FotR: SE Discussion

[Dumb-Fokker-**]

Well, as this is the LotR forum, I think that the FotR: SE is also going to be discussed alot, in the near future, with its impending release, and what-not. With tons of extra features, 4 audio commentaries, and an extra half hour of footage, it should give everyone plenty to talk about, until the release of TTT. And so, to kick things off, ill post this bit of news from TORc.

***

Ted and I just had the opportunity to spend half a day--from 9:30am to 9:30pm--and attend a special screening of the special edition of The Fellowship of the Ring (and 6 hours of documentaries and behind the scenes footage), due to be released on November 12, 2002.

We'll be writing our reviews and will have them online early this week... Allow me to mention, though, that this 3 1/2 hour edition of the film is DEFINITELY the one that long-time fans of LOTR have been waiting for. The additional scenes (particularly Lothlorien), truly fleshed out the film into a powerful cinematic vision of Middle-earth. Those of us at the screening agreed that this special edition is even better--much better--than the film released last December.

I think this is the movie that LOTR fans were hoping for in 2001. Better late than never, eh!?

And check for our full reviews (if we can remember everything!) early this week.

***

And as a side-note: I cant always be on-line, so if anyone in this forum is violating the rules & guidlines, be sure to send an e-mail to either myself, Mike Sampson, or JoBlo. Thanks.

[Dumb-Fokker-**]

Well, here is yet, another review of the SE, this time from TORn:

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Screening of The Fellowship of the Ring : Special Edition

I’ve recently returned from the marathon screening of FOTR:SE at New Line`s intimate screening room in West Hollywood, California.

The screening was attended by a few website folks and DVD aficionados. Keith Stern from McKellen.com was in attendance as well, Gordon Paddison and Wendy Rutherford also attended.

We started out early Saturday morning with breakfast and a little small talk. The 15 or so people who were there were abuzz with excitement of seeing the extended version of FOTR. What will we see? What was added? Removed? Changed? It wasn’t too long that we were all sitting in the 50 person screening room listening to opening introductions by Gordon Paddison, Michael Mulvihill and Jay Sherbon of Laserpacific.

They outlined what we were to see, the extended edition of the film, and all the special features. You can tell there is a general air of satisfaction with the product when they talk about it, you know they KNOW it’s a great DVD, and they want others to feel the same way.

The laserpacific folks gave us a bit of their background with New Line; they told us their experiences working with New Line since Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery and all the craziness that LOTR has been for them.

They then proceeded to screen the film for us on a small silver screen. They were showing the actual DVD, with all its menus and interactive titles. It is truly some of the most beautiful DVD menu screens I’ve ever seen.

If you want to know exactly what is on the extended edition of FOTR, refer to my report from September 12th. That report is basically 100% accurate to what we saw today (down to Gimli snoring), if that’s all you came for, then you can leave right now.

What I was interested in was the behind-the-scenes stuff that only nerd boys like us lust after. Let me tell you first and foremost this DVD is PACKED full of information on the film. Basically going from Tolkien’s first writings of ‘The Book of Lost Tales’ in World War I to the New Zealand premiere for FOTR just this past December. You can truly feel like YOU’VE been through every step of making this film after watching these specials.

Disk 3 starts off, as I stated, with a brief documentary on Tolkien, with a brief bio and information on how ‘The Hobbit’ and LOTR started in the written form. With interviews from Tolkien biographers and authors from a whole range of Tolkien books, this documentary doesn’t get into the finer details of the man, but is an interesting look at the one who started it all.

The following documentaries follow the evolution of ‘Fellowship’ from it’s initial stages with Miramax, PJ’s first meeting with Michael Shaye at New Line, and his pre-pre-PRE production work with people like Richard Taylor and Andrew Lesnie.

Disk 3 really gets into the nitty gritty of just what was needed to be prepared before any cameras started rolling. They tell the full story of finding John Howe and Alan Lee, getting the locations scouted out and developing costumes, cultures, weapons and more for such a massive undertaking. We are taken through every small detail of the work, from armour to clothes to locations and set design.

One of my favourite scenes in this section involved Grant Major talking to the camera on the way to the Hobbiton set with Peter Jackson in the car ahead of him, Grant tells us that he is a bit nervous because this is the first time PJ will be seeing the ‘almost’ finished product. What we see next is Grant and Peter looking over the rolling hills, with Grant saying ‘here it is’…..and this long…painful silence from Peter…as he mulls it over and says ‘right…well..needs some work right?’ It’s funny in many ways but also goes to show how much detail Peter wanted in every aspect of the production, can you just imagine spending an afternoon making sure there are enough plants around Hobbit hole fences to look realistic This is attention to detail at its finest!

