Saruman cut from ROTK

[CChaos]

Does anyone know what was cut and what is going to be in the film or even what was going to be in the film in the first place? It seems like some serious knee-jerking going on otherwise.

Personally, I don't need to see too much more of Saruman but I would like to see him booted from Isengard after Grima tosses the palantir and showing up in the Shire at the end. Otherwise, he's was pretty much pwned by the Ents already and I'm much more interested in the battle for Gondor, Sam and Frodo v. Shelob and the final battle at the Black Gate.

 

[kami]

OK, here it is.

The scene cut was the Voice of Saruman sequence (7 min long). What they are gonna have to do now is give a brief explanation or flashbacks of the events that occured there. Rest assured they won't just "assume" things like Aragorn getting the Palantir. The sequence was originally planned to to open the ROTK movie but PJ felt it didn't fit the pace of ROTK and made probably the hardest editing decision he has done on the trilogy so far. He sincrely regrets not adding this scene to the end of Two Towers now. PJ & Chris Lee are pretty good friends and by the sounds of things, this may have soured their friendship which really sucks. Chris Lee said he isn't even gonna come to the ROTK premiere now.

The cut sequence WILL be in the ROTK extended edition.

Even with this scene cut, the final running time for ROTK is 3 hours and 20 minutes. Exactly the amount of time that you can have with a DTS soundtrack in the theater before needing intermission. So I think what it boils down to is either cutting the VoS sequence, or trimming down the ending...not really anything in between because they have so much stuff to cover. I would rather have the ENDING of a THREE MOVIE TRILOGY in tact for the theatrical release. I am disappointed but it is good to know the sequence will be seen next year. I am pretty confident this won't affect the overall movie and story after seeing the last two.

The Scourge (whatever it was called - scourge doesn't sound quite right) was the finale of the whole damn hobbit/lord of the rings story cycle. Does this mean that they aren't going to have Frodo/Bilbo/The elves passing in to the West at the end?

The scouring of the shire is NOT in the film and this has been known since before Fellowship of the Ring was released (straight from the horses mouth). And the finale is at the crack of doom with frodo, sam, and gollum. Anything else is the denouement, including the scouring....and who would want a 30min scene tacked on after the climax? I wouldn't mind but most people would go "huh"??

Don't worry, they still have everyone coming back to The Shire, and Frodo/Bilbo/Gandalf/etc. all sail into the west at the Grey Havens. But the difference in the movie is that Saruman was killed at Orthanc, not The Shire like in the books....so he never got the chance to go and wreak havoc on the shire.

 

[cLe0]

Originally posted by: kami
OK, here it is.

The scene cut was the Voice of Saruman sequence (7 min long). What they are gonna have to do now is give a brief explanation or flashbacks of the events that occured there. Rest assured they won't just "assume" things like Aragorn getting the Palantir. The sequence was originally planned to to open the ROTK movie but PJ felt it didn't fit the pace of ROTK and made probably the hardest editing decision he has done on the trilogy so far. He sincrely regrets not adding this scene to the end of Two Towers now. PJ & Chris Lee are pretty good friends and by the sounds of things, this may have soured their friendship which really sucks. Chris Lee said he isn't even gonna come to the ROTK premiere now.

The cut sequence WILL be in the ROTK extended edition.

Even with this scene cut, the final running time for ROTK is 3 hours and 20 minutes. Exactly the amount of time that you can have with a DTS soundtrack in the theater before needing intermission. So I think what it boils down to is either cutting the VoS sequence, or trimming down the ending...not really anything in between because they have so much stuff to cover. I would rather have the ENDING of a THREE MOVIE TRILOGY in tact for the theatrical release. I am disappointed but it is good to know the sequence will be seen next year. I am pretty confident this won't affect the overall movie and story after seeing the last two.

The Scourge (whatever it was called - scourge doesn't sound quite right) was the finale of the whole damn hobbit/lord of the rings story cycle. Does this mean that they aren't going to have Frodo/Bilbo/The elves passing in to the West at the end?

The scouring of the shire is NOT in the film and this has been known since before Fellowship of the Ring was released (straight from the horses mouth). And the finale is at the crack of doom with frodo, sam, and gollum. Anything else is the denouement, including the scouring....and who would want a 30min scene tacked on after the climax? I wouldn't mind but most people would go "huh"??

Don't worry, they still have everyone coming back to The Shire, and Frodo/Bilbo/Gandalf/etc. all sail into the west at the Grey Havens. But the difference in the movie is that Saruman was killed at Orthanc, not The Shire like in the books....so he never got the chance to go and wreak havoc on the shire.

Thanks for the update!

 

[OIKOS]

Originally posted by: whaleskinrug

 

[Yossarian]

Oikos = idiot.

