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After the breaking of the Fellowship, Frodo and Sam journey to Mordor with the creature Gollum as their guide in The Two Towers. Meanwhile, Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), Legolas (Orlando Bloom), and Gimli (John Rhys-Davies) join in the defense of the people of Rohan, who are the first target in the eradication of the race of Men by the renegade wizard Saruman (Christopher Lee) and the dark lord Sauron. Fantastic creatures, astounding visual effects, and a climactic battle at the fortress of Helm's Deep make The Two Towers a worthy successor to The Fellowship of the Ring, grander in scale but retaining the story's emotional intimacy.
With The Return of the King, the greatest fantasy epic in film history draws to a grand and glorious conclusion. The trilogy could never fully satisfy those who remain exclusively loyal to Tolkien's expansive literature, but as a showcase for physical and technical craftsmanship it is unsurpassed in pure scale and ambition, setting milestone after cinematic milestone as Frodo and Sam continue their mission to Mordor to destroy the soul-corrupting One Ring. While the heir to the kingdom of Men, Aragorn, endures the massive battle at Minas Tirith with the allegiance of Legolas, Gimli, and Gandalf, Frodo and Sam must survive the schizoid deceptions of Gollum, who remains utterly convincing as a hybrid of performance (by Andy Serkis) and subtly nuanced computer animation. Jackson and cowriters Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens have much ground to cover; that they do so with intense pacing and epic sweep is impressive enough, but by investing greater depth and consequence in the actions of fellow hobbits Merry (Dominic Monaghan) and Pippin (Billy Boyd), they ensure that The Return of the King maintains the trilogy's emphasis on intimate fellowship and remains faithful to Tolkien's overall vision. By ending the LOTR trilogy with noble integrity and faith in the power of imaginative storytelling, The Return of the King, like its predecessors, will stand as an adventure for the ages. --Jeff Shannon and David Horiuchi
Our Review of the Extended Edition on DVD (Dec. 14, 2004):
The extended editions of Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings present the greatest trilogy in film history in the most ambitious sets in DVD history. In bringing J.R.R. Tolkien's nearly unfilmable work to the screen, Jackson benefited from extraordinary special effects, evocative New Zealand locales, and an exceptionally well-chosen cast, but most of all from his own adaptation with co-writers Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, preserving Tolkien's vision and often his very words, but also making logical changes to accommodate the medium of film. While purists complained about these changes and about characters and scenes left out of the films, the almost two additional hours of material in the extended editions (about 11 hours total) help appease them by delving more deeply into Tolkien's music, the characters, and loose ends that enrich the story, such as an explanation of the Faramir-Denethor relationship, and the appearance of the Mouth of Sauron at the gates of Mordor. In addition, the extended editions offer more bridge material between the films, further confirming that the trilogy is really one long film presented in three pieces (which is why it's the greatest trilogy ever--there's no weak link). The scene of Galadriel's gifts to the Fellowship added to the first film proves significant over the course of the story, while the new Faramir scene at the end of the second film helps set up the third and the new Saruman scene at the beginning of the third film helps conclude the plot of the second.
To top it all off, the extended editions offer four discs per film: two for the longer movie, plus four commentary tracks and stupendous DTS 6.1 ES sound; and two for the bonus material, which covers just about everything from script creation to special effects. The argument was that fans would need both versions because the bonus material is completely different, but the features on the theatrical releases are so vastly inferior that the only reason a fan would need them would be if they wanted to watch the shorter versions they saw in theaters (the last of which, The Return of the King, merely won 11 Oscars). The LOTR extended editions without exception have set the DVD standard by providing a richer film experience that pulls the three films together and further embraces Tolkien's world, a reference-quality home theater experience, and generous, intelligent, and engrossing bonus features. --David Horiuchi
Special Features
Over 30 minutes of footage incorporated into the theatrical release of the film
Commentary by Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, and Philippa Boyens
Commentary by the design team
Commentary by the production/post-production team
Commentary by 10 actors, including Elijah Wood and Ian McKellen
Easter egg: MTV Movie Award Spoof (The Council of Elrod)
Costa Botes Documentary: The Fellowship of the Ring: Behind the Scenes
The Appendices, Part 1: From Book to Vision (on DVD)
- Peter Jackson introduction
- J.R.R. Tolkein: Creator of Middle Earth
- From Book to Script
- Visualizing the Story
- Designing and Building Middle Earth
- Middle Earth atlas interactive
- Elijah Wood introduction
- Filming The Fellowship of the Ring
- Visual effects
- Post-production: Putting it all together
- Digital Grading
- Sound and music
- The Road Goes Ever On...
