Again, to make Bree a little less ominous. Shots of “scary” people at the inn have been cut. I’ve made it a bit warmer to make the inn seem more pleasant. Originally, it was tinted with a sickly yellow. The Inn of the Prancing Pony has been recolored. Peter Jackson seems to think that Bree should be a frightening place, but it wasn’t in the book, so I’ve tried to make it a bit less ominous. Shots of “scary” inhabitants of Bree have been cut. To make the Black Riders more frightening and less incompetent. The Riders are heard, but not seen until one comes chasing after Frodo as he runs to the ferry. The Hobbits do not encounter a Black Rider on their way to the ferry. Both because it’s not in the book, and (mostly) because I find it silly. Merry doesn’t distract the Black Rider with the bag of vegetables. As in the book, that encounter is retold in Book II, and we have no idea of what’s happened to Gandalf until then. In order to follow the book, neither should the audience. Frodo and Sam don’t know as of yet that they are being hunted.

Removed the shot of the Black Rider on the hilltop after Frodo and Sam see the wood-elves. In order to remove the narration, the sequence has been shortened slightly. As Gandalf reads Isildur’s account, the Battle of the Last Alliance from the prologue is seen, unnarrated. As in the book, the importance of the ring is not emphasized until after the party. Bilbo is not seen panicking over having “lost” the ring. I don’t consider it that big a deal, though, since the continuity of that sequence was rather murky to begin with. In order to make this work, a continuity issue arises: After they ride over the bridge, they are seen riding through the fields (which replaces a shot from the theatrical that was used in an earlier scene in the EE), then in the next shot they are riding through the marketplace seen to be on the other side of the bridge. Just because I preferred the theatrical version â€” it gives a better introduction to both Gandalf and Frodo, and Bilbo’s narration that replaced those scenes in the EE is really quite pointless. Gandalf’s ride through Hobbiton has been reworked to remove Bilbo’s narration and include some shots from the theatrical version. “Book I : The Return of the Shadow” title added over Frodo reading in the forest. Before the company credits and film title (which has been changed to “J.R.R Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings”), Christopher Lee recites the Ring Verse. Just to give the edit a unique feel, really. Parts of the prologue have been inserted elsewhere, which I’ll point out when we get there. Like in the book, this edit begins on a less serious note (Bilbo’s party etc.), and only later do we learn the importance of the Ring.

Return of the shadow