Fellowship of the Ring: Extended Edition - Thoughts, and Reviews

[Dumb-Fokker-**]

Well, I was trying to decide if I should post this here, or not; seeing as how there is now a Lord of the Rings forum, but I know that alot of Schmoes probably dont frequent that forum, and I wanted to get opinions on this film, from the Schmoes. Wow, long sentence. Anyways, yeah. If the moderator feels that this should just be in the LotR forum, so be it, but I figured it would be better suited for this forum. Anyways again; since it isnt yet out, and some may not be sure if they are going to pick it up or not - here are some sites where you can find a TON of reviews, if you do just a little digging,...

www.theonering.net

www.tolkienonline.com

www.aintitcool.com

And, with that, I will post one review (that I havent had the chance to read yet) - Moriartys from AICN, because I greatly enjoy his reviews.

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Ok, it was way to long to post (dont want to stretch it out over three posts), so here is the direct link.

http://www.aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=13726

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Basically, this thread is for any reviews people might come upon, and your own reviews. Ok, obviously. Im an idiot. Ok, well, thats it.

[Nate6]

Actually this probably belongs in the DVD forum but anyways, I think it looks very good, very complete and a dream for not only LOTR fans but DVD lovers as well. Will I buy it? Maybe. I bought the regular edition back in August so I'm still not sure.

[dh1989]

This might be moved to the DVD forum, but I think it should stay here. People will want to review the film with the new footage included. I am really excited to see this. The first was spectacular and this version should be even better. The two scenes I really wanna see are.....

Aragorn visiting Gilraen's grave

Merry and Pippin singing

Only a few days before this DVD goes on sale. Yipee! :) Sorry I am just a giddy LOTR fan.......

[dh1989]

Moriarty, a writer at AICN, has posted a long and beautiful review of this DVD. It is will get you even more excited. The best review I have read for this DVD. 11/12 is going to be so cool......


Hey, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab.
There’s really no way to do justice to the enormous accomplishment that is the physical production of LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RINGS. This four-disc special edition comes pretty damn close, though.
For the record, and just to reemphasize, I said it upon release, and I said it at the end of the year, and I’ll say it again anytime the question comes up: the best film of 2001 was FELLOWSHIP. Period. No film last year was more involving, more accomplished, or more of a reminder of what it is that initially made me fall in love with the movies. “The biggest low budget film in history,” as Andrew Lesnie refers to it, impresses me more with each viewing.
Unsurprisingly, the expanded edition of the film that Peter Jackson created for this release enhances everything that was good about the movie upon release, and genuinely stands alone as a separate work of art. It’s tremendously satisfying to see this film and these characters given more room to breathe. In addition, the wealth of supplementary material packed onto disc three and disc four of this set is almost overwhelming. I’ve spent the last week or so working my way through it, determined not to write about this thing until I’d had a chance to experience it all for myself. I don’t know about your schedule, but unless you plan to just set aside an entire day to watch it and do nothing else, this disc is going to keep you busy for a while. I’d like to imagine that these extras are going to be some kid’s lightning bolt to the forehead. Ten years from now, I fully expect to see some hot new director in his early 20s making the rounds on the talk shows, telling everyone how the supplementals on LORD OF THE RINGS inspired him to become a filmmaker. They’re complete enough that by the end of the six hours worth of documentaries, you’ll feel like you’ve taken the same journey that this amazing creative team has.
Before we discuss the extras, though, let’s back up. Let’s talk about the new version of the movie.
The film still begins with the haunting narration of Galadriel, and the battle against Sauron is still the same. The first new footage comes when Isildur is riding home, the Ring around his neck. When they are attacked, Isildur uses the One Ring to turn invisible. Things play the same then all the way to the place where Bilbo finds the Ring, and then the film launches into a radically different introduction to The Shire, with the actual title card no longer appearing over that shot of Frodo sitting against the tree, reading. Now the title is shown over a shot of Bag End, where Bilbo is sitting down to finally start work on his book. He works on the chapter “Concerning Hobbits,” and we see the denizens of the Shire through Bilbo’s eyes. It’s a warm and gentle opening for the story, a gradual immersion into things, and it really sets a tone. This is a life worth protecting, a world that matters because of its simple pleasures, and the darkness that threatens to destroy this place is genuinely disturbing, no empty Hollywood threat. The stakes are overwhelming, and I think the place Peter Jackson’s background most benefits the series is in the way he portrays the forces of darkness. I can’t think of a more iconic symbol of evil than Sauron’s Eye, the most perfectly realized villain since Darth Vader first stepped onto the Blockade Runner, and the Nazgul are effectively brought to life, the best companions to Sauron that we can imagine.
Oddly, the film feels shorter now. There may be more footage included, but because of the way it’s been incorporated, the flow of the film has been substantially improved. This is more akin to James Cameron’s work cleaning up and finishing THE ABYSS than it is to the interesting but unwieldy APOCALYPSE NOW REDUX. None of what’s been put back into the film feels like it belonged on the cutting room floor. Far from it. Instead, every addition seems to be carefully considered. When you look at the menus for “Scene Selection” on the discs, you’ll see that each chapter with footage added has a double asterisk, and each chapter that’s completely new is marked with a single asterisk. This makes it very simple if all you want to do is go through and make quick comparisons to see what’s new and what’s the same. The first two chapters, “Prologue: One Ring To Rule Them All...” and “Concerning Hobbits” are both filled with new material.
That’s really just skimming the surface, though. Out of the 27 chapters on that first disc, there are 12 of them with additional footage. Some of the highlights include “At The Green Dragon,” where we get a glimpse of the Hobbits at their most social, drinking and singing. I’m particularly pleased with the way Dominic Monaghan and Billy Boyd have benefitted from this re-edit of the film. They’re given a lot of room to make Merry and Pippin live and breathe now. There’s also “The Passing of The Elves,” the first night that Frodo and Sam are on the road together. They watch as the Elves head for the Gray Havens, and they discuss the fact that an age is ending. This strengthens the sense of melancholy that hangs over the entire movie. No matter who eventually wins the War of the Ring, this will no longer be the Middle Earth that it once was. Much of the magic is fading as Man ascends. There’s something very strange and beautiful about a film that mourns the world that existed before we came into power, and Jackson’s done his best to paint a picture of what it is that the rest of Middle-Earth is afraid of when they picture a world run entirely by Men.
”The Nazgul” and “The Midgewater Marshes” both add to the peril and the physical demands of the journey that the Hobbits undertake, and Viggo Mortensen is also given a few quiet moments that really add up to a richer, better drawn portrait of Aragorn. When he sings the song of Luthien and Beren to himself late at night, he is interrupted by Frodo, who asks what it is. Aragorn explains, and there is the most haunted, shattered quality about the simple description he offers: “It is the tale of Luthien... the elf-maiden who gave her love to Beren... a mortal.”
”What happened to her?” Frodo asks.
Mortensen says so much with the simple hesitation before his next line, with the emotion that makes his eyes shine so bright in the night. “She died.” So much is set up in that simple moment, and suddenly we understand the stakes in his love of Arwen more than we ever did before. In one of the last altered chapters on disc one, “The Sword That Was Broken,” there is additional conversation between Boromir (Sean Bean) and Aragorn that also adds real weight to the character. Considering how crucial Aragorn becomes to the overall trilogy, these choices on the part of Jackson are crucial and more than welcome.
The second disc of the film contains quite a bit of the balance of the new footage with 14 out of the 20 chapters featuring something new. “Gilraen’s Memorial,” the first chapter on the disc, immediately gives us new information about Aragorn, and it also shows how esteemed he is in the elven world. I love the additions to “Moria,” showing a more human side to Gandalf. Don’t think that the only additions are character moments, though. In “Balin’s Tomb,” there are some wonderful new moments with the Cave Troll that show off even more of the work that WETA did in creating such a realistic CGI creature. He’s the greatest Harryhausen monster that Harryhausen didn’t create, and giving him more room to prove it is delightful. Both “Lothlorien” and “Caras Galadhon” benefit from additional moments, creating a more fully realized environment and giving us additional glimpses at Tolkien’s most idealized culture.
If there’s any one chapter worth paying special attention to, though, it’s “Farewell to Lorien,” in which the gifts of Galadriel are bestowed upon the Fellowship, gifts which will help them along the hard road ahead. Gimli’s wistful recollection of his gift, shared with Legolas once they’re actually out on the river, is perhaps the finest moment for Rhys-Davies in the film now, and there’s a fall-down funny new moment between Legolas, Merry, and Pippin that I would be a monster for ruining. Just look for what Orlando Bloom refers to in the commentary as his “bread commercial.”
That brings us, I suppose, to the commentary tracks, four of them in all, that run the entire length of the film. Three and a half hours times four. I’ve sat through fourteen hours now of cast and crew discussing LORD OF THE RINGS, and my first reaction is that I can’t wait for a similar edition of the next two films. If they’re half as illuminating as this one was, then this could well stand as the finest record of what went into creating an epic ever put together.
The commentaries break down as follows:
COMMENTARY ONE: THE DIRECTOR AND WRITERS, featuring Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, and Philippa Boyens.
COMMENTARY TWO: THE DESIGN TEAM, featuring Grant Major (Production Designer), Ngila Dickson (Costume Designer), Richard Taylor (WETA Workshop Creative Supervisor), Alan Lee (Conceptual Designer), John Howe (Conceptual Designer), Dan Hennah (Supervising Art Director/Set Decorator), Chris Hennah (Art Department Manager), and Tania Rodger (WETA Workshop Manager).
COMMENTARY THREE: THE PRODUCTION/POST-PRODUCTION TEAM, featuring Barrie Osborne (Producer), Mark Ordesky (Executive Producer), Andrew Lesnie (Director Of Photography), John Gilbert (Editor), Rick Porras (Co-Producer), Howard Shore (Composer), Jim Rygiel (Visual Effects Supervisor), Ethan Van Der Ryn (Supervising Sound Editor/Co-Designer), Mike Hopkins (Supervising Sound Editor), Randy Cook (WETA Animation Designer and Supervisor), Christian Rivers (WETA VFX Art Director), Brian Van’t Hul (WETA VFX Cinematographer), and Alex Funke (Miniature Unit Director Of Photography).
COMMENTARY FOUR: THE CAST, featuring Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Liv Tyler, Sean Astin, John Rhys-Davies, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Orlando Bloom, Christopher Lee, and Sean Bean.
There’s no way to convey the wealth of information you’ll gain from listening to all four commentaries. I can say that each has its own personality. The first one feels intimate, due in large part to the fact that you’re listening to only three people for the entire time. Peter is exactly what we’ve become familiar with from everything we’ve seen over the last few years. Keenly intelligent, always seeming to be just on the verge of making a joke, and passionate without ever becoming overheated, he makes a great case for his film. Even Jeffrey Wells, The Most Hideous Man Alive, would have to be impressed by the way all three collaborators discuss the art of the adaptation. Fran Walsh is like Peter’s other half, just as focused and clear about the goals of the film as he is. For fanboys, I’m betting the real highlight of this particular track will be the intense crush they develop on Philippa Boyens after listening to her bright, slightly teasing enthusiasm bubble up in a soft caress of a New Zealand accent. Three and a half hours with her in your ear is enough to drive you to distraction, particularly because she seems to be mad in love with the material. Anyone with this much passion for something becomes more appealing to me.
The Design Team track is great because it features quite a bit of the Mad Genius of WETA, Richard Taylor. I have grown to be an enormous Richard Taylor fan as I’ve listened to this disc and watched all the documentaries (which we’ll get into later), but there’s no denying it: this man is deeply off his nut. He’s daft. Touched. There’s no other way to explain the scale of the ideas he put forward to solve each of the problems that arose in bringing these books to life. He’s like Wile E. Coyote, but everything he designs works. He also sounds like Robin Leach after swallowing a thesaurus. I genuinely love the way he doesn’t just say, “Well, this is how we did this.” Nope. Not Taylor. Whenever he moves on to a new subject, he hypes it up like PT Barnum. “I knew when I first heard of the enormous opportunity given to us by the illustrious and brilliant Peter Jackson that it would take the single greatest effort ever made by film artists to do justice to the absolute perfection of the work of the untouchably great JRR Tolkien. I assembled a team of the greatest artists currently working in film, and together we created the single greatest workshop ever, where we turned out roughly 500 bazillion individual makeups and miniatures and costumes and armor and swords and other assorted items in the greatest adventure ever shared by anyone in this industry ever.” Coming from anyone else, it would be intolerable, but Taylor’s so goddamn charming about it, and so inarguably right when you actually start to dig into the work done on the film, that it becomes part of what makes him so much fun to listen to.
And isn’t that a large part of what we listen to these commentaries for? Personality? Anyone can put together a dry recount of events that went into the production of a film, but what the makers of this supplemental material have done so expertly is craft something that gives you a full-blown portrait of the personalities that combined into the magic that finally resulted. I’ve know the names Alan Lee and John Howe, for example, for many years now, but I’ve never had any idea what kind of men they were. Now, after seeing them and listening to them and hearing about the enormous craft that each of them brought to the project, I’ve got a totally different picture of them, one that’s both more personal and that also places them in the proper professional perspective. They’re not just names anymore. They’re people, proud of what they’ve done and just as amazed by it as we are.

