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The Lord of the Ringsis a series of three fantasy films directed by Peter Jackson. While there are many scenes of this film series that fans may have watched on binge, they forget that some crucial scenes were missing from the theatrical cuts.
It happened with the case of Christopher Lee in particular. Lee was upset that his death scene didn’t make the final cut and was only included in the DVD extras when he sawReturn of the Kings‘ endings.
Also read:“I actually begged and pleaded”: James Bond Writer Almost Got Lord of the Rings Star Christopher Lee Replaced in $97M Roger Moore Movie
Christopher Lee Found His Absence inThe Lord of the RingsMovies Surprising
Christopher Leewas an avid fan ofThe Lord of the Ringsbooks and re-read them every year. In the commentary, Lee said that he always dreamt of playing Gandalf for many years. But soon, he realized he was too old, which physically limited him to be considered for the role. Anyway, he ended up portraying the villain, Saruman.
Recently, when Lee watchedThe Lord of the Ringsmovies in sequence, he was surprised to see that his character Saruman didn’t have a death scene inThe Two Towers(unlike in the books). He also noticed that he was one of the main cast members who didn’t appear inThe Return of the Kingat all.
Speaking to University College Dublin students in 2011 (via Yahoo) about the movie series, Lee said:
“We were all shown the films in private, and when the third film came on, I couldn’t believe what I saw, because I wasn’t in it. The scene is one of the most important scenes in the whole trilogy, because it’s Saruman, the great mortal enemy, the most evil of them all, against the Fellowship.”
He said that the scene was a crucial final confrontation between the mainLord of the Ringscharacters where he’s“on top of the tower at Isengard, looking down at the Fellowship, and saying very nasty things to them, to Aragorn, ‘this man from the woods will never be king.’”
The actor said that “it was a long sequence, the final confrontation between the Fellowship and their greatest enemy.”And he saw that it wasn’t in the film.The Man with the Golden Gunstar expressed his frustration with Jackson, which is valid.
Also read:Not Count Dooku, Christopher Lee Was Original Choice for Another Iconic Star Wars Villain: “The vision is quite amazing”
Christopher Lee Disappointed by Saruman’s Theatrical Omission
Lee expressed his disappointment that Saruman’s fate was omitted from the theatrical release. He said (via Yahoo):
“No one could understand it. There were millions of hits on the internet, not just from Tolkien fans and film fans, but from everybody who had seen the first two. They said ‘what happened to Saruman?’ Buy the extended DVD.”
Although the 93-year-old initially felt resentment towards theLOTRdirector for the omission but later reconciled. Fortunately, Lee was returned for theHobbitmovies, and the extended editions are now definitive.
Now, the anticipations are high for upcoming Middle-earth projects, includingLord of the Rings: War of the RohirrimandThe Rings of Power season 2.
Also read:“Chris wasn’t hearing a bar of it”: Christopher Lee Forcefully Auditioned For Another Lord of the Rings Character Before Playing Saruman
Shreya Jha
Articles Published :1042
Meet Shreya, FandomWire’s go-to Pop-Culture Writer. She holds a master’s degree in Journalism and a pop culture obsession that rivals even the most die-hard ‘Star Wars’ and Marvel fans.Her articles have been published in Animated Times, Creator Mail, and The Luxxe Mag. When Shreya’s not busy dishing out hot takes, she is lost in the world of rom-coms.
