From the Mines of Moria to the Pelennor Fields, all of Middle Earth can rejoice over this month’s theme: We heard you, Tolkien fans, there’s some truly awesome Lord of the Rings loot in August’s KINGDOM theme!
We wanted to dedicate today’s Friday Five to LOTR to celebrate our excitement, and we could think of no better way than to share five highlights from the grandest presentation of Peter Jackson’s award-winning film adaptations: the Extended Editions! Totalling over 11 hours of film – and some of us (“Cough, me.” – Ed.) have even sat through the whole thing one go – the longer edits of each LOTR film feature classic, and often vitally important, moments that didn’t make the theatrical versions. (Even the late, great Christopher Lee was salty that his death scene was initally cut.)
Without further ado, here are our picks… and a truly hilarious bonus video for you at the end!:
Farewell to Lorien: In The Fellowship of the Ring EE, the longer sequence in which the Fellowship departs the Elven forest kingdom ruled by Lady Galadriel includes a number of great additional moments: the Lembas bread scene, in which Legolas explains how the magically-filling Elvish delicacy works. (Merry: “How many did you eat?”; Pippin: “Four.”) Also, the touching follow-up to Gimli’s crush on Galadriel, in which he reveals the modest gift he asked for. (“I asked for one hair from her golden head. She gave me three.”) But our favorite is this extended moment between the queen and Dunedain ranger Aragorn, in which they discuss (in Elvish – the trilogy definitely needed more Elvish dialogue!) his attachment to the elf princess Arwen as well as his destiny as the descendant of the kings of men…
(New Line/Warner Bros.)
Osgiliath Flashback: As played out in the theatrical versions (and in the books), Boromir makes his power grab in the first of the trilogy and dies spectacularly for it. It isn’t until the entire saga plays out that it becomes explicit that his brother Faramir, long derided by their father Denethor as being inferior to his older brother, has the strength of character needed to refuse the lure of the One Ring’s power. This terrific flashback sequence in The Two Towers EE takes us back to a victory in Osgiliath before Boromir is sent to the Fellowship, in which Faramir actually offers to take that job and is once again cruelly shot down by their father, the Steward of Gondor. (It’s also just great to have more Sean Bean, and he and David Wenham are so good at conveying how much the brothers care about each other despite their father’s machinations.)
(New Line/Warner Bros.)
Merry & Pippin Raid Isengard’s Pantry: As The Two Towers EE draws to a close, once Treebeard and the Ents have brought the wrath of Fangorn Forest upon Isengard, we get this delightful extended scene of Merry and Pippin doing what hobbits do best: going ham on a huge pile of food and pipe weed the first chance they get. Thanks for the bountiful spread, Saruman! (Hey, they just went through something traumatic and it’s going to get worse after this before it gets better – let our li’l dudes enjoy this, eh?) Also, below that we’re adding the follow-up in the Return of the King EE, in which these two adorable gluttons taunt a cranky Gimli with their salted pork.
(New Line/Warner Bros.)
(New Line/Warner Bros.)
The Death of Saruman: Here it is, the big re-addition that caused so much chatter: In part because, this scene as filmed doesn’t really exist in the books either. In Tolkien’s novels, Saruman perishes during the Scouring of the Shire which Peter Jackson removed from the films entirely. (Though a vision of darkness befalling the Shire does appear to Frodo at one point.) Instead, this was shot but cut (presumably for time) from The Return of the King; in the EE, it’s back, and at last we get to see the Fellowship corner Saruman who is defiant to the end, only to have his flunky Grima Wormtongue finally grow a spine and turn the tables on the corrupt wizard, taking him down. (Literally… all the way down. Ouch.)
(New Line/Warner Bros.)
Eowyn and Faramir: At first glance this might look like something of a throwaway, but for book fans the emotional note that this scene hits is so, so important – maybe one of the most important of all. In the theatrical cut of The Return of the King, the only indication we get that Eowyn and Faramir end up together is that they are standing side by side as Aragorn is crowned King. Both of these brave souls have lost beloved family members and triumphed spectacularly despite being underestimated. (Eowyn slew the Witch King like a bad-ass and nearly died! Faramir was nearly burned alive by his batshit pops!) It’s grand for them to share this moment, two kindred spirits finding each other as the light at the end of the tunnel is almost near.
(New Line/Warner Bros.)
BONUS – The Greatest Easter Egg Of. All. TIME: Remember back when Easter Eggs on DVDs were all the rage?! Yeah, with the capacity for so much more data on BluRays, easter eggs fell out of fashion it seems. But there were some choice ones back in the day, and this one from the Return of the King EE set is among the best. Sit back and enjoy Elijah Wood being supremely, epically punked by his fellow hobbit Dom Monaghan during a satellite junket interview. We don’t want to spoil details for you, though we will say MATURE CONTENT WARNING! (It’s maybe a PG-13, but still. So damn hilarious.)