To be honest the 3rd disk had so much attention to detail that my head started swimming. I certainly do not recommend you watch all of these documentaries in one sitting. At one point I really couldn’t care less that it Uruk-Hai armour was made of leather and if I saw Richard Taylor pick up another piece and explain it I’d lose it!!!!

Thankfully at this point we had a break and I got some food in me....

We then moved on to disk 4, which, for me was my favourite part of the entire DVD set. The documentaries continue their timeline to the start of production and casting. We don’t get any sort of garbage like ‘Elijah Wood plays Frodo...’, We KNOW he does! Get on with it! Thankfully they don’t pander to that audience... what we do get is truly candid little insights into each actor from all the OTHER actors’ point of view... truly amazing stuff. If I hadn’t been working on this film for two years and already feel a part of this family, I would certainly have after seeing these little segments. We get to hear Dominic Monaghan tell us of the first time they met John Rhys-Davies when he took them out to dinner and ordered a meal for an army, we get to hear how Billy Boyd screams like a girl, and how Ian McKellen yelled at Dom and Elijah when they played their music too loud during make-up calls, and how Sean Bean was so deathly afraid of helicopters that he spent two hours WALKING to locations that the rest of the crew flew too! Really great stuff.

The disk then moves onto digital effects, we see an amazing display on all the excruciating details that go into some of the smallest shots, and how some shots that seem totally natural were in fact worked on for weeks and weeks. There is a very interesting doco on the different types of tricks used to scale the Hobbits down to size, from digital trickery at its latest to having to Hobbit boys on their knees at times. A great documentary called ‘A day in the life of a Hobbit’ details all the trials and tribulations these little Hobbit boys went through for the entire production.

The sound department also have their say on this DVD as well. They go into detail on almost all the different sounds used and abused for the making of the film. They show some of the tricks used (you will NEVER guess what the sound of the screaming Nazgul is!).

Ngila Dickson gets her own segment when talking about costumes, we see an entire WAREHOUSE full of costumes for the film. She explains that for every major actor they get 10 costumes. So, for example, we take Pippin, that would mean 10 pippin costumes right? Not so sir, you have to factor in his small double (mini-me costumes they were called), his stunt double, and his mini-me stunt double! Imagine the massive amount of costumes for just that 1 character alone!

Howard Shore also has a segment all about his music and what is involved in making such a mammoth masterpiece for Peter Jackson. They go into so much detail on every song, every bit of score, and everyone involved in it, from Enya to the London choir boys. This doco will certainly leave music fans with a huge smile on their faces.

The documentaries round off with a segment called ‘The Road Goes Ever On...’ with video clips from the various premieres in London, Los Angeles and Wellington. A really great send-off for this DVD. They flashback to a few shots we see earlier in the film, and you can’t help but now feel part of the people involved on the journey with them after seeing these documentaries. This is truly a gift for fans of this movie, and movie making in general.

Almost 12 hours later I walked out with a handful of others (a lot of people left...but not TORN!). I was amazed at the fact that there were still MORE things we hadn’t seen on this DVD! There were over 2000 concept art sketches, an interactive map of Middle-earth and New Zealand. And FOUR full tracks of commentaries from producers, directors, artists and actors from the film.

Those who vow not to get ‘milked’ into buying this edition of the DVD will cave in as fast as Legolas can sling arrows and shoot them, my friends…this is DVD making at its finest.

***

A review from warofthering will be forthcoming, as will the TORc review.

[dh1989]

This DVD is sounding great. I really want to see the new version of the film. It looks amazing and who can deny that it rocks to get more of Howard Shores' brilliant score? Disks 3 and 4 sound cool. I am glad it will go deeper into the actual movie and stop with all the promotional crap. If only November 12th would get here a bit faster. The week that this comes out will be awesome. The new Potter film will open, we'll get a new cut of the kick-ass flick FOTR. and we will have the Spidey DVD. I cannot wait. Bring on the snores of America's favorite dwarf!

[BarkingSparrow]

Wow. This DVD will be the Mother of All Extra Features DVDs.

Nov is going to be a major hit on my checking account, 4 movies to see in the theaters and 4 DVDs to buy.

[Dumb-Fokker-**]

And here is the warofthering rview of the EE DVD.

