Rating: 
Summary: Star Wars is dead. All hail the new king of the cinema!!!
Review: It is a VERY long film. That is just about the only downside there is about this movie. And in fact, it really isn't even of a downside at all because evey second of it is just absolute movie greatness.
I don't have much to add to this statement. Only that the acting is good, the story is a great adaptation of the first part JRR Tolkien's classic novel, and that the effects aren't overly used or obnoxious as is the case with the new installments of the Star Wars series.
I have been a vivid Star Wars fan for some time now, but comparing the dreadfull episodes 1 & 2 with this film and The Two towers, my loyalty starts to waver.
In short: forget Episode III! When is The Return of the King going to come out?
Rating:
Summary: a must have
Review: This is a must have for all Lord of the Rings fans. The special features and comentarys are great. This is worth evrey penny!
Rating: 
Summary: Change for the sake of change
Review: OK, it's a good movie. I've seen it three times. But I'm still disappointed with how far it strays from the book. Both FOTR and The Two Towers contain countless deviations, with many of them appearing to be changes just for the sake of change. Some are minor, some are huge. Don't worry, I'm not going to list them.
Also, in the movie Frodo looks about 12 years old. In the book he was 50 when he left the Shire. I know ring bearers don't age much, but c'mon! Couldn't he at least look 33, which was how old he was when Bilbo gave him the ring?
Rating: 
Summary: Great buy!
Review: The only reason this DVD edition did not get 5 stars was because they separated the movie into 2 DVDs, which means in the middle of the movie you have to get up and put in the other DVD. I find that just a bit annoying, unless you're one of those lucky people that owns a 5-disc changer DVD player. Anyway, the movie is great. It's about a hobbit named Frodo Baggins who acquires a ring which wields the powers of darkness over its owner. Frodo and his companions must try to take the ring back to Mount Doom, where it was made and the only place it can be destroyed, before the ring's evil takes over Frodo and turns him to the dark side. All the while, the ring's maker, Lord Sauron, has soldiers looking for the ring so that he can be restored to power and rule over Middle Earth. This edition comes with 2 discs full of special features- interviews, pictures, and the "how'd they do that" type of featurettes. The featurettes about how they made the Hobbits look small and all their visual effects were fascinating. I don't think they included enough interviews with the whole cast. It was mostly with the Hobbits. They should have interviewed Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn/Strider) and Orlando Bloom (Legolas) more. You are also able to listen to commentaries throughout the movie if you so choose. There are a multitud to choose from: the cast, directors and crew, and the visual artists or something. The cast one was disappointing because they didn't even include commentary from Viggo Mortensen or Orlando Bloom, which are 2 of the 7 main characters in the story! The commentary was obviously taped in several sessions, one with all the hobbits together and everyone else was individually, which means they insert it into moments of silents when the actors who played the Hobbits aren't talking. Mostly, Elijah Wood does the commenting. They exchange some funny stories about what happens on the set. The restored footage to the movie is great. It reflects more of the way Hobbits are, and there are some scenes which will help you to understand parts in the second movie, such as their daggers, rope, the Elvish bread, and such, which Galadriel gives them and they show them with these gifts in the second movie. Overall, the package total is an A!
Rating:
Summary: Like the DVD Even Better.
