Joined: Sat Nov 02, 2002 6:54 pm
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By Susan Wloszczyna USA TODAY
Boromir lives!
Admirers of manly actor Sean Bean will rejoice, if somewhat briefly, when the three-hour, 43-minute extended cut of last year's No. 2 box-office hit The Lord of the Rings:The Two Towers reaches shelves in a four-DVD collection on Nov. 18. One of the year's most-anticipated DVD releases is timed to the release Dec. 17 of The Return of the King, the final film based on J.R.R. Tolkien's beloved fantasy trilogy.
USA TODAY got an early preview in Wellington, New Zealand, last week at director Peter Jackson's private screening room. Though a two-DVD set with the original three-hour Towers arrives on shelves Aug. 26, Rings completists will find plenty of fresh Middle-earth fodder in the longer version.
Bean's ring-craving Boromir, slain at the end of 2001's The Fellowship of the Ring, is resurrected in a lengthy DVD flashback after brother Faramir (David Wenham) finds a boat bearing his body.
Not only is there more Bean to savor, but the twisted emotional ties that ensnare ruler Denethor (New Zealand actor John Noble, who officially joins the cast in King), his favorite son, Boromir, and scapegoat Faramir also are exposed. The scenes also help explain why the noble Faramir is rather rude when he meets heroic hobbits Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin).
Other DVD additions to the middle tale that heighten the drama and lighten the mood:
• Rohan horseman Eomer (Karl Urban) finds his mortally wounded cousin Theodred and brings him home, where his subsequent death goes all but unnoticed by his spell-stunned father, King Theoden (Bernard Hill).
• The plight of Eowyn (Miranda Otto), Eomer's sister, deepens as she sings a mournful dirge during Theodred's funeral. Meanwhile, her unrequited passion for visiting warrior Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) is further inflamed when he tames an unruly horse by whispering sweet nothings in Elvish.
• There are more tree treats as the once-truncated encounter between ancient Treebeard the Ent and hobbits Pippin (Billy Boyd) and Merry (Dominic Monaghan) stretches its limbs. At one point, Treebeard's droning rumble of a voice causes the halflings in his branches to become drowsy.
• Jackson injects much fun with food and beverage. Eowyn, not especially deft in the kitchen, serves Aragorn a vile-looking bowl of homemade stew, which he politely chokes down. Boromir and Faramir share a couple of victory brews, and one declares in beer-ad fashion, "Today, life is good." Pippin and Merry greedily guzzle the magical elixir known as Ent-draught, adding inches to their wee stature.
The most surprising revelation in the longer Two Towers? That hale-and-hunksome Aragorn is 87 years old. Maybe it's something in that stew.
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