These have been my go-to versions of the films ever since Hal first posted them on Reddit. I have been a LotR fanatic my entire life, even adminned the largest meme group for the trilogy for quite some time. So I’ve seen the original extended editions dozens of times, if not hundreds. I would say my experience with these edits was more enjoyable than most, since I instantly recognized the changes, even subtle one-liners and musical cues that were changed (the Gondor theme at the Argonath is a personal favorite).
Overall, I can’t recommend these highly enough, any fan of the series owes it to themselves to give these a watch. For me, they have totally replaced the original films. And most of the changes are so simple-yet-elegant that it’s hard to believe they weren’t the original editing choices of Peter Jackson and Co. Just my $0.02–this isn’t the IFDB but these edits damn well belong there, haha. I would be interested in watching Kerr’s “non-extended” versions as well, should he ever choose to release them. But these are beautifully done as is.
Hal, are either of the musical tracks composed of Kerr’s changes? Or did you use the original audio for both, and just shoehorn the specific changes you’ve listed?