The thing is, and you can go on about "nerdtastic" and whatnot, but there was a real sense of friendship and ethic attached to these movies. these are real people. and to think that because New Line wanted to cut a paltry 7 mins, that Christopher Lee, who is an 82 year old Cinematic legend, and Brad Douriff, who is another class act, do not get to have thier performances on the big screen is really sad.
Christopher Lee is a very powerful person. New Line is so Oscar hungry, they may have forgotten this, and it may really hurt them when all is said and done. Lee played his part to the fullest, hell the man met JRR Tolkien, himself. It's a glaring and unfortunate black mark on a string of otherwise beautiful movies.
...That said, I wouldn't sign the petition because 1. It's pointless, and 2. as a fan of Lotr. I'm grateful that New Line gave PJ and company the opportunity and budget to make 3 fairly source-faithful movies out of Tolkien's masterpiece, and I realize that I should be happy that any ommited footage would be realeased on DVD a year from now. It gives me something to look forward to :)
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Nothing we've shared means a thing
Without you close to me
I can't live without you