Well that is part one. It is very long, I will post the rest below.....

[dh1989]

There’s a great thing they’ve done here for the commentaries that helps make the experience far more enjoyable than some overstuffed commentaries in the past. In the letterboxing at the top of the screen, there’s always a caption to identify who’s speaking at any given time. When you’ve got the comments of 13 people intercut, that’s crucial, and one would think logical. Still, it looks like an innovation, no matter how obvious an idea it is, and it’s used to perfection here. It spoiled me. I want and expect the same from other discs now.
My absolute favorite of the commentaries is the one that features the cast. It shouldn’t be a surprise... it is, after all, the difference between listening to professional performers and behind-the-scenes artisans. The cast is just as engaging and charismatic here as they are in the film. Obviously, not everyone was recorded at the same times, but it sounds like the Hobbits were together, based on the genial interplay between them. They talk about how they bonded, how they entertained each other on the sets, how they started to take on the roles they were playing in terms of their dynamics with each other. Sean Astin, in particular, talks about how he appointed himself the caretaker of Elijah while in New Zealand, always ready to step in and take care of things so that Elijah could simply enjoy himself. When you have an experience like this one, something that took place over 15 months of location work, these people become your family, your whole world. The enormous affection between them is impossible to miss. The way they tell stories about each other is very funny, particularly Orlando Bloom and John Rhys-Davies, who seem to both have issues arising from a boating accident in which the Dwarf claims to have been sunk by the Elf, who claims that it was the Dwarf’s fault they both got wet. The Dwarf takes particular delight in recounting the story of another boating accident, one that also involved the Elf, in which the Dwarf played no part at all, as if it proves his point completely. I found myself profoundly entertained by the way people would digress, like when Ian McKellen keeps becoming distracted by the old age makeup on Ian Holm as Bilbo. McKellen keeps saying how much Holm looks like the mother of Dame Judy Densch, and every time he sees Bilbo, he comments on it again, eventually prompting himself to laugh. “She was a very... severe woman,” he says, barely able to contain himself.
And then there are the documentaries.
My god... the documentaries...
”Written, produced, and directed by Michael Pellerin.” That’s the credit for the overall production of the DVD, but there were so many people involved in putting this together that it seems unfair to single anyone out. In its own way, this supplemental section appears to have been just as intense a labor of love as the making of the film itself.
Disc One of the Appendices is called “From Book To Vision,” and it traces the development of the property over 2 ½ hours. There are four main sections: “J.R.R. Tolkien – Creator Of Middle-Earth,” “From Book To Script,” “Visualizing the Story,” and “Designing and Building Middle-Earth.” Within those sections, there are a total of nine sub-sections. There’s also an interactive atlas of Middle-Earth and a section called “New Zealand As Middle Earth” that shows you where exactly in New Zealand was used for each specific section of Tolkien’s world. The entire development process is detailed on this disc, and it really drives home the importance of a good strong pre-production on any film. If you do your work early, and you do it right, then the shoot itself is simply a matter of accomplishing the tasks you’ve already set up for yourself. Trying to imagine the overall creation of LORD OF THE RINGS as one single task is impossible, but when it’s broken down into the thousands of smaller tasks that are required, it suddenly becomes possible. And have I mentioned yet that Richard Taylor is a genius? Because he is. He’s a genius that would make most geniuses feel stupid to be around. He’s got one of those brains that simply appears to be tuned to a different radio station than anyone else. He’s absolutely hilarious to watch and listen to. He seems to simply take in stride this accomplishment that he and the WETA workshops were part of. He’s so nuts and bolts and matter of fact about it all, but you’d have to be insane not to be awed by the work these guys did. Look at Isengard and everything that went into building it, or watch the scenes of Alan Lee coming in to actually paint the Rivendell sets himself. There’s such an overriding almost maniacal love of what they’re doing and a drive to make it something you’ve never seen before.
More than anything, I get the idea this was a point of pride. These New Zealanders were going to make the films that no one else could ever hope to make, and they were going to prove once and for all that it’s not about where you make the film, it’s about who you’re working with. New Zealand is a phenomenal natural backlot for Jackson to use in creating a new fantasy landscape for viewers, and much of what we see is brand new to us. Despite having accomplished such an enormous task, there’s nothing affected about the people you see here. In the introduction to the supplemental documentaries, Peter Jackson addresses the camera directly. It was obviously shot as the introduction to this, the archival record of this amazing effort. This is the way Peter will be remembered for all time, and do you think he combed his hair or changed that one shirt we all know and love by now? Hell, I’m not entirely sure he’s even wearing shoes. He’s still exactly the same person he was at the start of all of this, and that makes me root even harder for him to pull off the next two films, making each one better than the one before it. I want RETURN OF THE KING to be a masterpiece that towers over the genre, because it feels to me like Jackson and his collaborators have earned it. Go ahead. Watch Disc Four, “From Vision To Reality,” and try and argue with me. Tell me these people aren’t remarkable, each and every one of them. There are six major sections here: “Filming THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING,” “Visual Effects,” “Post Production: Putting It All Together,” “Digital Grading,” “Sound and Music,” and “The Road Goes Ever On...”, and the thirteen sub-sections add up to over 3 hours of material if you opt to just watch it straight through. Go watch the documentary on “Scale” and try to tell me that this isn’t one of the most ambitious and carefully crafted things you’ve ever seen. The number of different tricks they use, and the sure eye with which Peter approached each moment combine to create an illusion that is nearly seamless. I think there’s only two scale composites in the whole film that bother me, and they’re both at the Council of Elrond. For two shots to stand out when there’s literally hundreds of them in the film involving scale is a pretty remarkable thing. In both cases, all that bothered me were small lighting issues, things that betrayed the illusion to me. In most other cases, Andrew Lesnie and Brian Van’t Hul did such a remarkable job of blending the real and the not-real that it became invisible work.
I particularly love “Cameras In Middle-Earth,” a sixteen-chapter breakdown that traces the route of the Fellowship, showing you the way they shot each major set piece in the film. It’s ridiculously complete, and it’s nothing less than riveting at any point. The physical production of this film is just staggering, and each location is a separate adventure. Viggo Mortensen doesn’t appear on the commentary during the film, but he is an arresting presence here in the documentaries, both in the moments where he’s speaking and in the stories that are told about him by the rest of the cast. I thought he was remarkable in THE INDIAN RUNNER, Sean Penn’s debut as a director, and I liked him a lot in small roles in films like CARLITO’S WAY, but I never imagined Viggo as a heroic lead until FELLOWSHIP. His Aragorn is the most intensely heartfelt action hero I’ve seen in film in a long time. You know how Mel Gibson was a total raw nerve in THE ROAD WARRIOR, even with minimal dialogue? You remember the way he gradually reached out to the Feral Kid, or the way he was affected by his encounters with the people working that oil rig? Or you remember that moment in RAIDERS where Harrison Ford is sure that Karen Allen’s dead, and he finds himself drinking with Belloq, entertaining some very dangerous thoughts? It’s movie star acting, the sort of thing that goes beyond what is said. I can’t help but wonder as I watch FELLOWSHIP what would have happened if Michael Blake had hooked up with Viggo, a close friend of his, to make DANCES WITH WOLVES. His John Dunbar would have been a thing of savage glory. Seeing him laugh as he tells a story involving Frodo’s scale double and a boating trip, it’s a glimpse of a Viggo we’ve never seen onscreen before, a break from that intensity that marks all of his work. He seems to have struck up some great friendships on the film, as did each of the cast members, and one of the real kicks is hearing everybody tell stories about everybody else, but actually seeing them, as opposed to just hearing the stories. These guys love to bust each other. All of the hobbits are greatly entertained by Astin’s near-obssessive attention to safety detail. They particularly relish the story of the time he spent a full day directing helicopter traffic. Astin takes all the teasing in stride, and the one thing that shines clearly through is that these people all shared something particular and special, and no matter how hard they try to convey the weight of it all, they can’t quite. But it’s in their eyes, and on their faces, and it’s beautiful.
The section about the miniatures, or the “bigatures,” as they call them, that were involved in some of the major scenes is an eye-opener that critics of the film’s FX should be required to watch. I’ll be a lot of what you thought was CGI in the film wasn’t. I’m amazed by the models they built, and by the thought processes that went into them. Watch the section on the Argonaths. They talk about how the actual Argonaths would have been built. They worked out this elaborate process by which the cliff face was actually mined and turned into blocks which were used to build a certain section of the giant figures. When you look at the detail work that goes into this thing that is simply one sight along the journey, you can’t help but be a little humbled by just what WETA accomplished.
The technical specs on the disc are outstanding, and I played all the various soundtracks on different equipment. In the end, I think the DTS track is the warmest and most organic in design. It’s a slight degree better than the 5.1 mix, but it’s noticeable on the right equipment. Oddly, there doesn’t seem to be any Macrovision encoding on the discs, which is a plus in my book. There’s always some signal loss on discs that have the copy guard turned up to high, and here, the picture is actually better than what we saw in most release prints of the movie. Splitting the movie in half allowed them to use as much storage space as possible for picture signal, and the consumer is the real winner here. For any serious fans of these films, or for the casual viewer who loves a great DVD set, this is one of the must-haves in any collection. This is not just a strong case for why FELLOWSHIP is one of the finest mainstream adventures ever produced, it’s also a testament to just how wonderful and complete this particular home video format can be.

