December 29, 2003

Things to Look Forward To...
Brett C.

Since we are discussing the things we didn't see in the movie, here are some snippets of stuff I have learned from the Weapons and Warfare guide as to things we might hope to see, along with a few suppositions of my own.

I warn you now, there are some things people might want to wait until the DVD release to find out about.

Mouth of Sauron, definitely in there somewhere. His weapons and helmet are shown in the book.

Aragorn's use of the palantir to challenge Sauron, apparently in the scene in Minas Tirith after the Last Debate. I believe this will explain Gandalf's line that Sauron will never fall for the diversion at the Black Gate, which in the theatre's was left hanging.

More of Gandalf's exposition of the plot at Edoras, as seen in the previews.

Merry presenting his sword to Theoden, of course. We've been seeing that shot since FOTR was in cinemas.

Merry stabbing the Nazgul not once but twice, as mentioned in the Weapon's and Warfare book. The second time may be with the Noldorin dagger given him by Galadriel - maybe Aragorn returns it to him at Isengard. Hopefully there is also an explanation of how Merry got back underneath that dead Haradrim after stabbing the Nazgul?

Orcs trying to get through the great gate using common battering ram - mentioned in the book but not sure about this one. May have been a abandoned concept or a mistake by the book authors.

Book mentions that the siege engines, including Grond, came from the Black Gate, so maybe a cuataway shot of this.

Easterlings, as seen in TTT, following the Olog Hai into the city.

Gandalf's confrontation with the Nazgul, natch. The book says in two different places the WitchKing uses his mace[flail] to smash Gandalf's staff, but since we saw him with it at the end of the movie, I'm not sure about this.

Book also mentions Denethor having used a palantir, so I guess we'll see.

Faramir and Eowyn's romance is mentioned, and that was a knowing little glance they gave on screen, wasn't it? Also there official site has shots of Aragorn and Eowyn in the houses of healing, so that would seem to be a lock.

There is actually a reference to the Rammas Echor in the movie book, the outlying wall around the Pelennor. In fact the pictures showing the design of the Mians Tirth emblem on Gondorian swords seem to indicate it's presence, but I think this is a long shot. Still, you never know.

More expalantion of the two groups of orcs in Cirith Ungol seems a safe bet.

A cut scene explaining the mithril coat is not out of the question - it was never shown in TTT and I wouldn't be surprised if PJ had filmed a scene to remind audiences about it, but had to drop it for time reasons.

The brief glimpse we got of the Silent Watchers at the tower gates leads me to hope we will see Sam using the Star-glass to get through, although when he enters the courtyard in the cinemas it is not in his hand.

The cutaway from Gandalf questioning Pippin about his palantir vision seemed a bit abrupt, so there might be a shot to show what Pipping saw/heard when Sauron quizzed him. Maybe a use of John Howe's famous painting of the Nazgul circling Barad dur, since he helped on the conceptual design for the movie.

I suspect there will be some dialogue between Theodon and Eowyn pre-leaving Edoras, regarding his feelings of disappointment at how he handled Helm's Deep and his initial reluctance to aid Gondor. This might be supporting his line on the Pelennor fields that Eowyn had already saved him.

I also guess there will be a scene where we see Frodo and Sam disgarding their orc uniforms. There was also a hint about them being overtaken by orcs and forced to march with them in the book on Warfare.

Since we see Gandalf wearing Narya at the havens, I think there will some brief dialogue in that scene about how he came by it. Elrond is also openly wearing Vilya there for the first time.

And finally, I have no proof but a gut feeling the infamous battle moth we appear earlier than the Black Gate, sent by Gandalf no doubt to summon the eagles, as in FOTR.

Anyway, if others have there own sources of info or educated guesses about the extended cut please post them. This isn't over yet :)

Brett C.