The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Extended Edition)

It's hard to believe but 2021 marks the 20th anniversary of Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring and thus the start of his famous trilogy based on the fantasy works of J. R. R. Tolkien. I haven't made much time in the past to revisit the films but this time I wanted to finally see how the extended editions would fare against the theatrical cuts and if it's worth revisiting all three films with a significantly longer running time. 

The Fellowship of the Ring is much the same as the 2001 version with the hobbit, Frodo, being left a mysterious ring by his uncle, Bilbo, which if it should reach its original owner would spell doom and destruction for all of Middle Earth. With the help of the wizard, Gandalf, a fellowship is formed with two humans (Aragorn and Boromir), Legolas an elf and Gimli a dwarf to help destroy the ring and bring peace to all of their lands. 

Just like the theatrical cut, the film boasts a terrific cast with Ian McKellen, Elijah Wood, Christopher Lee, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Bean, Orlando Bloom, Hugo Weaving, Liv Tyler and many more who are all perfectly brought to life from page to screen. Watching behind the scenes reveal the years of planning that went ahead into making this and the end result was a huge success with a expertly crafted fantasy epic which satisfied fans of Tolkien and newcomers alike. 

The extended edition for The Fellowship of the Ring sees most of its added material within the first half during scenes set around The Shire and for any Tolkien fans this should be a delight to them. Here we spend more time developing the characters as they make their journey to Rivendale and from here we get odd bits and pieces with extra lines but with little consequence to the overall narrative. It's not until the fellowship meet Galadriel where Jackson further expands his scenes and, as a fan, I enjoyed every moment but does this mean I would never go back to the theatrical cut? 

Alas no, the cut released in cinemas is a fantastic film with nary a scene wasted. The extended version supplies the audience with more time to 'hang-out' with the hobbits which is great that this exists but I wouldn't want to call this the essential version for most viewers. Rumour has it, there are even longer versions which I would love to see as the world Jackson has created is brilliant but if you're looking to introduce someone new to the films, either version would more than suffice here.