The longest addition is also the most satisfying вЂ“ even though it diverts massively from the source material. The long-spoken-of Mouth of Sauron scene вЂ“ which appeared in set photos but was one fan-favourite element that didn't make it into the finished film вЂ“ is also remarkably short.ДЄ deeper look at the battles of Helm's Deep and Isengard gives them more weight, while the romance between Eowyn (Miranda Otto) and Faramir also gets a chance to breathe. But we get a confrontation between Gandalf and the Witch King and see Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) using the palantir to bait Sauron. There's not much extra from Frodo (Elijah Wood), Samwise (Sean Astin) or Gollum (Andy Serkis), as their story had to play out on screen. Some of what's been added back in does feel worthy, even if it is often extremely brief.

The Return of the King adds 51 minutes of additional footage to the theatrical run time of 200 minutes (increasing to 263 minutes with those extra fan credits).ДЄlready clocking in at three hours and 20 minutes in the cinema, it's no wonder so much was cut from the theatrical version. This goes some way to explaining why Faramir is so keen to take the ring from the Hobbits and give it to his father. It concerns the way their father Denethor (John Noble) chose who should go to Rivendell for the meeting of the Fellowship in the first film and shows that Denethor believes Faramir to be inferior to his older brother. It's the addition of a flashback between Boromir (Sean Bean) and Faramir (David Wenham) that is the standout. Their scenes, as fun as they are, are still not essential viewing. Most additions merely add a few more details to what we already knew but the biggest winners are Hobbits Pippin (Billy Boyd) and Merry (Dominic Monaghan) and the CGI character TreeBeard (voiced by John Rhys-Davies). However, the pacing has been maintained despite the extra 42 minutes of content. It's clear that much of what has been re-added to this film was trimmed to get the theatrical running time closer to the three-hour mark. The Two Towers contains 44 minutes of additional footage, taking the film from 179 minutes to 223 minutes. These are the entirely new scenes that have been added: Concerning Hobbits At the Green Dragon The Passing of the Elves The Midgewater Marshes Gilraen's Memorial. The Shire Very Old Friends A Long-expected Party The Nazgul Flight to the Ford The Sword That Was Broken The Council of Elrond The Departure of the Fellowship The Ring Goes South The Pass of Caradhras Moria A Journey in the Dark Balin's Tomb Lothlorien Caras Galadhon The Mirror of Galadriel Farewell to Lorien The Great River The Breaking of the Fellowship Boromir's Last Stand The Departure of Boromir. The following scenes have all been extended: Prologue: One Ring to Rule them All. Material at the start of the film tells us vital information about the Hobbits themselves, while the extended gift giving scene also focuses more on the magical items our heroes are given. While many of the additions and extensions might seem minor, it's the smaller elements within them that strengthen the film. Not counting the fan credits, The Fellowship of the Ring adds 30 minutes of new material in the extended edition to take its running time from 178 minutes to 208 minutes. All three movies also contain extended 'fan credits', where the names of people who had paid to be on there were added to the credit roll.

Many existing scenes in the films have been extended, while new ones have also been added. Alan Lee has painted the travellers entering Moria and the Moria Gate on The Fellowship of the Ring, Gandalf's Return and a Rohirrim Sun Symbol on The Two Towers and the Grey Havens and the White Tree of Gondor on The Return of the King. Even before you start to devour the bonus footage, there's some exclusive art to enjoy on the sleeves of The Lord of the Rings trilogy extended editions.

Lord of the rings extended trilogy dvd