The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies Extended Edition

While in the proces of the everlasting Lego sorting job, I watched the extended edition of the last of the The Hobbit movies.

As with all the previous ones, there are whole sequences that where cut from the theatrical release, and this one is a hefty 22 minutes longer then the original.

Of course, most of these scenes take place during the actual battle, including some cool scenes (the goat riders charge, the chariot piloted by Balin, the other Dwarves having something more on hand... Bifur!!!), but also much needed 'answers' and extended scenes.

We learn for one where the third ring of the Elves is, the Ring of Fire, as we know Galadriel carries one from the 6 movies.  But you had to read The Lord of the Rings itself to know Cirdan had the second, and only if you read the appendices would you learn where the third one was.

Another question answered is where Gandalf got his staff from after seeing it lost in the second movies Dol Guldur scenes when the wizard was captured.  He know carries Radagast's staff, and this also ties in to learning the final fate of Alfrid due to this later on.

Another great extended scene for me is that we learn the answer who becomes 'King Under The Mountain' after Thorin had fallen, and we get to see a decent farewell this time for the fllen heroes Thorin, Kili and Fili.

Like with almost every one of the 6 Tolkien movies, the extended cut makes the movie a lot better then the original as it nicely ties up some seemingly loose knots from the theatre version, and was once more worth the yearlong wait for it's release.  Okay, the impact has never been greater then with The Two Towers, but never the less it greatly improves the whole.

An' I bet ya didn't expect them twirly-wirly thingies!