Rating: 
Summary: :-|
Review: Ok so how do I rate a product 5 stars but not like it? Tell you how...If you are new to Middle Earth lore and Tolkien, then the extended edition is for you! If you are a serious movie collector especially of Tolkienian lore and must have all the details on laser copy... then the extended edition is for you! If you know all about Middle Earth, were a dice shooting pencil wielding junkie on a 24 hour role-playing jag, felt the joy of slaying a ring wraith, and felt really clever when Frodo hid under his cloak thinking "KEWL... thats an elfin cloak!" and dont want lore secrets spoon fed to you... Then the extended edition is NOT for you! At the risk of sounding arrogant, thats me. Had Lembas, been there done that. And funny... I must give Kudo's to the Editor for the theatrical edition, as the editing was supurb. The additional fleshing out of the sub plots was nice but additional explaination footage is not nescessary if you just like to figure things out and leave the spoon for the kids. The only realy negative thing I have to say is that the ceremonials left me feeling alienated ala DUNE (80s version), hozanahs to the editor again. The grand entries and presentations just did not make me feel closer to the characters, the dramatic scene of our hero's cresting the hill after leaving Rivendale was quite enough... rather replace that with the exit ceremony from Rivendale as Frodo gets a line in that makes him... um... more hobbit. One other thing... After having heard the fell thunder of Saurans dark spirit uttering vile things, I would have been utterly terrified to even discuss using that ring... So editing out that part made Boromir seem a lot smarter and sympathetic character. So if you're a collector or new to Tolkien, go ahead spend the money and enjoy! If you know all about middle earth then depending on your viewing tastes you may want to consider if the extra footage is worth the extra cash.
Rating:
Summary: BUY IT!
Review: OK this is the all time best movie I have ever seen in my life! It takes the books to a whole new leveel! I saw the movie be fore I read the books, but after reading the books I can really tell this is one of thse few cases where you CAN NOT tell if the book anr the movie is better.
All the "movie magic" stuff they did on this movie came out great, the hbbits almost look real, the troll,the ocrs, the goblins, everything came out great. All the actres did fantastis. Elisha Wod did a great job protraying a SMALL hobbit who lives peacfully untill he inherits the one ring from his uncle Bilbo.
I absolutly can not wait till the 4 disc dvd comes out and untill the next 2 movies come out. IN this mvie you hear gullums voice, but you never see him. IN the next movie he is a big character. I wonder what he will look like...
Rating:
Summary: Simply Close to Perfect
Review: OK! I admit it. I have loved the LOTR trilogy for decades! AND, I was disgusted by previous attempts to make this masterpiece into a movie, and had dispaired of anyone ever getting it 'right.' Guess what? They did it right! Perfectly cast, with attention to detail which boggles the mind, The Lord of the Rings/ Fellowship of the Ring extended edition is about to close to perfect as is humanly possible. Starting with Bilbo's explanation of Hobbits (added in the extended edition) and their character, the film captures the character of JRR Tolkein's epic adventure. The Hobbits are extremely well cast and contrast well with the murkier world outside their protected little world of peace and bucolic quiet The 111 th birthday of Bilbo and the party for him draw the first distiction between this quite normal and (to us) understandable world and a much more dangerous one just beyond the edges of the Shire. Gandolph (Ian Mclean) is perhaps the best cast of all the characters in the film. Seemingly a simple player of magic fureworks and parlor tricks he rapidly emerges as one of the Powers of Middle Earth. The Nazgul Black Riders are suitably Evil and are the first hint that the easy world of the Hobbits is not the place to form an impression of the world. Strider the Ranger is not quite the larger than life tall dark heir to the Sea Kings in exile that he is in the book but he is engaging and develops as the leader as the story progresses. The interlude at Weathertop in the ruins of Amun Sul is well done and leads to the first diversion from the book (which is excusable.) The flight to the Ford and the defeat of the Nazgul by the power of the River protecting Rivendale was an extraordinary powerful scene. The movie next perfectly captures the feeling of fading grandure of the elves of middle earth. Earily beautiful, but ages old and not renewable, the Elves retain their majesty and magic but clearly to the viewer their time is near for their departure. The cast is augmented here with the introduction of the rest of the fellowship: Boromir from the last bastion of the humans, The city-state of Gondor, Gimli the Dwarf from the lonly mountain kingdom, Legalos from the forest elves in Mirkwood. Together each of these representatives of the free peoples of Middle earth set forth to destroy the One Ring in the cracks of doom. The world of middle earth expands for the hobbits as the journey becomes increasingly dangerous. We journey through the mines of Moria