Sharkey's Purist Editions

Modeled after the "The Two Towers: The Purist Edit" that has floated around for the past few years, this fan edit sets out to bring the Jackson films (Extended Editions) more in line with Tolkien's original novel, to be a version the die-hard Tolkien purists can find easier to stomach, by removing as many offending bits as possible.

Major differences from the official DVD versions include: Sauron is not merely a floating eyeball, Arwen is not sailing across the sea to Valinor, Aragorn does not express self-doubt, Saruman is not depicted as Sauron's direct subservient, Boromir is not an undercover agent within the Fellowship from the start, Theoden is not a coward with a grudge toward Gondor, Faramir does not drag the hobbits to Osgiliath, there are no Elves at the battle of the Hornburg, the Ents do not refuse to attack Isengard, the Fellowship already know Sauron moves to strike Minas Tirith, Arwen is not said to be dying, Sauron is not depicted as a literal searchlight, Denethor lights the beacons prior to Gandalf and Pippin's arrival, Frodo does not send Sam home. The first 25 minutes of the third film containing falling action around Helm's Deep have been made into the ending of the second film, in order to better balance the films' running times. As "The Purist Edit" before it, it often reverses Jackson's decisions in order to reconstruct the original story.

The final film lengths: The Fellowship of the Ring - 3 hours, 1 minute (down from 3 hours, 28 minutes.) The Two Towers - 2 hours, 53 minutes (down from 3 hours, 43 minutes.) The Return of the King - 3 hours (down from 4 hours, 10 minutes.)

Total trilogy length - 8 hours, 54 minutes (down from 11 hours, 21 minutes.)

Fan edit by Kirk Shelton, Phil Dragash, and Aleksander Kerr.