"The post-ring-destruction denouement is also gratefully shortened.
"

If that is so, it's a right bugger! And the same goes for cutting down too much on the "tedious" trek of Frodo and Sam. But of course that's an example of how people differ when it comes to what we think is exciting or important.

I hope the DVD when it comes will restore much of that. (Though I know the Scouring of the Shire was excised, because there's a thread about that. And I deplore it. If they had to cut things, I'd sooner they cut down on the big battle sequences. Still, I'm not making movies.)