A couple weeks ago I watched the theatrical version of “The Two Towers” with my sister and her boyfriend… Needless to say, It was glorious! I was enthralled with constant tension the entire runtime and by the end, was VERY satisfied with the film. But then I thought I should try out the extended edition of Two Towers a couple nights ago. I have heard nothing but praise for the extended editions and was very excited. But to be brutally honest, it pains me to say that I thought the extended edition was awful. I felt it compeletly ruined the pacing, constantly boring you further into what feels like a aimless drag of a movie. It loses the tight focused storytelling of the theatrical cut. I then turned towards the extended edition of fellowship and same experience to a lesser extent. Nevertheless, I felt it’s pacing suffered and was a worse film overall than the theatrical. I have not watched the extended edition of ROTK in all yet.

I do have a couple scenes that I think should have stayed in the theatrical cut. Them departing rivendell and Frodo asking what way to turn just after he was told to lead the way is truly a gem. In Two Towers, the flashback to Gondor with Farmarir and Boromir is some essential stuff!

I’m curious if a custom version of the theatrical versions with a few extended scenes would be the best experience.

What are your thoughts on the extended editions? Do you find them superior to the theatricals? Do you watch them a certain way to help get through the long run times?