WOO-HOO! :)


P.S. DF you are right that is one long review!!!!!!!!!!!!

[dh1989]

This is also from AICN and it is a review of a digital projection of the extended FOTR(I would love to view one of these!).....

Hi Harry!

Miami Mofo here to say that I have seen (and heard) the future! I am refering, of course, to last evening's screening of the digitally projected, special extended version of 'The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.'

Last Thursday, I received an e-mail from AOL/Moviefone informing me that I had been chosen to attend the special screening. As excitied as I was to receive this news, my enthusiasm was somewhat tempered by the fact that I had a 240 mile, 3 1/2 hour drive from Miami to Orlando if I wanted to see it. Seven hours of driving (plus $50 in gas and tolls) to watch something on the big screen that I'll be able to watch seven days later at home did sound kind of extreme. Fortunately however, I noticed the words "digitally projected" on the invite which piqued my curiousity even further, which eventually led to my deciding to go. So yesterday at 1:15PM, ignoring the voice in my head that said, "Fly, you fool," I loaded the LotR:FotR soundtrack into my car's cd changer, and hit the road for the drive to the AMC Pleasure Island theatres in Lake Buena Vista, Fl.

Three and a half hours later I found myself in 'Downtown Disney' (sigh ... you just can't escape the Mouse when traveling to Central Florida), presenting my pass, and receiving in return, entrance to the theatre AND a coupon for a free popcorn and a drink courtesy of DLP Cinema/Texas Instruments (see scan). Unfortunately, the concessionaire didn't have a clue when I asked for a 'proper 1420,' so I had to settle for a coke instead. I then proceeded to theatre 19 (of 24) and was delighted to find a center seat, four rows up in the stadium seating section, so that my eyes were center screen, both horizontally and vertically. As I sat down, I couldn't help but wonder how much better could the digital projection viewing experience possibly be when compared to the last time I saw LotR:FotR on the big screen. That was back on March 29th, when The Two Towers preview was added to the final final reel of what turned out to be a perfect print. Fifteen minutes later when the lights dimmed, I would have my answer.

The screening began, appropriately enough, with the current T2T trailer, and although I was immedately struck by how incredible the visual quality was, it was the audio that blew me away! From the moment that Sir Ian says, "I return now at the turn of the tide," the timbre and resonance of his voice, coming through the theatre speakers, made me realize just how special this presentation was going to be. Two minutes later, with my heart still racing, the special extended version began.

I'm not going to go into the added and extended scenes -- others before me have done that quite nicely, thank you, except to say that they were a delight to watch. I was worried that these scenes might decrease my appreciation of the original release because of feeling cheated by the fact that said scenes were not in the original, but I'm happy to report that this was not the case -- with the sole exception of Lothlorien. I'm afraid New Line dropped the ball when they forced PJ to cut that scene. The other added/extended scenes were not as critical, but definitely enhanced the Fellowship experience. But what REALLY enhanced the experience, was digital projection. Everything was crystal clear in perfect focus (and will remain so -- no print degradation), with perfect sound -- every word of dialogue, every note of the soundtrack, every sound effect from the wind gently whistling through the trees to the monstrous Balrog, all heard in perfect clarity. I can still hear the ring hit the floor when Bilbo drops it even as I type this. The experience was, in a word, perfect, and well worth the trip, even though I didn't return home until 1:15AM.

[idealdiscountdude]

Sorry guys, but this isn't a quote on quote "Current" Movie.....one that is in theatres......


Im moving this to the DVD forum...so check it out there....

[dh1989]

Film Rating: A

Disc Ratings (Video/Extras): A/A+

Audio Ratings (DD/DTS): A-/A

Specs and Features

Disc One: The Film - Extended Version, Part I
Part I - 105 mins (approx 228 mins total - includes 20 min fan club credit roll on Disc Two), PG-13, letterboxed widescreen (2.35:1), 16x9 enhanced, single-sided, RSDL dual-layered (layer switch at 47:15, in chapter 12), custom slipcase with fold-out "digipack" packaging, production sketches, audio commentary (with the director Peter Jackson and writers Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens), audio commentary (with design team members Grant Major, Ngila Dickson, Richard Taylor, Alan Lee, John Howe, Dan Hennah, Chris Hennah and Tania Rodger), audio commentary (with production and post-production team members Barrie Osborne, Mark Ordesky, Andrew Lesnie, John Gilbert, Rick Porras, Howard Shore, Jim Rygiel, Ethan Van der Ryn, Mike Hopkins, Randy Cook, Christian Rivers, Brian Van't Hull and Alex Funke), audio commentary (with cast members Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Liv Tyler, Sean Astin, John Rhys-Davies, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Orlando Bloom, Christopher Lee and Sean Bean), 12-page booklet, Easter egg, animated film-themed menus with sound and music, scene access (28 chapters), languages: English (DD 5.1 EX, DTS 6.1 ES & DD 2.0 Surround), subtitles: English, Closed Captioned


Disc Two: The Film - Extended Version, Part II
Part II - 123 mins (approx 228 mins total - includes 20 min fan club credit roll on Disc Two), PG-13, letterboxed widescreen (2.35:1), 16x9 enhanced, single-sided, RSDL dual-layered (layer switch at 54:35, at the start of chapter 12), audio commentary (with the director Peter Jackson and writers Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens), audio commentary (with design team members Grant Major, Ngila Dickson, Richard Taylor, Alan Lee, John Howe, Dan Hennah, Chris Hennah and Tania Rodger), audio commentary (with production and post-production team members Barrie Osborne, Mark Ordesky, Andrew Lesnie, John Gilbert, Rick Porras, Howard Shore, Jim Rygiel, Ethan Van der Ryn, Mike Hopkins, Randy Cook, Christian Rivers, Brian Van't Hull and Alex Funke), audio commentary (with cast members Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Liv Tyler, Sean Astin, John Rhys-Davies, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Orlando Bloom, Christopher Lee and Sean Bean), Easter egg, animated film-themed menus with sound and music, scene access (22 chapters), languages: English (DD 5.1 EX, DTS 6.1 ES & DD 2.0 Surround), subtitles: English, Closed Captioned

Discs Three & Four (See Page Two)


"In the lands of Middle Earth, legend tells of a Ring..."

