Is Rewatching the Fellowship of the Ring Extended Edition Worth it?

Why rewatch it?

New Line Cinema released The Fellowship of the Ring in 2001. However, as most fans of the books knew, a lot of material was cut out.

Luckily, Peter Jackson was a fan and filmed a lot more than was shown in the theatrical version. Therefore, he released extended editions for the exact type of fan that he is.

He did leave some stuff out, but that’s not what this blog is about.

Furthermore, we are meeting John Rhys-Davies at Pensacon, so I wanted to revisit the Lord of the Rings.

Is it still worth the time that is needed to watch it? Especially if you have a baby?

That’s what I was thinking when I decided to rewatch the movie again.

Did it hold up?

Resoundingly, yes it does hold up.

The CGI holds up better than I expected. There were a few moments where it was clunky, but nothing to snap you out of the experience. The fight scenes are top notch and when the movie is supposed to scare you, it does. The Nazgul are still truly terrifying. Rivendell and the mines of Moria are still breathtaking.

The extra scenes all felt as if they either further pushed the story or delved deeper into character development.

The editing of the movie is near flawless. Even though I’ve read the books and seen the movies numerous times, there were still moments of tension that comes from great filmmaking.

I truly enjoy watching the care that went into making Legolas so interesting. From him walking on top of the snow to the little moves he makes during fight scenes never ceases to astound me. Also, Sean Bean is perfect as the example of the faults of man and serves as a great contrast to the unattainable perfection of Aragon.

Of course, the time it takes to watch the films is the biggest hurdle, especially with an eleven-month-old. At three hours and forty-eight minutes, it’s the shortest of the three extended editions.

We were able to watch in a single night, but not in a single go. We started around 6 and the baby was still up, which of course meant we had to put her to bed during the middle of it. However, the movie does allow for some good stopping points so that didn’t become an issue.

Not sure when we will get time to finish watching the trilogy, but I am glad we decided to watch it again.

What do you think? Does the movie still hold up? Do you think Amazon should go ahead with their TV show adaption? If you have a baby, how does affect watching this or any movie? Let’s discuss it in the comments!