Synopsis:

The final chapter of a six-part edit made to bring Peter Jackson’s adaptations of “The Lord of the Rings” as close as possible to the original book by J.R.R. Tolkien.

Intentions:

To separate Peter Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy into six parts that adhere as closely as possible to the six books of J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings”. This is done by both restructuring the films to match the narrative structure found in Tolkien’s book, and by removing as much as possible of the material that has no basis in Tolkien’s vision of Middle-Earth. For Book VI, apart from only following the journey of Frodo and Sam, several small cuts have been made, including the near-removal of Sauron’s electric lighthouse-eye. The events surrounding the destruction of the Ring have also been recut, and custom credits with new music have been added to the very end of the film.

Change List:

- The edit opens like the book, with Frodo in captivity in the Tower of Cirith Ungol. - Added some sound effects as Sam passes the statues outside the tower. - Cut Frodo’s line “I’m so sorry Sam”, since he didn’t send Sam away in Book IV. - Added “Book VI – The End of the Third Age” title over Sam and Frodo leaving the tower. - Sauron the Floating Eyeball has been minimizedThe searchlight has also been cut as much as possible, but can still be seen, faintly, in some shots. - Removed the shot of the orcs moving off. They move far too quickly, and the bit is not needed since we do not intercut with the rest of the Fellowship’s diversion. - Removed some wide shots from the Mount Doom sequence. The focus here should be on the characters, not the scenery. - Removed Sam’s “Come on!” after “… but I can carry you!”. I feel it is much more effective without the final bit. - Sam’s fight with Gollum has been shortened, both because there’s no good way to merge the two parts of the fight, and because Sam would have received some serious injuries from the thrashing Gollum gives him. Now Sam just slices Gollum’s belly with Sting. - The Mount Doom sequence is not intercut with the battle in front of the Black Gate. - Added some flashes of the Eye of Sauron (from FotR) to keep Sauron’s presence in the sequence without having the electric searchlight-eye. - Removed Sam’s line “Throw it in the fire!” - Gollum and the Ring are destroyed immediately upon hitting the lava. - Shortened Frodo dangling over the lava. Sam now pulls him up immidiately, without Frodo considering suicide. - Reordered the consequences of the Ring’s destruction. Mount Doom erupts, the Nazgul are destroyed, Sam and Frodo escape from Sammath Naur and then witness the destruction of Barad-Dur. - After Frodo’s line “I’m glad to be with you, Samwise Gamgee. Here, at the end of all things” we cut to the end of the battle in front of the Black Gate. - Some of the fades to black or white have been removed – the remaining have been shortened. - Gandalf’s “Now come the days of the king. May they be blessed” and Aragorn’s speech at the coronation have been cut. - Aragorn’s reunion with Arwen has been recut. Since that story has such a small role in these edits, the original scene felt too out of place. - The final shot of Frodo has been cut. - New credits with new music – “Bilbo’s Last Song” from the BBC dramatization.

Additional Notes:

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