For years, people said The Lord of the Rings could never be brought to the screen. It was too big, too vast, to expensive. Well... director Peter Jackson and his team have proven the doubters wrong, at least so far. This is, after all, just the first part of his three film epic adaptation of the beloved J.R.R. Tolkien literary saga. But what an amazing, magical and riveting opening act it is.

It's many years after the events told in the book The Hobbit. Bilbo Baggins (Ian Holm) has grown old in the Shire, and now longs to retire in peace. But Bilbo has a secret - he's been keeping a ring that he found on his adventures. And it's no ordinary ring. This is the one Ring, created by the dark lord Sauron many thousands of years ago to enslave the world. Sauron was defeated then, and the Ring was thought lost. But Bilbo passes it on to his nephew, Frodo (Elijah Wood), without realizing that the dark lord has risen again and is now scouring all of Middle Earth for it. When he learns what's at stake, the wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen) instructs Frodo to leave the Shire for his own safety and take the ring with him. But Sauron's forces are hot on his trail and pursue him mercilessly. Thankfully, a band of loyal companions joins Frodo on his journey, a Fellowship tasked with the seemingly impossible goal of destroying the Ring once and for all. But to do so, they'll have to take it back to Mount Doom where it was originally forged... straight into the very heart of Evil itself.

Peter Jackson's film adaptation of the first book in this trilogy, The Fellowship of the Ring, manages to stay almost perfectly true to the spirit of the original novel. Jackson's cut out all of the unfilmable literary texture - the limericks, the irrelevant characters, the slow build-up of detail - so this film gets right to the story and keeps the action moving all the way through. But lest fans get too upset, he's managed to replace much of that literary texture with its equivalent in visual, production design texture. So this film FEELS like the world we pictured in our heads as we read the novels. Better still, the casting here is magnificent. Ian McKellen simply IS the wizard Gandalf. While Elijah Wood might have seemed an unlikely choice to play Frodo Baggins at first, he proves in this film that he's more than up to the task, infusing the Hobbit with the perfect measure of pathos and humanity. And the supporting cast delivers in spades as well, including the likes of Viggo Mortensen, Sean Austin, Cate Blanchette, John Rhyes-Davies, Ian Holm, Christopher Lee... the list is long and without a single weak link. Even Liv Tyler manages to hold her own here, and that's saying something. Simply put, this is absolutely one of the best (if not THE best) films of 2001.

And now it's been made even better in this extended DVD version, with the addition of some 30 minutes of footage that was cut to save time during the film's theatrical run. The new footage includes (but is not limited to) a much 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.

All that would be impressive enough. 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.

One note - there's a good 20 minutes of credits that have been added to the end of the film (and the end of the regular credits) that feature the names of the members of The Lord of the Rings fan club. This 20 minutes isn't counted as part of the 30 minutes of actual scenes restored to the film itself.

Now let's address the quality of this disc in both video and audio. I will tell you that I've been closely comparing the 4-disc extended version with the 2-disc theatrical version for about 2 hours now. And the anamorphic widescreen video DOES exhibit subtle (but substantial for high-end users) quality improvements, owing to the fact that the film has been split over 2 discs (and thus has a significantly higher average video bit rate). The video exhibits greater overall clarity. There's more depth to the image, colors are slightly more vibrant and more detail is discernible. Whereas the 2-disc's video looked very good, but slightly "crushed" (given it's greater MPEG-2 compression), this 4-disc version feels fuller and richer looking. I think most consumers will never notice these differences on the average 4x3 monitor. But those of you viewing via larger, anamorphic front and rear projection will appreciate the quality improvements.

The audio characteristics of the 4-disc set also exhibit improvement from what the 2-disc version provided. First of all, both the Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 6.1 ES tracks on the new set are improved over the single Dolby Digital 5.1 track on the previous release. From the Dolby Digital side, this extended version features a surround mix with significant changes, owing to the work that was required to integrate the new footage. Music cues are different now, with subtle tonal changes, as is the actual sound effects mix in many scenes. It's almost not fair to compare the two Dolby Digital tracks for this reason. Still, the Dolby track on the 4-disc set represents an improvement, in that the surround mix seems slightly more active, with a measure of greater spaciousness in the imaging.

The DTS 6.1 track, however, goes even further. As good as the new Dolby Digital track is, it still has a more artificial, directional sound quality. The DTS is a smoother sounding track, creating a more immersive and naturally ambient sound environment. The imaging is more precise and refined, with significantly greater subtlety and clarity. The differences between the new Dolby Digital and DTS tracks aren't huge, but again, high-end users with quality equipment will certainly appreciate them. The DTS track is definitely my choice.

In terms of supplemental materials, Discs One and Two include no less than 4 full-length audio commentaries. I've only sampled these (3 and 1/2 hours times 4 is a LOT of viewing!) but I can tell you a few things to get you started. First of all, all of the audio commentaries are menu selectable (however you can switch audio tracks on the fly). When you select a particular commentary in the options menu, you're shown a list of everyone who participated in that track (a very long list indeed in some cases!). Then, as you're watching the tracks, subtitle text appears at the top of the screen when different participants speak, identifying not only the speaker, but also their role in the production (or their character in the case of the actors).

The most immediately engaging of the commentaries is the actors' track, which is quite funny. You can tell that these actors really enjoy both their interactions with one another, and also being involved in the film itself. They react to the new footage in this cut with almost as much enthusiasm as the viewer will. There are also many thoughtful insights as well, particularly from Ian McKellen and Christopher Lee (who each make frequent appearances in addition to nearly all of the rest of the cast). Peter Jackson's track with the writers is even more fascinating, in that you're given incredible insights into the story of the film - the decisions made in adapting the original book, roads not taken with the film, character development issues - as well as production related topics, like how simple tricks were used to fudge scale to create accurately-sized Hobbits. There's also a great deal of discussion about the new scenes - why they were cut from the theatrical version and the value of adding them back in here. As one would expect, the production design commentary addresses the extensive detail that went into the design of every on-screen element, no matter how trivial it may seem. You learn about the design philosophy, and how everything can be traced back to the original Tolkien books. And the production/post-production track deals with the more practical filmmaking issues - the sheer massiveness of the effort required to shoot the three films back-to-back. There are also wonderful moments here with composer Howard Shore, talking about how the music changes as the story develops.

Taken in total, there's a truly incredible amount of information contained in these commentaries. You're often able to learn about specific aspects of the production from 4 different perspectives, which really gives you a feel for the reality of the filmmaking process. Plus, on how many commentaries do you get such complete and enthusiastic participation from nearly EVERYONE involved in the film? Extraordinary. Beyond this, I don't really want to tell you anything more about these tracks. There's just so much information in them that they truly deserve to be experienced fresh, over enough time to allow you to absorb everything. I'll be living with these tracks for weeks, I have no doubt.

More in my next post.......

[dh1989]

Other things worthy of mentioning here... the animated menus are very well (and tastefully) done, presented as if you are moving through the chapters of the original book. On the scene selection menu, the chapter stop listings indicate which specific scenes are new and which are extended from the theatrical version - a nice touch for those searching specifically for the new material. When Disc One ends (right after Pippin's gag line "Right.. Where are we going?" at the end of the Council of Elrond), the screen cuts to black and text fades in: "The Story Continues on Disc Two". Then, when you start Disc Two, a black screen comes up with the following text selections: "Continue Film," "Continue Commentaries," "Set-up and Options". Opting to continue the film takes you directly back into the story where you left off (there is also a more traditional menu set that continues the style of those on Disc One). Finally, a note about the layer switches. On my Denon DVD-3800, the layer switches are absolutely invisible - completely seamless both in the video and audio. There isn't even the slightest of pauses. However, I did detect the locations during the preview screening at New Line (the player used didn't handle the switches as seamlessly). And my Panasonic DVD-L50 portable also exhibited a very slight pause on the switches. So the locations listed in the specs above are correct, although you may not see them on your particular player.

