The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Extended Edition) (2001)

“The language is the that of Mordor, which I will not utter here. In the common tongue it reads ‘One Ring to Rule Them All. One Ring to Find Them. One Ring to Bring Them All and In The Darkness Bind Them.’”

-         Gandalf the Grey

FINAL GRADE: 9/10

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Extended Edition) (2002)

“And so the weapon of the Enemy is moving towards Mordor in the hands of a Hobbit. Each day brings it closer to the fires of Mount Doom. We must trust now in Frodo. Everything depends now upon speed and upon the secrecy of his quest. Do not regret your decision to leave him. Frodo must finish this task alone.”

-         Gandalf the White

FINAL GRADE: 10/10

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (Extended Edition) (2003)

“Sons of Gondor, of Rohan, my brothers! I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me. A day may come when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship, but it is not this day. An hour of woes and shattered shields, when the age of men comes crashing down! But it is not this day! This day we fight! By all that you hold dear on this good Earth, I bid you stand, Men of the West!”

-         Aragorn, Son of Arathorn, Heir to the Throne of Men

FINAL GRADE: 8/10

CRITIQUE

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Extended Edition)

For whatever reason I didn’t review the initial film in director Peter Jackson’s landmark adaptation of author J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic novel The Lord of the Rings. It came out when I was still relatively new writing for Moviefreak and hadn’t as of that time become credentialed with all of the major studio publicists in town. While I saw the film opening night, while it blew me out of the water, I never wrote a word in critical analysis, pretty positive that whatever I had to bring to the table had already been said by others.

Almost a decade later I wish I would have written a review anyway, as it would have been nice to spend some time going through all of the many layers of Jackson's meticulous and thoughtful adaptation. What Tolkien himself dubbed “unfilmable,” the man behind Heavenly Creatures, Bad Taste and The Frighteners managed to bring to life in spectacular fashion. Filled with eye-popping visuals, unique fantasy elements and robust scenes of battle, the director never lost sight of the author’s story, themes or vision, maintaining the focus on the characters and their plight no matter what else was going on around them.

The Fellowship of the Rings is where audiences are introduced to Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood), his secretive uncle Bilbo (Ian Holm) and the friendly if mysterious wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellan). It is here where fellow hobbits Samwise (Sean Astin), Merry (Dominic Monaghan) and Pippin (Billy Boyd) choose to join their friend Frodo on his trip outside of the Shire at Gandalf’s urging. It is here where we learn of the great quest that must be undertaken to destroy the Ring of Power, and of the fellowship; men Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) and Boromir (Sean Bean), elf Legolas (Orlando Bloom), dwarf Gimli (John Rhys-Davies); who choose to join the hobbits and the wily wizard on the trek into the heart of Mordor and the lava pools of Mt. Doom.

I’m not going to spend a lot of time giving a bigger description. At this point, just about everyone everywhere knows the plot of this first entry in the trilogy, knows what happens to its characters and the state they are all left in as they are forced to go their separate ways and on their own distinct journeys. All that needs to be said is that Jackson’s adaptation, working with fellow writers Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, is nearly perfect, staying true to the source material but still managing to craft an adventure worthy of cinematic exploration. It is a thrilling achievement, and even at 178 minutes the final product manages to be an exuberant thrill ride that is as exhilarating as it is emotional.

As Jackson has stated on more than one occasion, the “Extended Editions” of the Lord of the Rings trilogy should not be considered as director’s cuts, the theatrical versions after all the ones the filmmaker intended while the longer cuts are meant to supplement those cuts for fans eager to absorb and experience more. Whether you enjoy the theatrical cut or the extended cut that is a case of personal choice, and while for my part I’ll go for the longer versions just about every time that doesn’t mean I still don’t love watching the originals any less.

At the same time, of all of these extended cuts the one for The Fellowship of the Ring is arguably the most unnecessary. At 228 minutes, it does feel a bit long and padded, Jackson’s insistence at throwing in as many of the source material’s more intricate nuances a slight hindrance to the film’s pace. At the same time, I love the fact that Galadriel’s (Cate Blanchett) offering of gifts to the fellowship has been included, same with that first glimpse of the Wood Elves traveling to the Grey Havens. Boromir’s part is fleshed out a bit more, while little intimate moments between Frodo and the rest of the fellowship help the characters grow and expand in ways they just don’t happen in the theatrical cut.

Are all of the additions necessary? Not really, but for Tolkien fanatics they make watching The Fellowship of the Ring an even richer experience. They allow the film to take on a deeper meaning and resonance, and for my part I find the movie more rewarding because of them.