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http://warofthering.net/specialnewspages/reviewoffotrexted.shtml

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And just a side-note: this thread is for the discussion of both the extended film, and the extras. Post your thoughts, reviews, and newsgroup/website reviews for this DVD here, as to avoid duplicate topics. Thanks.

[James Logan]

I call this a major rip-off. Sell two DVD editions five months apart from each other and hope people'll buy both, that way, you get two times as much money you would have if you just got one edition out.

I liked the movie, yes. I bought the first DVD, yes. I won't buy the SE, no. I'll borrow it from a friend, watch the extras once, and screw 'em, I'll do fine with just the movie and a couple of extras for the rest of my miserable existence. :)

[BarkingSparrow]

Originally posted by James Logan
I call this a major rip-off. Sell two DVD editions five months apart from each other and hope people'll buy both, that way, you get two times as much money you would have if you just got one edition out.

I liked the movie, yes. I bought the first DVD, yes. I won't buy the SE, no. I'll borrow it from a friend, watch the extras once, and screw 'em, I'll do fine with just the movie and a couple of extras for the rest of my miserable existence. :)

You are whining. First of all, New Line made it clear prior to the release of the theatrical release DVD that an extended edition would also be released in Nov. It's not like they mislead you in any way -- New LIne was quite upfront about it early on.

Second, it's not like the extended release is a mere rehash in any way. It's a distinct product with the additional 30 minutes, and a completely new set of additional features not found on the first DVD, and vice versa.

And last, it's quite common for both a theatrical release and a subsequent 'special edition' of some sort to be released. Is it a ripoff every time that someone does this?

Bottom line, New Line is providing us with choices. No one is pointing a gun to your head and saying to buy every version or a certain version. Instead of buying the theatrical release you could have merely rented it, or just waited until the extended version was released.

[ak]

Well, I just read TheOneRing.net's review and I positively jizzed myself.
I realised there were a great amount of features, but from their description there are more than I anticipated.
I'm especially looking forward to the "candid" aspects of the documentaries that basically just follow people about, as if they are not there and everything's casual - That's the thing I most look forward to.

I can forsee that many a cold, harsh winter's night will be filled with the pleasures of how Middle Earth was brought to life.
All of a sudden I love winter.

[Dumb-Fokker-**]

As moderator of this forum, I am going to have to ask that everyone cleans up their jizzum, from here on out. I understand that LotR has that 'jizz yourself' quality, but I am not around enough to clean up after everyone, and with jizzum all over - this place could get,.....sticky. Anyways; yes. This DVD sounds awesome. Incredible. Amazing. I am greatly looking forward to all of the extra features, and the additional features. Any particular scene you are most looking forward to? Mine would be Aragorn singing, with tears in his eyes.

[ak]

I'm not sure if there is one particular "new" scene that I'm looking forward to more than the others, but I'm really looking forward to seeing how they've constructed the film around this extra 30 minutes - Especially the opening of the film with Bilbo writing in his book. I'd like to see what follows on from that - Will we see Frodo talking to Gandalf in the cart?
I'm also looking forward to seeing some of the prologue scenes from the theatrical cut, actually cut into the Elrond sequences.

[dh1989]

I do not think this DVD will sell a lot. I think most people people who liked the film are happy with the August edition. Now fans like us will buy it again for the new footage and uber-cool special features, but a smaller fan, who just liked the film, will not buy. I predict a mediocre sales number because only die-hards will purchase to salivate over all the new stuff, like mesa. :)

[dh1989]

The scene I really want to see is Meriadoc and Peregrin singng at The Prancing Pony. Billy Boyd and Dominic Monaghan singing just sounds funny to me. I also want to see the scene before the Feloowship leave Rivendell where Elrond speaks and Aragorn and Arwen stare at each other. And there is Aragorn visiting Gilraen at the cemetary. That scene should be very emotional. Okay I need to stop or I will have named every scene. Check Ya Later

[BarkingSparrow]

Originally posted by dh1989
I do not think this DVD will sell a lot. I think most people people who liked the film are happy with the August edition. Now fans like us will buy it again for the new footage and uber-cool special features, but a smaller fan, who just liked the film, will not buy. I predict a mediocre sales number because only die-hards will purchase to salivate over all the new stuff, like mesa. :)

Mediocre compared to what? I don't think New Line or anyone is expecting the same sales figures as for the theatrical release, but the fact is that on both Amazon and DeepDiscountDVD at least, the extended version is in the top 5 in terms of pre-orders; but of course, you can't extrapolate to the general public based on 2 online stores.