Finally, a word about the packaging. The set comes in a really gorgeous slipcase that's designed to look like an old hardback book. It's has a simulated leathery texture to the feel and the title of the film is stamped in gold foil on the front and spine. The discs are held in a fold-out "digipack" affair that slides out of the case and includes production artwork from the film, as well as a 12-page booklet. Very nice.

So that's the film, and a look at the contents and quality of the first two discs in this amazing set. In Part Two of this review, we'll look in-depth at the contents of Disc Three and Four, also known as The Appendices, which contain the lion's share of the supplemental material.

Read on brave ring bearers...

Peter Jackson introduction (1 min, 16x9, DD 2.0), J.R.R. Tolkien: Creator of Middle Earth featurette (22 mins, 16x9, DD 2.0), From Book to Script featurette (20 mins, 16x9, DD 2.0), Storyboards and Pre-Viz: Making Words into Images featurette (20 mins, 16x9, DD 2.0), 3 early storyboards (Prologue, Orc Pursuit into Lothlorian and Sarn Gebir Rapids Chase - 11 mins total, 16x9, DD 2.0), 2 pre-viz animatics (Gandalf Rides to Orthanc and The Stairs of Khazad-Düm - 3 mins total, 16x9, DD 2.0), multi-angle storyboard-to-film comparison (Nazgul Attack at Bree - 2 mins, 16x9, DD 2.0), multi-angle pre-viz-to-film comparison (Bridge of Khazad-Düm - 2 mins, 16x9, DD 2.0), Bag End Set Test (6 mins, 16x9, DD 2.0), Designing Middle-Earth documentary (41 mins, 16x9, DD 2.0), Weta Workshop documentary (43 mins, 16x9, DD 2.0), Costume Design featurette (12 mins, 16x9, DD 2.0), 19 production design galleries (on the peoples and realms of Middle-Earth), interactive Middle-Earth Atlas (16x9, DD 2.0), interactive New Zealand as Middle-Earth map with location video (8 mins total, 16x9, DD 2.0), DVD credits, help text, "play all" feature, disc index, DVD-ROM features (including weblinks), animated film-themed menus with sound and music


Disc Four: The Appendices, Part II - From Vision to Reality
Elijah Wood introduction (1 min, 16x9, DD 2.0), The Fellowship of the Cast documentary (35 mins, 16x9, DD 2.0), A Day in the Life of a Hobbit featurette (13 mins, 16x9, DD 2.0), Cameras in Middle-Earth documentary (50 mins, 16x9, DD 2.0), production photo gallery, Scale featurette (15 mins, 16x9, DD 2.0), Big-atures featurette (16 mins, 16x9, DD 2.0), 6 big-atures galleries, WETA Digital featurette (25 mins, 16x9, DD 2.0), Editorial: Assembling an Epic featurette (13 mins, 16x9, DD 2.0), multi-angle editorial demonstration (Council of Elrond - 1 min, 16x9, DD 2.0), Digital Grading featurette (12 mins, 16x9, DD 2.0), The Soundscapes of Middle-Earth featurette (13 mins, 16x9, DD 2.0), Music for Middle-Earth featurette (12 mins, 16x9, DD 2.0), The Road Goes Ever On... featurette (7 mins, 16x9, DD 2.0), DVD credits, help text, "play all" feature, disc index, DVD-ROM features (including weblinks), animated film-themed menus with sound and music


So we've looked at the film itself, and the presentation quality and extras on Discs One and Two. Now let's look at the rest of the set. Disc Three and Four are together known as The Appendices. These are designed to serve very much the same function as The Appendices in the original book. They provide you with background information and a look at the effort behind the production. Disc Three specifically deals with the effort to adapt the story and to formulate a vision for the film that would remain true to Tolkien's vision for the books. And Disc Four looks at the process of taking that vision and crafting a film from it.

A couple of notes on the discs in general before we start with Disc Three in more detail. Virtually all of the materials on all of the discs, with the exception of a few of the photo gallery images, are presented in full anamorphic widescreen - a very nice touch. In addition, the animated menu pages on all of the discs feature full Dolby Digital 5.1 sound. There is also DVD-ROM material on each disc, including special weblinks. Both Discs Three and Four feature a brief video introduction (by Peter Jackson and Elijah Wood respectively) explaining what you'll find on the disc and how to access it. Furthermore, each of the discs has additional help text on how to access the material, along with a complete index of the disc's contents. There is also a "play all" mode that will allow you to view all of the featurettes and documentaries. Note, however, that if you do this, there are several features that you'll have to view separately (the galleries and virtually all of the animatics, storyboard videos and multi-angle material). In general, all of the featurettes are well produced, with good production quality, and well edited. This material is engaging and keeps you focused throughout. And you're at all times struck by the fact that virtually everyone involved with the film seemed eager to share their thoughts and experiences. In one way or another, every major cast and crew member is represented on these two discs.

Now... let's start with Disc Three - The Appendecies, Part I - From Book to Vision. The first major piece on this disc is an in-depth look at the historical background of man behind the original books, called J.R.R. Tolkien: Creator of Middle Earth. It's a good starting point for the supplements, because you'll learn how these stories came to be, as well as what Tolkien himself intended them to mean (and, as importantly, what he didn't intend). It also discusses the basic themes of the books that will become important to the film adaptation process. In From Book to Script, Jackson and others associated with the production recall their motivations behind bringing these books to the screen, and reveal how much love they have of the material. Jackson and the writers then talk about the process of "cracking the code" of the books, and their effort to craft a workable script based on them (first with Miramax, who wanted it done as a single film, and then with New Line, who thankfully pushed for a trilogy). The disc then takes you into the process of "visualizing" the story, in a featurette specifically on this subject - Storyboards and Pre-Viz: Making Words into Images. Here, you learn that George Lucas and Rick McCallum (of Star Wars) fame had a strong and helpful influence in this area. This section is then illustrated with a trio of terrific storyboard animatic videos (including the original idea for the prologue), a pair of digitally produced animatic videos for major action scenes (including the stairs of Khazad-Düm), as well as multi-angle comparisons between an animatic and a storyboard to the same scenes in the final film. These illustrate the development process and give you a peek at roads not taken, but also gave the filmmakers a dramatic feel for the scene, even before a single piece of film was exposed. For each multi-angle piece, you can switch back and forth on the fly between one angle, the other and a split-screen comparison of the two. The pre-viz section is rounded out with a test of the Bag End set design.

The next major section of Disc Three is on designing and building Middle-Earth, and it contains the real meat of this disc. There's a fantastic, 41-minute documentary, Designing Middle-Earth, that addresses the effort to conceptualize the look and feel of each race and character, and to add a sense of history for every item as well. You see the team at Weta drawing and sculpting away. And then long-time Tolkien artists John Howe and Alan Lee are brought on-board to flesh the world out even further than they already had over the years for the books. Next, Richard Taylor takes you on a 43-minute tour of the Weta Workshop, where an army of hundreds of craftsmen and artisans designed and created nearly every visual element of the film, including the props, sets, armor, weapons, creatures, miniatures and special make-up effects. The Costume Design featurette hints at the massive task of creating the wardrobe elements for the films, which often included dozens of versions of each of the hero costumes (the Hobbits for example) in various scales of size. You also see how the actors helped to create their costumes, which in turn aided them in developing their characters. Finally, this section features some 19 separate design galleries packed with sketches, paintings and photographs that illustrate both the peoples and realms of Middle-Earth. You can view these as a slideshow, or you can page through a scrapbook and view them one at a time. There are literally hundreds of images to see.

Disc Three is rounded out with a pair of interactive maps, that help you to understand the geography of the film. The Middle-Earth Atlas allows you to follow, step-by-step, the journey that the Fellowship takes in the film. It tells you what happens at each step and then gives you clips of the major events that take place at that location. New Zealand as Middle-Earth, on the other hand, allows you to see where in the "real world" each film location was shot, and includes viewable location scouting video for each place.

Moving on to Disc Four: The Appendecies, Part II - From Vision to Reality, you're immediately provided with a trio of interesting, day-to-day looks behind the scenes at the production. The Fellowship of the Cast documentary is very entertaining, as each cast member recalls funny moments and memories about their fellow actors. You learn, for example, that Sean Bean hated flying to the locations in helicopters so much that he would often get up early and hike (in costume) over miles of rugged mountain terrain to avoid it. There are many fun little insights into the cast, and you immediately get a sense of how much these guys liked each other. A good thing too, as they spent more than a year together away from home and out on location. A Day in the Life of the Hobbit is just what it sounds like - a look at a typical day of filming, from getting feet glued on early in the morning to getting them taken off late at night (and everything in between). Cameras in Middle-Earth is the longest documentary piece on this DVD set, clocking in at nearly an hour. It's THE major look behind-the-scenes, following the production from location to location (and back through the soundstages and sets). It provides a taste of the massive effort required to capture the story on film. This section also includes a gallery of behind-the-scenes production photos.

The next section on Disc Four relates to the visual effects of the film. There's a featurette on Scale, in which you see how the filmmakers developed the various tricks that allowed them to make Hobbits look like Hobbits... and everyone else look much taller and bigger. Some are practical tricks, some are perspective tricks and more are digital. All of them are pretty amazing. There's a sub-section here on the "miniatures" created for the film, which includes a featurette look at their creation, Big-atures (so called because there wasn't anything "miniature" about them), as well as 6 galleries of close-up photos of each model. There's also a 25-minute featurette on the amazing CGI effects work of Weta Digital.

