10 Director's Cuts That Seriously Improve Movies

The combined runtime of Peter Jackson's Extended Editions will take you just under 12 hours to get through, that's including the credits. In terms of extra content, there's not a huge amount of new plot stuff that significantly alters how these movies are interpreted.

At least not in the Fellowship or the Return of the King. We essentially just get elongated fight sequences, some extra lines of dialogue, and a few more lushes shots of New Zealand. But it all amounts to more time spent in Middle-earth - and who doesn't want that?

The Two Towers, however, enriches the character of Boromir (Sean Bean) significantly. Through flashback sequences we are shown the character's interactions with his younger brother Faramir (David Wenham). Although Boromir had one of the most impactful death scenes in the trilogy, the character was a little one dimensional. We understand his moment of weakness was born out of a desire to save his people, but we never saw the full extent of his internal struggle.

In an extended sequence in the Two Towers, however, this is explored in more depth. We see how the pressure his father puts on him directly resulted in his attempt to steal the Ring.