I think the extended version is pretty much geared more towards the hard-core fan then the general public, so I doubt the expectations were there all along for huge numbers. I'm sure the sales will be good enough to encourage special editions of all 3 movies. *That* is what is most important.

[dh1989]

I mean mediocre compared to sales of DVD's for Shrek or Harry Potter, for example. I do not think it'll become one of the best-selling DVD's of all time.

[Dumb-Fokker-**]

Well, to be sure, there are many, many LotR fans that will buy this DVD, and there are also many DVD fans that will be sure to get it, as it is very apparently, going to be one of the best DVDs out there, in terms of audio, visual, and extras.

And now, take a look at these two new reviews for the EE DVD. First from TORn - another review, by Arwen. And the original has been updated with a short, and not finished Q&A.

www.theonering.net To read that review.

And than some short thoughts from digital bits. Seems to me that the main complaints about the film, are being addressed in spades with this extended version.

***

Well folks... I have seen the new extended cut of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. Matt and I attended a special screening of the contents of the new 4-disc DVD at New Line on Saturday. The event ran from 9 AM to after 9 PM, and even after 12 hours of viewing, they still didn't have time to show everything that's included in the set (the 4 audio commentaries and thousands of production artwork gallery stills went unseen). To be fair, Matt and I only stayed to see the new cut of the film shown in a big-screen, theater environment with DTS surround sound. 12 hours is, after all, a LONG damn time to sit on one seat! But I can tell you that the new cut of the film is absolutely wonderful.

Many of you already know a little about the 30 minutes of material that's been added back in, but here's a list of SOME of the new scenes: an extended opening with Bilbo writing his memoirs, a new introduction to Samwise Gamgee, a scene at the Green Dragon Inn, the Hobbits witnessing the departure of the Elves from Middle Earth on the way to Bree, Aragorn singing the ballad of Beren and Luthien, Aragorn at his mother's grave, new moments during the departure from Rivendale in which we see Arwen's emotional reaction to Aragorn's leaving as well as Elrond seeing the Fellowship off, a scene in the mines of Moria in which we learn how the Dwarves unleashed the fire-demon, Galadriel's complete gift-giving scene at Lothlorien and more footage of the battle at Amon Hen.

That's impressive enough, right? But there are also many smaller scenes, scene extensions and additional brief moments that have been added in throughout the length of the film. The cumulative effect is to make this film seem vastly more epic in scope - something I would never have guessed possible. There's a greater sense of distance to the Fellowship's journey, with many more points of interest along the way. We get to learn much more about Hobbits in the new opening, and there's more interaction between Frodo and Bilbo, which illuminates their fond relationship. You see that Gollum has continued to follow the Fellowship after leaving Moria. Lothlorien is depicted in much greater detail. The battle scenes are all much more intense now, and several characters are given added moments that make them feel more rounded, particularly Boromir (his last stand is now much more heroic and emotional). There's more humor in this cut. And the new footage adds significant texture and depth to the film - particularly welcome as much of this directly references material in the original book. The result, ultimately, is a much more satisfying viewing experience. I have no doubt that those who disliked the film because it was too long will bemoan the new version. But for fans, if you liked Fellowship in its theatrical form, you will absolutely love this. The 15 or 20 people in the preview audience with us were in complete agreement - the new cut of this film is nothing short of extraordinary. We'll be back with our in-depth review of the entire 4-disc DVD set later this week. But I just wanted to chime in this morning with the good word on the film itself.

[APzombie]

I simply can not wait! It comes out the same day as Attack of the Clones, i'll savor each one and get them seperatly...

[dh1989]

Does anyone know if this will be released in Widerscreen and Fullscreen. I hope it is only in Widescreen. My local shops usually stock a few Widescreens, while they have loads and loads of Fullscreens. If anyone knows, I'd really appreciate an answer. Thanks.

[BarkingSparrow]

Originally posted by dh1989
Does anyone know if this will be released in Widerscreen and Fullscreen. I hope it is only in Widescreen. My local shops usually stock a few Widescreens, while they have loads and loads of Fullscreens. If anyone knows, I'd really appreciate an answer. Thanks.

Thanks for the Digital Bits mention Fokker. Went over to that site and read the full review and they are obviously quite excited about the extended edition. I got a charter membership to the LOTR Fan Club as a gift, so my name will be buried in there somewhere.

DH: Which movie are you referring to? AOTC will be released in both WS and FS. THe extended edition will be only widescreen.

