DVD Movie Rating for: Lord of the Rings

4 Out of 5

Movie Plot of: Lord of the Rings

An ancient Ring thought lost for centuries has been found, and through a strange twist in fate has been given to a small Hobbit named Frodo. When Gandalf discovers the Ring is in fact the One Ring of the Dark Lord Sauron, Frodo must make an epic quest to the Cracks of Doom in order to destroy it! However he does not go alone. He is joined by Gandalf, Legolas the elf, Gimli the Dwarf, Aragorn, Boromir and his three Hobbit friends Merry, Pippin and Samwise. Through mountains, snow, darkness, forests, rivers and plains, facing evil and danger at every corner the Fellowship of the Ring must go. Their quest to destroy the One Ring is the only hope for the end of the Dark Lords reign!

DVD Production Details of: Lord of the Rings

Director: Peter Jackson

Encoding: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. This DVD will probably NOT be viewable in other countries. Read more about DVD formats.)
Format: Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen, Box set, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound

Studio: New Line Home Entertainment
DVD Features:
Four-disc Platinum Series Special Extended DVD Edition of The Lord of Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

New version of National Geographic Beyond the Movie: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring DVD, with additional featurettes

Exclusive Argonath bookends sculpted by the film's visual effects artists

Exclusive Decipher trading cards

Special edition of the Lord of the Rings Fan Club official movie magazine

Packaging illustrated by famed artist Alan Lee

Special Extended DVD Edition of The Lord of Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Discs 1-2: The Feature:

Unique version of the epic adventure with over 30 minutes of never-before-seen footage incorporated into the film and new music scored by Academy Award®-winning composer Howard Shore (approx. 208 minutes)

Commentary by Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, and Philippa Boyens

Commentary by the design team, including production designer Grant Major, costume designer Ngila Dickson, Weta Workshop creative supervisor Richard Taylor, and conceptual designer Alan Lee

Commentary by the production/post-production team, including producer Barrie Osborne, executive producer Mark Ordesky, director of photography Andrew Lesnie, editor John Gilbert, and composer Howard Shore

Commentary by Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Liv Tyler, Sean Astin, John Rhys-Davies, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Orlando Bloom, Christopher Lee, and Sean Bean

Easter egg: theatrical preview of The Two Towers

Special Extended DVD Edition of The Lord of Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Discs 3-4: The Appendices:

Two discs with hours of original content including multiple documentaries and design/photo galleries with thousands of images to give viewers an in-depth behind-the-scenes look at The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

DISC 3: "From Book to Vision":

Adapting the book into a screenplay & planning the film

Designing and building Middle-earth

Storyboards to pre-visualization

Weta Workshop visit: An up-close look at the weapons, armor, creatures, and miniatures from the film

An interactive map of Middle-earth tracing the journey of the Fellowship

An interactive map of New Zealand highlighting the location scouting process

Galleries of art and slideshows with commentaries by the artists

Guided tour of the wardrobe department

Footage from early meetings, moving storyboards, and pre-visualization reels

DISC 4: "From Vision to Reality":

Bringing the characters to life

A day in the life of a hobbit

Principal photography: Stories from the set

Scale: Creating the illusion of size

Galleries of behind-the-scenes photographs and personal cast photos

Editorial and visual effects multi-angle progressions

Sound design demonstration

DVD-ROM Content: Includes access to exclusive online features

Widescreen anamorphic format

Number of discs: 5

Cast of the movie: Lord of the Rings

• Elijah Wood .... Frodo Baggins
• Ian McKellen .... Gandalf
• Viggo Mortensen .... Aragorn
• Sean Astin .... Samwise 'Sam' Gamgee
• Cate Blanchett .... Galadriel
• Sean Bean .... Boromir
• Liv Tyler .... Arwen
• John Rhys-Davies .... Gimli
• Billy Boyd .... Peregrin 'Pippin' Took
• Dominic Monaghan .... Meriadoc 'Merry' Brandybuck
• Orlando Bloom .... Legolas Greenleaf
• Christopher Lee .... Saruman
• Hugo Weaving .... Elrond
• Ian Holm .... Bilbo Baggins
• Andy Serkis .... Gollum

Photo Gallery of the movie: Lord of the Rings

Click on one of the thumbnails to see the full size, high resolution photographs

Reviews of the movie: Lord of the Rings

I think it is important to remember that Peter Jackson took up this film not in order just to make a film of `The Lord of the Rings' but because he wanted to make a 'fantasy just like the `The Lord of the Rings'" as he himself put it. After repeating that phrase on a number of occasions the question popped into his mind: "Well, why not the `The Lord of the Rings' itself?". In doing this he, of course, set himself an enormous challenge: he had to make a really good `fantasy' film, one which would stand on its own and be true to what he had originally wanted to do but he would also, and here the task he had set himself was enormous, be true to the original book and to make a film which the legions of people who have loved this book would feel happy with. In the latter task he was certainly not helped by the author or the book: Tolkein, it would seem, hated cinema. The book itself is `HUGE': this was not going to be the kind of task that the James Ivory team set themselves, or Scorsese nor the kind of task facing Branagh with Hamlet; nor was it going to be like the puny task that faced Columbus with `Harry Potter' who had the bigger budget ($130 million for one film as compared with Peter Jackson with $300m for three).

