Rating: 
Summary: Great DVD!
Review: Peter Jackson does a wonderful job recreating Tolkein's book. The behind the scenes footage is actually interesting to watch!
Rating:
Summary: WOW!!
Review: wow! this is such a great dvd! although the 4 dvd one is als brilliant, this has loadsa cool stuff in! i love orlando soooo much and all the rest are great, they are all excellent actors and deserve all the applause they can get for these masterpieces!
Rating:
Summary: Extended is better
Review: I had seen the original movie in the theater and loved it, then a friend bought the extended version and showed it to all his friends and family a week before The Two Towers was released. We were all in awe with the little parts added that made the already great movie even greater. The added scenes make sense and are suttle enough to where you don't feel like any of them were unnecessary, in fact, you wonder why they weren't just part of the original movie released in the theater.
Rating: 
Summary: Tolkien fans BEWARE!
Review: If your a BIG fan of Tolkien and his books, or are (like me) a near Tolkien expert, then you will like the bookends Only!If you buy this will stop and rewind 5 times, saing " how could they not have Tom Bombadil, the fog on the Barrow-downs, and not show how Merry, Sam, and Pippin pland to go with Frodo even though he tried to hide his departure from them. But no they just bump into eachother and are like duh, let's go to Mordor!".And that's just a few of the things left out. there are many other things, like they changed the ending,and put so much of Arwen (who, by the way, does not do anything in the books until the end of the return of the king) that they left out people and vital parts of the story. NO Tolkien fan will EVER say "Wow! I love it!" Tolkien would role over in his grave if he could see all the flaws. I only gave the 1 star because I loved the bookends! there cool but not worth $60! Now you have been warned. just save yourself a few bucks and buy the letherette version of all 3 books in one.
Rating:
Summary: A long awaited, spectacular masterpiece.
Review: I have waited for years to see a version of The Lord of the Rings which lives up to the grandeur of Tolkien's book. After the disappointment of trying to sit through Ralph Bakshi's animated version, I was leary about ever watching a version of the Lord of the Rings. However, when I first heard that Peter Jackson was working on this film, I started to look into it to see if it was going to be well-worked.I was astonished to see that the production team for the Lord of the Rings was working as extensively as they were. Most often, fantasy films are treated in such a way that it almost seems as though they are thrown together in a rush. Not so with The Lord of the Rings, not so. Indeed, this movie is the product of much work and good work at that! The only day I ever skipped in my Senior year of high school (and my whole high school career for that) was the release day for The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. It was well worth it, though. I was completely swept off my feet by the magnificence of this film. Most importantly, The Fellowship of the Ring follows the plot of the book very closely. It is most important in this movie because it sets the ground work for the other two movies which were filmed at the same time as the Fellowship. Jackson and his team most logically sorted the story and included all that was necessary in order to make the movie full, while not completely overwhelming. This movie is characterized by a high sense of adventure. When I read The Fellowship of the Ring, I get the same feeling. I feel that I am right on the paths of Middle Earth along with the Fellowship. Watching this movie, I was engrossed in Middle Earth in the same way. Also, Howard Shore, composed a most excellent soundtrack for this film. It fits the mood of the story excellently and enhances the its mood, making it even more enjoyable. Indeed, this movie is such a great buy that I bought both editions. When the first, regular edition came out, I bought it on VHS because I knew that eventually the extended version would be released. Having bought the extend version on DVD (If you can still find a collector's edition boxed set - buy it), I can without hesitation say that it even surpasses the original. The added footage does not drag the movie down and make it more boring and weighty. Instead, the movie flows even better and gives a fuller picture of Tolkien's work. Also, the copious amount of commentaries and other extra features are well worth the extra cost (though overwhelming to try to watch them all since there are so many!). There are few movies in this world which are 3-and-a-half hours long. There are fewer of those movies which I can bear watching. Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring was not a chore at all to watch. I have spent many hours of my life (perhaps days) watching and re-watching this movie. If it were logically possible, I would give it 10 stars out of 5. Since that is not possible, I am resigned to giving it 5 out of 5 stars. I recommend it to all!
Rating:
Summary: probably the finest fantasy film ever made
Review: I was almost in tears in the theatre at the sheer, incredible beauty of this film and how well it adapted (it is *not* a completely literal translation to the screen, but that is not possible) the epic and mythic novels of Tolkien to the screen. I cried when Gandolf sacrificed himself and fell into Shadow. My significant other fell asleep. (Not a gender thing per se, most of the males in the audience were as enthralled as I.) I bought a copy and have watched it several times now -- by myself. Keep differences in psychology in mind if you want to buy this as a gift for the hard-nosed "realist" in your life.
Rating:
Summary: A true masterpiece. This generation's Star Wars.