and find that the Kingdom of the Dwarves has been destroyed and occupied by trolls and Orcs. The special effects in these scenes are the best in the movie. The battle with the Cave Troll seems stunning as a visual and home theater sound delight, but the next scene tops even this. The Balrog, a Demon from the second age, is beyond even the elven power of legolas to defeat. Gandolph suddenly is revealed in his power and stands between the fellowship and possibly the most horriffic creature ever portayed on film. Gandolf defeats the monster but is lost to the fellowship. Lorien and Galadrial are visited next. In the extended edition, Galadrial is revealed as one of the Ring Bearers (one of the "elven" rings of power). Much expanded in the extended edition, the gifting scene is a moving movie experience. Leaving Lorien the fellowship travels down the great river Anduin and passes the great statues of the "Kings of Old" revealed as Aragorn's ancesters. This leads to the great closeing battle and the breaking of the fellowship. Sam and Frodo strike off ontheir own, Boromir is slain defending the hobbits, Pippin and Merry captured by Orcs and Gimli, Legalos and Aragorn leave hot on their trail. We end the movie as each group heads into their own part of the story. The best movie of its genre ever and one of the finest movies ever made. 5 stars
Rating:
Summary: If you only saw it in the theater, you still haven't seen it
Review: Ok, extended edition. A few extra scenes and a few that are longer. No big deal? Hang on there, Steely Dan! The new scenes are more than just extra tidbits. They are fully integrated parts of the movie with soundtrack and good plot points. Take the very beginning where you get a longer history of the ring and an all-new introduction to the hobbits in greater detail. Nice. There are far more worthy additions, but I will leave you to discover them for yourselves. Oh, and just for the thrill of it, the battle scenes are longer. After watching this expanded edition, watching the "regular edition" will be like watching a familiar movie on TV: you know that some scenes have been cut to fit the timeslot. Now, beyond the enhancements, there is the film itself. Masterpiece. Why? Well, this film does what so many others cannot: It tells a great story. But, more than that, it manage to do this, to captivate its audience for its incredible 3 and a half hour length, without (gasp!) any cursing or sex scenes! A monumental accomplishment in the modern movie age to say the least. Now, there is quite a deal of violence, but that is to be expected from a good vs. evil fantasy genre. Finally, one must note that this work indeed does not follow the book (that the film is derived from) by JR R. Tolkien verbatim. In fact, there are notable differences. But, the movie is a well-crafted story that reflects and honors the spirit of "Lord of The Rings" from which it is derived. Most people, I feel, would enjoy this film regardless of any commitment they may have to the original work. Those who have not read the original book will have no trouble at all enjoying the film. Acting is first-rate by all cast members. Ian McKellen is Gandalf. Various other features and commentaries are included. (A total of 2 DVDs, 2 of them movie, 2 of them "extra features".) The Collector's Edition contains statuette bookends and an extra DVD (a National Geographic special on Dr. Tolkien).
Rating:
Summary: Worth owning this and the theatrical version!
Review: OK, I held off on buying this for a while as I bought the widescreen edition as soon as it came out. (Bought from ....com and got a LotR T-shirt too!). But I finally relented and bought the extended edition too. Two things that held me back that I wanted to clarify - first you do not have the option of seeing the theatrical edition on the extended set. I thought you did, but you dont. Secondly, all of the bonus material is NEW and different than what you get with the theatrical edition DVD. That being said, it's worth owning them both if you're a fanatic like myself, as there are bonus materials on the theatrical DVD that you don't get on this new one. Packaging wise and content wish, this extended edition is simply phenominal. It's like a video book. I'll watch some here adn there and then remember the chapter where i was and pick it up later. God Bless Peter Jackson and his amazing crew
Rating:
Summary: Read the books, movies are so similar and true to the origin
Review: Ok, I know I haven't seen the dvd, but the movie is brilliant. Thank God someone who is competent in Hollywood (Mr. Jackson) decided to adapt the books, as they are truly great books. So a few things didn't make the cut and he added Arwen far too early, but it doesn't take from the detailed text. I do miss Bombadil, but the movie was great even without him. And, unlike Star Wars, you can really feel for the characters even with the great special effects. It helps that their lines were already written in the book, but comparitively speaking, dialogue in the movie was excellent. (note to Lucas, the best Star Wars, dialogue-wise, was Episode 5, the one you did not write!) Overall, this movie is a must see, but not for youngsters who don't understand or haven't read the book, as it is not a true action movie and may seem boring, which it is most certainly is not.