I have just seen the first `volume' and can say without hesitation that he has succeeded in both his goals. It is not the book but a reading of the book which is inventive and fascinating. It is the kind of experience that makes you want to go back and reread the whole thing in the light of the emphases that Jackson has brought to the story. He focuses on the corrupting influence of the ring and, through this focus, the character of the chief protagonists of the story are revealed. Clearly those most tempted by it are mortal men (Boromir and even, in one moment, Aragorn), those who already have power (Elrond - `The ring cannot stay here'; Galadriel; Gandalf and Saruman), and, of course, those who would not normally desire it but who by accident become ring bearers - Gollum, Bilbo, Frodo. I can see why, in this reading, Jackson decided to leave out the Bombadil episode. Bombadil, like the Balrog, is beyond the ring but the latter is important to the unfolding of the story of the fates of all the characters, Bombadil isn't.

It is a miracle of this reading of the first volume of the book that one can see where Jackson is going and one can get a feel of how the reading is going to unfold. In a sense, Jackson's real trial - as far as those who know the books are concerned - will come with the second film in the series. He has lived up to our expectation by creating even bigger ones: how can he handle the story of the chase andrescue of Merry and Pippin, the storming of Isengard etc - stories which don't really add much to the core theme that is emerging. Or is he now going to add the theme of the great contest of good versus evil to the unfolding reading?

All of this points to the fact that the film, even though it is a feast of special effects, focuses on character. And this also explains why Jackson chose the actors he did for their roles: they are not `big' names - no `Sean Connery', no `Alan Rickman', no `Brad Pitt', no `Sam Neill'etc. He didn't want them getting in the way of the story of character. Ian McKellan's talents, in particular, are used to tell a large proportion of the story: an enormous amount is conveyed simply through his facial expressions and even by the language of his body. The other miracle in all of this is Elijah Wood. Like many others, when I first heard of Jackson's choice, I groaned: but Wood has been extraordinary. He brings, as one friend said, a strange kind of androgyny to the role and this is just perfect. McKellan has already been knighted: give Wood the Oscar.

And then there is Middle Earth: this is, as someone put it, another character in the story and the New Zealand landscape, digitally enhanced on occasion, lives up to its role too.

Enough. See this film! Greatest film ever made? How can one make a claim like that! Silly really; as silly as claiming that `The Lord of the Rings' is the greatest book ever written. Can't one simply love a story, enjoy reading it a number of times amd lose oneself in it. One CAN claim that it is the greatest work in its genre as is the film

In every aspect, the extended-edition DVD of Peter Jackson's epic fantasy The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ringtheatrical-version DVD. No one who cares at all about the film should ever need to watch the original version again. Well, maybe the impatient and the squeamish will still prefer the theatrical version, because the extended edition makes a long film 30 minutes longer and there's a bit more violence (though both versions are rated PG-13). But the changes--sometimes whole scenes, sometimes merely a few seconds--make for a richer film. There's more of the spirit of J.R.R. Tolkien, embodied in more songs and a longer opening focusing on Hobbiton. There's more character development, and more background into what is to come in the two subsequent films, such as Galadriel's gifts to the Fellowship and Aragorn's burden of lineage. And some additions make more sense to the plot, or are merely worth seeing, such as the wood elves leaving Middle-earth or the view of Caras Galadhon (but sorry, there's still no Tom Bombadil). Extremely useful are the chapter menus that indicate which scenes are new or extended.

Of the four commentary tracks, the ones with the greatest general appeal are the one by Jackson and cowriters Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, and the one by 10 cast members, but the more technically oriented commentaries by the creative and production staff are also worth hearing. The bonus features (encompassing two complete DVDs) are far superior to the largely promotional materials included on the theatrical release, delving into such matters as script development, casting, and visual effects. The only drawback is that the film is now spread over two discs, with a somewhat abrupt break following the council at Rivendell, due to the storage capacity required for the longer running time, the added DTS ES 6.1 audio, and the commentary tracks. But that's a minor inconvenience. Whether in this collector's gift set (which adds Argonath bookends and a DVD of National Geographic Beyond the Movie: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring) or the unadorned four-disc set, the extended-edition DVD is the Fellowship DVD to rule them all