Rating: 
Summary: They should have released this version to the theaters
Review: If you are a fan of the books and hated this movie, you need to see this Extended Edition. While I'm sure you can find more stuff to be mad about, the added scenes fix nearly all of my caveats about the movie as it was released to theaters.The biggest thing they fixed was Faramir. Instead of coming off as some lout who incomprehensibly lets the Ringbearer go in Osgiliath, you find him to be an intelligent, thoughtful man who is grieving for his beloved brother and trying to please a father who seems determined to hate him. And it was a real pleasure to see Boromir (in a flashback) before the Ring started to eat at him. The orc-cleaving contest between Gimli and Legolas becomes clearer. There's more Frodo and Sam stuff. You get to find out Aragorn's true age in an otherwise-uncomfortable scene. The 4 audio tracks are a real joy also. From the writer/director's track, you learn that the movie did indeed suffer from middle-movie-itis; this is when everyone involved was suffering under the heaviest workloads. You can tell that they're all cringing because they wanted to do it better... yet even what they did is so very good you want to comfort them. My surprise favorite audio track this time was from the production and art people. These are the folks who built and struck the sets every day, and who painted the backgrounds and made all the props and figured out how to light the sets. They're the ones who made it all go! And you can see that they loved this work enough to put in the hours and the labor and the true caring that makes it so wonderful to see. Now, where can I find that elven furniture on EBay?? You'll have to look to another reviewer for the 2 supplimentary disks, I haven't seen them yet. It will take you WEEKS to view everything on here. I got the Collector's edition, and the documentary on the Gollum collectible was interesting, though it's also kind of a commercial for all the other collectible figures. I recommend you buy this DVD. You won't have enough time if you just rent it!
Rating: 
Summary: Unnecessary changes
Review: Taken by itself, TTT is a wonderful movie with gorgous scenery and an incredible tale to tell. It's a cinematic masterpiece by Peter Jackson, cast, and crew. Unfortunately, it cannot be taken by itself - it must be compared to Tolkein's epic novel. The main failing in this film is the warping of Faramir and the Ents from their depiction in Tokein's LOTR. Tokein's work was at its core a classic battle of the outnumbered forces of good versus the powerful, merciless forces of evil. The characters' motives are as important as their actions in showing their inner strength or weakness. In Jackson's film, the final actions are the same, but the motives behind them are entirely different. In the novel, Faramir resists the temptation to possess the ring from the beginning. He doesn't require instruction in its peril to come to the right conclusion, he instinctively knows that seizing it would ruin him. Jackson, however betrays his inner strength by causing him to initially succumb to a desire for power and approval before finally releasing the ringbearer. In a like manner, the Ents are made to seem self-serving. Tolkein portrays them as wise ancient beings who are slowly awakened to the treachery of Sauruman and his threat to all of Middle-Earth. They act against him out of a desire not only to protect themselves and their trees, but also to aid Men, Elves, and Dwarves in the defeat of evil. Jackson eliminates their desire to help their fellow sentient creatures and shows them as merely grumpy old men who strike out at Sauruman after he messes up their back yard. Both of these changes were unneccessary and betrayed the characters that Tolkein wrote. This huge departure from Tolkein's vision marred an otherwise wonderful film.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Continuation
Review: Peter Jackson and his team sure know how to put together a DVD! As with the 'Fellowship' extended edition, this one is packed with additional footage and behind the scenes extras. There was a day when "additional footage" meant some unfinished junk that clearly needed to be cut from a movie as it was unwatchable. But not here. Every added scene blends flawlessly into the movie and has meaning and enriches the story further. The 'behind-the-scenes' footage is very thorough and entertaining, as well.
A great story, great extras, and well worth the investment.
By the way, for one reviewer, Tolkien wrote LOTR in the Twentieth Century.
