The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy (Extended Edition) [Blu-ray] [2001]

Product Information

The rest of the extra features are presented on the respective, accompanying SD-DVD discs, which are identical (right down to menu design) to those on the previous Extended Edition DVD release. It’s a must-have collection, it’s just a shame that the odd colour timing issues have left me unable to completely rave about the release without qualifying my statement first.

Similarly the effects here, however pioneering, are still almost a decade old – and they’re never going to all look perfect and seamless. This was accurate; I compared the Extended Edition Blu-ray to the theatrical version and definitely sensed a stronger green tone in some sequences. Discussion about the color shift on the EE edition blu-ray set in this thread, along with links to some videos that show the difference. Peter Jackson didn't seem like the most natural pick when selecting a director for one of the most expensive and expansive film series ever created. In addition to the extras from the extended edition DVDs you also get the three Costa Botes making-of documentaries, one for each film, that were included in the limited edition DVD release.An emotional highlight of the Appendices is a documentary showing the cast bidding a fond farewell to Middle-earth and the characters they played. With the assistance of a few fellow mischievous Hobbits (Sam Gamgee (Sean Astin), Pippin Took (Billy Boyd) and Merry Brandybuck (Dominic Monaghan)), Frodo sets out to keep the ring safe, with little knowledge of the true powers that are in his control, and the great dangers he is about to encounter. Looking back, with the other films finished, it stands apart as certainly the least polished of the trilogy, but to start out a story with this much bang was just what the series needed. we get a look at how the locations were found (sometimes by just flying a helicopter around New Zealand), and how much detail and work went into the smallest details of the costuming, even when outfits were being mass-produced.

New to the track are editors Jamie Selkirk and Annie Collins (different editors worked on each film so this is fitting). Assisted by a Fellowship of heroes, Frodo Baggins plunges into a perilous trek to take the mystical One Ring to Mount Doom so that it and its magical powers can be destroyed and never possessed by evil Lord Sauron. There is a sense of scale here that is unparalleled – you’d have to go back fifty years to see someone attempt something of this scale, but the freedom of digital technology means that it’s not just panning across thousands of people, but swooping from up high, and going everywhere.Each film contains two discs, of the movie, and two bonus disc "appendices" of extensive documentary on all behind-the-scenes aspects. The cast is just as brilliant as everything else, Elijah Wood and Sean Astin as Frodo and Sam, Viggo Mortensen as Aragon, Ian Mckellen as Gandalf, Liv Tyler as Arwin, Cristopher Lee as Saruman, Orlando Bloom as Legolas, John Rhys Davis as Gimly and all the rest of the cast are perfectly suited for their roles. The result is a colorful, sublime presentation not seen since these films were in theaters, maybe not even then.