Out of curiosity, I rented (for free!) the theatrical release of Fellowship of the Ring. Of course, the disc was scratched all to hell — so I was only able to take in about the first twenty minutes before my DVD player began to freak out.

I think I might need to clean the thing, soon; even some discs which should be fine are giving it problems.

At any rate — aside from the vapid extras (which I’m afraid I couldn’t tolerate in their entirety), my main target was a comparison of the original cut of the film to the one with which I am more familiar.

Conclusion, from what I see, and the memories it’s causing to resurface:

hot damn, was this thing improved.

The whole beginning portion seems to be edited such as to construe Gandalf as the main character of the movie. His interactions with Frodo are abbreviated, sped up, and depersonalized. Near-all of Bilbo’s characterization has been omitted, dragging him down to the level of a disposable plot device with whom Gandalf briefly interacts on his personal mission to the shire. Frodo only becomes a factor once Gandalf has been established, and even then he’s not illustrated as much.

The editing is more abrupt and disorienting. It feels hurried. Not just in comparison; I remember feeling this way in the theater.

Basically: the warmth is removed, as are character relationships. The movie isn’t set up as well. It progresses too quickly.

And then there’s the whole visual aspect. The theatrical version just isn’t edited with the care of the extended cut. There are a number of “new” or alternate shots (from my perspective, going back) which don’t sit as well in the frame, or are of questionable value. You can tell that Jackson spent an extra year on the longer edit, smoothing things over; revising and selecting exactly what was needed to tell the story as well as possible. Heck, even the colours are richer.

The result is a far more well-made film, from just about any direction.

No pun intended.

As such: given how distinctively non-plussed I was with the theatrical cut of The Two Towers, I’m now even more curious about the extended version. It’s not just that material was added to FotR; the entire thing was carefully honed. Almost every edit, shot, and overdub was reconsidered. And the result was that the entire focus of the movie was shifted in the right direction — mostly from what amounts to a handful of rather subtle revisions; partially due to the necessary added material.

You could call the theatrical cut the sloppy first draft of the film, slapped in a can to placate the studio while Jackson continued his work.

So. On that note, I’d like a similar change of focus in the second film. I’d like the editing to give me less of a headache. I’d like to see a more deliberate movie, which lurks beneath the surface of the mess that we saw rushed to the screen.

I think it’s there.

We’ll see.