[dh1989]

Originally posted by BarkingSparrow
DH: Which movie are you referring to? AOTC will be released in both WS and FS. THe extended edition will be only widescreen.

I was talking about the FOTR SE. Thanks Sparrow.

[LordKaruku]

It's a bummer that there won't be an isolated score and sound effects tracks like the press release from a few weeks back said. But honestly, I feel guilty complaining about anything related to this DVD set.... the fact that it exists and I will soon have it makes me want to worship someone.

[Dumb-Fokker-**]

*coughs*

Well, I am available for whorshipping, Monday thru Thursday? How about it? ;)

[James Logan]

Originally posted by BarkingSparrow
You are whining. First of all, New Line made it clear prior to the release of the theatrical release DVD that an extended edition would also be released in Nov. It's not like they mislead you in any way -- New LIne was quite upfront about it early on.


I ain't whining, and I wasn't mislead, I knew all about this from the beginning, because New Line was upfront about it as you said. Personally, I think it's the principle of getting two edition of the same movie only three to four months apart that pisses me off -- they fairly well know a lot of people won't be patient enough to wait for the SE, so they'll buy the August edition, and then buy the SE too, because they don't want to miss all the bonus material. Call it good marketing and business or a big-fat rip-off, it's the same to me. :)
And I'm not unhappy with the August edition. All I need is my movie, and the first edition even had some nice bonuses, so everything's fine. I, for one, don't feel the need to buy the SE -- and the "long movie cut" argument doesn't convince me, because if stuff was cut for the theatrical release, then it means it wasn't good enough to be in the final cut. Morality: if it's not good enough, to need seein' it. :p

[Tuukka]

Originally posted by James Logan
I ain't whining, and I wasn't mislead, I knew all about this from the beginning, because New Line was upfront about it as you said. Personally, I think it's the principle of getting two edition of the same movie only three to four months apart that pisses me off -- they fairly well know a lot of people won't be patient enough to wait for the SE, so they'll buy the August edition, and then buy the SE too, because they don't want to miss all the bonus material. Call it good marketing and business or a big-fat rip-off, it's the same to me. :)
And I'm not unhappy with the August edition. All I need is my movie, and the first edition even had some nice bonuses, so everything's fine. I, for one, don't feel the need to buy the SE -- and the "long movie cut" argument doesn't convince me, because if stuff was cut for the theatrical release, then it means it wasn't good enough to be in the final cut. Morality: if it's not good enough, to need seein' it. :p

Actually, it was a time issue, since the film was already three hours. The footage should be just as good as the rest of the film. Of course the scenes are only minor drama scenes, so one doesn't miss particularly much by not seeing them.

[BarkingSparrow]

SE Easter Eggs! Courtesy of the Digital Bits review:

Easter egg Instructions

Disc One

To access the MTV Movie Awards spoof of The Council of Elrond scene with Jack Black and Sarah Michelle Gellar (3 min, 4x3, DD 2.0), go to the last page of the scene selections menu area and select 'The Council of Elrond'. Then navigate "down" to reveal a hidden Ring symbol. Press "Enter".

Disc Two

To access The Two Towers sneak peek trailer that was shown briefly in theaters at the end of The Fellowship of the Ring (4 min, 16x9, DD 5.1), go to the last page of the scene selections menu area and select the number "48" on the far right-hand side of the screen. Then navigate "down" to reveal a hidden Two Towers symbol. Press "Enter".

Ahhhhh. The SE DVD will rock! The MTV Movie Award spoof was hilarious. And a WS DD 5.1 version of that 4-minute trailer!

[Dumb-Fokker-**]

http://www.dvdfile.com/software/review/dvd-video_5/lordoftherings_fellow_ec.html

Another excellent review, from DVDFile. Sounding better all the time.

[ak]

I wonder if anyone can help me, as I am confused:

OK - There is a platinum version and a collectors version of the four disk DVD coming out........What's the difference between the two?

That's my only question.............................for now.

[Dumb-Fokker-**]

Difference is this; with the Platinum, you get the Argonath bookends, the display thingy for the DVD, 3 trading cards, and the National Geogrpahic Special Edition DVD. Thats about it.

[Dumb-Fokker-**]

DVD Menus from IGN Insider!!!!!!1

http://http://dvdmedia.ign.com/dvd/image/lotrmenumap2big.jpg

http://dvdmedia.ign.com/dvd/image/lotrmenumap1big.jpg

http://dvdmedia.ign.com/dvd/image/lotrchaptersbig.jpg

Look at all the extended, and even new scenes!!!! This new cut of the film will kick all kinds of ass.

