Now, blu rays also play at 24 FPS (so have the same running time as their equivalent NTSC DVDs.) So it looks like the running time the OP quoted for the DVDs (681 minutes) doesn't include the fan club credits (even thought they are on the DVDs), whereas the blu ray running time does include them.
Assuming OP is referring to the NTSC DVD (equivalent to 24 FPS), my figures would have to be multiplied by 1.04 to account for the 4% speedup from NTSC to PAL (which is 25 FPS.) Which gives us the following figures:
It provides more depth, background information, humor, and overall character development. However, this obviously doesn't answer OP's question, because their figures are different to mine. The Lord of the Rings trilogy are my favorite films of all-time. The extended version of The Two Towers is richer, flows more smoothly, makes more sense, fills in the blanks on missing motives of a number of characters, most notably Faramir and Eowyn, adds some important details about Aragorn. The running time shown on the box for each film does not include the fan club credits, even though the DVDs do contain them, so that explains the difference between the actual running time of the PAL DVDs and the running times quoted on each box. (Oh, and this is the UK PAL version.) For each film, I'm going to show the actual running time shown on the DVD player, and the running time as shown on the box. I've actually put each one into my DVD player to see what the actual running time is), and here's what I found out. 179-minute running time, and there are valuable additions to the film. OK, I've just checked the extended DVDs (i.e. The Lord of the Rings - The Motion Picture Trilogy (Special Extended DVD Edition). The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers - Extended Cut DVD (2012) Elijah Wood, Title: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers - Extended Cut Leading Actor: Elijah Wood Region: Region B Duration: 225 mins Format: Blu-ray / Normal Type: Blu-ray No.