Review: I enjoyed the film in the theatres, but must say I enjoy the extended version DVD even more. A film to savor and the nice little additional touches have rounded the film out just where it needed. Having seen the Two Towers now, I am even more impressed with what Jackson has accomplished here. This is fine movie-making and a film-lover's delight. If it all holds up through the 3rd film (which it is showing every indication of doing), we are well on the way to a masterpiece. I am again so thankful it was all done at once, with the same cast, crew, and unifying vision. It is going to make all the difference when seen in its entirety. I am not a huge fan of fantasy, but this is such quality film-making I have been completely caught up in its story and magic! I never read the books, so the nitpicking I see is the same old stuff when someone has to translate literature into a motion picture. They have to make changes folks! As to the extras on the DVD, they are wonderful. I don't often watch a lot of the extras as I find them tiresome at times, and I often don't want to know how the magic is done. The over 6 hours of extras here, however, were fascinating as you get a real look at the devotion and fanatic attention to detail that went into the production. Likewise, I found it enlightening as to how much non-CGI in the form of elaborate sets etc. went into the making of the films. That all the real and cyber stuff is so seamlessly meshed, as well as the added capability of later further tinkering made possible by the computers, I found engrossing. It's the best extras package I've seen. All in all, it presents a fuller film version and a tribute to the hardworking folk that labored so mightily to bring this beloved epic to the screen. Well worthwhile.
Rating:
Summary: Incredibly well-done
Review: The Platinum Edition of The Fellowship of the Ring is absolutely outstanding and definitely worth the money. Here's why: 1) The extra 25+ minutes of movie footage adds depth and texture to the story as a whole without making it FEEL longer. The added scenes and segments are seamlessly interwoven with the movie as a whole and are largely comprised of small segments that augment a scene or chapter of the overall story. There is more detail about the hobbits' lives in the Shire, a large section added to the Lorien chapter, and more development of the Fellowship's characters before their journey. Indeed, Jackson and Ian McKellen continue to demonstrate with their work that they were completely robbed at Oscar time. The full run time is more than 3 hours, 20 minutes but the movie is logically split between the first 2 DVDs of the 4-DVD set so that it is easy to view in two sittings (although that is blasphemous in some quarters). Overall, the added scenes make a very good movie MUCH better and further display the excellent direction, cinematography and attention to detail that made the theatrical movie release so good. 2) The DVD extras are very good. The A&E-Biography style Tolkien piece is interesting and pays suitable homage to the author. There are also heretofore unseen interviews with the actors and crew including descriptions of how Peter Jackson put together the movie, how the cast worked together, how the cast members essentially related to each other outside of work as they would while in character (like Liv Tyler being a real princess by making Orlando Bloom drive her in New Zealand because she couldn't stand driving on the left side of the road), etc. 3) The insight into the film process -- there is a fine piece on how the director started the film project from concept to the go-ahead from New Line to do three films at once (with credit to Miramax for sheparding the project along for a bit); there is also an outstanding piece on the hobbit doubles -- four small-statured people who dressed as each of the hobbit characters and doubled for them (this was especially useful for eye-level acting so the regular sized characters could affect a natural eye-level for the hobbit actors who were shrunken through editting and camera tricks) and the interesting relationships of the doubles to their primaries. Highly recommended, and unquestionably worth the extra money.
Rating:
Summary: Magnificent
Review: The Special Edition DVD is far superior to just the regular edition. I might go so far as to say that this DVD is even better than seeing the original in the theater. The movie is enriched by extended and extra scenes that were not included in the original for time constraints. It borders on epic length at 3 1/2 hours, but it is well worth it. The film flows much more seamlessly and you really get more of a feel for the movie Peter Jackson wanted to put out but couldn't because it was too long. This should be the gold standard for DVDs, because it not only improves on the film the extras are actually worth watching. By far the best DVD I have ever seen. Even if you are not an avid fan of the Lord of the Rings books or movies, this DVD is well worth the purchase. I can't watch the original anymore because this film is so far superior it's like watching the Godfather III and not the first two.