 

[Ness]

Originally posted by: cLe0

Originally posted by: kami
OK, here it is.

The scene cut was the Voice of Saruman sequence (7 min long). What they are gonna have to do now is give a brief explanation or flashbacks of the events that occured there. Rest assured they won't just "assume" things like Aragorn getting the Palantir. The sequence was originally planned to to open the ROTK movie but PJ felt it didn't fit the pace of ROTK and made probably the hardest editing decision he has done on the trilogy so far. He sincrely regrets not adding this scene to the end of Two Towers now. PJ & Chris Lee are pretty good friends and by the sounds of things, this may have soured their friendship which really sucks. Chris Lee said he isn't even gonna come to the ROTK premiere now.

The cut sequence WILL be in the ROTK extended edition.

Even with this scene cut, the final running time for ROTK is 3 hours and 20 minutes. Exactly the amount of time that you can have with a DTS soundtrack in the theater before needing intermission. So I think what it boils down to is either cutting the VoS sequence, or trimming down the ending...not really anything in between because they have so much stuff to cover. I would rather have the ENDING of a THREE MOVIE TRILOGY in tact for the theatrical release. I am disappointed but it is good to know the sequence will be seen next year. I am pretty confident this won't affect the overall movie and story after seeing the last two.

The Scourge (whatever it was called - scourge doesn't sound quite right) was the finale of the whole damn hobbit/lord of the rings story cycle. Does this mean that they aren't going to have Frodo/Bilbo/The elves passing in to the West at the end?

The scouring of the shire is NOT in the film and this has been known since before Fellowship of the Ring was released (straight from the horses mouth). And the finale is at the crack of doom with frodo, sam, and gollum. Anything else is the denouement, including the scouring....and who would want a 30min scene tacked on after the climax? I wouldn't mind but most people would go "huh"??

Don't worry, they still have everyone coming back to The Shire, and Frodo/Bilbo/Gandalf/etc. all sail into the west at the Grey Havens. But the difference in the movie is that Saruman was killed at Orthanc, not The Shire like in the books....so he never got the chance to go and wreak havoc on the shire.

Thanks for the update!

I can vouch for the fact that not having the scouring or any other real parts with saurmon don't take away from the movie, and I will say that the 3rd one ends fantastically, and that you will not be the slightest bit disappointed.


edit: I think regardless of what they say, there will be a scouring of the shire on the DVD somewhere or other, because in TTT, there is a moment where samwise is dreaming about the shire being overrun with orcs. It wouldn't make too much sense to set up that entire scene, bring the loads of orcs in, do some fire, have all the hobbits in filthy looking makeup and such for a whole 20 seconds of footage, now would it?

 

[Sid59]

wow. that blows for the actor.

ROTK is really 3 hours and something long?

 

[RalphWiggum]

Originally posted by: Sid59
wow. that blows for the actor.

ROTK is really 3 hours and something long?

Yup, a healthy 3 hours and 20 minutes. Don't worry too much about Christopher "Saruman" Lee, he has a role in another trilogy you have probably seen.

And, I really don't see why people are so upset that Saruman got cut out. I read the books long before the movies, and that was probably my second least favorite part of the book, the first being some forest walking in FOTR. To put in the scouring would be more than anti-climatic, it would jsut drag the movie out. I think there will be enough development of the hobbits characters and decisions in ROTK to justify cutting it. As for Saruman, just accept that he has fallen.

 

[Blayze]

I had heard a rumor about the cut, but didn't know if its true or not.

and 3 hours and 20 mins? Can't wait till Sat to see it.

 

[kami]

Hmm, back from the dead.

Now that I've seen ROTK already I can tell you that while I miss Saruman not being in ROTK, it doesn't affect the movie too much. People need to forget about Saruman...Sauron is the real threat now. They had to throw the audience into that, and they do it quite well. This scene is going to be in the DVD too, so no worries.

I think regardless of what they say, there will be a scouring of the shire on the DVD somewhere or other,

No, there won't be. Ever.
It was never filmed. The current ending would have to be completely reworked from the ground up if they threw the scouring in. It's not a cut and paste scene.

because in TTT, there is a moment where samwise is dreaming about the shire being overrun with orcs. It wouldn't make too much sense to set up that entire scene, bring the loads of orcs in, do some fire, have all the hobbits in filthy looking makeup and such for a whole 20 seconds of footage, now would it?

PJ has said many times that this quick scene was a quick homage to the Scouring of the Shire. The building with the wheel was a miniature, and the dozen or so Orcs and Hobbits just got a bit dirty in front of a bluescreen. And it makes perfect sense to go through all that effort...this is Lord of the Rings after all. It's not uncommon for them to spend weeks working on a single shot.

 

[Shockwave]

While I am excited to see the movie, my ass dreads it and is currently working on boycotting me from going. I doubt it shall work.

