The Lord of the Rings The Return of the King Platinum Series Special Extended Edition

The greatest trilogy in film history, presented in the most ambitious sets in DVD history, comes to a grand conclusion with the extended edition of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Not only is the third and final installment of Peter Jackson's adaptation of the works of J.R.R. Tolkien the longest of the three, but a full 50 minutes of new material pushes the running time to a whopping 4 hours and 10 minutes. The new scenes are welcome, and the bonus features maintain the high bar set by the first two films, The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers.

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 when the movie opened, as actor Christopher Lee complained in the press about losing his only appearance. It's an excellent scene, one Jackson calls "pure Tolkien," and provides better context for Pippin to 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 ROTK extended edition. It's evident that Jackson made the right cuts for the theatrical run, but the extra material provides depth and ties up a number of loose ends, and for those sorry to see the trilogy end (and who isn't?) it's a welcome chance to spend another hour in Middle-earth. Some choice moments are Gandalf's (Ian McKellen) confrontation with the Witch King (we find out what happened to the wizard's staff), the chilling Mouth of Sauron at the gates of Mordor, and Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin) being mistaken for Orc soldiers. We get to see more of ?owyn (Miranda Otto), both with Aragorn and on the battlefield, even fighting the hideously deformed Orc lieutenant, Gothmog. We also see her in one of the most anticipated new scenes, the Houses of Healing after the battle of the Pelennor Fields. It doesn't present Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) as a savior as the book did, but it shows the initial meeting between ?owyn and Faramir (David Wenham), a relationship that received only 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.

And for those who complained, no, there are no new endings, not even the scouring of the Shire, which many fans were hoping to see. Nor is there a scene of Denethor (John Noble) with the palantir, which would have better explained both his foresight and his madness. As Jackson notes, when cuts are made, the secondary characters are the first to go, so there is a new scene of Aragorn finding 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 when the pirate ships pulled into the harbor; here Jackson assumes that viewers have already experienced that tension, and instead has the army of the dead join the battle in an earlier scene (an extended cameo for Jackson). One can debate which is more effective, but that's why the film is available in both versions. If you feel like watching the relatively shorter version you saw in the theaters, you can. If you want to completely immerse yourself in Peter Jackson's marvelous and massive achievement, only the extended edition will do.

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 ROTK DVD, so it's still entertaining to hear 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

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars "Long have you hunted me, long have I eluded you", 28 Sep 2007
Plot:

The saga continues. Frodo and Sam edge closer to Mount Doom, but the deceitful Gollum plans to lead them into a trap and have the ring for himself. Meanwhile, the armies of Mordor are marching on the Gondorian city of Minas Tirith, where Gandalf finds Denethor, father of Boromir and Faramir, losing his sanity…

My Review:

Why do all good things 'have' to come to an end? During the last three years in a row, Peter Jackson has amazingly resurrected winter from its boring blues with the individual instalments of his Tolkien fantasy trilogy, ultimately changing the perspective of our cinematic excitement from the summer months to the end of the year. Now that it's over and done with, what will be the lasting effects of this groundbreaking achievement?

What ROTK does well is that it marks the first time in the series when Dir. Jackson's roots as a horror filmmaker come into the spotlight, or the light of ereniel, his skill greatly used in the right places, whereas other filmmakers just throw the scare at you for no reason. As the orcs attack and head beyond the walls of Minas Tirith, flesh-rotted ghosts draw swords alongside Aragorn and stalker ensues on Frodo through dark, web-shrouded tunnels, pushing the boundaries of its' given certificate.

However, that's not a problem as far as it being the last of the epic trilogy; correct word use there, the look and tone must and does necessarily grow darker as the Hobbits approach Mount Doom and Mordor's evil tightens its grip on Middle-earth.

The tinges of the characters have been moulded over an extraordinary ten hours-plus of great cinematic storytelling. The only characters that have reverted more are Legolas and Gimli, screen time-wise, to perhaps a more subtle and evolved set-piece archer and comedy sidekick correspondingly. Andy Serkis for his Gollum voice work, is rewarded with an early flashback that gets his face on screen, as well as warning us of just how powerful the ring is.

The momentum of the series has kept on rolling on and on though to delivering a climax to the story that's neater and more affecting than what Tolkien managed on the printed page.

With such a long journey, our heroes deserve the emotional pay-off as well as the action peaks, and they will be genuinely touched as the final credits roll. Long live King Kong.

Verdict:

A cleverly crafted climatic ending to a landmark trilogy in cinema history. No other Director would have had the time, patience and skill to bring justice to this. 10/10.

5 Stars Worth every additional minute of it
What can I say? I loved the extended versions of The Lord of the Ring. Of course, I loved the book and everything having to do with Tolkien, but as other reviewers state, I too, was afraid that the movie would ruin the book. In fact, I found the movie refreshingly similar to the book, with minor, minor changes (I do have an issue with the treatment of Boromir's brother, but nobody is perfect) and the extended version better still since by including cut footage it made the movie even more faithful to the book.

I sat down one rainy Saturday and spent 11 hours watching all three episodes in extended format…. time flew. Time to do it again one of these days. No question about it: if you are considering getting this movie buy only the extended version of each of the three books. You will not regret it!

5 Stars Great Product
I really liked this because it had both the regular and extended versions without all the extras. Four DVDs was a bit much for me, so I thought this was a better version for me.

5 Stars A MUST HAVE
Everyone should have a copy of the LOTR movies in their collections. I have all of the movies and all of the books in my collection. I am looking forward to The Hobbit movie which is supposed to be released in 2010. Movies or books don't get any better than this. Every time I watch these movies, I discover something new that I had not noticed before. Someday, when the urge hits me just right I will buy the extended editions.

5 Stars Great Movie
This was a great movie with excellent special effects. It stays pretty true to the book but not entirely so. If you haven't read the book, then you really should pick it up! This is a long movie, so make sure you have the time to watch it!

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