The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King: Special Extended Edition (4 Discs) (Widescreen)

What's New?
One of the scenes cut from the theatrical release (but included here!) the resolution of the Saruman storyline, generated a lot of publicity at the premiere when actor Christopher Lee (Saruman) complained in the press about losing his only appearance. It's an excellent scene, one Jackson calls "pure Tolkien," and provides better context for the scene in which Pippin find the wizard's palantir in the water, but it's not critical to the film. In fact, "valuable but not critical" might sum up the Return of the King extended edition. It's evident that Jackson made the right cuts for the theatrical run, but the extra material provides depth, ties up a number of loose ends and for those sorry to see the trilogy end (and who isn't?) also provides a welcome chance to spend another hour in Middle Earth. Choice moments include Gandalf's (Ian McKellen) confrontation with the Witch King (where we also find out what happened to the wizard's staff), views of the chilling Mouth of Sauron at the gates of Mordor, and the scene in which Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin) mistaken for Orc soldiers. We get to see more of Éowyn (Miranda Otto), both with Aragorn and on the battlefield fighting Gothmog, the hideously deformed Orc lieutenant. We also see her in one of the most anticipated new scenes at the Houses of Healing after the battle of Pelennor Fields. While the scene does not present Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) as a savior the way Tolkien may have intended in the novel, rather it shows the initial meeting between Éowyn and Faramir (David Wenham), a relationship that received only a glance (albeit a meaningful glance) in the theatrical cut.

If you want to completely immerse yourself in Peter Jackson's marvelous and massive achievement, only the extended edition will do.

For those who hoped for an alternate ending (or 3), the prognosis is terminal. The scouring of the Shire, which many fans were hopeful to see in all its theatrical glory, remains a mystery to the silver screen.  Even the scene in which Denethor (John Noble) wields the palantir was excluded -- a scene which would have better explained both his foresight and undeniable madness.

As Jackson notes, when cuts are made the secondary characters are the first to go, so instead there is a new scene where Aragorn finds the palantir in Denethor's robes. Another big difference is Aragorn's confrontation with the King of the Dead: in the theatrical version, we didn't know whether the King had accepted Aragorn's offer by the time the pirate ships pulled into the harbor; here in the extended version, Jackson assumes that viewers have already experienced that tension and instead has the army of the dead join the battle in an earlier scene (featuring an extended cameo for Jackson). One can debate which is more effective, but that's where having both versions of the film available becomes critically important. If you feel like watching the relatively shorter theatrical version, you can relive the magic of the midnight premiere any time. But if you want to completely immerse yourself in Peter Jackson's marvelous adaptation of Tolkien's magnificent conclusion to his epic saga The Lord of the Rings, only the extended edition will fit the bill.

How Are the Bonus Features?
To complete the experience, The Return of the King provides the same sprawling set of features as the previous extended editions: four commentary tracks, sharp picture and thrilling sound, and two discs of excellent documentary material far superior to the recycled material in the theatrical edition. Those who have listened to the seven hours of commentary for the first two extended editions may wonder if they need to hear more, but there was no commentary for the earlier Return of the King on DVD, so it's still entertaining to hear Peter Jackson break down the film (he says the beacon scene is one of his favorites), discuss differences from the book, point out cameos, and poke fun at himself and the extended-edition concept ("So this is the complete full strangulation, never seen before, here exclusively on DVD!"). The documentaries (some lasting 30 minutes or longer) are of their usual outstanding quality, and there's a riveting storyboard/animatic sequence of the climactic scene, which includes a one-on-one battle between Aragorn and Sauron.

One DVD Set to Rule Them All
Peter Jackson's trilogy has set the standard for fantasy films by adapting the Holy Grail of fantasy stories with a combination of fidelity to the original source and his own vision, supplemented by outstanding writing, near-perfect casting, glorious special effects, and evocative New Zealand locales. The extended editions without exception have set the standard for the DVD medium by providing a richer film experience that pulls the three films together and further embraces Tolkien's world, a reference-quality home theater experience, and generous, intelligent, and engrossing bonus features. --David Horiuchi