Rating:
Summary: Worth it just for the extras
Review: If you are reading this, then you must have at least a passing familiarity with the storyline, so I won't bore you by regurgitating widely known details. But I would like to focus on the extras. Most of the time, I think extras are pretty boring, and don't add much to the movie. But in this case, given the legendary reputation of the J.R.R. Tolkien's novels, a lot was at stake. Peter Jackson and company certainly did not dissapoint, and the extras are a testament to the staggering amount of work that went into this entire series, if you can even call it "work." The desire to remain truthful to Tolkien's vision is constantly reflected in the extras, especially the featurette on writing the script. I am currently rereading the series, and am often startled how much dialogue is taken directly from the books. Other features include a look at the making of Gollum, as well as a demonstration of the computer programs used to create those massive armies (the program is appropriately titled "Massive"). It's not only a fascinating look at special effects, but an interesting look at AI. There are also numerous other extensive documentaries covering sound, music and so forth. I had no idea that music was so difficult to implement. My only complaint would be that the extras may be too extensive. There are 1000's of pictures, and I can't imagine too many people going through all of them. Also, four commentary tracks is a lot to slog through, especially considering how much information is on the 2 bonus discs. So it's an embarrassment of riches, and is that so bad?
Rating:
Summary: Expanded version is superior
Review: I enjoyed the expanded version of the Fellowship, but didn't feel that it was a greatly superior work to the theatrical version. The same can't be said for the Two Towers. When I saw it in the theater, it felt disjointed and choppy. I couldn't put my finger on exactly why, but when I viewed the new DVD I saw a film that flowed and gave vital insight into the newly introduced characters. I should add that I am a gray-bearded veteran of 60's and long time fan of the books, and I loved the movies. I understand that they aren't faithful to the letter of the trilogy, but they are true to its spirit in a way that I never expected from a major studio. I just saw the expanded version on the big screen, and it was a triumph.
I have to assume that the Return of the King will be of the same caliber and will be greatly disappointed, but not very surprised if Peter Jackson doesn't take Oscar back to New Zealand with him. Jim Black
Rating:
Summary: Best of the two extended editions! So buy this precious DVD.
Review: Wow this by far the coolest DVD I have in my collection. The new scenes and extended ones really show more of what is happening and helps explain more in the story. Any way the special features are out of this world, there are more than 3 maybe 4 hours of documentaries and cast and crew features. THis is the best of the 2 movies {Return of the KIng isn't out yet} so far, yet not saying the first one was bad it just didn't have this much action or multiple story lines. IN the words of the comic book guy on the Simpsons "Best DVD ever." Buy the Fellowship extended as well, so you can make your friends jealous...hehe.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome
Review: Now, this review will be a rare one.. I am an adamant fan of both the books and the movies. Usually its one or the other, I've noticed. What do you get when you combine J.R.R Tolkien's uncommonly good tales of fiction with modern movie-making? You get two, (Soon to be three) uncommonly good movies that are among the greatest ever. The Lord of the Rings is by far the greatest fiction story ever created, in the form of either books or movies. Hands down. This review will focus mainly on The Two Towers though, On both the DVD and the movie itself. 1. The movie. Amazing. Incredible. The story from the book has been preserved fairly well, with some changes. The acting is amazing, with each character contributing to the story in some way. Who else knows that Orlando Bloom, who plays Legolas, made his debut in these movies? When I found out, I was amazed. He is an excellent actor. (He's also the one who attracts the greater majority of the female audience). The casting is perfect. Almost every character is exactly as one would imagine them. (Gollum especially). Gollum is completely computer generated, but you can never tell. He looks perfectly real. His attitude and voice are perfect. The special FX are another thing. Two oscars in a row don't lie. The special effects are so good, you don't even think of them as special effects at all. Thats the amazing thing. BUT...The movie is not perfect. No movie is. The movie has many departures from the book. Some insignificantly small, and some so big and blatant that they would have Tolkien "Purists" raving to the bitter end. Here are some of them: Arwen has a huge role in these films, unlike the books. This is okay, some people may be glad to see this story explained in full. (You got barely any info on it in the books.) But it is rather