An acquaintance of mine once said, the expanded version of the second part of Lord of the Rings but have only 40 minutes more - and whether it is really worth, to spend money. I've seen the normal version of "The Two Towers" countless times, as much in advance. When I today for the first time have seen the extended version (on VHS), I had the feeling of watching a different movie - the "few" extra minutes to give the storyline of the second part a hefty boost. So much more background information about the individual people (eg over the Ents or Aragorn) one learns thus - also is the second part thus visible closer to the original story of Lord of the Rings. Who has not seen the extended version, has really missed something!
