Here, in one brilliant box-set, come the three extended editions of the Lord of the Rings – the absolute ‘must-have’ product for all fans of the films. Not only do we have the extended versions of the films, but also each one is packed with behind the scenes documentaries and photo galleries, commentaries and much much more.
PART 1: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING
THE PREMISE: First off, I am a huge fan of Tolkien, and have read a lot of his work, so I came to this film with a degree of apprehension as well as excitement. 'The Fellowship of the Ring' is the first part of 'The Lord of the Rings' trilogy of books. The most read fiction work ever, LOTR is a fantasy that is so deep and detailed that it feels real. Tolkien spent years and years writing it, and so any film version needed to be a serious undertaking: Peter Jackson rose to the challenge.
THE STORY: The film begins in Hobbiton, home of Frodo, Bilbo, Sam, Merry and Pippin the Hobbits. Just like in the book, a fair amount of time is spent showing the natural simplicity of Hobbit life. Whilst this is important, in that it shows us just what is at risk of being lost, it does drag on a bit. Things eventually heat up with the discovery of the One Ring, a magical ring that the evil lord Sauron is hunting down to regain the supreme power he once had. Frodo sets off on a long and dangerous journey to destroy the ring. He is accompanied by three other Hobbits, but is soon joined by a whole host of races - Elf, man, dwarf and wizard accompany him in his journey. Together, their
travels bring them into dangerous territories that they must successfully battle through in order to survive. In this movie, the first of three, the journey takes them to Rivendell, the beautiful home of the Elves. From there it's onto the deep dark mines of Moria, where Orcs and a Balrog are set to make things tough, and finally there's a meeting with Galadriel before the film's close.
WHAT'S GOOD ABOUT IT: 1) The location is beautiful - set in New Zealand, the film is visually stunning. From snow peaked mountains to lush green valleys, it's a marvel to look at. 2) The CGI - cutting edge computer animation is fused with the aforementioned location to produce some wonderful scenes like nothing seen before or since. 3) The story - largely faithful to Tolkien's original, the story is a masterpiece on every level, with just the right mix of action, adventure, and even fun along the way. 4) The acting - a largely unknown cast do a stellar job with every role well acted, and some amazing.
At 208 minutes in length, this is a long film, but it's entirely captivating. I remember watching it in the cinema and being so gutted it was another year to wait for part 2.
As well as the extended version of the film, you also have hours and hours of DVD extras with this edition. These include 4 complete commentaries over the film (very informative).
There are then two discs full of documentaries, photo galleries, and interview after interview about Tolkien, the book, turning the book into the film, the model making etc etc. I used a lot of this for my Uni dissertation and it really is just mind-blowingly fantastic.
IF YOU LIKED IT: You will have to watch the following two movies 'The Two Towers' and 'The Return of the King'. The Chronicles of Narnia series is a much lower quality stab at a similar genre, and seems to satisfy many (but not me).
PART TWO: THE TWO TOWERS Carrying straight on from where 'The Fellowship of the Ring' left off, 'The Two Towers' follows Frodo and friends in three different groups. First up, Sam and Frodo journey ever closer to Mount Doom, and encounter Gollum along the way. Secondly, Merry and Pippin have lost their sense of fun as they are held captive by Orcs of Saruman, and thirdly, Aaragorn, Legolas and Gimli are hot on their heels to rescue them.
The split narrative is a little off-putting at times, as you just want to get back to the main story (which differs at varying points). Strangely, the most interesting part of the story revolves around Aaragorn and his crew, and the Battle at Helm's Deep. The kingdom of Rohan is under siege, and the retreat to the safe haven of Helm's Deep produces an unprecedented forty minute battle scene. Yes, for a whole forty minutes, you get to see one of the most exciting battle scenes ever put to film. What makes it even more amazing, is the whole thing was shot at night, with the cast and crew becoming completely exhausted in the process.
New characters are introduced, and more of the religious themes become apparent in this movie, particularly the exorcism of evil spirits from the King of Rohan. Other new characters include Treebeard, a walking talking tree that somehow doesn't seem corny or stupid. Of course, I speak as one who knows the books, and it may seem one bridge too far to have a talking tree.
Talking about the book, the film is (again) largely faithful to the original text, although the portrayal of Faramir differs; Peter Jackson felt Tolkien's original account of Faramir was unrealistic, which I have to say annoyed me about him, but it doesn't change the overall story too much.
The deeper part of the movie comes in the developing relationship of Frodo and Sam, although action lovers may feel frustrated with the subtlety and just want to get back to the battle at hand.
Once again, the CGI is top notch, particularly the Warg riders, and coupled with the beautiful scenery of New Zealand, it's a visual masterpiece. Much has been said about the cutting edge technology used to create the creature Gollum, and it really is amazing, but I'll let you make your own mind up about that.
PART 3: THE RETURN OF THE KING
WHAT IS IT ABOUT: As in The Two Towers, there's a split narrative in ROTK: Frodo, Sam and Gollum are within spitting distance of Mount Doom and the destruction of the One Ring. Gandalf teams up with King Theoden to protect Minas Tirith against the armies of Sauron, and Aaragorn must summon the army of the dead to battle for him, but will all this be enough?
WAS IT ANY GOOD: To be fair, you know by now whether you like these films or not, and if you do this is the biggest and best of all in many respects. Once again, the beautiful landscape of New Zealand combines with state of the art CGI to produce a film visually marvellous to behold. With amost 1500 visual effects shots, it's a thing of beauty to behold.
The film sticks almost totally to Tolkien's original text, which is nice to see, particularly as the first two films made significant changes to the text. Fans of the book may miss 'the scouring of the Shire', but the film manages well without it, and doesn't have the time to put it in anyway: at 201 minutes, it's an epic movie, but the pace never slows, as the adventure rushes towards its final show-down.
After two years of watching these films, it's a very sad ending: one that is reflected on screen as much loved characters say their final farewells. Peter Jackson and co have produced a film that will surely stand the test of time, and never become outdated.
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
I love these films. I went to see the first of these not expecting much, as I'd never read the book and had always thought it was just some silly kids' story, but was so wrong and now they're three of my favourite films!
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 (100%):
