At the weekend I received a review copy of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers special extended edition. There are an extra 42 minutes of new and extended scenes in the film, which makes it a very long movie to watch. Despite the extra length, I felt that its pace was more even than the theatrical release. I had noticed the movie lagging in several places when I watched it for the first time on the big screen.

My guess is that with the extra footage Jackson was able to handle the transitions between the action-packed scenes, and the more informational and character-based sections, in a smoother fashion. The extra footage also expands the distance between the three main streams of action, which gives the movie an extra depth, and reminded me strongly of the book. It highlights the separatedness of the main characters, and in particular that Frodo and Sam are on their own, and vulnerable.

Plus, there are small things in the extended edition which explain minor inconsistencies; in particular from where the horse appears that takes Aragorn back to Helm's Deep. Some of the extra scenes I particularly liked were: the funeral of Théodred, discovering Aragorn's age, the extra information about the relationship between Boromir and Faramir and their father (which is quite crucial in explaining Faramir's reason not to take the ring), the arrival of the trees at Helm's Deep, and all the extra footage at the end of the film, especially between Merry and Pippin.

Like the last time, I think that The Two Towers is qualitatively better with the extra footage, even though it makes it a long film. If you don't like the films, and think they are overblown tosh, then I doubt that this version will make you think otherwise. However, if you enjoy Tolkien's work then I suspect you will find this edition of the film more satisfying.

Regarding the 2 discs of extra features, I've only looked at a small number of the documentaries, galleries and featurettes available. You can over-dose on it if you're not careful. I can recommend that the documentary "The Taming of Sméagol" is well worth watching, as it is an honest examination of the influence of Andy Serkis on how Jackson, and the Weta team, ended up revising and revisioning the Gollum/Sméagol character. Thank goodness Serkis came on board, as I think the film would have been far inferior without him.

If you are a fan of the movies, or of Tolkien's work, then this extended edition of the film is well worth owning. It's substantially enriched with extra details and scenes, and there are enough bonus features on the DVD to keep the die-hard enthusiast happy for hours.