Much has been said about Peter Jackson’s daring vision in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, a formidable adaptation once called unfilmable that redefined the fantasy genre for audiences and filmmakers alike at the turn of the 21st century. Moreover, LOTR’s extended editions are legendary among Tolkien-heads, fleshing out the books’ large narrative while attaining exceptional feats of cinematic wonder.

It’s long been purported, however, that audiences could see a release from Jackson that expands upon the director’s “special extended editions.” While it’s true that these films already added two and a half hours of extra footage to the theatrical editions’ 558 minutes of runtime, there is still so much content from the books that fans simply long to see.

Plenty Of Deleted Lord Of The Rings Scenes Didn’t Even Make The Extended Editions

This Is Necessary For An Adaptation As Big As LOTR

Clocking in at 11 hours and 36 minutes, the LOTR special extended editions have already crammed in many of the plot points from Tolkien’s narrative. From Bag End to the Undying Lands, much of the author’s vision remains intact on the big screen, which is a feat whose magnitude cannot easily be overstated by even the most exaggerative of folk.

However, that’s not to say that nothing was left on the cutting room floor—many scenes, settings, and characters were either repurposed or omitted entirely for the sake of streamlining the films’ narrative, including iconic sequences like “The Scouring of the Shire” and Faramir and Éowyn’s wedding. As is the case with most adaptations, the final product often requires difficult sacrifices.

The LOTR Extended Editions Are The Definitive Editions

Their Scope Is Unrivaled By The Theatrical Cuts

While the theatrical editions of The Lord of the Rings are responsible for introducing millions of fans to Tolkien’s world and hold artistic merit in their own right, you can’t beat Jackson’s extended editions when it comes to representing his vision. Through these cuts, Jackson seeks to give audiences the view of Middle-earth they deserve to see—near-complete and unadulterated.

Moreover, these editions—sometimes referred to as “the definitive cuts“—are extraordinary in that they represent one of the director’s greatest cinematic achievements—the near-total encapsulation of an artist’s creative sensibility. After all, what separates J.R.R. Tolkien from your typical fantasy writer is not only his incredible understanding of language—it was his quest to create an invented mythology for England.

Through this lens, just as Tolkien made his native country’s mythology more cohesive, so too has Jackson done the same for The Lord of the Rings with the extended cuts, which serve to better epitomize the voice from which all of Middle-earth’s colorful characters spring. This is what separates Jackson’s extended editions and makes them the masterpieces they are.

The Lord Of The Rings’ Missing Scenes Aren’t The Ones We Want To See

These Cuts Were Made For Good Reason

While, ideally, a 15-20-hour trilogy—or, more realistically, an expansive, multi-season mega-series—of The Lord of the Rings is what die-hard fans of myself would kill to see, general audiences would inevitably run into an issue that I lovingly call “The Bombadil Problem.”

As great as Tolkien’s original novels are, there is admittedly a lot of fluff that takes place between the initial drama with the One Ring in the Shire and Frodo’s ultimate arrival at Mount Doom. No one is more representative of this fluff than Tom Bombadil, a lovable fairy tale who’s recently made a significant appearance in The Rings of Power.

As whimsical as Bombadil’s presence is, however, it completely kills the momentum of the first book upon his arrival. Peter Jackson’s decision to omit Bombadil not only served as a practical solution for streamlining the trilogy—it also highlighted a greater truth surrounding his theatrical and extended cuts; that being, audiences don’t need to see every odd character, song, and side-story.

Audiences didn’t reject Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings because it wasn’t wholly faithful to the books—they loved it for its epic scope and storytelling. As an avid fan of Tolkien’s work, I feel obligated to conclude with the following: as tempting as it is to be a purist in these matters, the extended editions prove that sometimes it’s best to leave something behind for the sake of the whole.