**The Return of the King Extended Edition**

[Numenorean]

At last I finally watched the RoTK EE as part of a back-to-back trilogy marathon, then watched it again this morning. Lots of really good comments and thoughts on this thread both for and against, firstly Saruman:
Kransha

Saruman's voice was perfectly melodious and sinister

I agree, the way he just rolled into the 'Théoden King...' speech was effortlessly rich and undulating, oozing with a resonant vocal quality that only someone as talented (and familiar with the text) as Christopher Lee could properly convey. Great addition to the film that really should've made the cinema edit.
I loved the short but excellent added scenes that touched upon the deeper histories and lore of Tolkiens legends, the crossroads with the Kings head was very poignant, and as ElanorGamgee has already pointed out

Gandalf’s brief history lesson concerning Númenor, including allusions to the fall of the Númenórians and their culture of death as described in The Silmarillion.

was also vocally and visually marvellous.
The extra sequences at Pelennor Fields were great as far as they went. Some measure of justice was done to Gimlis axe-wielding and fighting techniques, I found the brief shots of him at Pelennor were greatly improved from the slapdash and comedic way he fought in TTT. Éowyn and Merrys extra scenes were fantastic, the hardihood of Hobbits and Women - particuarly in light of Éomers derogatory comments at Dunharrow - was much needed, and Éowyn/Dernhelms bravery and skill on the field was a sight to behold!
The aftermath of the battle was far more grimly realistic, I thought that Pip searching till dusk for Merry was highly emotive, and as Encaitare said

Éomer finding Éowyn on the battlefield was short but perfect

On first viewing I found the whole Aragorn/Sauron palantir confrontation a bit puzzling and unsettling - especially with the evenstar shattering like that. On second viewing it made a bit more speculative sense in that Aragorn seemingly goads Sauron with Narsil/Andúril, thus Sauron in turn taunts Aragorn into uncertainty with images of mortality (that old Númenorean weakness!) and how it will one day claim even Arwen, leastways thats how I tried to fathom it.
The Mouth of Sauron was a fiendishly worthy addition, his loathsome mocking of Gandalf with the line..."Old Greybeard..." was brilliantly foul. The MoS came over as being so arrogant and abhorrently unctuous, yet desperate as he tried to discern if Gandalf had an ace up his sleeve. This was creepily revealed by the way in which he zeroed in on anything the Hobbits said immediately after he tossed them Frodos mithril shirt. His sudden decapitation at the hand of Aragorn was unexpected, and within the subtle context of the book it would indeed have been dishonourable, yet within the context of the film I thought it was acceptable - if somewhat fell, Gandalf himself says moments before that "We do not come treat with Sauron..." Therefore I agree with what Essex has already stated,

Aragorn was dispatching an enemy and not in conflict with any codes of war

Overall the film (and the previous two) is massively entertaining and visually stunning, most of the shots of the famous Middle Earthian landmarks leapt straight from the pages and were magnificent to behold. The Grey Havens were especially beautiful and melancholic, exactly how I imagined them to look and feel.
Given the massive scale of the trilogy it could have been a total and utter disaster, PJ had to walk a fine and unforgiving line that not many others would have even attempted, and love of the project is evident in everyone who worked on it. Sure it would have been so great to have seen Bombadil, The Wight, Glorfindel, Erkenbrand, Imrahil, Halbarad, Elronds sons and the others who did not make the cut, and in a perfect world we would all be eagerly awaiting the release of an epic series of Silmarillion movies .
As it is I am mightily impressed by the ambition, scope and quality of the extended edition trilogy, and am thankful we have got what we have.