Rating: 
Summary: A Quest For Excellence
Review: Wow!!!! This Extended DVD set is awesome! It's even better than the regular. It's got tons of extra scenes and so many exclusives. There are interviews with the cast, a sneak peek of The Two Towers (the extended comes out Nov 18th!) and a great look how the magic came to life! I give it 5 stars and recommend it to anyone who's even a little bit in awe of the original and the book! A great masterpiece come to life!
Rating: 
Summary: Very good, but not without (minor) flaws
Review: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Peter Jackson, 2001)Yes, I'm one of those people who's going to gripe about the exclusion of Tom Bombadil. Get over it. Peter Jackson's epic attempt to bring Tolkein's classic Lord of the Rings novels to the big screen in live form (an animated version was done previously; it's decent, but nothing to stop the presses for) was the subject of Taylor Branch book-sized amounts of debate before it actually hit the screen. How long would it be? Would he manage to include everything? Who would play Elrond? All that sort of thing. Eventually, we learned it would be three installments released over three years of three hours apiece, with each movie corresponding to one of the books. Three hours per book? I knew I was in trouble already. I have long been of the opinion that a true capturing of The Lord of the Rings on film would take at least twice that long. And it's not as if the moviegoing public would have balked at six films; anyone who didn't realize the movies were going to make as much money as they have either has their head stuck in the sand or is in upper management at a film studio, not that one precludes the other. I don't think I have to give a plot summary here. Everyone who's picked up a book has either read the Lord of the Rings, had The Lord of the Rings recommended to them and/or described to them by a fellow bibliophile, played enough Dungeons and Dragons to know what elves and dwarves look like (though Jackson's depiction of a cave troll, one of the movie's best pieces of CGI, is startlingly and wonderfully original), or some such. In other words, it's familiar ground. More of these thousand words can go to the good and bad points. The good points are many, the bad points are few, thankfully. Because the bad points are few, we'll start with them. And yes, the main one is the exclusion of Tom Bombadil, which undercuts so much of the Christian imagery in the books (much of the rest of which was left in the movie; after all, you can't really get rid of your Christ figure and his descent through Hell and still have it be the Fellowship of the Ring). Aside from being one of the largest and most overarching pieces of symbolism in the novel, it also sets the stage for much of what comes after; without the Tom Bombadil episode, you also lose the first capture of Frodo and Sam by the dark forces. Whoops. (To his credit, Jackson massages the source material so that this point is covered.) The other main piece of groan inducement is the performance of Cate Blanchett. Had this been the first time I'd seen her, I would have opined that the woman can't act worth an orc's wart. Ms. Blanchett, however, proved her mettle in many previous films (you have seen The Gift, yes?), leading me to wonder what, exactly, Peter Jackson was thinking when he told her to act like Bette Davis on Quaaludes. Many people, both admirers and critics alike, have already chimed in on Elijah Wood's Clint Eastwood impression (there's a contract in their clauses that they're only allowed to use two facial expressions per movie), so I'll just mention it in passing. The good things. The scenery is fantastic, but that's to be expected these days; they grow their cinematographers very, very hardy down under. Andrew Lesnie's pedigree is sterling; he was the director of photography on the weepingly good Dark City. Nuff said. He shows that he's just as comfortable with wide open spaces as he is with cramped cities here (which bodes well for his next project, the fourth Mad Max film). The whole supporting cast, with the already-noted exception of Blanchett, does a fantastic job. (It is, however, hard to reconcile the ageless elf Elrond with the old, bitchy drag queen in The Adventures of Priscilla, both played by Hugo Weaving. The worst part is, his hair looks better in this movie.) Viggo Mortensen does a sterling job in the role that will finally make him a household name (which he has long deserved); the two Ians, Holm and McKellen, are picture perfect, as is Christopher Lee. here are far too many well-known actors to go into them all here. Suffice to say they all do exceptionally well. For a three-hour film, the pace is quite well executed. Jackson has already proven himself a master of pace by making The Frighteners far more than it would have been in the hands of a lesser director, so that was to be expected. There is no boredom to be found anywhere in this movie; if anything, it lacks suspense because there's way too much going on at any given moment. That, too, is to be expected when you're trying to cram a book like The Fellowship of the Ring into three hours, but the movie never goes the other way, either; it never feels like there's too much going on to keep track of. Is it a good film? Absolutely, and well worth seeing. Does it belong at #6 on IMDB's Top 250? Well, no, but then nothing in their top 10 deserves its placing. No surprise there, either. *** ½