The post-production section of the disc begins with a featurette on the editing process, Editorial: Assembling an Epic. There's also a multi-angle demonstration of the Council of Elrond scene, showing how it was assembled from all of the footage shot on set (7 angles worth in all, combining some 36 takes). And the Digital Grading featurette shows how nearly all of the location and live-action footage was enhanced, using color-timing and adding a variety of lighting effects, to change the weather, make the footage match and create a more ethereal, other-worldly look to the final film.

The final major section of the disc focuses on the sound and music work done in post-production. The Soundscapes of Middle-Earth featurette takes you behind-the-scenes on the creation of various sound effects and the mixing process. And Music for Middle-Earth highlights the work of composer Howard Shore,

Finally, the entire set is capped with a 7-minute featurette, called The Road Goes Ever On..., in which director Peter Jackson looks back at the first film and briefly ahead at the next two. We also see the premiere of the film and get a taste of how the overwhelmingly positive reaction to it affected the cast and crew. It's a nice way to close out the set.

Something that is very much worth noting here is that Peter Jackson, New Line and the DVD producers at Kurtti-Pellerin have already begun planning the DVD releases of the next two films, The Two Towers and The Return of the King. There will indeed be 2-disc theatrical and 4-disc extended versions of each film. More importantly, an overall DVD design philosophy has been worked out for the entire Lord of the Rings Trilogy, so that each 2-disc set will complement the other 2-disc sets, and each 4-disc set will likewise build on the other 4-disc sets. What that means, is that a few years from now, when all of the films are on DVD, you'll be able watch them all straight through without seeing lots of overlapping material. You'll ultimately have a more complete and thorough viewing experience.

I will finish this in my next post..........

[dh1989]

You know... it would be really easy for me to use lots of glowing, flowery adjectives to describe this 4-disc set (even more than I probably already have throughout the two parts of this review). So I'm just going to say this: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (4-Disc Special Extended Version) is the most impressive release I've seen yet on the DVD format. Its overall presentation quality, breath and depth of content and thoughtful attention to virtually every detail is unsurpassed in any other DVD release to date. Don't get me wrong - there are certainly titles that are better in individual areas (Star Wars: Episode II features better video and audio quality for example). But no other single title can match this set, blow for blow. It's a DVD that is absolutely worthy of the incredible effort that was mounted to make this film, and it's equally worthy of the 50-year legacy of Tolkien's literary epic. It is, hands down, THE DVD release of the year and an absolute, must-have cornerstone of any good DVD enthusiast's library.

Think I'm exaggerating? Then just wait and see for yourself...

[dh1989]

Only three days until the FOTR Extended Edition DVD comes out!

[dh1989]

Since this bad boy comes out tommorow I think it deserves a bump. Remember to post your reviews!

[Trick Or Kill]

I've just picked this bad boy up, even though I have the theatrical cut. The box is amazing, it looks great, I have yet to watch it but I am definately happy to have it.

[tbone]

I watched this last night and was blown away by it. The additional scenes dive much deeper into the characters and makes the story even more intresting. If you liked the movie you should love this director's cut.

[dh1989]

SPOILERS BELOW

Rating; 10/10


Were you one of those people last December who fell in love with LOTR? If you were(like me), than this new version is going to delight you. I did not think it possible to make this film better. Sure some new scenes would be cool, but I doubted it would make the film better. It did. These new scenes are great. They add so much more to the film. More humor. More action. More romance. More songs. More Gollum! This whole film was a masterpiece. At 208 minutes it is very long, but you won't be able to take your eyes from the T.V. set. This film will take your breath away. The haunting song of the Wood-Elves. Aragorn singing the sad song of Beren and Luthien. Bilbo telling Frodo he will be okay. Gandalf telling us about the Mithril vein. Overall, this is a new experience. A new film. It is amazing.

BTW, if you are wondering what the best new scene is, I can answer. It is the discussion between Bilbo and Frodo during the big party. Wonderful.

[LordKaruku]

I also viewed the extended cut last night, and was satisfied more than impressed or excited. It's great to see so much we recognize from the book. I would be interested to hear the opinions of people who've never read the book, or never saw the original version. Anyone in that camp care to share your thoughts or link to a review along those lines?

One small thought: I think the theatrical cut of Fellowship was hampered by trying to fit the complex, meandering plot of Tolkien's Fellowship of the Ring into a traditional three-act movie structure. The extended cut, though only about 15% longer, has abandoned this notion for a structure more similar to the book: an epic tale, with many sequences of rising and falling action, and not as much emphasis on a single, overall dramatic arc. Some reviewers have mentioned that the film feels more epic now, despite the fact that almost all the new material is character-based, and I think this new structure accounts for that feel.

As for the new material, I thought the second disc contained the meat of the best stuff. Lothlorien is now beautiful; hearing Galadriel laugh was astonishing and great! Merry and Pippin's bit about lembas is hysterically funny. :-) Gandalf's warning to Frodo that he senses approaching danger is a great moment, as are the added scenes between Aragorn and Boromir. I loved how we can see the Fellowship working together now in the Cave Troll fight.

My favorite line from the new cut is from Gimli: "I asked for a single hair from her head, to treasure forever.... she gave me three."

[Dumb-Fokker-**]

...that line from Gimli gave me goosebumps. His delivery was impeccable, on that line. Not to mention his dwarf-tossing line. Anyways - wow. An amazing film, made even more amazing with an additional 30 minutes. I will forego a review of the film, as I am not a big fan of writing them, but I do have a few particular things to say -

I have only watched the extended edition once, and as such, some of the additions were rather jarring, because I was so used to the theatrical version of the film. I dont expect this to be a problem for very long.

Also, the scene in Lothlorien - I dont think all of the dialouge after Haldirs dwarf line, should have been cut. Another interesting tidbit - if you watched the storyboard for the original Lothlorien sequence, which they filmed, you can see that the scene directly after Haldirs line, is taken from this edit. Look at the Fellowships faces - tired, very dirty.

Also, I fully expect another version of this film to come out - too many other deleted scenes were mentioned, for there not to be one. Even PJ says that he might update Fellowship, so Gollums look meshes between the films - what else could he add? More to the prolouge, ect.

And finally, this DVD set was awesome. Incredible. And it made me like the film even more. Good shit. My favorite scene? When Merry freezes just before throwing the rock he has in his hand, during Boromirs,.....scene.

[ANTBond007]

Exactly, Dumb-Fokker. That look on Merry's face is perfect, and means much more than it did in the theatrical bit. I also found the music during that scene to be perfect -- even better than the original score.

Aragorn's line about the white tower was very sad, as well.

Favorite new line: "Quick, Gandalf. Mordor -- is it left or right!?"

10/10

[miguel_montes]

I just bought the Collector's Edition yesterday here in Portugal, and it cost about 70 Euros... but it was worth all of it!!!

I only saw the first disc yet, but it's impossible to describe what I felt watching Bilbo telling the story of the Shire.... UAU!!!

The changes are subtle but it is easy to find them. They make a perfect film even more perfect!!

The picture quality is the best I have ever seen on DVD (it even looks better than the first release), and also the sound. Oh, the sound! It has much more new things... every leaf falling, every crack of wood.... just perfect.... the music is perfect too!

The map of Middle-Earth is beautiful... the little Argonath statues breathtaking...

The package seems like a Middle-Earth book...

You have got to have this.... trust me! :)

P.S.: When I watch all the discs, I'll post some more thoughts here!

[dmdubie]

There's not much more that I can add, that hasn't already been said. In many ways, I love this version better than the original. All of the little scenes seem to add so much to the movie.

But my favorite part of this DVD are the commentaries. Billy Boyd and Dom are HILARIOUS (I love 'Tig' :D), and the Peter Jackson commentary reveals a lot of why they did certain things.

Rating: 10/10

[Jewbo]

now dont get me wrong i love almost everything bout this set. but the commentaries well the 2 i have heard so far (peter jackson's and the casts) were annoying as they are edited and spliced together. as a massive fan of commentaries this was dissapointing to me.

also in the credits for the fanclub members did anyone notice Elijha Woods name in there? may have been more but i just checked that 1 out.

[dellamorte dellamore]

Don't tinker with perfection. That statement even applies to FOTR, even though i thought it wouldn't.


I'm always skeptical of extended editions, because almost everyone seems to add very little to the proceedings and are unnecessary, FOTR is no exception.


The ambush of isidur seems out of place( did he go back and shoot that scene again, the background looks inconsistent with the rest of the scene) . It was great to see more Orc action, but the flow of Galadriel's voice over was hampered by that addition. I feel the original cut got the point across just fine. Why not explain how Gollum was actually a Hobbit named Smeagol instead, that scene would have added more to the proceedings.


The opening scene in the shire was magical in the original, but is just about totally ruined with the decision to utilize an unnecesary voice over sequence by Bilbo. Again, it looked great, but is ultimately unnecessary. What made the original so special was the excellent exchange between Frodo and Gandalph, in addition to the terrific music that accompanies that whole sequence. Not only does the new version destroy the narrative flow, but they changed the music slightly, and that just hampers it's effectiveness further. They belabored the point about Frodo's suspicion with regards to Bilbo planning something.


