I loved the dragon/boar/rhino battering ram too. It was on fire! Cool!

Theo, that would be great if they showed Legolas seeing the sea for the first time in the extended edition. I might argue that it wouldn't make much sense in the movie, because we haven't seen the bit where Gandalf tells Legolas to beware the sea, but then again, the EEs are really for the book-lovers anyway, so they might put it in for us.

My big cry point was, yes, a Frodo/Sam scene:

Sam talking about the Shire, and then we get Frodo's "Wheel of Fire" speech, which I was really hoping would be included in some form, and I think that EW just nailed it. I'm convinced of that because that's when I lost it and started sobbing during both my viewings.

I completely agree that Sam was planting one on Rosie offscreen, and thought that the other hobbits' reactions were great--we finally got a great smile from Frodo!

Oh, and a great little thing that I noticed today-- Narya! Yes, Gandalf's wearing the ring at the Grey Havens !

Oh, and a great little thing that I noticed today--

Which means it's pretty much a certainty that there's extended scene about that to come later, where they actually discuss it.

One question about Frodo's expression when all of Gondor is bowing down to him and his friends--did anyone else get the impression that he wasn't all that thrilled about the attention? I really thought that he was thinking, "But I failed--I didn't destroy the Ring myself!" This, of course, is one of the great LotR discussion points--in the end, did Frodo succeed or fail? My take is that he succeeded, since he only agreed to take the Ring to Mordor, and it was through his mercy that the Ring was destroyed.

Again, Elijah Wood deserves a lot more credit for acting ability than he's getting in reviews.

He definitely looked the least thrilled of all of them (Pippin was just the cutest!). I don't know whether Frodo thinks he succeeded or failed, but I do think it's notable that when he and Sam crawl out of Mount Doom, they say "it's finally over" rather than "we did it".

But--but--"flaming rhino ram" is so much fun to say!

Oh, EW just destroyed. me. Unfortunately, I think he's going to be a victim of Roddy McDowall syndrome, and never going to find adult roles to challenge him. Well, with the possible exception of Ratso Rizzo-type roles.

Kathy--

I've always felt that Frodo failed, but BAM!!! You just rearranged my thinking. You're right. His mercy is what keeps Gollum alive, and if it weren't for that, Gollum would never have been able to take the ring from him at the end, and fall to his death with the Ring in his grasp. So he does succeed.

But not directly (essentially he both succeeds and fails). And in Frodo's mind, he'll never ever see that, what you just pointed out to me. He'll always think he failed. And I saw that in the film, too. The doubt on Frodo's face. Yet another part of the character that Elijah nailed.

RE Frodo:

His strength failed at the end, but his mission was a success. I'm not religious, but Mount Doom is one of my very favorite examples in literature of God's grace - go as far as you can, and grace will bring you the rest of the way.

I'm sure Frodo thought of himself as a failure, though, until he'd had time in Valinor to heal.

t asks self why I continually come in here to read broken sentences about things and people (Like Figwit??WTF??) I have no idea about. grump.

I'll bet the scene with Figwit and Arwen was a pickup, filmed after principal photography, especially because Figwit had made such a hit with fans.