I can’t say Jackson’s changes make the film any better, I just know I like this first foray into Tolkien’s world a little bit more because of them. The Fellowship of the Ring is a rousing start to the trilogy, a near-perfect exercise in fantasy filmmaking that will undoubtedly become even more impressive as time continues to pass.

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Extended Edition)

Here’s what I wrote about The Two Towers when I listed it at #19 in my list of the Top 50 Films 2000-2009:

“If I could I would just list the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy as a single motion picture, but as they were all released separately a year apart I can’t bring myself to do it. With that being the case, this second chapter in Peter Jackson’s Oscar-winning adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien fantasy classics is by far my personal favorite. Rich characterizations abound (that last scene with Gollum in the woods is both intimate and chilling), while the central battle of Helms Deep is one of the most exciting in movie history. As a whole, what Jackson achieved with this series is astonishing, The Two Towers showcasing those accomplishments to perfection.”

Want more? Here’s some of what I wrote about the film in my original December 2002 review (you can read the whole thing here):

“The Two Towers is fabulously entertaining, if only in scope and style alone. This massive undertaking looks it, and surpassing the substantive expectations of an over-eager audience is nothing to scoff at… There is so much to love on nearly every level. It’s hectic and chaotic, but in a good way, and Jackson never looses sight of the bigger picture. One could complain that the hobbits, for the most part, are sidelined here in favor of all the slam-bang action of the human characters, but I really didn’t think so. Jackson subtly, and smartly, hints at what is to come for his Halfling cast, knowing full well their dramatic turns must culminate in force during the trilogy’s final chapter.”

Without a doubt, The Two Towers is my favorite entry in director Peter Jackson’s take on the Lord of the Rings trilogy. More so, the 235-minute extended cut is my preferred way to watch it. Théodred's funeral is depicted, Merry, Pippin and Treebeard’s stories are much more fully developed, flashbacks between Boromir and Faramir (David Wenham) are included making their relationship have more nuance and meaning, while the Elvish rope gifted to Sam in the extended cut of the last film gets to be used. There are plenty of other, smaller additions, all making the characters, most notably key Rohan figures King Thoeden (Bernard Hill) and his headstrong niece Eowyn (Miranda Otto), richer, more memorable, more three-dimensional.

Is the movie long? Sure, but it never feels like it, and in the same way massive epics like Lawrence of Arabia and Ben Hur seem to flash by in an instant The Two Towers manages to do the same. It is a wondrous entertainment that holds me spellbound each time I watch it, and for the rest of my life if I could only watch one episode in Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy this is the one I would choose without a single second of hesitation.

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (Extended Edition)

Here’s what I wrote about The Return of the King when I originally reviewed back in December of 2003 (read my full review here):

“After three years, nearly ten hours, hundreds of millions of dollars and the fate of an entire studio resting on its fate, Peter Jackson finally brings his epic retelling of J.R.R. Tolkien’s masterwork The Lord of the Rings to a conclusion. And if, ultimately, The Return of the King isn’t quite the thrilling conclusion we were all quite hoping for, it is still very much a successful end to what may be the most accomplished and satisfying movie trilogy of all time…

[While] I am undeniably falling all over myself to justly praise this movie, I can’t say with complete honesty I was quite as enraptured with this one as I was the first two times around. Part of that has to do with the whole “been there/done that” factor inherent in sequels. At this point, there isn’t really very much further our cast can take their characters. As good as Mortensen, McKellan, Bloom, et al are, I can’t exactly say their performances left me feeling anything different than I already felt. There just isn’t anywhere else for them to go, most – if not all – their character traits pretty much fleshed out to their fullest in the previous features…

In what is maybe the riskiest chance a studio ever took on a project – New Line Studios bet their entire existence on Jackson succeeding – the filmmaker has delivered a remarkable motion picture trilogy that transcends genre unlike any film since The Godfather. It is impossible to imagine a studio ever taking a risk such as this ever again, that someday Jackson and the Lord of the Rings will be mentioned in the same breath as The Wizard of Oz, The Seven Samurai or Gone With the Wind. Not bad for a guy making low budget New Zealand splatter films. Not bad at all.”

Looking back on that review, it should be noted that New Line Cinemas ultimately did not survive as a stand-alone production house, getting absorbed by Warner Bros. after the studio took a similar chance on The Golden Compass and failed to deliver likewise results. Not like Warner hadn’t been chomping at the bit for ages to smother New Line, and while the success of the Lord of the Rings trilogy put that off for a little while it didn’t end up stopping it like my writing contended.