[Dumb-Fokker-**]

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htforum/showthread.php?threadid=101554

New review that gives details on alot more scenes from the film.

[BarkingSparrow]

26 out of 46 scenes are either extended or brand new.

On Amazon, the Platinum edition is up to #3 and the Collector's Edition is #8 on the DVD top sellers list.

Guess the great reviews are helping.

[dh1989]

That review from the HTF was really great. I am glad that the video and audio is high quality. I am suprised at how many scenes are extended. Almost everyone is. How many days are left? I believe it is about 21 days left.

[fryman_3000]

Hey check out this kick-ass new review of the SE.
It's got lots of cool bits of information, and even some info about the commentaries!

Did you know Gandalf bumping his head was an accident they kept in? Or that the Ringwraith screaming is Fran Walsh? You do now :D

edit: oops forgot the link :D
http://dvd.ign.com/articles/374/374921p1.html

[BarkingSparrow]

Originally posted by fryman_3000
Hey check out this kick-ass new review of the SE.
It's got lots of cool bits of information, and even some info about the commentaries!

Did you know Gandalf bumping his head was an accident they kept in? Or that the Ringwraith screaming is Fran Walsh? You do now :D

edit: oops forgot the link :D
http://dvd.ign.com/articles/374/374921p1.html


The Mother of All Reviews. Arggggh, I must have this DVD NOW!!

[APzombie]

HERE IT IS AGAIN..... THE MOTHER OF ALL REVIEWS!

http://dvd.ign.com/articles/374/374921p1.html

[Puck Bond]

Well since I bought the SE DVD on Tuesday over the past 4 days I have been watching bits and pieces of it off and on...Right now the only thing I haven't watched yet is the 3rd commentary with the post-production team. I have practically seen everythig else: the extended version of the film, the director and writers commentary, the cast commentary, the design team commentary and I've watched all the documentary's on Discs 3 and 4.

After watching all this I have grown even more enraged at how this film lost best picture at the Oscars....hey I loved A Beautiful Mind but after seeing this film as it is now and what went into it...it is the biggest over-sight in movie history. Sure, it is an old subject but if you believe as I do that LOTR:FOTR was robbed this will reinforce that notion.

As for the film itself and the added footage and extended scenes they are mostly more development of the smaller characters...the theatrical version is focused on Frodo, Bilbo, The Ring, Gandalf and Boromir...in this extended verson there is more emphasis on the other characters the 3 other hobbits, Aragorn, Gimli, Legolas, Galadriel, Arwen etc. I do have to state that I did not watch the whole extended version in one sitting...I was at work for the first half and like 5 hours later when I was at home I watched the second half...that disjointed feeling will have a big influence on the thoughts I am about to give you. Plus the fact the film is on 2 discs is a bit annoying....I will at some point watch it again...and put the 2nd disc right on after the next to get a beter understanding. But for me the added footage...really doesn't make a huge difference in the whole spirit of the film, its themes, emotons etc. are still the same without them. The one scene that I think should have stayed in the movie and has vital importance to the future films is the gift-giving scene where the Fellowship depart Lothlorien. Maybe the other scene that maybe should have been kept is while on the river Anduin they stop off at night to regroup and also discover that Gollum is still following them...this scene is expanded so much in the book..plus this scene features a great momnt with Aragorn and Boromir that adds more emotion and depth to Boromir's death scene.

The Director and Writer Commentary is really interesting...because it really illustrates the fact that Peter Jackson is a brilliant filmmaker and the skill it took to adapt this book. Most people always complain that the book is always better than the movie...but the fact they are two different storytelling mediums cloud their jdgment...and since the book always usually comes first they just say it will always be better. I have read The Fellowship of the Ring as I'm sure many of you have...and you know that it is a difficult read. The pace is very leisurely and slow...it takes half of the book for them to leave Bree! People complain about the lack of Tom Bombadil and other thngs in Tolkien's writings epecially the numerous poems and songs. But that stuff does not translate well on film...for film to be good stuff it has to be dramatized and this is what Jackson, Fran Walsh an Philippa Boyens completely understand....it is a credit to them that they took a massive story of FOTR by itself let alone the whole LOTR story and translated it this brilliantly to screen. This is the best book adaptation ever period! I also loved that you can here what Jackson's various influences are like James Bond for the prologue (Balls to the Wall action scene he calls it), Alfred Hitchcock and Steven Spielberg and his Harry Hausen moments with the cave-troll scene, even Ralph Bakshi he copied an exact shot from...and it was him who first introduced Jackson to this story. I also loved hearing about an outtake that Ian McKellen does...when the Fellowship hides in the rocks from the crows and Gandalf appears and says "Spies of Saruman!" Apparently Ian McKellan did a take when he says "Spies of Star Wars!"