Review: I have no problem at all comparing The Fellowship of the Ring to the original Star Wars. I feel that the Lord of the Rings films are and will be the Star Wars for this generation. Even though George Lucas is producing his second Star Wars trilogy right now, those films absolutely pale in comparison to Lord of the Rings. Comparing Fellowship of the Ring to The Phantom Menace is like comparing 2001: A Space Odyssey to Independence Day. The difference in quality is that huge. Fellowship of the Ring is a triumph of film making and storytelling in every respect. It is simply a perfect movie. Every detail, from the script to the actors, to the effects and production design, to music and photography, everything in this film is absolutely top of the line. Fellowship of the Ring is a far, far better movie than A Beautiful Mind and was far more deserving of the Best Picture Oscar. 2001 was a year that was filled with great films though, such as Mulholland Drive, The Royal Tenenbaums and Memento, but Fellowship was undoubtedly the most important and highest quality cinematic achievement of 2001. This 4-disc Extended Edition DVD is a must-own for fans of the films or the books. How do you improve on a movie that was already a top-of-the-line, five-star classic? Well, the Extended Edition does just that. Thirty minutes of scenes are added, fleshing out the story and presenting more of the detail that is prevalent in J.R.R. Tolkien's books. My favorite addition is the new opening scene featuring Bilbo writing his book and talking about the meager lives of hobbits. With these new scenes, Fellowship is pushed to a three and a half hour running time. However, watching this movie is no chore at all. It is engrossing from the first minute to the last. Everything, presentation-wise is perfect. The picture and sound are excellent. This DVD has probably the most beautiful picture I've seen (including Attack of the Clones). The real treat, however, are the extra features. Two whole discs worth. I have not made it through all of the extra material yet, but what I've seen is very enlightening and entertaining. The behind-the-scenes footage and interviews are very informative. Best of all are the four feature length commentaries by cast and crew members. I've only so far listened to the cast commentary, but it is a joy to hear. This splendid presentation could not have happened to a better film. The production of Lord of the Rings is one of the biggest, most complex and most important film shoots in movie history, and deserves to be documented as such. I hope that The Two Towers and Return of the King will recieve DVD editions as magnificent as this one. Fellowship of the Ring Extended Edition gets my vote for Best DVD Release Ever.
Rating:
Summary: The future of DVDs
Review: Well, this movie blew me away on two different fronts. First, the film itself is a masterpiece. I personally think LOTR has already surpassed any potential present in either Star Wars trilogy. The complexity of characters, production design, acting, and cinematography were far above anything I have seen in a fantasy film before. If by some strange chance you have not yet seen this film, please go and see it as soon as possible. That brings me to my second point: see it on this DVD. This is what DVD should be like for every film made. First, the film itself has deleted scenes inserted into their proper places in the film. And unlike some deleted material, this is actually worth seeing! It adds background story to the main narrative, and in some cases just looks amazing! Also, it is followed by two DVDs of informative, humorous bonus material that answers some of the "how'd-they-do-that" questions that I had after seeing the film. Finally, the film is accompanied by four different audio commentaries, each of which is ACTUALLY WORTH LISTENING TO! Compared to the audio commentaries I have heard before (most of which sound like the director and stars drunkenly discussing the film at a bar after shooting has just finished), these are informative and amusing. This DVD is an incredible bargain, and it is also a chance to own one of the cinematic milestones in fantasy film.
Rating:
Summary: Greatest Literature of the 20th Century & Now Best Movie
Review: I am one of those people who has read "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy at least once a year for more than thirty years. I consider it the greatest work of literature of the twentieth century. The writing shows an complicated world and makes you believe it is so real it could be history. The movie series is incredibly good. It is completely true to the central themes of the book trilogy, and can be completely enjoyed by someone who has not read the books. The special effects and capture of scale for the 4 foot and under hobbits with tall men, elves, and dwarves are visually stunning. Some liberties were taken with the book, and some of the characters are changed considerably (Arwen), but the story is very true to the central themes. The trilogy of movies will become the standard of comparison for future entertainment. The richness of middle earth is captured in the movie. The effects come close to what you see with the mind's eye -- and that is high praise This was a set of movies made by someone -- Peter Jackson -- who loved the books and wanted to bring them to the screen in a way that was worthy of J.R.R. Tolkien. If you like a good story with good special effects, get all three of these as soon as they are available. Get the EXPANDED edition and see the story as envisioned, not shortened for theatrical release. A 4 hour movie makes sense on DVD where it would not in a theatre. The "how we did this effect" sections are quite entertaining as well.
Rating:
Summary: Mind Blowing
Review: Staggering movie, gorgeous, just incredibley beautiful. Extended version conquers the theatrical version by a clean sweep-don't bother with the original cut. Easily the best fantasy movie I've ever seen, surpasses by leagues my old childhood favorites: Star Wars and the Empire Strikes Back. It's silly to compare really, they're very different kinds of movies. But I can say, I haven't felt this excited about a movie since I saw Star Wars for the first time in 1977, at the age of 7. For book fans this cut is especially worth owning. It's like having breathtaking living illustrations as a supplement to the book. For me it doesn't spoil any of my own imagined images as I read the trilogy, it only inspires me to read them, again and again, for their incomparable depth of detail and weight of meaning. In my opinion the strengths of this movie far, far, outweigh any weaknesses or deviations from the book. We're experiencing a very special and rare moment in movie history thanks to Peter Jackson & Company's efforts. I was shocked, literally, how well Jackson,et.all did translating Tolkien to living images, most notably in the extended version. By so excellently bringing J.R.R.'s vision to the screen Peter Jackson has served us jaded moderns a sip from Tolkien's goblet: overflowing with beauty, myth, inspiration, magic, true and noble characters, filled with such deep enduring meaning it boggles the mind in what these days I experience as a largely desolate, mindlessly flashy, empty and money driven Hollywood landscape. Don't miss out on owning this, it's a treasure.
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