annoying to see scene after saliva-soaked scene with her and Aragorn sucking on eachothers lips. On the way to Helm's Deep, the troop gets attacked by Wargs and Aragorn falls of a cliff and is gone for a while. I don't care too much about changes, but I thought this was just a pointless one. It adds absolutely nothing to the story. The most notable change is this. In the books, when Faramir captures Frodo and Sam, he eventually lets them go. In the movie, he gets tempted by the ring and takes them to Gondor. When I first saw this, I was disgusted. But not so anymore. On the DVD, the writers explain why they made this change, and it makes total sense. This whole story is about this ring tempting and destroying people. It destroyed Isildur, Boromir, Turned Gollum into what he is now, is working on destroying Frodo. Yet this man, who is no different from any other- (In fact, Faramir is Boromir's brother), says "I would not pick this thing up if it lay on the roadside." Doesn't that sound a little strange? Although, at the end of the movie, Faramir lets them go. The movie also does not end where the book ends. The movie ends after Helm's Deep. No Shelob, no Isengard. (But only pickiest of nitpickers would be complaining about this, because these scenes will both be in ROTK. Now, these are the two changes that I resent. One, Frodo and Sam have way too little screen time. They are upstaged majorly by Aragorn. Two, Gimli is a walking comedian. The writers seemed to have gone out of there way to make sure he never has a serious line. There are some more changes involving Helm's Deep, but I won't get into them. Yes, there are changes. Lots of them. But that does not change my opinion about these movies. And this is my word to the so-called "Tolkien Purists." You must realize that there is no way to convey every single detail from the books onto film. Consider this: What say they devoted just one minute of screen time for every page of the book. Thats around 400 minutes. Thats over six hours. For just one movie. Peter Jackson, (The Director) is making his own movies. They are not Tolkien's movies, they are his. He has every right to make changes, for better or worse. In fact, I am surprised he has stayed so close to Tolkien's work. Don't expect him to become a slave to the books and merely crank out a carbon copy of the books on screen. And even if you don't think these movies aren't accurate portrayals of the books, just accept them as movies and enjoy them in there own right. These is a great movie, and the extended edition is even better. Far, far better than the theatrical.
Rating:
Summary: Asleep at the theatre Awake at Home
Review: In anticipation for the 3rd and final installment in the trilogy, we purchased The Two Towers to prepare. We were surprised to find that the extra 45 minutes enriched the plot rather than drew it out. (We became sleepy in the theatre in the shorter version!) Although I cannot put my finger on many of the additions, I can say that the movie flowed better and in it's length was more interesting. A few additions are notable although not glaring. It's a long movie and understandable why they cut it, it's a shame not to have given it to views in it's entirety as done here. Also, they have additional included elements in disks 3-4, one of the most interesting was a literary discussion about how Tolkien came to write the story. We are now prepared for the final adventure!
Rating: 
Summary: Even more extended version?
Review: Please even extended edition that the original boring version? please... this is clearly a comercial move toward the theatrical exhibition. Who care about an extended edition of a already very long and extended movie? I hope there's no going to be a fourth movie of this series.
Thank you.
Rating:
Summary: your review is a load of horsecrap
Review: the writer of the review titled "It is a gift to the foes of illiteracy...Critics beware" just likes to hear herself speak or, shall i say, read herself write. the reviewer bashes other reviewers who make blanket statements w/o providing any details and those whose spelling and grammar aren't up to par. well excuse us professor, this isn't a novel or a term paper and isn't meant to be graded. this reviewer goes on to say that the movie is a gift for the illiterate. how many illiterates are out there in the world to justify a zillion dollar movie?!?!? the lord of the rings is a daunting novel to begin with but to ridicule people for not being able to stomach all 1300 pages(?) is entirely snobbish. being a fan of fantasy novels as a youth, i unfortunately had never read the lord of the rings. now that i've seen the first two movies, why the hell would i go and read the book now? it's difficult enough to find enough time to read a short novel but to read such a large novel when all the suspense has been removed is rather difficult to say the least. yes, i'm one of those people who couldn't make it all the way to the end of your over long review because it sucked and said absolutley nothing! now get on your high horse and write some more reviews that serve your own bemusement.
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