The cast commentary is great too, its fun, informative and the actors are the ones I really want to hear talk about the film...my only complaint is that Viggo Mortensen and Cate Blanchett aren't on the commentary but everyone else pretty much is. I would have loved to hear their omments.

This brings me to a question...who was originally scripted to play Aragorn? Before Viggo Mortensen joined the project in rushed fashion after shooting had started...it is mentioned a couple of times on the DVD but never who was the original actor?

The most memorable moments from the Cast commentary is hearing how Sean Bean would trudge up mountains to sets because he was deathly afraid of being choppered in. The other most memorable moment is when John Rhys-Davies is talking about how he mentioned to the rest of the cast that they were not just making a movie, but a masterpiece and film history. To me that is not arrogance or cockiness just the truth.

As for the appendices I will just talk about in general...people often coplain about the over-use of special effects in movies in particular CGI which often look fake and stand-out...There are maybe 2 or 3 shots in this entire film that have that look, hey look at me I'm a special effect. In fact thre is only one shot in the whole entire film that is completely digital. The use of scaling, miniatures, models,mat paintings and sets is absolutely brilliant and when you see them in the actual form compared to what they look like on screen it is absolutely amazing...which brings to the point that there is the utmost attention to detail in every aspect of this entire film from, characters, sets, costumes, weapons, armor, props, statues, carvings, walls...the list is endless. Authenticity has been produced in such a memorable fashion that there is nothing left un-explored in terms of the design of this film. I still find it hard to fathom that we still have 2 more films to watch!?!

Why did so many people love this film when it first was released...a lot was to do with the fact that many felt they were transported to Middle-Earth...its history, culture, peoples and so on...the whole world in which this story takes place in felt like it was lived in. This is part of history a forgotten time etc...Opposed to that look, how about the feel of the newest Star Wars films...nothing feels like it was or could ever be there...once the cameras are off and nothing is on screen the environment would just be a void of nothingness...Middle-Earth as it stands in this film feels like that when you look away, it would still be there and would endure for centuries...and that brings me to what I think is the most important decision and thing that Jackson did with this film(it is stated over and over again on the DVD)...this was not a FANTASY film, but a HISTORICAL film...an epic recount of history of long ago...(in part because Tolkein created this story out of a lack of myth and legend in England's history before the 11th centutry...its nice to think as this time as a revealing of the Dark Ages, which is a void in human history that we have little record of. From now on I don't think I could ever refer to this film as a Fantasy film.

Hmmm...if you re still reading you are a brave soul...but I have so many thoughs about this film and seeing this DVD has inspired me to babble on like this...so here is a way I want to sum up my thoughts.

One quote I remember hearing about the movies is that mediocre and good films happen by design...but awful and great films happen by accident. This point is best illustrated by the fact that the idea to do 2 films for this story was first turned down by Miramax...and it wasn't until the last possible place the filmmakers went to at New Line and they said why don't we do 3...stuff like that you can't make up...this film and the next two will in my opinion be the best story ever realized on film that the movie world will ever see somthing like it again for a long time..and it is a blessing that we get to experince it at this time and should not be taken for granted...I pity the fools who don't see that.

"Pity? It was pity that stayed Bilbo's hand."

[Dumb-Fokker-**]

Stuart Townsend was the original Aragorn.

[BarkingSparrow]

I purchased the platinum edition on Tuesday. I have yet to watch the movie, not really having time just now, and not wanting to rush the experience. Instead, as Gimli talked about how the Dwarves would lovingly nuture the Glittering Caves, I've been savoring the extras, taking my time to go thru disks #3 and #4.

BTW, the Two Towers Exhibit in Toronto was awesome! There were huge lines there at our 10:30a appointment, and you could see, sense, and hear the excitement from the fans standing in line, anticipating the exhibit. The girl in front of me flew in from Wash DC, the people behind us drove up from New York.

It truly was amazing to see the detail in the clothing, swords, artifacts, and armor: I don't think anyone in film history has ever put such effort into a movie or, in this case, movies. Take away the movie ties, and you would honestly think this was some actual historical exhibit from some long-past era. The attention to detail just gave you this sense of historical authenticity. It's hard to explain, but it's one thing to see the movie, something else to actually see the sets and items for real -- you are there, for a short time, in Middle-Earth.

