Slashdot | Saruman Completely Cut from 'Return of the King'
Far be it from me to venture into the culture wars, but this is nuts.
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by Michael Froomkin
Laurie Silvers & Mitchell Rubenstein Distinguished Professor of Law
University of Miami School of Law
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No it’s not. They’ve been saying for years that they weren’t going to do the “Scouring of the Shire.” Without that, you don’t need Saruman.
The scenes were cut when they weren’t able to get gray davis.
Snort.
Peter Jackson was interviewed recently about this. He said they shot about 7 minutes of Saruman scenes for the beginning of RotK, as a follow-on from the destruction of Isengard in the previous film, but they decided (as they did with THE TWO TOWERS) not to start the theatrical-release version with any sort of “What Has Gone Before” material. Apparently this footage will appear in the extended DVD release of RotK.
I was privileged to go see a critics release of the movie yesterday. IT ROCKED! I think that it was better than the first 2 combined. IT was very long- at almost 3hrs, and 15mins. I think that the ending was great. There was no need to have Saroman and wormtounge in thrid movie. Movies need to have movie endings…..sometimes this should be different from the book….which i felt had a dragging ending anyway. I think that it was good not to have Saruman in the Shire, that would have make the movie entirely to long. The way the movie ends….in the middle, when Gandalf is speaking with Treebeard, he just sort of suggest that Saruman is locked in his tower forever without any power. Who know maybe in the extended version they will have the whole shire scene, but i doubt it.
RotK is gonna be the greatest movie ever made, it will be better than the first and the second combined, which both movies were far the greatest movies i have ever layed my eyes upon. Lord Of The Rings ROCKS!!!!!!
after reading the 3d book , and realising that the third movie is not what i was expecting it to be , i say that cutting saruman out IS nuts ! hes is not a very important character as all might find , but he does give a hint of how the war is nearly one , and is some how part of the storys climax .
OK OK – Look ppl, Cutting Sarumon was a good idea. Adding him in the Shire is just an after thought in my opinion. The Oliphaunts ruled! Watching it in the theater is a must! When the Oliphaunts go stomping you can literally fell you seat shaking in the surround sound! Neat-O! Also, the scenes of Gandolf fighting in Minis Thirith Kick azz! Watching him twirl around his sword and staff is sweet! Not to shabby for an old man. I also might like to add that Sam’s wife is the hottest friggin Hobbit that i have ever seen!
lol it was a pretty bad idea, as its like – whats happened to him? The film does work without him but would work better except for the time issue with him.
I have to say I never actually got round to reading the 3rd part of lotr so i dont really know how much sarumon means to the success of the third film. i presume if they’re cutting him that he can’t hav played all that an important role
well watching it in the cinima isn’t a must for me.. cause i have 120watt per channel stereo 5.1 surround digital but im gonna go see it cause the atmosfear will be so much better
Why cut Saruman? Well the reality is the movie diverges from the book. No one was up in arms about Tom Bombadil’s lack of presence…oh well.
If anything I say that leaving out the scouring of the Shire is diverging from Tolkien’s vision. His plan was to have a running theme of sacrifice (given his Christian background). The fact that in the book Frodo never enjoyd his success, but is always tormented by his wounds of being a ring bearer seem only fitting to the theme of Christ. The hobbits overall never deserved to have their land destroyed, their women raped, their people enslaved. The point is that the world is one of brokeness. Broken from the fall of man as seen in Genesis, or if you follow the Tolkien mythology, the destruction of Numenor under Sauron’s begile.
The overall point of Tolkien’s story is to wide to cite, but MUST include a discussion about the sacrifice people make in order to bring justice to a fallen world.
Cheers
I dont know about Sauraman, but I have seen pics of Arwen in Lothlorien with Galadriel. And I also saw pics of this elf woman named Uruviel, some elf maiden who lives in Lothlorien. From what I remember, these werent in the books. Although it would be very interesting to see. If anyone has any info on this, please e-mail me at seedy90@aol.com. Thanks