in the book, he is depicted as a much more similar character to the one in the book in the extended cut than he is depicted in the theatrical cut. He is a much more sympathetic character, and it is now understandable why it took him so long to make the right decision. We now know more about the ents, (and the entwives), and we get more Gandalf, which I can't get enough of. We also get more of an end to this movie. I always thought the theatrical version ended prematurely. After all it left nearly half the book untold. This one still doesn't make it to the end of the book, but it doesn't leave much left, and it ends on a much more satisfying note, although still a brilliant cliffhanger. If you have the option and the extra 40 minutes, definitely see the Extended edition instead of the theatrical version.