With that out of the way, it should also be stated that 263-minute extended cut of The Return of the King is both the most necessary as well as the most infuriating. Necessary because key elements, most notably the fate of Saruman (Christopher Lee), have been thankfully reinserted and have helped develop major plot points that felt a little weak or disheveled in the theatrical cut. Infuriating because the film’s main weakness, its length, is only acerbated by the inclusion of an hour of new material, making a picture that already had some minor pacing problems suddenly even more problematic on that particular front.

All the same, I cannot imagine a world where this extended cut does not exist. So many key sequences are included, like the aforementioned bit with Saruman, like the full battle between Gandalf and the Witch-king, like Faramir and Eowyn’s beguiling and beautiful romance in the House of Healing, like Merry finding Pippin on the field of battle. There are extended bits with Frodo and Sam in Mordor, with Thoeden and Eomer (Karl Urban) on the battlefield. Smeagal’s (Andy Serkis) transformation back into Gollum is more fully realized, and little bits here and there give the movie more in the way of depth.

While problems of over-length and over-familiarity still exist they aren’t nearly as vexing in this version, and even though the multiple endings still slightly annoy (they were problems in the book, too, if that counts for anything) I’ve never had near as much of an issue with them as others seem to. Put simply, the extended cut of The Return of the King is better animal, and one I find far more satisfying and enjoyable over the theatrical release.

THE VIDEO

All three films in the Lord of the Rings trilogy are presented on two dual-layer MPEG-4 AVC video 50GB Blu-rays (six in total) with 2.40:1/1080p widescreen transfers. These transfers are slightly darker and have a slightly greenish tint to them, something the theatrical versions and the DVD releases of the extended cuts do not showcase. Personally, I do not find this to be a problem, and as Jackson has not tinkered with the original theatrical cuts in any way I’m more than willing to let him tinker with these versions as he sees fit. Considering this is his only alteration I think that says volumes about his intentions as to playing with these films any more in the future (i.e. I’m guess no intention at all).

As other technical aspects of these transfers, each is as arguably close to perfect as we are likely ever going to get. The special effects still show their seams a bit, but as problems go that’s just about it. Colors are strong, black levels are consistent and while noise reduction has been employed Jackson hasn’t gone so overboard that the film-like look of everything has been lost, no plastic-looking skin tones here. I was in awe watching these films on Blu-ray, and I have a sneaky suspicion these discs are going to get a heck of a lot of use in the future.

THE AUDIO

Each film is presented in English DTS-HD Master Audio 6.1 along with a Portuguese Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack and come with optional English SDH, Spanish and Portuguese subtitles.

This is where this Blu-ray presentation of the Lord of the Rings trilogy truly soars. These audio presentations are stunningly perfect. All channels get robust usage with everything spread out with a remarkably even handedness. Dialogue is never lost, while music and sound effects thunder but do not overwhelm. As audio transfers go, this is one of the best I’ve ever had the pleasure to come across.

THE EXTRAS

Unlike a lot of others, I’m not going to spend a lot of time on the special features. Not because they’re not impressive – they are – and not because there are so many of them – there are so many thinking about them is down right exhausting – but because all of them have been available before on previous editions. Every single extra, all of them, the Four Audio Commentaries on each film, the Appendices from the DVD Extended Editions, the multitude of Featurettes and Behind-the-Scenes shorts, all of it is here. It’s over 26-hours of material, and trying to get through it all in any sort of easily digestible fashion is a borderline impossibility.

What is new to the extended edition, although they have, like everything else, been available before, is the presence of the fabulous Behind-the-Scenes Three-Part Documentary created by filmmaker Costa Botes. Each included on their own disc with each film, these 90 or so minute docs are fascinating excursions in the making of each picture, allowing even more insight into Jackson’s creative process and putting the finishing touch on just what it took to bring these motion pictures to life.

The bad news? All of the supplemental extras have not been transferred into high-definition, the Costa Botes documentaries not even presented in anamorphic widescreen. Part of me expected more, and I can’t say I wasn’t disappointed that all of this stuff looks the same here as did in their respective DVD incarnations.

Not that it matters. Everything you ever wanted to know about the Lord of the Rings trilogy and more can be found in this exhaustive set of extras. No stone is left unturned, and I seriously doubt any film series has ever been as well documented and chronicled for posterity than this one has.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Just buy the darn thing. It’s amazing.