Rating: 
Summary: this movie is long and boring
Review: this movie is to long and to boring it is a good movie in parts of it I haven't seen the second movie yet i bet its better because the first one was an introduction to the people and the land so hopefully I'm right about the Two Towers being better
Rating:
Summary: Lord Of the Rings Extended Version=Good Buy
Review: Lord Of the Rings is just one of those movies that surpasses all others. So, why buy the extended version (the Fellowship Of the Ring)? Well, as an owner of this dvd, I can tell you that it never gets boring and you never really think of it as a waste of money. I have owned my copy for a year already and I still haven't watched the whole thing. If you are one of those people who compare the differences between the book and the movie, than this is for you. It is also more accurate. This is also a great gift for Elijah Wood fans.
Rating:
Summary: One of the greatest action/fantasy movies made
Review: "Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" is the first chapter in this amazing trilogy. This is one of the best movies released in 2001. The action scenes combined with the drama gives it a unique flavor. The elaborate set-up proves that everybody worked hard during, before, and after filming. It rightfully recieved 13 Oscar nominations, turning into four wins for Best Makeup, Best Visual Effects, Best Cinematography, and Best Original Score. Peter Jackson created this ensemble from the book version written by JTT Tolkin in 1954. He led the cast and crew to express every detail. It appears easy, but everyone spent about a year preparing. He produced, directed, and wrote this movie brilliantly. No other movie director could reach this quality point. The creativity proves that he'll be a legendary director in a few years. Every actor expressed their character wonderfully. Ian McKellen rightfully received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Gandolf. His wizard persona is flawless. Elijah Wood's role as Frodo is his best in his career, proving that he'll go beyond child actor fame. Viggo Mortenson, Orlando Bloom, Sean Astin, Christopher Lee, Liv Tyler, and others play unforgettable roles. The audience will leave the movie amazed. Some scenes will leave them mimicking various lines for weeks following. Fans of this movie should watch this chapter before watching "Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers", which is equally amazing. Otherwise, one will be confused.
Rating:
Summary: This is definitely a "must-have" edition!
Review: When I first viewed "The Fellowship of the Ring" in the theater, I was in awe at how awesome this film was. However, I only saw it twice in the theather within the first weekend it was out. So I didn't see it again until I bought the theatrical version on DVD the following August - about 8 months later. I watched it tons of times on DVD when I bought it, and was extremely looking forward to this Extended Edition for three months straight. When November 2002 finally rolled around, I picked up my copy of the Extended Edition. Upon my first viewing, I was a little let down. One must realize that since I thought of the theatrical release as a perfect movie, I found it hard to accept some of my favorite scenes changed around. Different takes or extended versions of already existing scenes, and new stuff added in to places I thought started off great(such as the intro to the Shire) - I found to be quite jarring. I did, however, enjoy some of the new parts added in right from my first viewing of this edition - such as the gift givings, new background on Aragorn, Gollum floating with the log on the river, and others. So I wasn't entirely let down. After a while, I got entirely used to the new version of the film, and love it much more than the theatrical version. Now, when I watch the original, I feel like I'm watching an "Edited for Television" version. It feels rushed. This extended edition give you a better understanding of the story as a whole, fleshing out certain scenes to give them more depth and meaning. And certain scenes help other scenes in "The Two Towers" sequel make more sense - like Frodo swiping his elvish cloak over both himself and Sam to camoflauge into the ground at the Black Gate, the lembas bread, Gollum being burned by the rope around his neck, etc. This is the version of "The Fellowship of the Ring" that you want to buy. Don't settle for the "edited for theater" version. Settle for the version that we all were meant to see. There's 30 minutes of extra footage! Plus tons of great bonus material! The only down side to this edition is that the film is split onto the first two discs. But that's such a tiny detail that's not worth griping over when you get so much more of the film! And it's all great stuff!