Bilbo's 111th birthday features an awkward scene with a somewhat drunk and despondent bilbo apologizing to Frodo. More redundancy. It has already been established that he's fond of Frodo, what was the purpose of this scene? Yes, i know he admits he only took him in for the money, but it's obvious that was only the original intent and that his motivations have changed since. Plus, in the next scene, i think, he's up on stage making his farewell speech, happy as can be, an abrupt change in character. I can see why this scene was omitted originally.



Then the scene in the bar. Now this probably excited fans of the book, because you get to see merry and pip cutting loose with a song, but i could have done without it. And the googly eyes that the bartender makes at Rudy is more redundancy for you.



The journey across the marshes, the flight to the gray havens, just didn't do anything for me( even though they look excellent).


Aragorn singing was a nice little touch, but added nothing( maybe some foreshadowing, but we already find out later that he is in the same situation with Arwen) . The scene when Aragorn meets Boromir for the first time worked to perfection in the first, but is ruined in this version. The sound effects don't even match( the echo of Boromir's footfalls as he enters the hall. May seem trivial to you, but it's those details that made the first so amazing). Plus the verbal exchange between the two falls flat.


I did like the extended scene at the council, when Bor tries to take the ring, it just seems like the scene does not fit with the rest of the scene.


The farewell at Rivendell gave me cause for revulsion. I was getting flashbacks of a cheesy studio film in this sequence. Don't know why they bothered.


The one scene that i can see adding something important was the gift giving at Lothlorien. At least you will know where all the characters obtained these nifty gadgets when it comes time for them to utilize them. And just as i feared Gimli's exchange with Gal was comical,especially her reaction and facial expressions.


Another disappointment was what was already a perfect sequence in the film, The Cave Troll. The added scenes were out of place, i'll stick with the original.


To sum it up, because of these extra scenes the film seems disjointed, inconsistent, and maybe even more confusing. than the original. The "new music" that was added was merely a slight remix of some of the music that was in the original, so even that was a disappointment.



PJ is human after all, and this extended cut is proof of that.

[Dumb-Fokker-**]

...give it time, dell. The new scenes may seem very disjointed, but that really isnt the fault of the editing - in fact, it just might have something to do with the fact that the film has been re-cut entirely, and what we are used to seeing, is no longer there. Everything new, or different, is obviously going to stick out. As for not liking some of the new scenes; different strokes, I guess. I loved every new scene added, and think that the film, as a film, is much better than the theatrical version, although it is nowhere near as "Frodo-centric" (which to me, is a good thing - yes, the film is about Frodo and the Ring, but it is also about the Fellowship, and the journey, and all of this was conveyed much better in this version of the film).

[dellamorte dellamore]

I think there are a couple of reasons i felt this way.


I consider myself a fan more of the movie than the book, i've become so attached to the theatrical version, and i felt that the original cut got the point across just fine, this one had a tacked on feeling to it.


I realize people who loved the book will love the added scenes, it just didn't have the same effect on me is all.


You're right though, i'll have to see it a couple of more times to really appreciate it.


One little pet peeve i have that probably won't be assuaged is the fact that only the extended version has a DTS ES 6.1 mix, i wish they would have mixed the theatrical cut in this sound format. If i don't warm up to this version, then i'm stuck with the DD Ex mix on the 2 disc set.


I do have to mention that the extras i've seen so far are all excellent, you really get a chance to see how PJ operates, that to me is worth the price of the entire set.

[Dumb-Fokker-**]

...although I don't consider myself a fan of the movie, before the book, I will say that I like the movie ALMOST as much. And, thats mainly because I realize that there are going to be (and have to be) major differences, between the two mediums. Thats why I never really had a problem with the movie diverging from the book. In fact, to be honest, I wanted changes, and additions. So, really, for me, the extended cut isnt better because it is closer to the book, it is better because it makes the film better.

Isildurs death is a nice addition, and beyond that, it clears up the "The Ring betrayed Isildur,...to his death." line.

The new introduction to Hobbiton, while very different from the theatrical version, (which I thought was great) is also a very, very nice addition. Anything that shows more of Hobbiton, and more of Hobbits during their everday life, is good by me.

The smaller scenes between here, and Rivendell all add alot to the movie; in both character developement, the world of Middle-Earth, conveying important themes (the Elven Procession), and making the film more of an epic journey.

And Lothlorien is an incredible change, as well. It is a damn shame that all of that had to be cut for the theatrical release.

Overall, I think the only thing that didnt benefit from this cut, was the "Frodo-centric" storyline, conveyed in the theatrical release. And, to me, the film shouldnt have been all about that in the first place.

Also, I thought I would mention that Boromir, Aragorn, and Gimli are all greatly expanded upon in this addition - I dont know why, but,....well, yeah.

[KornKidJedi]

The Greatest DVD of 2002. Is that review enough for you?

[LordKaruku]

I would agree with dellamorte that the hobbiton opening in the theatrical cut is edited better. It's great to see more Hobbiton and hear more Bilbo, but ultimately it's really redundant. Having the first shot after the prologue be Frodo reading under that tree was perfect, and then the pacing afterwards of Frodo meeting Gandalf, driving the cart over the hill and seeing Hobbiton as we drive by, and the Gandalf & Bilbo in Bag-End, was a great, efficient way to introduce us to the hobbits & characters. Bilbo's voiceover in the new version makes the hobbits seem a little more stupid than they really are, and the scene with him frantically searching for the Ring is the wrong way to introduce his character. We need to see the lovable Bilbo Baggins before we can appreciate what the ring is doing to him.

Something kind of funny that was mentioned in Peter Jackson's commentary that I'd never noticed was that, in the theatrical cut, Bilbo and Frodo don't actually have any scenes together until Rivendell! It's pretty funny, because you get a good sense of their relationship even so.

[dellamorte dellamore]

I know i'm guiltry of this in my posts, but i just have to say it again, and it's what the previous shmoe is reffering too, everything seems redundant, because the 3 hour cut captures the spirit of the characters and their respective motivations expertly and economically.


I also understand that the people who love LOTR just can't get enough, so any cinematic additions are welcome. I'm all for that, but only, only if the narrative flow is not hindered. In my opinion it was in the extended addition.


My theory why x editions always seem to fail is that director's spend so much time trying to get the exact cut they want, and that first theatrical cut that will be distributed will have a certain freshness and innocence to it.


I'm not doubting PJ's dedication( how could any sane person), but i feel he got a bit ahead of himself, and didn't realize just how perfect and complete the final cut was.


None of the added scenes seem like they fit, they feel out of place, in large part because the colors, background, film stock, and cinematography don't seem to match the original cut. The sopundtrack has been altered also in order to accomodate the new scenes, and it suffers greatly as a result.


At least LK understood one of my points, about how fitting the opening sequence was/is. It was a classic moment in movie history, watching young Frodo relaxing in the Shire, just pure perfection. The contrast between what had happened 3000 years ago and then seeing him all calm and innocent in the shire,reading a book under the tree made the point of the dangers to come, and how unlikely it will be for this little guy to change the course of the fate of Middle Earth.


I always thought the film was too short, just because i enjoyed it so much, but in this instance, less is definitely more.


Please, New Line, make a theatrical cut with DTS ES 6.1 discrete, i just can't warm up to this version.


I have yet to see an extended edition that improved on the original. Dawn of the Dead, Aliens ( we already knew the Aliens wiped out the colonists, there was no need to show how it started ), Abyss, Apocalypse Now, Dead Alive ( they cut it for it's North American release and that's the one that worked), even ET suffered not from extra scenes but from the decision to add more visual effects.


It's little moments that make a classic film, those moments are compromised with this x cut.


Just one more thing if the people who may be reading this haven't fallen into shadow yet with my ramblings, the opening scene has this weird, unsettling feeling to it. I hate to say this, but it feels straight out of Hollywood, yikes In the x cut of course.

[RavenBlade]

I'll post my thoughts later on,
as I have yet to see the new cut
in it's entirety.

However, I found out about
an easter egg on the first disk.

Thanks to Dark Horizons

LOTR: Fellowship Extended (DVD): Look out for two easter eggs (MTV awards opening skit and the 3-minute first TTT trailer) on the DVD by highlighting the last chapter in the 'Select a Scene' menus and pressing down.

[Dumb-Fokker-**]

...I have to say, dell, I (and many, many others) disagree with you, entirely. In fact, I think you are downright wrong about the technical aspects of this film being off. It is edited just as good as the theatrical cut, but because it is different, it doesn't seem so. Colors, acting, cinematography - all of these flow perfectly with the film. Mainly because, they are the film. They were filmed at the same time as everything else. As for the redundancy - that is your opinion, and as such, I cant really argue with you. But, I will say that I do not find it redundant at all. I enjoy all of the new scenes, and in my opinion, they all flesh out the world, characters, journey, and story, much more than the theatrical cut.

[dellamorte dellamore]

It's only my opinion, and this time for real, i'm being honest about my assesment, not like some other times when i'm just being a weisenheimer. I really wanted to like this version, i was so excited i couldn't contain myself, like so many other LOTR fans, but it just didn't work, and i'm beside myself because of it.


I'll will take your advice, though, and give it a couple of more viewings before i make a final judgement.

