'I watched all extended versions of Lord of the Rings in the cinema and here's my verdict'

Daily Mirror

6 days ago

It'd been over a decade since reporter Alice Sjoberg had seen the Lord of the Rings films, so she decided to take the opportunity to watch the extended versions at the cinema for the first time
Cineworld is celebrating their Unlimited feature, a membership programme which allows members to watch as many films as they want for a monthly fee, turning 25. So to celebrate, they brought back some of the top films from the last 25 years for fans to enjoy for a discounted rate for everyone.
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So when I saw on social media that the Cineworld near me was showing all three of the Lord of the Rings movies three days in a row, I immediately knew I wanted to go. If there's anything that'll make those films better, it's seeing them in the cinema. But when I later realised they were showing the extended versions, I got even more excited as I'd only ever watched the theatrical cuts of each movie.
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So, I quickly booked tickets for me and my boyfriend, who is a big Lord of the Rings fan, and together we went to experience the iconic films on the big screen. But will 12 hours in total prove to make this trilogy 'too much'? Only time would tell...
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The Fellowship of the Ring
First up was of course the Fellowship of the Ring, which was showing on the Monday evening at 6.30pm. We made sure to get there early enough to use the bathroom and get ourselves some popcorn and drinks ahead of the three-and-a-half hour long film.
The first extra scene came right at the beginning, which saw the introduction of the one ring and how it came to be so powerful and feared among people in Middle Earth. As a novice in the world of Lord of the Rings, I really appreciated this, as it added extra depth into the story - not that it needs it.
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Next up came the scenes in the Shire, which already were some of my favourite as I'd happily live there myself if I could. While I felt like it dragged a bit at some points, you just can't beat the feel-good moments such as during Gandalf's fireworks extravaganza. This truly made me excited for watching the rest of the movies, as the cinematic experiences made it even better.
It also added extra backstory to all of the Hobbit characters. While this is nice in the moment, it really adds a nice build up and backstory for the later films.
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One of the extra scenes that truly blew me away in this film was when Frodo and Sam spotted the Wood Elves heading to the Undying Lands. While it didn't add much in terms of the plot, the scenery, music, and overall emotion of the moment made it a breathtakingly beautiful scene that ended with me covered in goosebumps.
As I'd not watched the films from beginning to end in so long, there were also moments and scenes in this film that I'd completely forgotten about, which made it feel like I was watching them again for the first time.
The extra scenes also made me sympathise with Aragorn right from the start. Don't get me wrong, he is and remains one of my favourite characters, but seeing him visit his mum's monument in Rivendell and sing and Elvish song that refers back to his feelings for Arwen really makes him more relatable.
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The Two Towers
The following evening, it was time for my boyfriend's favourite film, The Two Towers. It follows the journeys of the members of the Fellowship, after it got divided into three groups and went on their separate adventures to do what they could to prepare for the upcoming fight against antagonist Saruman.
While I was excited for this, our cinema experience started with a disappointment as we soon realised all the ads and trailers were the exact same as the previous night, and they were even in the same order! While this isn't the movies fault, I had hoped for a bit more variety.
However, one of my favourite parts about this film was how much screen time Merry and Pippin got. Once again, I'd completely forgotten about their adventures with the Ents, especially Treebeard.
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A particular favourite moment of mine was when they drank the nourishment of the Ents and quickly starts competing to see who can grow taller than the other. Since the films are quite heavy and dark overall, these lighthearted moments become more enjoyable.
Another example of this is when Legolas and Gimli start to compete with each other over how many orcs they've killed at the end battle, which not only helps show the competitive friendship between the two, but also makes the long fight scene a bit more fun and light-hearted.
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Speaking of the fight scenes, of which there are many - these scenes have always been incredible to watch. But watching them in the cinema really made it worth having to stay up until almost midnight every night to watch them, even for someone like me who normally has a strict 10pm bedtime.
The Return of the King
All of the sudden, it was Wednesday and it was time to return to Cineworld for the longest movie in the trilogy. It also had an added 51 minutes of footage added to it, making the film over four hours long.
This film included several scenes I think I would miss if I rewatched the theatrical release now, as they truly made an already great film even better. The most notable scene in this extended version is Saruman's death.
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This takes place when Gandalf and the others come across a defeated Saruman who is still defiant, but is quickly stabbed by Wormtongue and falls off his tower to his death. Meanwhile, in the theatrical cut, Saruman's story just ends and he is simply not heard from again.
The extended version also included answers to a previous plot hole on how Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli take over the Black Ships, which I'm sure fans were overjoyed to learn when they first saw it.
Overall, I spent over 12 hours watching the extended versions of this trilogy in the cinema, but would I recommend it to others? Absolutely.
These films became even more amazing when watching them on the big screen, and the extended versions never felt like they were as long as they actually were as there were constantly interesting things happening.
I am so happy that Cineworld decided to bring these films back to the cinema, and I hope more cinemas will do the same in the future as I'm desperate to watch them again.