The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy (Special Extended Edition)

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Product Description This critically acclaimed epic trilogy follows the quest undertaken by the hobbit, Frodo Baggins, and his fellowship of companions to save Middle-earth by destroying the One Ring and defeating the evil forces of the Dark Lord Sauron. With new and extended scenes carefully added back into the film, the 12-disc set also includes hours of bonus features. desertcart.com The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring: As the triumphant start of a trilogy, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring leaves you begging for more. By necessity, Peter Jackson's ambitious epic compresses J.R.R. Tolkien's classic The Lord of the Rings, but this robust adaptation maintains reverent allegiance to Tolkien's creation, instantly qualifying as one of the greatest fantasy films ever made. At 178 minutes, it's long enough to establish the myriad inhabitants of Middle-earth, the legendary Rings of Power, and the fellowship of hobbits, elves, dwarves, and humans--led by the wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen) and the brave hobbit Frodo (Elijah Wood)--who must battle terrifying forces of evil on their perilous journey to destroy the One Ring in the land of Mordor. Superbly paced, the film is both epic and intimate, offering astonishing special effects and production design while emphasizing the emotional intensity of Frodo's adventure. Ending on a perfect note of heroic loyalty and rich anticipation, this wondrous fantasy continues in The Two Towers (2002). --Jeff ShannonThe Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers is a seamless continuation of Peter Jackson's epic fantasy based on the works of J.R.R. Tolkien. After the breaking of the Fellowship, Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin) journey to Mordor to destroy the One Ring of Power with the creature Gollum as their guide. Meanwhile, Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), Legolas (Orlando Bloom), and Gimli (John Rhys-Davies) join in the defense of the people of Rohan, who are the first target in the eradication of the race of Men by the renegade wizard Saruman (Christopher Lee) and the dark lord Sauron. Fantastic creatures, astounding visual effects, and a climactic battle at the fortress of Helm's Deep make The Two Towers a worthy successor to The Fellowship of the Ring, grander in scale but retaining the story's emotional intimacy. These two films are perhaps the greatest fantasy films ever made, but they're merely a prelude to the cataclysmic events of The Return of the King. --David HoriuchiLord of the Rings: The Return of the King: With The Return of the King, the greatest fantasy epic in film history draws to a grand and glorious conclusion. Director Peter Jackson's awe-inspiring adaptation of the Tolkien classic The Lord of the Rings could never fully satisfy those who remain exclusively loyal to Tolkien's expansive literature, but as a showcase for physical and technical craftsmanship it is unsurpassed in pure scale and ambition, setting milestone after cinematic milestone as the brave yet charmingly innocent Hobbit Frodo (Elijah Wood) continues his mission to Mordor, where he is destined to destroy the soul-corrupting One Ring of Power in the molten lava of Mount Doom. While the heir to the kingdom of Men, Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), endures the massive battle at Minas Tirith with the allegiance of the elf Legolas (Orlando Bloom), dwarf Gimli (John Rhys-Davies) and the great wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen), Frodo and stalwart companion Samwise Gamgee (Sean Astin) must survive the schizoid deceptions of Gollum, who remains utterly convincing as a hybrid of performance (by Andy Serkis) and subtly nuanced computer animation. Jackson and cowriters Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens have much ground to cover; that they do so with intense pacing and epic sweep is impressive enough, but by investing greater depth and consequence in the actions of fellow Hobbits Merry (Dominic Monaghan) and Pippin (Billy Boyd), they ensure that Return of the King maintains the trilogy's emphasis on intimate fellowship. While several major characters appear only briefly, and one (Christopher Lee's evil wizard, Saruman) relegated entirely to the extended version on DVD, Jackson is to be commended for his editorial acumen; like Legolas the archer, his aim as a filmmaker is consistently true, and he remains faithful to Tolkien's overall vision. If Return suffers from too many endings, as some critic suggested, it's only because the epic's conclusion is so loyally inclusive of the actors--most notably Astin--who gave it such strength to begin with. By ending the LOTR trilogy with noble integrity and faith in the power of imaginative storytelling, The Return of the King, like its predecessors, will stand as an adventure for the ages. --Jeff ShannonAlso on Disc: The extended editions of Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings present the greatest trilogy in film history in the most ambitious sets in DVD history. In bringing J.R.R. Tolkien's nearly unfilmable work to the screen, Jackson benefited from extraordinary special effects, evocative New Zealand locales, and an exceptionally well-chosen cast, but most of all from his own adaptation with co-writers Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, preserving Tolkien's vision and often his very words, but also making logical changes to accommodate the medium of film. While purists complained about these changes and about characters and scenes left out of the films, the almost two additional hours of material