Comments on: The Lord of the Rings: Book II – The Ring Goes South

By: Brumous

Brumous — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 00:54:51 +0000

In Book II, Kerr accomplishes some major rearranging, cutting and consolidation. Peter Jackson’s creepy creature moments are trimmed down to something more closely resembling Tolkien’s portrayals. Gandalf’s flashback to Isengard is masterful. The alterations to Aragorn’s character are completely persuasive, and the deletion of the Arwen subplot is welcome. The Lothlorien scenes with Galadriel and Frodo have a stronger sense of eerie grace and supernatural wisdom. In all, the changes make this episode flow at a stirring pace.

There were a few moments where the continuity and flow were a bit choppy, more so than in Book I. Particularly at the conclusion. But at the same time I agree with most of the editor’s choices and feel he did the best he could with the material that was available.

By streamlining and consolidating, Kerr has created a Book II edit that’s even more emotionally resonant than the original. Tolkien tapped into deep cultural archetypes, and that comes through more powerfully in this version. 10/10.

By: DarkPikmin

DarkPikmin — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 06:57:10 +0000

I’m sorry, this is great, I love your edits, but the omission of Gandalf’s black speech from the council of Elrond literally made me cry, I was so disappointed as I love that part.

By: GeneralNerd

GeneralNerd — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 23:42:07 +0000

I liked this part a bit more than part 1, and I really liked the changes you made to it.

Likes:
Again, improved pacing. The battles don’t take as long (when you’ve included any of the battle at all) so they slow the movie down less and everything moves at a good speed.

I liked that Legolas is a bit less of a showoff.

The beginning I liked. It made for a nice little prologue explaining what Gandalf was up to while we were following Frodo.

Dislikes:
Again, a bit too short. 89 minutes is feature length, but for something like this it feels like there should be more.

Cutting out Galadriel getting into Frodo’s head when they first meet was, in my opinion, a mistake. Cutting it out when they enter the forest was a good idea, though.

The conflict between Boromir and Aragorn should also have been left in. I know you were trying to get Aragorn closer to his book version, but frankly his book version was boring. The only thing he ever gets conflicted about in the book is which way to go after Gandalf falls, and Frodo resolves that for him by running away. Frankly, I always preferred the movie’s portrayal of a man unsure about his destiny. It makes him embracing his kingship at the end all the better.

But like I said I liked this a bit more than the first part, if only because there was more of it. I give it 9/10

By: mullholland665

mullholland665 — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 11:32:13 +0000

Really great, I enjoyed this as much as part 1.

The final 10 minutes of Part 2 feels absolutely right: no Uruk-Hai attack on the Fellowship. Ever since I first saw Jackson’s mostly wonderful “Fellowship Of The Ring” that film’s climax has always felt pretty forced and unexciting. This new cut confirms my view. The Urak attack didn’t belong there, no matter what the classic three-act structure of a movie might demand!

10/10.

By: Ripplin

Ripplin — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 18:29:52 +0000

Continuing from the first one, this was flawless editing and the sound and video quality are excellent. The more compact story is nice and I’m looking forward to watching the rest. I’ll give this 8/10.

By: Luggi83

Luggi83 — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 18:50:47 +0000

Good work, not much to complain about…i still prefer the extended edition of the movies, i really somehow liked the fact that you cut out the uruk fight at the end though…adds a whole different mood to the end that i really like. But i have one question: Where are the special features you wrote about?

By: Sokudoningyou

Sokudoningyou — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 01:34:25 +0000

Though I’m not in the least bit interested in these movies (as I’m not a Tolkien fan at all), I do have to post to say that boon23 and AvP’s cover sets look AMAZING. And that editing the movies into six smaller chunks is a very worthy task. I know most of my disintrest was the length of the original movies: the first one put me to sleep.

By: joebshmoe

joebshmoe — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 21:23:06 +0000

i enjoyed book 2 >slightly< less than book 1. book 1 really felt perfect, but with book 2 the nature of the editing begins to show a bit.

still – this was a great watch and the technical quality continues to amaze!

REALLY looking forward to how you take on books 3 & 4, as these should be VERY interesting to bring back down to the tolkien realm (and not the PJ imagined story).

as a tolkien fan i am eternally grateful for your efforts with your book-cut series!!!

entertainment 8/10
fanediting 10/10
video 10/10
audio 9/10
original 8/10 (the fellowship of the ring – extended edition part 2)
fanedit 8/10 (but an improvement for those familiar with the story)

total 8/10

By: henrysamwise

henrysamwise — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 13:10:29 +0000

I made a fanedit of the trilogy a couple of years ago, but in many ways yours is better. I’d love to talk to you about the technical side of things. Could you email me? excaliburvideo@roadrunner.com

By: TMBTM

TMBTM — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 13:54:28 +0000

Okay, I’ve just finished watching book2.
Very good!
I really think you did your best with the footage you have to fit the book, for it is the purpose of this edit. Of course sometimes the pacing can seams a bit bizarre, but Tolkien did not wrote a movie script, he wrote a book! I understand why Peter Jackson made some changes in his movies, but this Book Edit is very pleasant to watch so far, and is a very good compagnon the originals!

All in all, great job!

By: Kirkafur

Kirkafur — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 19:30:45 +0000

I greatly look forward to accessing this fan edit, maybe a torrent or something. Like I said, I’ve had a similar project underway for a while now and seem to have made many of the same decisions you have.