Rating:
Summary: Tolkien Brought To Life
Review: Before you see the movie, you should read the books. All 3 of them. Quite a commitment. Then, sit down and watch Tolkien's world come to life in a brilliant way. It would have been VERY easy to ruin this unbelievable story in movie form, but the director instead actually brings the ENTIRE book to life. It's the story of Frodo Baggins, a hobbit living in the peaceful Shire in Middle Earth. He shares this world with Elves, Wizards, Goblins, and all other sort of characters. He also shares it with Sauron, a being I can only describe as the devil. Unknown to Frodo, he inherits a magical ring that makes you invisable. This ring once belonged to Sauron, and if he gets it back, it's ALL over. The world will be plunged into darkness and evil forever. So, Frodo and company set out to destroy the ring. The problem is, it can only be destroyed on Sauron's back door which is a long, long, LONG journey away, filled with perils. Frodo sets out with many hardships to fullfil his quest, all the time having his mind poisoned by the evil of the ring. Watching or reading Tolkien almost makes you believe this world did exist, in a history long forgotten and unrecorded.
Rating:
Summary: amazing
Review: Just great. Gotta have it. Can't wait to have The Two Towers and The return of the King
Rating:
Summary: Better than the Theatrical Release for Tolkein Fans
Review: Peter Jackson's "The Fellowship of the Ring" is certainly an excellent swords and sorcery flick, with plenty of the combat that is the trademark of the genre. If that is what you are looking for, you should feel free to buy any of the editions of this DVD. Some Tolkein fans, however, felt that the theatrical release wasn't really true to the spirit of the Tolkein's book. While the details were handled extremely well - lush and appropriate scenery for each part of the book, generally good casting of appropriate actors for each character - some of the subtleties of the book seemed lost. Boromir, for example, comes across purely as a bad guy rather than the more complex character he is in Tolkein, and the portrayal of Arwen as a swordswoman rather than an elven lady seems to send an overly simplistic message that fighting is the only thing that is important. The extended version in this special edition DVD does much to ameliorate these issues. The restored scenes provide much needed characterization that was missing from the fight dominated theatrical release. Boromir's good side is shown as well as his bad side; the relationship between Arwen and Aragorn is better handled; Galadriel is more than a two dimensional bit part. Note that there doesn't seem to be a way to view the shorter theatrical cut from this set of DVDs, so if you're primarily interested in fight scenes and don't care too much about Tolkein, you might want to stick with one of the other editions. But if you're a Tolkein fan, this special edition is probably the right edition to get.
Rating:
Summary: Biggest Marketing Farce Ever
Review: Thirty minutes of new footage should not be 10 minutes of extended scenes and 20 minutes of extended film credits. I purchased the 2 disc release of Fellowship of the Ring not knowing a 4 disc set was coming out a few months later. When I heard the 4 disc set had "30 minutes" of new footage, I figured it would be worth paying the additional money to see the "deleted scenes". I realized after watching that 20 of the 30 minutes were just extended credits showing the names of every member worldwide of the Lord of the Rings Fan Club. That was a horrible marketing ploy. The actual deleted scenes are only about 10 minutes. Also, why did they have to split the movie over 2 discs with an intermission. If they didn't add the 20 minutes of additional credits, it could have easily fit on one disc. Now I hear that The Two Towers has 40 minutes of new footage. I am curious to see what they are going to try to pull. I loved both movies, and am happy I bought them, but think they have been very misleading in advertising these DVDs
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