The Lord of the Rings The Motion Picture Trilogy Platinum Series Special Extended Edition

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

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Perfect!
This DVD is wonderful, arrived a little after the deadline passed because the federal revenue from Brazil, but is perfect!

5 Stars Read the books first
This trilogy is the greatest set of movies ever based on the greatest set of books ever. As many people said, before and after the movies were released, it would be impossible to bring every facet of J.R.R. Tolkien's masterpiece to life in a movie but this rendition is the best anyone could ever do in my opinion. Yes, events from the books are left out even in the extended versions and some events and characters are even changed because of the reality of trying to turn a thousand page book into 9 or 10 hours of movie. I mean, how many people could read all three books in even twice the time it takes to watch all 3 of the extended films? Everything from the books simply could not be put into any kind of feasible movie-and the purists should simply get over it and find something better to complain about.

5 Stars The best trilogy in motion picture history.
Even though I haven't read the J.R.R. Tolkien books, I found these movies to be the real true and first masterpiece of the 21 first century. What a way to start this millenium! Unfortunately, for me, I never saw them when they were originally released either in the theater or DVD. That is something I still regret to this very day, not watching it in the theater. I thought they were going to be another boring movie(s). It wasn't until a few years later a friend if mine lent me his DVD trilogy (theatrical cut) selling it to me as the best they are, was or ever will be. At first I wasn't very excited about it. It took me a week to start watching the first film, but once I started, I couldn't take my eyes off it. I saw all three movies in a row with my wife, who did see it years before. The experience was that good. I was totally convinced. All I can tell you is that I was wrong after all these years. That's why I decided to purchase my own extended edition that is loaded with hours of extras. These movies look better than ever, and you get to see whole new footage that were deleted in the original cuts making these movies real long, which for me is good.

The only thing that bothered me at first is that at the middle of each film I have to change disk to continue the story. This complaint has nothing to do with the quality of the picture or its content. It has documentaries that I think are almost as long as the film itself, sometimes longer, and it all fits in one single disk. Why couln't they do the same thing with the movie? I think one disk has the capacity to store all the movie in its disk, and no need to break it up in two. Some people might find this distracting and annoying, and take them out of the magic of the film. But as I wrote before, I got used to it. Besides that, everything was excellent. I couldn't ask for more.I know you won't be dissapointed. I highly recommend this collection.

5 Stars Great Films and Great Music
What minor flaws there may be in these movies are simply small casualties of having filmed some of the most unfilmable books ever written. Magnificent, and that includes the score (I'm not sure what the music complainers are talking about).

5 Stars Great Product, Exactly what i was after
Ill make just a short review. The product arrived without any damage all dvd's worked perfectly.

There is 12 dvd's in total all with an exeptional amount of content that would keep any LOTR fan involved for days! Its a fantastic way to see these movies with there extended sequances!

I am 100% satisfied with my purchase, but if you are purchasing from outside the United States be aware they are encoded with NTSC format so you will need a region free dvd player to get the dvd's to work (i live in norway) or check online some dvd players can be unlocked using a special code you press with you remote!

Beautiful display box, and great features a must buy

Jack.

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