Jax Nova wrote:
Sweet! How much extra do they add and are the added scenes good? Do they add anything to the story or have interesting tidbits that are intriguing etc... ??
About thirty minutes each, I think. According to wiki the run time difference is
169 minutes (Theatrical Edition)
182 minutes (Extended Edition) For An unexpected journey and
161 minutes (Theatrical Edition)
186 minutes (Extended Edition) For Desolation of Smaug
As for the footage, this is a review from amazon on AUJ EE. Spoiler alert so if no one wants to know if you are planning on buying these two movies don't read any farther.
1. More of DALE, including the BLACK ARROWS. Director Peter Jackson mentions a previously unseen character: "Girion, who is defending [the city of] Dale using black arrows against Smaug. And the black arrows play a part in an ongoing story, for they are the one thing that can pierce the dragon's hide."
2. More king of the wood elves; THRANDUIL. Peter Jackson: "There are also issues with Thranduil. We get some of the reason why he and the dwarves had a falling out - to do with these white gems..."
3. More of HOBBITON. Producer Phillipa Boyens: "You are going to get more of Hobbiton. We always wanted to wend our way through Hobbiton, but in the end Bilbo has to run out of the door."
4. The OLD TOOK'S PARTY: In which we see a younger Gandalf meet Bilbo Baggins as a young child, convincing the wizard of the young hobbit's bravery and courage. I won't spoil it for you, but it involves a dragon and a bit of magic.
5. Dwarf antics at RIVENDELL. Peter Jackson: "You are going to get some serious Dwarvish disrespect of the elves at Rivendell." Bofur leads the troupe in a rowdy chorus of "The Man in the Moon", a classic Tolkien pub-song.
6. The SONG of the GOBLIN KING. Producer Fran Walsh: "You are going to get more Goblin Town, and the Great Goblin singing his song. It is a great song, but it was just another delay in terms of moving the story along.
892 of 964 people found the following review helpful
What we can expect in the EXTENDED EDITION.
By Anthony L. TOP 500 REVIEWER on August 6, 2013
The behind the scenes stuff is really interesting too! About 9 hours of it in AUJ.
I think the most interesting extras are in the Desolation of Smaug.
Again this is from an Amazon review.
1. A LOT MORE OF DOL GULDUR. Specifically, we get to meet Thrain, Thorin's mad father. A sad twisted wreck of a dwarf, he reveals dark truths about the Necromancer (and hey, great performance!). The makeup and prosthetic effects for Thrain are just amazing. Wait till you see it. Richard Armitage also promises glimpses of a vast, bloody battle in Moria.
2. A LOT MORE OF MIRKWOOD. I was surprised and pleased to learn that two scenes from the book were actually filmed: Bilbo, Thorin and company crossing a slimy, enchanted river in Mirkwood. Contains some humor, some amazing sets, some amazing Martin Freeman acting, and a little bit of dark magic. Another sad scene contains a beautiful stag and Dwarvish target practice.
3. MORE OF BEORN'S HOUSE. And we know what that means: more of that glorious New Zealand landscape that we all love. All we know is that we see Beorn with big muscles and a bigger axe. We also get to see a whimsical scene ripped straight from Tolkien's pages, as Gandalf introduces the 13 dwarves and 1 hobbit in his care.
4. BEORN AND GANDALF. Beorn has a conversation with Gandalf about the dangers that lie ahead of the Company.
5. MORE THRANDUIL - SPECIAL FEATURES. Peter Jackson smiles upon us and gives us more Thranduil, including a conversation between father and son, and the dwarves, paraded in front of his mighty throne. Anticipate some elvish hubris and the bitemarks from Lee Pace's scenery-chewing. Note that the Thranduil scenes aren't in the Extended Edition, but in the Special Features. For more from that regal and bitter Elvenking, wait for Battle of the Five Armies.
6. MORE OF THE LONELY MOUNTAIN. The Lonely Mountain gets less lonely as Bilbo and Company explore the ruins of Smaug's desolation - Dale. Some awesome cinematography I can't believe we missed!
7. STEPHEN FRY, SCENERY CHEWER. Stephen Fry promised us last year that he would eat testicles in The Hobbit. He fulfills that promise. At the very least, he shows what a scheming conniver he is, expressing his hopes that "Old Smaug dines on dwarf for a day or two..." Poor Master of Laketown...
8. MORE EVIL ORC ARMIES. Honestly, who doesn't want to see more shots of an orc army marching to doom and a red dawn? Even if its just two or three shots, this filled me with sheer awe!
9. "THE WORLD OF MEN". Most of Laketown was a stunningly detailed set built for real, and we get to see more of the workings and tradings and the men that live there, through the eyes of a hobbit very far from home... Including a new chase scene never before seen! We also see the orcs attack the men of Laketown.
What we can expect from the Extended Edition.
By Anthony L. TOP 500 REVIEWER on September 24, 2014
My sister loves the scenes with the hobbits in Mirkwood and the scene with Gandalf introducing the Hobbit and Dwarves to Beorn! My opinion is they are well worth getting! Though if you don't have a Bluray player like me, the Desolation of Smaug set was only available at walmart. For some reason they didn't have it for sale on amazon as a regular set that I could see. That might have changed now.
Man, that movie is intense!
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