I agreed with all the decisions Peter Jackson made when adapting The Fellowship of the Ring into a movie (like, for example, cutting Tom Bombadil and replacing Glorfindel with Arwen). Some said that things had been added that weren’t from the books (like Arwen’s choice), but they were usually things that Tolkien had written either in the Appendices to LOTR, or in other books. Therefore, canonical. And total candy for the real fans.

When I saw The Two Towers theatrical release, however, I had two major gripes: 1) The Palantir chapter, which I’d expected to see, wasn’t in the movie. This is a major Pippin moment so I was sorely disappointed. 2) Faramir, my second favorite character in the books, had been turned into another Boromir. Moreover, he decides to let Frodo go after seeing Frodo offer the Ring to a Nazgul! What gives? Although I didn’t really understand the other changes (e.g. the Wargs), they didn’t bother me as much as this.

I calmed down about Major Gripe #1 when I realized this would be told in ROTK. I was looking forward to the extended version of TTT to see what they’d do about Major Gripe #2.

(ok, spoilers)

Well, they’ve added an entire scene which clearly shows that Faramir was much less respected by his father than older brother Boromir. This desire to please his father provides some explanation for his behavior toward Frodo and the Ring (this is clearer if you’ve read the books). Not a perfect absolution, but an improvement. Faramir still comes off seeming like a weakling, especially compared to how incredibly cool, noble and strong-willed he is in the book.

Most of the other additions are little details that the bring the movies closer to the books (with lots of Pippinny goodness), but don’t add much other than slowing down the pace. Examples: Frodo and Sam use Elven rope to climb, Pippin and Merry drink Ent Draft and grow, Treebeard talks about the Entwives. It’s understandable that Jackson took them out of the theatrical release and restored them for the true fans in this extended edition.

(spoilers over)

So, as a huge fan I liked it. But from a totally “movie that works” standpoint, the lightspeedchick cut of TTT would be simply the theatrical release, plus the scene with Faramir’s father.

(image from The One Ring)