in the extended editions (about 11 hours total) help appease them by delving more deeply into Tolkien's music, the characters, and loose ends that enrich the story, such as an explanation of the Faramir-Denethor relationship, and the appearance of the Mouth of Sauron at the gates of Mordor. In addition, the extended editions offer more bridge material between the films, further confirming that the trilogy is really one long film presented in three pieces (which is why it's the greatest trilogy ever--there's no weak link). The scene of Galadriel's gifts to the Fellowship added to the first film proves significant over the course of the story, while the new Faramir scene at the end of the second film helps set up the third and the new Saruman scene at the beginning of the third film helps conclude the plot of the second.To top it all off, the extended editions offer four discs per film: two for the longer movie, plus four commentary tracks and stupendous DTS 6.1 ES sound; and two for the bonus material, which covers just about everything from script creation to special effects. The argument was that fans would need both versions because the bonus material is completely different, but the features on the theatrical releases are so vastly inferior that the only reason a fan would need them would be if they wanted to watch the shorter versions they saw in theaters (the last of which, The Return of the King, merely won 11 Oscars). The LOTR extended editions without exception have set the DVD standard by providing a richer film experience that pulls the three films together and further embraces Tolkien's world, a reference-quality home theater experience, and generous, intelligent, and engrossing bonus features. --David Horiuchi Review: A fantastic movie series, now in stunning high resolution detail - Lord of the Rings is one of my favorite movie series of all time, and this BluRay version is absolutely gorgeous. First a couple of technical comments about the BluRay version (I have the Extended DVD version of LOTR as well): 1. Each movie is split into two BluRay discs for a simple reason - this allows for a lower degree of compression so that the native resolution and visual quality of the movies can be better maintained. The resolution is especially important if your system has the software to tweak the sharpness and color settings and your screen has a higher resolution than the native 1080p of the BluRay (I watch all my movies on my desktop computer with 30inch 1900 x 1200 native resolution monitor). The result is an outstanding degree of sharpness (without graininess) throughout the movie - better than I can get for my "Avatar" BluRay. I can see every hair and skin cell, it seems, in the close-up shots! 2. Regarding the comments from others about the "green" tint in this BluRay - it must be your BluRay player. I have not had any problems, but then, the video quality of my computer system can be adjusted at three levels - the monitor, the Nvidia graphics card, and the video playing software. 3. Despite the sharp increase in resolution, there are surprisingly few CGI or other glitches visible. Almost certainly, somebody went through this movie with a fine tooth comb to clean up the high resolution details. I only noticed a few minor glitches still - Isildur's scene at the beginning where he puts on the ring and vanishes still looks like it was shot in front of a green screen (there's a subtle mismatch between his lighting and coloring and that of the background), the Army of the Dead move a bit too CGI whenever they ride out in a horde, and at the end, where the pirate ships have an unnatural looking interface with the water. Now for some thoughts about LOTR and this movie series: It has long been apparent that Tolkien based LOTR on the history and mythology of Great Britain and Europe. And so it finally dawned on me one day that Numenor spelled backwards is "Ronemun" a near-anagram for "Roman", and the Numenoreans must indeed have been the Romans who invaded Middle Earth/Great Britain. The serial invasions of Britain by various European peoples and the themes of constant warfare, and of existing people being displaced by new peoples are integral to both LOTR and the history of Great Britain. History is written by the victors and the losers are invariably demonized in those accounts. And so today the Romans are remembered in much the same light as the noble Numenoreans of LOTR and their enemies remembered as savages. It is worth noting that despite their frequent portrayal as the Founders of Modern Western European Civilization, the Romans slaughtered and enslaved millions in their conquests and displaced vast numbers of peoples. It is thus possible to see that buried beneath the themes of good vs. evil in LOTR is the deeper story of human evolution through eternal warfare. Were the Wildmen of Dunland truly evil? Or were they just fighting to regain their lands taken from them by the Numenoreans and Rohirrim? The true story of Queen Boudica and the Iceni versus the Romans comes to mind here. Were the Orcs and Goblins and Uruk-hai truly deformed, evil monsters? Or were they just coexistent species of near-humans, fighting for their right to exist in Middle Earth? We know now that the line that became modern humans evolved alongside many other side branches of near-humans in what surely must have been a Darwinian death struggle. Are the myths of such monsters merely a racial memory from human pre-history? As I watch this wonderful movie series once again, I do see things in a different light. I had just finished HBO's "Game of Thrones" series, which also featured Sean Bean, in a another role as a sword wielding nobleman. Both stories are set in similar fantasy worlds based on Medieval-era Europe, but their story