Hal9000, or “Sharkey,” here.

(At the time of this writing, December 2018, Kerr has yet to release his LOTR fan edits. He has, however, allowed me to publish these ‘Extended Editions’ rather than wait for his definitive versions to be released. You aren’t missing anything; his regular edits have not yet been released and may not for some time. But since I’ve been sitting on these fully finished tweaked versions, they are being released now as “stewards” of his proper edits more in the vein of the theatrical editions.

I apologize that I do not have changelogs for Kerr’s forthcoming edits themselves, and only for my modifications of them. Perhaps when Kerr reads this he can provide these for inclusion. I will NOT be adding these to IFDB, since that will be up to Kerr to do when he is ready. These are merely alternative cuts of his project.)

This is a modified version of Kerr’s fan edits of the Lord of the Rings film trilogy, somewhat analogous to the ‘Extended Editions’ of the original films. I have taken Kerr’s edits, and folded back into them bits and pieces of the films, mostly from the Extended Editions. Thus, I consider this an extended version of his edit, rather than something new.

Kerr’s edits feature two audio tracks, the primary of which contains numerous musical alterations. I have used the second audio track by default, and only included a handful of his musical alterations where I felt they made sense and felt “right” to me. In the cutlist below, I list musical alterations Kerr made that I used for this extended version, rather than the other way around.

As part of the process, I painstakingly “remastered” the video source, plugging in the original BluRay footage in all but a handful of shots and scenes. This was done to ensure the maximum possible picture quality and avoiding a very slight generational loss. As such, the color timing throughout is not necessarily as Kerr intended. Some shots are left un-remastered, being either sourced from the theatrical cuts (and therefore not at my disposal) or featuring significant color differences that warranted being left as they were. All Elvish subtitles have been redone, save for those that occur over footage only contained in the theatrical cut, made to match Kerr’s formatting.

It’s been wonderful collaborating on this over the course of some 6 or 7 years, and I feel Kerr has pulled off an incredible set of edits, far greater than I could have hoped for if left to my own devices.

Changes from Kerr’s original edit:

Fellowship of the Ring:

Used Kerr’s altered audio to add Gondor theme during Last Alliance battle
Reinstated EE death of Isildur
Used Kerr’s altered audio to add EE background music for Gandalf’s introduction
Reinstated EE Frodo’s dialogue about Strider with Merry
Reinstated EE Boromir’s dream speech and Gandalf’s black speed at Council of Elrond
New disc break with Intermission title card and preliminary ‘Fellowship’ theme from earlier in the film
Reinstated EE Gilraen’s memorial
Reinstated EE Legoas specifying the nature of Gandalf’s demise, and Galadriel consoling Gimli
Reinstated EE Sam’s verse about Gandalf’s fireworks
Reinstated original audio of Galadriel’s “In place of a dark lord…” speech
Reinstated EE gifts of Galadriel scene in full
Used Kerr’s altered audio to use Gondor theme for the Argonath scene
Reinstated EE Boromir and Aragorn’s debate scene at night by the River
Reinstated EE Aragorn’s line, “They will look to his coming from the white tower, but he will not return.”

The Two Towers:

Reinstated EE Frodo and Sam using the Elven rope
Reinstated EE Gollum debating whether to help Frodo and Sam
Reinstated EE Uruks giving Merry Orc-draught
Reinstated EE countrymen swearing fealty to Saruman
Reinstated EE Frodo and Gollum’s conversation in the Dead Marshes
Used Kerr’s altered audio to use different music for the “Wraiths on Wings” scene
Reinstated EE Gandalf’s line about how he “is” Saruman, in a way
Reinstated EE Éowyn’s dirge for Theodred
Reinstated EE Faramir’s speech regarding the fallen soldier
New disc break with Intermission title card and triumphant Rohan theme from earlier in the film
Reinstated EE Éowyn learning about Aragorn over stew
Reinstated EE Faramir’s vision of coming across Boromir’s funeral boat
Reinstated EE Treebeard’s full line, including, “…tree, root, and twig”

Return of the King:

Reinstated dialogue between Sméagol and Déagol prior to their fight, and EE longer strangling
Reinstated EE dialogue between Merry and Aragorn as Gandalf and Pippin ride from Edoras
Reinstated a line or two Kerr cut from Gandalf and Faramir’s conversation about seeing Frodo and Sam in Ithilien
Reinstated EE additional dialogue between Pippin and Denethor while offering his service
Reinstated EE dialogue from Eomer about the horrors of battle
Used different translation for subtitles as Elrond and Aragorn quote Gilraen, and added ellipses to imply they are reciting something known
Reinstated EE dialogue from Aragorn to Éowyn as he prepares to leave the Rohirrim
Reinstated EE introduction of Grond
New disc break with Intermission title card and melancholy Gondor theme from two places earlier in the trilogy
Reinstated EE Legolas reciting a verse while heading toward the Paths of the Dead
Reinstated EE dialogue from Denethor as he heads to the tombs
Used Kerr’s altered audio to add music to Gandalf’s confrontation with the Witch-King
Used Kerr’s altered audio to add snippet when the Rohirrim collide with the Uruk ranks
Reinstated Éowyn’s cry as she stabs the Witch-King in the face, that Kerr had removed
Reinstated EE orc skirmishes prior to Sam entering the tower of Cirith Ungol
Used Kerr’s altered audio to add intro and choir for the “For Frodo” scene
Used Kerr’s altered audio to add instruments for the “Don’t you let go” scene