November 25, 2003

The Two Towers Extended and Into the West
Jarrickon Half-elven

I agree with many that have said so that the Extended Edition of TTT greatly improved upon much, especially the characters of Gandalf, Eowyn, and Faramir (the scenes given the latter of Sam's internal monologue and Morgul Vale/Cirith Ungol were greatly appreciated). Also loved were Eowyn's Rohirric (Anglo-Saxon) requiem for Theodred, and the scene entitled, "The Ring of Barahir." With all the mentions of Valar, Morgoth, Barahir, and etc., there may be more Silmarillion references in these movies than there were in The Lord of the Rings!

By the way, Pippin, one of the deciding factors in removing Shelob to the Return of the King was that, according to Tolkien's timeline, Sam and Frodo were in her lair when the siege of Gondor was going on.

As to Annie Lennox's, "Into the West," I was quite scared when first I heard the small clip. Upon hearing the full song though, I think it is pretty good, although far inferior to "May It Be" (also the refrain, especially the second one (featured in the clip), kind of grates on my ears).

Namarie