The Lord of the Rings films have an identity crisis. Fans watching the movies have to choose between two very different versions of the films: the theatrical cuts or the much longer Extended Editions. In recent years, however, the Extended Editions have displaced the theatrical cuts as the most popular version of the films. If you try to stream or buy the Lord of the Rings, the first version you find will probably be the Extended Editions. 

Now, I love the Lord of the Rings movies, but I was raised on the Theatrical Editions. When I finally saw the extended versions sometime in my early teens, I felt like they were… well… worse. A lot of added scenes felt like filler, and the films (never exactly short) ballooned to almost four hours each. But at the same time, there were a lot of scenes that I loved, and couldn’t believe had ever been excluded. 

So for fun, I like to consider which added scenes improve the movies and which detract. You can think of this as the creation of an imaginary “Theatrical Plus” edition that combines the best of both worlds.

Before I begin, here’s a disclaimer. Many fans of the movies are LoTR maximalists who automatically gravitate towards the Extended Editions because they feel that more LotR is always better. I don’t want to take away anyone’s enjoyment. If you wouldn’t cut a second of the Extended Edition’s twelve hour runtime, this series isn’t for you. On the other hand, if you love the movies but enjoy critiquing them almost as much, keep reading.

Scene Analysis

Concerning Hobbits 

In Bag End, Bilbo begins his book with a description of Hobbits and their ways. The voice over is accompanied by a montage of idyllic Shire life. 

I’m going to start this list by spouting some heresy. I love this scene. It brings me joy every time. But I don’t think it should be in this movie. My problem isn’t with the scene itself, but how it fits into the story. In other parts of the movie we see the hobbits lounging around in their gardens or drinking ale. Do we really need Bilbo telling us that the hobbits love growing things or brewing? Bilbo says that hobbits like smoking pipeweed, which is really subtle foreshadowing for when we see him and Gandalf doing exactly that a few minutes later. This is a classic case of show don’t tell. 

The other problem with Concerning Hobbits is that it comes right on the heels of another lengthy sequence of voiced-over monologue. If you combine the two, you’re looking at more than ten minutes of exposition before the story has even started. It’s great exposition, but it’s still nothing more than that. 

Rating: 5/5

Include? No 

Bilbo Says Goodbye to Frodo

During the birthday party, Bilbo and Frodo hide from the Sackville Baggins. Bilbo cryptically bids farewell to his nephew. 

In the Theatrical Edition, Bilbo and Frodo don’t share any scenes until Rivendell, halfway through the movie. “[Frodo] is very fond of you,” Gandalf tells Bilbo in the Theatrical Edition, but it’s nice to actually see the affection between the two hobbits. I also love the presence of the Sackville Baggins, the kind of petty enemies that are, in their own way, just as fearsome as the servants of Sauron.

It’s not a game-changing scene, but it’s short and sweet and does its job well. 

Rating 4/5

Include? Yes

Elves in the Shire

Not far from Hobbiton, Sam and Frodo watch a group of elves travel to the Grey Havens. Later, Sam has trouble getting comfortable sleeping in the wilderness. Frodo tells him to imagine he is in his own bed. 

To me, this scene feels too early in the movie. Sam and Frodo are still in the heart of the shire. They haven’t even met Merry and Pippin yet. In the Theatrical Edition, the hobbits’ first brush with the outside world is the Black Riders, a much more powerful way to show that they aren’t in Kansas anymore. 

In a jarring transition, the scene inexplicably shifts from day to night the moment the hobbits see the elves. It’s a small editing oversight, but one that annoys me every time. 

The little conversation between Sam and Frodo is endearing, but it treads the exact same ground as the far superior cornfield scene just before it (“if I take one more step, it’s the farthest away from home I’ve ever been”). We already know that Frodo is a caring and wise friend to the homebody Sam. 

3/5

Include? No

The Lay of Luthien

As the group travels through the Midgewater Marshes, Strider sings lines from the elven Lay of Luthien. He tells a curious Frodo about the tragic love story of Beren and Luthien. 

Few characters benefit as much from the Extended Edition as does Aragorn. Most of the scenes involving his backstory and reluctance to take the throne end up cut from the Theatrical Edition. This is one of his better ones. It elegantly sets up his relationship with Arwen, and articulates Aragorn’s fears about Arwen’s death much more clearly than any other moment in Fellowship. Plus, we get a bit of Viggo Mortensen’s beautiful singing voice and learn that Frodo speaks elvish. 

This scene is also one of the few in the Peter Jackson trilogy to include one of Tolkien’s favorite devices, an in-world reference. The books include hundreds of references to events only described in the (at that point unpublished) Silmarillion. Alluding to things that we the viewer don’t know makes the movies more immersive and the world more real. 

4/5

Include? Yes

Boromir at the Council

During the Council of Elrond, Boromir tells of a prophetic dream and tries to pick up the ring. Gandalf stops him by reciting the Ring’s inscription in the Black Speech. 