Man, I'd kill for some of those banners. They had the banner Arwen made for Aragorn, and the Rohirrim horse standards.

Anyway, we were very relucant to leave, so reluctant in fact, that we bought tix for a 2nd viewing in the evening. I sure hope that they have an exhibit for The Return of the King. If so, they'd better have Shelob's Lair there!

[MrBlack]

Basically what was stated in the above review, and then some. I have watched everything, all of the extras and commentary are very amazing excluding the production and post-production commentary. At first I was afraid that by getting so in depth with the movie that it would ruin my experience with ever watching any LOTR movie again and not dissecting it. I must say now that I anticipate TTT more than anything after that DVD, and I watched the extended edition AFTER watching all of the apendicies, and I still fell into the bliss of middle-earth and became immersed in the movie instead of looking at it from a technical standpoint- which meant a lot to me. Now I cannot say that everyone will look at the movie the same after watching through all of this, but I hope so, I'm not going to make that broad generalization saying "This is a DVD to be watched by everyone, fans of the story and casual movie-buffs alike!".

But for those who have the courage to watch the whole thing, I really do hope that you will come out of it with a deeper and more rich experience with what went into the movie, how significant it is, and just how magnificant it really is. I will also agree with that previous reviewer by saying that FOTR should have won best picture- TTT and RotTK should win too (thats how much confidence I have in this series *The Star Wars of our generation*)!

[Common Sense Man]

Well first of for those who feel they are getting ripped by Newline releasing two DVD's too bad. They gave you fair warning and I did not purchase the first DVD but will purchase the SE Edition.

I originally gave FOTR an 8 of 10 but now after seeing the SE cut I have to amp it up to a 10 of 10!

For any who complained about lack of character development you can now all go straight to heck!

I did not really know what to expect but I was blown away! I originally thought most of the extra scenes would be in one or two lumps of time, but they are sprinkled thru out the entire movie filling in the spots that needed a little extra.

Many of the errors people caught in the film where simply editing errors because these scenes where removed, now with them reinserted they do not occur. As an example the opening scene where Isuldur looses the ring in the river when it was supposedly on a chain around his neck. But now we see him remove the chain and put on the ring.

The story truly blossums under this edit and I agree with the others that overlooking this picture for the Best Picture Oscar was a farce.

I wish Newline would have had the balls to release this version.

For anyone who has read the books and knows the story already these extra scenes bring so much more to the movie.

I found myself laughing quietly to myself as Bilbo tried to avoid the Sackville Baggins' most of the backstory I had already from the book but the few extra scenes really punched it up.

And the short 1-5 second bits that where added during the opening Prolouge and thru out really worked.

Usually when cut scenes are added back in they feel out of place, or you think to yourself, damn they should have left that one cut.

But these I guess where never really deleted scenes but sacrifices that PJ and Co made for time, and in my opinion none of them felt awkward.

The Council of Elrond scene was amazing and I cannot believe that was cut.

This as far as I am concerned is the Star Wars of our time, and I was there from day one for the whole Star Wars experience.

George I think you need to take a look at what PJ is doing because your latest efforts bite!

I have a feeling that with the release of TTT the last nail in the Star Wars coffin will be driven home. And I can't say that I am sorry about that.

If you are not sure if you should watch this version, get your head examined then rent it!

This is not your usual, oh we stuck in some deleted scenes to make it longer, it is how this movie should be viewed!

All I can say is that I hope PJ is planning on doing the same thing for TTT and ROTK because with this edition he has proved without a doubt his mastery for story telling.

Out........................................

[gyro_44]

I received this for my birthday a few weeks ago. What a smashing DVD.

I just watched the extended version of the film last night, and wow - the half hour of extra footage is almost all worthwhile. It makes everything into a richer experience. It's almost like watching another movie, which is quite exciting. A few favorite new scenes of mine include:

-Gimli's encounter with Galadriel when the fellowship is leaving Lothlorien. It does so much for his character.

-Legolas eating the Elvish waybread - "One small bite is enough to fill the stomatch of a grown man". Then Merry asks Pippin how many he ate, to which he responds "Four" and burps. HILARIOUS.

-The scene of Aragorn singing about the elf maiden.

And I have not watched one featurette yet that hasn't been interesting. The ones on scale and digital grading and other special effects are terrific. A wicked DVD that is tiding me over until "The Two Towers" arrives.