I know most people writing about the infamous Lord of the Rings will currently be writing about “The Two Towers” (the new one for all you who aren’t fans!) Me on the other hand, well I like to be different. You see I’m going to write about the first one, “The Fellowship of the Ring”. Why? Well because I’ve only just seen it, I haven’t yet seen “The Two Towers”!

I borrowed the DVD from my sister the other day and hence have finally gotten around to watching the first film. The DVD was no ordinary DVD though, oh no, it’s a special extended edition. It’s a 4 disk set. You see my sister is a huge fan and so wasn’t content with the normal DVD set, oh no, it just HAD to be the special extended edition!

I guess you’ll all know how good this film is, practically everyone who sees it thinks its great. Those who watch it just for the sake of it end up being fans too, no matter how sceptical they were to start with (namely my parents, they ended up watching it because they got sick of sitting in the kitchen while I watched the 3.5hr film in the lounge!) Neither of them were in the least bit interested. My mum started doing the crossword in the Daily Mail whilst my dad sat down to read a book he got for Christmas. Within 10 minutes my dad had started watching, a few minutes later my mum gave in two (after quite a few considerably long ‘thinking breaks’ in the direction of the TV might I add!).

For those of you who haven’t seen it I’ll give you a brief synopsis. I guess most people, fans or not, know what its about but to be honest, despite it having been out for a year and a bit and all the clips having been shown on TV over the year I really wasn’t sure what it was about. I never really realised this until my dad enquired as to “what exactly is it about then?”. I was completely lost for words. I had no idea! Obviously I’d gathered it was about a ring which had some form of power, it also featured little people (or Hobbits!) but apart from that I really didn’t know what it was about.

So, for those of you in the same boat as I were a few days ago…

Synopsis:

Set in mythic pre-historic times, a young hobbit going by the name of Frodo Baggins inherits a magical ring from Bilbo Baggins (his elderly cousin). The dark Lord Sauron wants the ring, knowing it will enable him to enslave the people of Middle Earth. Frodo rectruits the fellowship of a wizard (Gandalf), an elf, a dwarf and a few others on a mission to destroy the ring. The only way to destroy it is to throw it into the volcanic fires of Mount Doom, where it was made.

So now you ALL know what the general story is about, what is in this special DVD set then? What do you get for your money?

First you have 2 film DVD’s, these are 30 minutes longer than the film you’d have seen in the cinema and/or on the original DVD you’d have bought/rented. You are instructed when to change disks over on the end of the first movie. You don’t have to sit through any form of warnings, trailers or anything when you insert the second DVD though, it just goes straight to where you left off on the previous DVD. You also get 2 extra DVD’s in this box-set.

DISC’s 1 & 2: Contains the 3.5 hours worth of film.

So, does it actually enhance the film?

Well like I said earlier, I never saw this film in the cinema, up until a few days ago I’d never seen it. I therefore cannot compare it to that of the original film. I do however have an answer to this question for you. And the answer? Well, from the mouth of my sister, “YES”! She is most certain that the extra 30 minutes enhances your viewing experience. In some scenes the extra bits are just a bit of addition to an original scene while other extra bits are whole scenes.

There are two commentaries, including one by the Producers and Directors and the other by the Special Effects people defining why things were done the way they were.

DISC’S 3 & 4

In overview these disc’s are the creation of the movie from grass roots through every step of the production process to the finished product. They are a combination of video diary, along with cast and crew interviews.

DISC 3 - "From Book to Vision"

As the title says DISC 3 is the pre-production of the film. Starting with the novels themselves and taking you through the production of the film one step at a time.

Also included is:

· Brief Documentary on Tolkien and his influences.

This is a mixture of archive footage and photo’s with some interviews with Tolkien’s biographers. Plus it also has a short interview with the boy who reviewed the Hobbit for his father.

· Adapting the book into a screenplay & planning the film

Interviews with the team behind the script.

· Designing and building Middle-earth

This documentary is a must-watch. It explains just how the artists and designers brought the novel to life.

· Storyboards to pre-visualization

This is just very weird but an essential part of how LOTR got made. Included here is:

Abandoned animated story sequences.
CGI previsualisation sequences from the film.
Storyboard/final film sequences to show you the beginning and end result.

· Weta Workshop visit - An up-close look at the weapons, armor, creatures and miniatures from the film

· Atlas of Middle-earth: Tracing the journey of the Fellowship

This is an interactive map through which you can trace the journey across Middle Earth (its like the paper version provided in the box).

· A interactive map of New Zealand highlighting the location scouting process

This is a map with all the locations in New Zealand. You click on a location and in response the location is shown to you in its before LOTR and after LOTR. Strange idea, but worth taking a look at!

· Galleries of art and slideshows with commentaries by the artists

This is an in-depth look at the costumes of every character.

· Guided tour of the wardrobe department

This is an in-depth look into the design of the characters costumes.

DISC 4 - "From Vision to Reality" This DVD is about the filming and the post-production of the movie.

· Bringing the characters to life
· A day in the life of a hobbit
· Principal photography: Stories from the set
· Scale: Creating the illusion of size
· Galleries of behind-the-scenes photographs and personal cast photos
· Editorial and visual effects multi-angle progressions
· Sound design demonstration
· And much more!

My sister paid £24.99 for this DVD set so it really isn’t too expensive for what is included, if you are an avid fan then I would highly, highly recommend this.

Boring bits:

Additional Features:
Widescreen (2.35:1) version of the Special Extended Edition
Dolby Digital EX 5.1 Surround Sound
DTS ES 6.1 Surround Sound
Stereo Surround Sound

I have now been converted. I knew I’d like this film, I knew it was supposed to be great but I was just never in too much of a hurry to see it (hence the year and a bit wait for me!) but I can now see what all the fuss is about. I now really want to go and see the next film, “The Two Towers”. Especially after seeing the end of “The Fellowship of the Ring”, it just ends abruptly, after 3.5 hours viewing time you don’t expect it to just stop dead in its tracks like it does. Hence “The Two Towers” is said to have no beginning and no end. I shall be persuading my mates to go and see the new one in the cinema soon (they’re not fans…..yet!)

You can buy a copy from Amazon for £22.49:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000066DY0/ref=sr_aps_dvd_1_1/026-5965203-1016456