[Dumb-Fokker-**]

I completely understand what you are saying. I wasnt trying piss on your opinion, because it is valid, I just dont think that some of the things you said, were necessarily true. Such as, the editing, and colors, ect. But, it would be a good idea to watch this version a few more times, before counting it out. I remember, way back when you first came here, that you didnt like LotR at all. In fact, we spent a long time arguing about that. So, yes; watch it a few more times, and try not to compare it to the theatrical version. I purposely only watched the theatrical version twice on video, because I knew this version was coming out, and I think it helped alot.

[bob]

I just watched the Theatrical cut again last night, and I'm contemplating buying the Extended Edition. AFter all this fuss about redundancy, I have only one question:

Is the movie more theatrical now? I mean, is it a Seven Samurai type experience?

[jeo4]

I can't wait to own this one. I loved the books as a young teen. I also enjoyed the film last year. I've included this on our DVD's to own list for Christmas. I love the film.

[Mut]

Well, it was hard for me to tell the differences between the theatrical and extended versions of the film, but then I've only seen them each once. So let's see ...

Concerning Hobbits, the new opening to the Shire, is interesting, but doesn't quite flow well with the rest of the movie. And yes, it does make the Hobbits look quite stupid.

Isildur's death is very nice. Helps to explain things a little better.

The birthday drunkeness wasn't bad. I think it was mostly there to act as a clarification about Bilbo and Frodo's relationship. Jackson probably decided that merely hinting to the audience wasn't enough ... he had to hit them in the face with a friggin' brick.

The scene in which Pippin and Merry are singing in the bar really helps flesh out their characters, and they're not just thrust on you like they were in the original version (that's my opinion, at least).

The departure of the Wood Elves was a very beautiful moment that showed things happening on a level high above the petty concerns of Sauron and the Ring. Middle-Earth was ending, making way for the time of Man. Sad, really.

Aragorn's singing gave his character new depth, and it really makes the audience aware of just what the problem is with his and Arwen's love.

Caras Galadhom was much better here, I think. The introduction, explaining how Gandalf fell during the battle with the Balrog, the elves singing their lament (followed by Sam's song about fireworks) ... it was all just so much better.

The only other scene that really stood out as new to me was the gift-giving. I don't know why they cut this, as audiences who don't see the extended version will end up wondering just where Sam gets his wonderful rope later on.

Finally, there's the special features. Oh ... my ... god. There are so many that it would probably take a whole day just to get through them all. Loved the interview with the cast members about each other, though. Very funny.

So overall, I think that the LOTR Extended Edition was a good move on Jackson's part. It's also one of the best DVDs I've ever seen, and a must-buy for any and all fans.

[Fettdog]

Quite simply, the finest DVD in my (very large) collection, and likely to remain so until The Two Towers is released I suspect.

Absolutely stunning -an essential purchase for fans of the film.

What more can I say that hasn't already been said? :)

[xirtam]

I thought it was really great, it wasn't completely different to me but the things that were different were awesome. The Lothlorien sequence is much, much longer than how it was originally, and Gimli's feelings for Galadriel is like a whole other subplot. Lots more conversation, with some additional background on not only the characters, but the world of Middle-Earth. An amazing movie made even more amazing, and accompanied by some amazing special features. Was that a whole 6 hours of content? It didn't seem like it to me, I could have watched a couple of hours more. 10/10 on the whole thing.

[Tuukka]

I just watched the EE and liked it very much. The only thing I didn't care for was Conserning Hobbits, which was totally unneeded and the theatrical introduction is a classic. It was often obvious why scenes had been cut since they were only repeating things we already know, but some scenes made the film better. The quality of filmmaking was just as good as in the theatricalk release. But Martin Csokas is easily the worst performer in the whole cast, so hopefully we won't see much more of Celeborn in the future...

From now on I will probably watch the EE instead of the theatrical release, despite the weaker introduction to shire and hobbits.

The extras are amazing. This is the best DVD I have ever seen.

[Legolas]

What can I say but wow!
I saw LOTR in the cinema last year and held out from buying the first DVD because of this special edition and so didn't actually remember totally what scenes were new and what weren't when watching it. However having read about the new scenes I would have to say that this version is an improvement on the original and I love the film now - way more than I remember liking it at the cinema, strange.

As for the extras, well the two disks are packed with stuff that is totally fascinating and makes me want to make films in a few year (you never know) the amount of work, effort and love that went into making this film (and the other 2) is truly astounding (over 40,000 items were specially made for the film) and the documentaries about the scale issues and special effects are fascinating.

Overall the best DVD I have ever seen ansd rewatching the movie has made me want The Two Towers more than ever.

MOVIE: 9/10
PICTURE: 10/10
SOUND: 10/10
EXTRAS: 10/10
OVERALL: 10/10

Buy this DVD - even if you have the original, it's totally worth it especially if you want to see how much work goes into making a film of this magnitude.

[shifty]

lord of the rings extended edition is awesome..but can anyone tell me why i didn't get the national geographic disc with my boxset..i had seen it advertised on some website, and it clearly had 5 discs,it's probably not all that important but would have been good to get it...the bookends are supoib though.

[RavenBlade]

Just as I thought,
when I first heard
about the directors
cut, I knew I would enjoy
it more then the Theatrical
Cut. I did enjoy the T.C. version,
dont get me wrong.

The new scenes were excellent
and added more depth to the
over all story line.
However, my only concern
was with the Gift Giving scene.

Peter Jackson seemed to add that
a little bit after where I believed
it should have been.
Instead of letting Gimli, Frodo,
and Legolas, think back upon
the scene in question, I felt
it should have been added before
they got into their boats.
It slowed the movie down just a little bit.

But that little tidbit, did not diminish my
viewing pleasure of this Awesome movie.
I can forgive it.

I give this movie a 10/10

The music is sweeping, and sets
the mood of the film just right.
The action is more frenetic,
and left me on the edge of my seat.
The Acting is superb.
Cate Blanchette is va va va voom ;)
Even Liv Tyler was better then expected.
And so pleasent on the eye's.

Can't wait for The Two Towers.
Grrrr, December 18th can't come soon enough.

Raven

[dellamorte dellamore]

Check again, the disc is in there. It's in between the cardboard Argonath placeholders and the box itself.

[shifty]

i have checked the box inside out now,dell, no sign of it...i wonder if the sets with this disc were extra special limited editions.i noticed that the one i saw on the website had the small picture of 4 discs in a row..and then + another disc,basically making it a 5 disc set...must try and remember which website it was...i will return with that answer....i have just found the answer on the l.o.t.r forum on this website,apparently there is a platinum edition and my bog standard collectors edition,the platinum edition has the extra disc,and trading cards and thats it...i shall do more research next time

[dellamorte dellamore]

You say you did get the special edition Argonath bookend edition, so maybe they just forgot to package the 5th disc. If that's the case then you will probbaly have to ship it back and have it replaced, unless you can explain what happened to the company you purchased from, and hopefully they can just mail you the disc that's missing.

Personally i feel the 3rd and 4th discs of extras are where it's at, i wasn't that impressed with the 5th one. It's informative, but not as engaging as the previous two. Regardless, you paid for it, so you should get it.

[KcMsterpce]

I haven't read any posts on this string, all I have to say is:

THIS DVD IS WORTH IT. BUY IT. SOME OF THE BEST EXTRAS EVER WITH EXCITING INTERVIEWS, AND A GREAT NEW VERSION OF THE MOVIE WITH FANTASTIC CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT TO BOOT!

That's all I have to say about that.

[ScaryFreak1827]

All I can say is... WOW! When I first heard there was going to be an extended edition to one of the best movies I thought 'What else could they add to make this movie any better?' but I was surprised. I got the extended edition for Christmas (It took me a while to reply to this) but I have to say it's definetly one of the BEST DVDs EVER! I watched ALL the documentaries recently (which were excellent with a lot of facts about the production and work put in to make this awesome movie) but I wish some theatrical trailers were put in (with the exception of the easter egg Two Towers trailer.) For anyone who doesn't have this DVD GET IT! You won't regret it. The extra 30 minutes really adds more character development and some cool extended action sequences. I can't wait for The Two Towers extended edition, I'm sure that'll be just as amazing.

[HM Murdock]

There's no doubt about it. This DVD is the best DVD of all time! It is extended (much better than having a deleted scene area), the making of is even more extensive than T2, its long and its affordable. Peter Jackson should get an award for this as it is his love of DVD that has made this possible. Thank you Peter Jackson for giving us fans what we want.

[Mick]

Originally posted by shifty
lord of the rings extended edition is awesome..but can anyone tell me why i didn't get the national geographic disc with my boxset..i had seen it advertised on some website, and it clearly had 5 discs,it's probably not all that important but would have been good to get it...the bookends are supoib though.

Was it the R1 you were looking at that contained the 5th disc? I think this (http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000066DY1/ref=sr_aps_dvd_1_2/026-5925243-6839632) is the only version available in the UK with the bookends.

This (http://www.dvdsoon.com/bigpicture.xml?uid=37220) set with the bookends, cards and national geographic disc is region 1.

You can buy the 5th disc seperately, it's £7.99 at play (http://www.playserver1.com/play247.asp?page=title&r=R2&title=100101).