The return of Return of the King

Today, at a few minutes past nine a.m. Eastern Standard Time, I picked up my copy of the extended edition of The Return of the King. At a few minutes before nine-thirty a.m., I was watching the film that truly should have been the theatrical cut.

I mean, I understand the importance of editing to the pace of a film, but really. Why is it that so many lovely, moving moments of the actors' performances had to fall by the wayside? I would have willing sacrificed a few minutes of battle footage here and there to keep the extra character development in.

For without fully-fleshed characters, what is film but spectacle?

[...] It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing. [...]

- William Shakespeare