Rating:
Summary: ok
Review: Yeah, all criticisms of the changes made to the book in this movie aside, it was pretty good. Most of the actors were well chosen (except maybe Elrond) and I would have liked to have seen Glorfindel, but all in all I was satisfied (my brother, who has read the books about a million times, hated it but watched it several times anyway) In particular i liked Liv Tyler as Arwen, and the CG and costumes are all very well done. Some of the scenes could have been done better (in particular the council of Elrond) but like I said I did enjoy this and its about as good as you could do with condensing the book into 3 hours. But Gimli didnt kick enough ... in Moria and Legolas didnt fire arrows nearly fast enough
Rating:
Summary: Review of DVD contents
Review: Probably the best DVD out there in terms of content. The extended/new scenes were added seamlessly & actually provide more depth to the movie itself. In short, the new scenes made sense or even clarified certain things for me. In contrast, I remember watching the unnecessary & tedious extension of the podrace scene in The Phantom Menace DVD & asking myself why it was even put back. Unfortunately for us without a multi-disc DVD player, the movie has been split into 2 discs. However, that is a minor inconvenience compared to what you get:
- 4 different running commentaries to choose from to get better understanding on the making of the film (my personal favorite is the cast members---pretty entertaining).
- Improved audio & video quality compared to the Theatrical Release DVD --- OK, I admit that I can't really tell the difference. But according to some DVD technical reviewers, this version uses less compression & offers more enhanced audio tracks, which translates to better visual & auditory experience. Probably people with expensive audio/video equipment will notice it. Two extra discs hold all the documentaries & behind-the-scenes exploration, and all are very interesting if you have an ounce of interest in Tolkien the author, how the book came about, how the book was translated into the movie by Peter Jackson & his team, and getting to know the actors who were selected for the roles. It is actually in those 2-disc extras that will make you appreciate how much work & care they put into this film. The quality of workmanship is unbelievable from the costume to the props & sets. Movie-wise, I think this is a good interpretation of the book. Purists will dislike it because it does not follow the book to the letter: A line attributed to Treebeard is now voiced by Galadriel; 40-year old Frodo is acted out by a (then) 18-year old actor; the absence of Tom Bombadil; etc. It should be understood that books & movies are different forms of media, and it's virtually impossible to follow every single detail of the book without slowing down the movie. How many LOTR readers have actually managed to read the book for the first time within a day & able to completely digest it? So how can a 3-hour movie be able to squeeze in all the nuances of the book? You'll probably need 10 hours! And will a studio in their right mind allow that? Of course not! It is not commercially viable that way. If you want to stay 100% faithful to each & every detail of the book, you will need to produce a TV-mini series. Unfortunately, I do not think such a medium will be given a big enough budget to afford good actors, crew, & production effects equal to those people who worked on this movie. You'll probably get a lousy Lord of the Rings that way. And for those ultra-purists who think that LOTR should probably never had been made into a film, I beg you to stop being selfish. I never read any Tolkien books before I saw the movie even though I like the epic-fantasy genre---I just never had the time nor the motivation. After watching the movie, I've read & appreciated The Hobbit, the whole trilogy of the Lord of the rings, and now will start reading The Silmarillion.
Rating:
Summary: Makes up for the original release
Review: My largest complaint about the original release of TFOTR was that it was obviously created by a horror movie director. Other than the Shire and Rivendell, everything beautiful was cut and minimized, and way too much time was spent showing Uruk-hai crawling in the mud. It lost way too much of the magic of Middle-Earth; Galadriel seemed vile, Lothlorien was a chilling, uncomfortable place. Very unlike the world Tolkien wrote about. But the extended version does much to rectify this. The added scenes show the charm of the characters. They show the beauty and warmth of Lothlorien and Galadriel, and there is no reason any of these scenes should have been cut to begin with. If I were trying to cut the length of this movie, I'd hack out unnecessary scenes that had nothing to do with the plot, such as the Moria staircase scene or the "Pep talk to Lurtz" scene. The added scenes are far more important to the development of the plot, characters, and world of Middle Earth than other scenes that Peter Jackson was obviously just more attached to as a horror movie director (not trying to badmouth P.J., he did a really great difficult job overall and in the end he did put together this very nice extended version). This extended cut is very natural; the added footage isn't just "stuck in there" like some extended movies I've seen. It is sewn into the tapestry of the film, and new dialog and music add to the film as well. Not just 30 minutes longer, but truly 30 minutes better.
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