themes are quite different. LOTR has a simple linear plotline detailing the triumph of good over evil. You know the good guys will remain good guys, the bad guys are utterly evil, and then there are those few in between who struggle with being on one side or the other. The good guys win in LOTR, those in between who fail to overcome the temptations of evil are destroyed, evil is destroyed, and everybody who is good goes on to live happily ever after, although not all stay in Middle-Earth. Having created such powerful forces of evil in his tale, to accomplish that happy ending, Tolkien had to resort to several deus ex machina plot devices to save the overwhelmed good guys - the charge of Eomer's Riders straight into the long pikes of the Uruk-hai to save Helm's Deep (not likely to be successful in the real world), the Great Eagles to save Gandalf and Frodo/Sam, and the Army of the Dead to save Gondor. "Game of Thrones" is very different, none more so than the character of Sean Bean, who plays a thoroughly decent, honest, and good man, and yet comes to an untimely end. Who is good and evil in this tale cannot be so easily sorted out, as everyone has a different agenda, and it is just a mass free-for-all struggle for power and survival. The few who appear to be truly good in this tale get crushed in the struggle. History and life are indeed more like "Game of Thrones" than LOTR. But in my heart, I still love LOTR more than something like "Game of Thrones", which although fascinating to watch, makes me squirm. LOTR remains closer to an idealized fantasy myth world. There are some things I wish for, though. I wish Saruman could have had a chance to tell his tale, of why he chose the path of science and industrialization (which after all is what produced technology like this BluRay movie), why he chose to ally himself with these species of near-humans and breed the Uruk-Hai. I wish the Wildmen and the Easterlings had a chance to tell their tale, for surely they had reasons to ally themselves with Saruman and Sauron. There are hints of this back story in the Appendices and other works of Tolkien, but only hints. There is another tale to be told there, I'm sure. Review: The EE's to Rule them All - This is what I have been waiting anxiously and impatiently for such a long time. It has seemed like an eternity at times, but the precious is here! I was little worried about the quality of Fellowship of the Ring after reading and seeing some of the comments and screen caps floating around the internet, especially in regards to the "green filter" being applied to Fellowship of the Ring. I should have known it was just nitpicking and closet movie dullards trying their very best to create a wave a controversy. People, there is absolutely zero reason to be worried. The Extended Edition of Fellowship of the Ring is the most pristine and dazzling that I've ever seen the movie, including multiple times at different theaters in the past. It's much ado about, well, nothing. As I was watching Fellowship of the Ring, my eyes kept gawking and gazing at the fine details and rich colors on the screen. This is the best you will ever see the Fellowship of the Ring look, there is no bones about that whatsoever. I was dancing around like Smeagol at Mount Doom when he captured the ring from Frodo - the Extended Edition Blu-ray of Lord of the Rings delivers in spades. The main gripe that the internet kiddies are harping over is director's intent, and in this case Peter Jackson signed off on these and Warner Brothers has already released an official statement. I haven't the foggiest notion what people are expecting, but this Extended Edition of Lord of the Rings looks absolutely phenomenal on my 55" Sony HX701, using either a PS3 or Samsung BD-P1600. I think in some cases, people are using inferior displays or just joining up with the loud-mouthed minority to be "e-cool". Whatever the reasons or motives, I find it to be a pathetic collective of lemmings. At any rate, that's enough for me about that nonsense and the war band of wannabe Hollywood directors up in arms. As I said, Fellowship of the Ring looks completely pristine, with rich and varied colors, and the fine details that capture your imagination. In regards to The Two Towers and Return of the King, they were already "ok" with the theatrical versions on Blu-ray - but the Extended Edition of all three movies was given extra TLC and it shows. I found The Return of the King to be a reference quality disc on the Extended Editions, as in one of the very best movies that Blu-ray has to offer in order to showcase a high-definition movie. Your jaw will be slack and your eyes wide open when you watch this trilogy of extended editions on Blu-ray. The new transfers and changes are sublime, and worth every penny. I'm in Peter Jackson and Andrew Lesnie's camp and have found their vision and presentation of the Extended Editions to be a visual smorgasbord of pure euphoria - especially to the Lord of the Rings fans out there. In terms of the visual palette: rich, deep blacks are apparent, the colors are saturated and 'pop', contrast is spot on, the details from top to bottom will be like watching these movies for the very first time again. I'd liken it to a religious experience if you're a Tolkien fan (which I very much am). Audio: Be ready to make your eardrums bleed - seriously. With a nice or adequate sub and speaker setup, the sound, music, and dialogue of this Extended Edition will make your chair and mind rumble. They knocked it out of the park with the audio quality as well. Overall: a stunning high-definition trilogy. Kudos to Peter Jackson and Andrew Lesnie, Middle Earth has never looked so amazing and vivid. For any Lord of the Rings fans out there, put simply, this is something that you must own.