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Rough cuts of 2nd, 3rd films done; more filming scheduled; mixed fan reviews

December 23, 2001 at 03:46:16

Peter Jackson has told reporters that rough cuts of 'The Two Towers' and 'The Return of the King' have already been made. Both movies are expected to last 2-1/2 to 3 hours.

The Dark Horizons Web site indicates that as much as 45 minutes of footage was trimmed from "The Fellowship of the Ring" before it was released to theaters. Fans around the world have already identified several scenes shown in trailers and spy reports which had been cut. Among those confirmed by Dark Horizons are a scene where Gimli falls for Galadriel and some footage where members of the Fellowship share their feelings about being involved with the quest to destroy the Ring.

Actors are scheduled to return to New Zealand in May and June for additional filming, if any is deemed necessary. Although "The Two Towers" is mostly finished, "The Return of the King" is still in very rough shape, and could be altered.

Despite rave reviews from the media, a growing number of Tolkien purists have been speaking out against "The Fellowship of the Ring". The most common complaints concern the pacing of the film, radical departures from the literary storyline, and the scene where the Company of the Ring traverses a crumbling stone staircase in Moria before reaching the bridge. Liv Tyler, who plays Arwen, has received many compliments from a by-no-means unanimous purist community regarding her performance as Arwen.

Sir Ian McKellen is almost universally being hailed as the perfect Gandalf. Viggo Mortensen, Sean Bean, and Elijah Wood have also earned high praise from the usually reluctant purists. In what may be the most ironic turn of events, many online reviews complain the CGI battle scenes are overdone. It was the revolutionary software, called Massive, which received most of the critical attention from mainstream media in the years leading up to the release of the movie.

Nonetheless, thousands of reviews have appeared in online discussion groups, Web sites, and in newspapers and magazines around the world. The movie which many are calling the best film of 2001 has met with widespread success and appears to be in no danger of failing. Early reports of box office receipts have been careful to point out that the nearly 3-hour flick is longer than "Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone" (not to mention most other movies) and opened on far fewer screens, so its box office receipts will not be as impressive as Potter's.