Product Description
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The extended version (with 48 extra minutes) of the final film
in Peter Jackson's epic big screen adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's
'Lord of the Rings' trilogy - which won all 11 Academy Awards it
was nominated for, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best
Adapted Screenplay. Gandalf manages to rally Gondor's fallen army
with the help of King Theoden of Rohan for the biggest battle in
the history of Middle-earth; and Aragorn finally faces up to his
responsibilities. They are obviously out-numbered but are
determined to keep Sauron distracted in order to enable Frodo to
complete his quest to destroy the Ring by throwing it into the
fires of the ain of Doom.
.co.uk Review
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The greatest trilogy in film history, presented in the most
ambitious sets in DVD history, comes to a grand conclusion with
the extended edition of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the
King. Not only is the third and final installment of Peter
Jackson's adaptation of the works of J.R.R. Tolkien the longest
of the three, but a full 50 minutes of new material pushes the
running time to a whopping 4 hours and 10 minutes. The new scenes
are welcome, and the bonus features maintain the high bar set by
the first two films, The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two
Towers.
What's New?
One of the scenes cut from the theatrical release but included
here, the resolution of the Saruman storyline, generated a lot of
publicity when the movie opened, as actor Christopher Lee
complained in the press about losing his only appearance. It's an
excellent scene, one Jackson calls "pure Tolkien," and provides
better context for Pippin to find the wizard's palantir in the
water, but it's not critical to the film. In fact, "valuable but
not critical" might sum up the ROTK extended edition. It's
evident that Jackson made the right cuts for the theatrical run,
but the extra material provides depth and ties up a number of
loose ends, and for those sorry to see the trilogy end (and who
isn't?) it's a welcome chance to spend another hour in
Middle-earth. Some choice moments are Gandalf's (Ian McKellen)
confrontation with the Witch King (we find out what happened to
the wizard's staff), the chilling Mouth of Sauron at the gates of
Mordor, and Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin) being
mistaken for Orc soldiers. We get to see more of Éowyn (Miranda
Otto), both with Aragorn and on the battlefield, even fighting
the hideously deformed Orc lieutenant, Gothmog. We also see her
in one of the most anticipated new scenes, the Houses of Healing
after the battle of the Pelennor Fields. It doesn't present
Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) as a savior as the book did, but it
shows the initial meeting between Éowyn and Faramir (David
Wenham), a relationship that received only a meaningful glance in
the theatrical cut.
If you want to completely immerse yourself in Peter Jackson's
marvelous and massive achievement, only the extended edition will
do.
And for those who complained, no, there are no new endings, not
even the scouring of the Shire, which many fans were hoping to
see. Nor is there a scene of Denethor (John Noble) with the
palantir, which would have better explained both his fore
and his madness. As Jackson notes, when cuts are made, the
secondary characters are the first to go, so there is a new scene
of Aragorn finding the palantir in Denethor's robes. Another big
difference is Aragorn's confrontation with the King of the Dead.
In the theatrical version, we didn't know whether the King had
accepted Aragorn's offer when the pirate ships pulled into the
harbor; here Jackson assumes that viewers have already
experienced that tension, and instead has the army of the dead
join the battle in an earlier scene (an extended cameo for
Jackson). One can debate which is more effective, but that's why
the film is available in both versions. If you feel like watching
the relatively shorter version you saw in the theaters, you can.
If you want to completely immerse yourself in Peter Jackson's
marvelous and massive achievement, only the extended edition will
do.
How Are the Bonus Features?
To complete the experience, The Return of the King provides the
same sprawling set of features as the previous extended editions:
four commentary tracks, sharp picture and thrilling sound, and
two discs of excellent documentary material far superior to the
recycled material in the theatrical edition. Those who have
listened to the seven hours of commentary for the first two
extended editions may wonder if they need to hear more, but there
was no commentary for the earlier ROTK DVD, so it's still
entertaining to hear him break down the film (he says the beacon
scene is one of his favorites), discuss differences from the
book, point out cameos, and poke fun at himself and the
extended-edition concept ("So this is the complete full
strangulation, never seen before, here exclusively on DVD!"). The
documentaries (some lasting 30 minutes or longer) are of their
usual outstanding quality, and there's a riveting
storyboard/animatic sequence of the climactic scene, which
includes a one-on-one battle between Aragorn and Sauron.
One DVD Set to Rule Them All
Peter Jackson's trilogy has set the standard for fantasy films
by adapting the Holy Grail of fantasy stories with a combination
of fidelity to the original source and his own vision,
supplemented by outstanding writing, near-perfect casting,
glorious special effects, and evocative New Zealand locales. The
extended editions without exception have set the standard for the
DVD medium 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