I have bought these extended editions as they came out over the years. I got the first one 'The Fellowship of the Ring' for christmas one year after vowing not to give into watching The Lord of the Rings films because everyone else was. After I got it I ignored it for months but one day decided I'd have a look, felt a little rude not to. I am very glad i did watch it.
The Cast Elijah Wood - Frodo Baggins Sean Austin - Samwise Gamgee Dominic Monaghan - Meriadoc Brandybuck Billy Boyd - Peregrin Took Viggo Mortensen - Aragorn Sean Bean - Boromir (FotR) Orlando Bloom - Legolas John Rhys-Davies - Gimli Ian MacKellen - Gandalf Andy Serkis - Gollum (TT & RotK) Liv Tyler - Arwen Bernhard Hill - Theoden (TT & RotK) Christopher Lee - Saruman Cate Blanchet - Galadriel Hugo Weaving - Elrond Mirando Otto - Eowyn (TT & RotK) Brad Dourif - Grima Wormtongue (TT & RotK) David Wenham - Faramir (TT & RotK) Karl Urban - Eomer (TT & RotK) Bruce
Hopkins - Gamling (TT & RotK)
As you can see this is a rather impressive cast list with many big stars as seen in other films. (Quite amusing to see Agent Smith as an elf...) The actors and actresses are very good in this, high quality of acting makes this film even better.
The movies themselves are masterpieces, all the environment and special effects are all used perfectly to make these movies absolutely amazing. The story is of course that of J.R.R. Tolkien's and the very imaginative and vivid descriptions used by the author made this an almost impossible task. As always happens with movies from books there are viewers who pick holes and notice missing and changed bits but the director Peter Jackson and colleagues have put their best efforts into making these as close to the books as can possibly fit into 3 movies.
Though I have only mentioned the films so far there are many other reasons to buy this box set, or you could just get the cheaper normal version.
The extended features on this DVD are absolutely sublime. There is four different sets of commentry over each film by the cast, the director and writers, the production team, and the design team. These allow you to learn so much about the making of the film and appreciate the effort put in to making the film. The cast commentry is more comedic than informative with Dominic Monaghan and Billy Boyd (Merry and Pippin) making jokes all the way through the film.
As well as this all three films have been extended by adding in deleted scenes that could not be included in cinema showings for length reasons. These are all fascinating to see in comparison to the normal version, they add more depth to the story and cheer up people who complain of bits missing.
This is only the actual movie disks. Each film contains a box set of 4 discs. Two of these are for the film. Given the length and extensive commentries it has been split in the middle. The other two disks are the appendices, these contain a whole load of information about everything to do with the film and the books. There is a lengthy clip about the life of J.R.R. Tolkien and his works. These appendices are what take you on a journey through the films with the cast and production crew. You can see interviews with the cast, hear funny anecdotes about what happens on set and in hotels. Such as Elijah Wood being so tired from filming he fell at the top of some stairs and fell down 3 sets of stairs. In the final film Sean Austin (Sam) is doing a kissing scene and can't get it right, so Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn) and Billy Boyd (Pippin) give him some inspiration....
They take you on emotional journey with the characters. You learn about how they make the special effects shots. How the WETA workshop handcrafted every set of clothing and had to make models of all the sets for long shots. You learn about how the make up is applied and anything else imaginable about the film. If you look hard enough on the DVDs you will find what you want.
The menus on the disk are set out very helpfully with sub chapters if you want to watch something specific or just a play all button if you want to know everything. These have to be some of the most amazing DVDs made. The extensive detail given about everything in the film is astonishing.
These may not be suitable for someone who isn't that interested and just wants a film to watch, but for fans of Tolkien or just film in general they are well worth having. I love them, by far my favourite DVDs. And i have watched all three 4 hour films together in a row.. that took a while. These are amazing and well worth having, i definitely recommend buying the box set.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Production Year: 1964 - Action/Adventure - Director: Cyril Endfield - Original Language: English - Classification: Parental Guidance - Starring:Stanley Baker, Jack Hawkins, Ulla Jacobsson, James Booth, Michael Caine, Nigel Green
Production Year: 2001 - Action/Adventure - Director: Dominic Sena - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring:John Travolta, Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Don Cheadle, Sam Shepard, Vinnie Jones, Camryn Grimes, Zach Grenier
Production Year: 2002 - Action/Adventure - Director: Vincenzo Natali - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring:Lucy Liu, David Hewlett, Anne Marie Scheffler, Joseph Scoren, Matthew Sharp, Jeremy Northam
Wasn't keen to see these at first but after seeing the first on a plane, I was hooked. Yes the special effects are great and used well with the story instead of being their for their own sake (unlike Jackson's King Kong). Three great films, though you're right they do go on forever.
The Fellowship Of The Ring: In a time before history in a place called Middle-earth a ... more
dark and powerful lord has brought together the forces of evil to destroy its cultures and enslave all life caught in his path. Sauron's time has come and he needs ...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
Each film in this collection features new and extended scenes not seen in the theatrical ... more
versions of the films.Middle-earth is brought to life in these 4-disc Special Extended DVD Editions of The Lord of the Rings motion picture trilogy. The new and ex...
![The Lord Of The Rings: The Trilogy [Extended Ed.][12 Discs]-DVD](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/98343950.jpg "The Lord Of The Rings: The Trilogy [Extended Ed.][12 Discs]-DVD")
very helpful by (89%):
helpful by (11%):