Extended edition of the film, incorporating 43 minutes of footage incorporated into the film
Commentary track by writer-director Peter Jackson and writers Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens
Commentary track by the design team
Commentary track by the production/post-production team
Commentary track by 16 cast members, including Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Andy Serkis, John Rhys-Davies, Orlando Bloom, Christopher Lee, Bernard Hill, and Miranda Otto
Easter Egg: MTV Movie Awards clip (Gollum accepting award)
Costas Botes documentary: The Two Towers--Behind the Scenes
The Appendices, Part 3: The Journey Continues
- Peter Jackson introduction
- J.R.R. Tolkein: Origin of Middle Earth
- From Book to Script: Finding a Story
- Designing and Building Middle-Earth
- Gollum
- Middle-Earth Atlas interactive
- New Zealand as Middle Earth (map with video location)
- Elijah Wood introduction
- Filming The Two Towers
- Visual effects
- Editorial: Refining the Story
- Music and Sound
- The Battle for Helm's Deep is Over
Extended edition of the film, with 50 extra minutes incorporated into the film
Commentary track by writer-director Peter Jackson and writers Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens
Commentary track by the design team
Commentary track by the production/post-production team
Costas Botes documentary: The Return of the King: Behind the Scenes
The Appendices, Part 5: The War of the Ring
- Peter Jackson Intro
- J.R.R. Tolkien: The Legacy of Middle-earth
- From Book to Script
- Designing and Building Middle-earth
- Home of the Horse Lords
- Middle-earth Atlas: Tracing the Journeys of the Fellowship: interactive map
- New Zealand as Middle-earth: interactive map with on-location footage
- Elijah Wood/Sean Astin/Billy Boyd/Dominic Monaghan intro
- Filming The Return of the King
- Visual Effects
- Post Production: Journey's End
- The Passing of an Age
- Cameron Duncan
Customer Reviews
The Fellowship Of The Ring (Extended Edition)(blu ray):
The AVC/1080p picture is housed on two BD-50 discs (Part 1: 105 minutes; Part 2: 123 minutes). I personally appreciate what Warner Brothers/New Line is doing, in order to minimize compression defects. Changing disc also gives people a chance to visit the washroom. The previous theatrical versions were mired in controversy due to the digital noise reduction (DNR) used on Fellowship of the Ring. The video has been completely remastered from the film's 2K digital files, and the result is a vast improvement in details: beards never get blurry, not once, and facial features remain pure. Blacks are inky. The new controversy is the greenish tinge, because the colour timing was redone. Thus, the picture looked different from the original DVD version. But according to the studio, this colour timing was approved by Peter Jackson and cinematographer Andrew Lesnie. Overall, the picture was very pleasing. But don't be surprised when future prequels (The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, due in theatre December 2012, and The Hobbit: There And Back Again, due in theatre December 2013) are out that the studios may triple dip with another "newly remastered" version of the film. (4/5)
The Two Towers (Extended Edition)(blu ray):
The AVC/1080p picture is housed on two BD-50 discs (Part 1: 107 minutes; Part 2: 129 minutes). The presentation was magnificent, with great details and strong black levels. Contrast is excellent. (5/5)
The Return Of The King (Extended Edition)(blu ray):
The AVC/1080p picture is housed on two BD-50 discs (Part 1: 128 minutes; Part 2: 135 minutes). Fine detail is abundant, with lovely contrast and accurate color. The image is delicately textured and highly dimensional. The sweeping shot as King Théoden and his Rohirrim charge the advancing line of Mûmakil on the fields of Pelennor looks almost three-dimensional. (5/5)
AUDIO:
The audio in all three films is in DTS-HD MA 6.1. In one word: perfect!! All three tracks are nothing short of splendid, with pitch perfect dynamics, wonderful directionality, constant and appropriate localization effects, superb clarity, impeccable prioritization, wonderful volume spikes, and plenty of down and dirty bass to keep the entire experience engaging, no matter how thoroughly worn out you are by the length of the material. The soundstage is constantly filled, putting you in the middle of the experience throughout the entire affair. This trilogy, with three powerful DTS-HD Master Audio 6.1 mixes, is one reason why this release may rule them all. (5+/5)
There are a total of 15 discs with extensive supplements. This extended blu ray edition will provide many hours of enjoyment for the whole family for years to come: like a Lord Of The Rings marathon during a long weekend. Although it is not perfect, it is still considered the ultimate, definitive Lord Of The Rings for now. Highly recommended.
Pour les francophones, il y a la version anglaise ET la version française dans ce coffret blu-ray! :)
All of the 'Appendices' of the DVD release are here, along with the Costa Botes 'Making of'' documentaries that were previously only available in the limited edition DVD sets. Grittier than the other extras, these feature-length documentaries offer a different perspective on the films and are a nice treat for the LotR fan who thinks they've seen everything.
Masterful as this set is, there are a few things people may quibble over. The films are each spread over two Blu-Rays, a necessary concession for the quality of the transfer but some people might find it annoying. The features are all presented in SD, though I personally don't think remastering them would've added much value. Finally, there's the infamous 'green tint' some people note on Fellowship; I can't see it, even when I look for it, but some people might feel differently.
Rumours persist about some mythical 'Extended-Extended Edition' of the films, containing even more deleted scenes and extras that have never seen the light of day. Personally, I call shenanigans on such talk but, even if you believe it, such a boxed won't see the light of day until well after The Hobbit Extended Editions have been released (2015 or later). Given that fact, there's no reason for a Lord of the Rings fan not to pick this set up.
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