 

[abaez]

Originally posted by: kami
OK, here it is.

Even with this scene cut, the final running time for ROTK is 3 hours and 20 minutes. Exactly the amount of time that you can have with a DTS soundtrack in the theater before needing intermission. So I think what it boils down to is either cutting the VoS sequence, or trimming down the ending...not really anything in between because they have so much stuff to cover. I would rather have the ENDING of a THREE MOVIE TRILOGY in tact for the theatrical release. I am disappointed but it is good to know the sequence will be seen next year. I am pretty confident this won't affect the overall movie and story after seeing the last two.

Most theatres today have a 3 dts drive unit. ROTK is coming with 2 discs. You would not need an intermission for longer movies because 1. You could place the third disc in drive c. or 2. If you have a two drive dts unit, you could put disc 3 in drive a (which has disc 1) while the movie was reading from disc 2, this would probably drop it out of digital for about a minute but you wouldn't need an intermission. I'm sure Peter Jackson has his reasons for cutting the scenes, but I really don't think he was thinking that they needed to cut this because it wouldn't fit on two dts discs.

 

[0roo0roo]

whatever,.... ebert and roeper gave it two thumbs up today

 

[KidViciou$]

just out of curiosity, are those discs some special discs? or are they top secret dvd's that are under lock and key? if the latter, i'm surprised there aren't a lot of leaks out there

 

[Hubris]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
whatever,.... ebert and roeper gave it two thumbs up today

They lost any relevance long ago.

 

[Gravity]

I can't remember how it was in the book. It was 2o years ago when I read it. Gandalf, his role in the end is not that significant?

 

[0roo0roo]

Originally posted by: Hubris

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
whatever,.... ebert and roeper gave it two thumbs up today

They lost any relevance long ago.

says you.. a nobody

 

[Hubris]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo

Originally posted by: Hubris

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
whatever,.... ebert and roeper gave it two thumbs up today

They lost any relevance long ago.

says you.. a nobody

rofl. If you say so. I'm glad you've been brainwashed into what to think by the mass media culture. Good luck with that.

 

[BigJelly]

Originally posted by: Hubris

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo

Originally posted by: Hubris

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
whatever,.... ebert and roeper gave it two thumbs up today

They lost any relevance long ago.

says you.. a nobody

rofl. If you say so. I'm glad you've been brainwashed into what to think by the mass media culture. Good luck with that.

exactly.
What did the critics say of the matrix--all were saying it would be the bomb of the year. And 2 weeks later they pull a 180.
So will i want to read a review by a critic that doesnt get it--he!! no. Critics were useful before the internet, now you go to you favorite forum, ATOT, and read what others, who think like you, thought of the movie; not from some over the hill critic that doesnt know a good movie if it kicked them in the @ss.

 

[DurocShark]

Originally posted by: ncircle
one of the best characters in the trilogy cut?
lame! i am boycotting LOTR now!:|



lol

I was gonna smack you... Till I saw the "lol".

I don't care about anything except for the return to the shire scenes. Those were great.

 

[WinkOsmosis]

Honestly, the Scouring of the Shire didn't feel right in the book. I can understand them leaving it out of the movie. After all, it is just a movie. I feel sorry for the people who know LOTR only as the movies and have never read the book.

But isn't there a scene in the previews with Sam and Rosie?? No where else in the book was Sam in a battle.

 

[dabuddha]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo

Originally posted by: Hubris

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
whatever,.... ebert and roeper gave it two thumbs up today

They lost any relevance long ago.

says you.. a nobody

eh I prefer to think for myself. Don't see the point in letting others do it for me

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Originally posted by: WinkOsmosis
Honestly, the Scouring of the Shire didn't feel right in the book. I can understand them leaving it out of the movie. After all, it is just a movie. I feel sorry for the people who know LOTR only as the movies and have never read the book.

But isn't there a scene in the previews with Sam and Rosie?? No where else in the book was Sam in a battle.

You'd probably enjoy this guy's take on it then
link Actually, I changed my mind, I doubt anyone can enjoy anything this guy writes! He comes off like he believes he could have wrote a better fantasy epic himself

 

[0roo0roo]

ebert has proved himself a thoughtful critic. he watches and knows more about film then most people, he could be considered an expert. thats why i value his opinion. even though i sometimes disagree with him, i still take his review into consideration before i watch a movie. i use rottentomatoes and see the opinions of many others too. the alternative is what? flying blind?

reading/watching a critic isn't going to affect how you enjoy a movie, just helps you choose. more info is better.

you read reviews of games? computer hardware? cars? why bother with their opinions when you could buy every single car model etc and do your thinking for yourself

 

[guyver01]

i hear they're replacing Saurman with Count Dooku