Thank you, appreciate this.
Yeah I knew that the Black Speech scene will be divisive when I decide to keep it, but for some reason I like it. Since this is my personal cut I know it won’t be everyone’s cup of tea.
The Very Old Friends scene is when Gandalf and Bilbo talk and are interrupted by a knock on the door. In TC Bilbo says he needs to get away from these people / relatives. In EE he adds that Sackville-Baggins are after his house and that they haven’t forgiven him for living this long. Makes Bilbo’s reaction more rational rather then being old grump who doesn’t like people in general.
I didn’t keep the “Don’t worry, Sam” as that is part of the Green Dragon EE scene BUT let me revisit this and see if inclusion of that bit will work. In theory it shouldn’t affect the pacing as much as including the whole scene from inside of Green Dragon.
Love this! I’m one of the increasingly few fans that prefers the theatrical cuts. The pacing is just so much better. I always loved how FOTR’s 3 hours FLY by. Such a feat!
The EE scenes, while nice on their own, make 3 hours & 48 minutes FEEL like 3 hours and 48 minutes (ie looong). I think you made some great choices about what to keep/drop. I agree, Concerning Hobbits is a treasure, but that much info dumped that early, makes the movie feel like an expositional chore, especially for folks who’ve never seen this trilogy before.
The only addition you’ve kept that I dislike is the Black Speech scene. Rivendell is another one of those feats of editing in which a giant exposition dump is actually rather dynamic/propulsive in the theatrical cut.
Can you clarify the Very Old Friends addition you kept? I can’t remember an extended scene here.