Rating: 
Summary: It's bound to look good, but is that enough?
Review: OK, I know there are things about this movie and its sequels that are not going to be perfect. It's just not possible to do justice to a 600,000 word story in just six hours. Let's face it, even in thirteen hours the BBC Radio version couldn't manage that. There can be no doubt that the film will look good. With this kind of budget the special effects couldn't help but be spectacular. My biggest concern is that the characterisation and dialogue will be destroyed by Hollywood's "improvements". Example: in an early trailer, Galadriel is seen telling Frodo that "even the smallest person can make a difference". That is such a bloody awful line on so many levels. Galadriel is not some kind of new age mamby-pamby elf who goes around dispensing touchy-feely advice. She's supposed to be a tough warrior-queen, an ex-rebel, exiled from paradise, who defends her adopted country day and night by setting her will directly against the Dark Lord's, and when she's offered a chance at power herself she imagines a world in which everyone is forced to love her and despair. Just that one line of dialogue made ME despair for the quality of the script. I just hope I'm wrong, but I've been burned many times before.
Rating:
Summary: My new Favorite
Review: Ok, I must admit that I put off reading the books, although I've always wanted to. After watching the movie, I immediately went out and got the books. I can't wait to see what happens. Although I can't say anything about the movie based on the books, I do know that anyone interested in fantasy/adventure films will love this one! It is my new all-time favorite!
Rating:
Summary: Lord of the Rings
Review: Ok, I realize that this is blasphemous, but I loved this movie much more than the book. There, I said it. I was really worried that they would ruin the story with a bad movie, but it was even better than the book. I was amazed at how faithful it was to what Tolkien wrote. The acting was absolutely perfect. Aragorn, Frodo and Gandalph were great, but my favorite was probably Sam. Sean Astin really captured his devotion and love for Frodo. And how about that Legolas? Whew. This is definitely among my top 5 movies of all time. I was so [mad] when it didn't get Oscars for Best Picture and Best Supporting Actor. And Elijah Wood should have been at least nominated for Best Actor. The scene where he confronts Boromir was Oscar-worthy in itself. Don't listen to any of these whiny little fools who say it was too long. I would have sat through it if it had been ten hours long.
Rating:
Summary: Just one word: Excellent!
Review: Ok, I've been an avid Tolkien fan since 1991, when I read The Hobbit and the three sequels, The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and The Return of the King. Back in the late 70's, an attempt was made to adapt these books into films. Or rather, The Hobbit and Return of the King were. Though good in themselves, these films were a great disappointment to avid fans of Tolkien. There were those that saw the movies and were ever afterward convinced that Tolkien's work could never be adapted to film in a satisfactory manner. Then along came Peter Jackson. I don't remember exactly when he began work on this project, but it was his goal to turn each of the three Lord of the Rings novels into a movie, and not to make just one movie for them all. This, in my opinion, was a good idea. Not only that, with technology being considerably more advanced now than it was at the time of the first LOTR movie, much more could be done with it. To say that this is a very good movie would be something of an understatement. Even though I can't see (and therefore can't appreciate the visuals), I was much more impressed with this adaptation. Partly it's because...
Jackson's choice of actors was right on. Though I never imagined Elijah Wood as a hobbit, he does an excellent job of capturing Frodo, while Ian McKellan is perfect in the shoes of Gandalf. Christopher Lee is also perfect for the role of Saruman.
The plot is right out of Tolkien's book. I've heard people say they hated this movie because it didn't include every little thing from the book, but those are fanatics. You couldn't include everything from one of Tolkien's books in a movie without adding unnecessarily to the playing time.
The music in this film is some of the best I've heard since the Star Wars films. Whoever was the composer must really have had Tolkien in mind. The only other recent movie whose soundtrack really caught my attention is Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, and that film's score was composed by the same guy who did the Star Wars music. The sound effects were also very excellent.
Though not a perfect adaptation of the novel (as I said you couldn't do that without totally ruining the movie), this is definitely well worth the money. To name some of the film's high points, the duel between Gandalf and Saruman at the top of the tower of Orthank. It wasn't included in the book, but it fit right in. In fact, the movie goes into a bit more detail than even the novel did. Jackson must have also read the Silmarillion.
I recommend that you rent this movie and watch it, then buy it if it meets with your standards. I admit I was a little dubious, but the excitement outweighed that by a considerable amount.
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