This early sign of Boromir’s lust for the ring is too heavy-handed for my taste. The Theatrical Edition includes plenty of that, most notably the scene where Boromir picks up the ring in the Misty Mountains. Also, Gandalf’s dramatic line, while it does come from the book, feels very out of place. He goes from 0 to 100 really quick, and then the scene continues as though nothing had happened, with Boromir once again saying that the council should use the ring (“it is a gift”). All in all, this scene feels forced and inconsequential. 

Rating 2/5

Include: No

Departure from Rivendell 

As the fellowship prepares to leave Rivendell, Elrond describes their mission. Frodo asks Gandalf whether they should go left or right on the way out. Aragorn and Arwen exchange a wordless goodbye. 

This is a bad scene. I’m not a fan of Elrond’s deadpan delivery of information that we already know, and his weird snubbing of dwarves (“May the blessings of Elves [shot of Legolas] and of men [shot of Boromir] and all free folk [shot of Gimli] go with you”) doesn’t help. Aragorn and Arwen’s relationship tends to suffer from an overabundance of lingering stares and and a lack of real chemistry, so their stilted farewell doesn’t do anything for me either. 

1/5

Include? No

Gandalf’s Advice

As the fellowship approaches Moria, Gandalf tells Frodo to beware the ring, and warns that betrayal may come from within the fellowship. 

This small scene achieves two things. It gives Frodo a bit of final advice from Gandalf, who seems to know that his time with the fellowship will soon come to an end. However, Gandalf’s later scene in the mines (“all we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us”) leaves a much stronger impression. The other thing the scene does is foreshadow Boromir’s betrayal. However, as I said before, the Extended Edition piles up so much foreshadowing that it might as well be screaming not to trust Boromir. 

3/5

Include? No

Camping in Lorien 

After meeting Haldir, the fellowship spends a night in the treetops. As Aragorn argues with Haldir, Frodo sits numbly. Boromir tells him not to shoulder the burden of Gandalf’s death.

This scene has a couple of things going for it. We get to properly meet Haldir (whose death is a fairly important part of the Battle of Helm’s deep) and Boromir gets a moment of pathos. 

The problem is that the scene has a pretty pointless premise. Haldir refuses to take the Fellowship into Lorien, only to relent offscreen. The whole thing reeks of contrived conflict for the sake of a moment’s drama. 

3/5

Include? No

Eulogies for Gandalf

In Lorien, the elves sing haunting laments for Gandalf. Sam joins in with a poem about Gandalf’s fireworks. 

Gandalf’s death was a huge blow to our characters and the world of Middle Earth as a whole. I like that this scene highlights the different ways Elves and Hobbits feel the loss. Sam’s attempt at poetry is sweet and genuine, and provides a bit of levity in what is otherwise a pretty grim last hour of the movie. 

3.5/5

Include? Yes

Galadriel’s Gifts

The fellowship leaves Lorien, and Galadriel gives many parting gifts to the members of the fellowship. Celeborn warns Aragorn about the Uruk-hai. 

This whole scene comes straight from the book. Gift-giving was an important part of many old Norse Sagas, so Tolkien must surely have felt he had to include it in his own epic. The film version, however, feels a little extraneous.  

Many of the gifts, like lembas, Merry and Pippin’s belts, and the cloaks, while visible for the rest of the series, are not special enough to deserve a mention. Legolas gets… a bow that looks exactly like his previous bow. Plus, Sam’s complaints about getting rope and not a weapon really rings false to his character. For some unfathomable reason, Boromir doesn’t even get a gift! Galadriel should have at least given him the Legolas, Merry, and Pippin treatment by handing him something irrelevant.

On the plus side, Gimli’s gift of three hairs is a nice moment.

I like this scene, and was on the fence about keeping it, but what ultimately swayed me was its place in the final act of the movie. Fellowship suffers from a slowish ending and a climax that feels like an afterthought. The gift scene takes place more than 80% of the way through, and slows the movie on what should be a sprint to the finish. 

4/5

Include? No

Riverside Chats

Boromir sees that Gollum is following the fellowship. Frodo rebuffs Sam’s concern. Boromir and Aragorn argue about going to Minas Tirith. 

These are all decent scenes. I especially like Boromir and Aragorn’s conversation, where Boromir passionately defends the honor of men and urges Aragorn to stop hiding from his people. Taken as whole, the scenes tell us that the Fellowship is fracturing. But like Galadriel’s Gift, they don’t fit well into the overall movie. At this point, the movie should be amping up for a climax, not slowing down. The company is being chased by Uruk-hai, but it sure doesn’t feel like it during this leisurely scene. 

3/5

Include? No

–

That concludes the major deleted scenes from The Fellowship of the Ring. It’s not comprehensive; I only went over scenes more than one minute in length. All in all, I think Fellowship is the movie that benefits the least from the added scenes.

I know that this is a controversial opinion among fans of the series. Let me be clear: I still like many of the scenes, even if I would ultimately cut them. Like diluting a really good wine with water, including scenes with little to add to the story only makes the movie longer and distracts from the really amazing scenes that we all love. 

That’s all for now, stay tuned for my analysis of The Two Towers.