November 30, 2003

RotK Spoilers (Very Big Ones; I Mean Like, Huge)
Bob Praz

Well, if anyone has been keeping track of any of several websites, you will have noticed the number of reviews that have been released lately. It seems there was an advanced Thanksgiving screening in Hollywood. Of course, all are positive so far, but it seems that there may also be a lot of stuff planned for the EE DVD: Saruman's sequence of course, but also the Houses of Healing (although I can't say I was really surprised at this cut), and perhaps some stuff for Frodo and Sam near the end of their trek across Mordor. I don't think I'm going to name all the spoilers here; you can go out on sites like WotR and TORn and find them for yourself, if you're interested. However there are a few things that intrigue me.
Of course, I look forward to Legolas apparently bringing down an Oliphaunt single-handedly (perhaps the good-old "climb up on his back and shoot him in the eye" trick? Just guessing...). As I expected, PJ cut out the romance between Faramir and Eowyn, although (apparently, once again) we see them together at the wedding. It seems we barely see Arwen until the wedding, which will put some doubts to rest. There's also this very moving scene where Pippin is singing to Denethor while Faramir and his men ride out to a suicidal mission at Osgiliath. I wonder, would that be Billy Boyd’s singing in the soundtrack? Those who have listened might be able to comment on that.
Naturally, everyone so far has recommended you bring some Kleenex.

Now over at warofthering.net they have this list of spoilers, which are not necessarily confirmed, they say, and some of them actually do sound sort of outrageous, so I'm hoping that some of the reviewers are either making up stuff or have a very bad memory.
First of all, two scenes/sequences which we have long believed to be in the movie, either because of the previews or the cast list, are claimed to have been left out: Gandalf confronting the Witch-King, and the Mouth of Sauron at the Morannon. I find that very strange that PJ would cut out these scenes. Gandalf's confrontation with the W-K (Witch-King) was featured in official previews and desktops, even though in the DVD preview it appeared like a regular Nazgûl (so unless that's what they meant). Cutting out the Mouth of Sauron would be perhaps less surprising in a way, but it would mean that another actor (Bruce Spence, who seemed like he would fill-in the role quite well) has been removed entirely from the third movie.
Ok, quote: "Gollum manages to get Frodo to send Sam home, he faces Shelob alone, but Sam comes back."
And quote again: "Denethor jumps burning from the pyre and out of the tower to his death"

Does that make any sense to you guys?

PS: On the bright side, it says, in the same list, that the last line in the movie is the same one as in the book. If that’s true, than it’s pretty cool.