The Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring

In every aspect, the extended-edition DVD of Peter Jackson's epic fantasy The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring blows away the theatrical-version DVD. No one who cares at all about the film should ever need to watch the original version again. Well, maybe the impatient and the squeamish will still prefer the theatrical version, because the extended edition makes a long film 30 minutes longer and there's a bit more violence (though both versions are rated PG-13). But the changes--sometimes whole scenes, sometimes merely a few seconds--make for a richer film. There's more of the spirit of J.R.R. Tolkien, embodied in more songs and a longer opening focusing on Hobbiton. There's more character development, and more background into what is to come in the two subsequent films, such as Galadriel's gifts to the Fellowship and Aragorn's burden of lineage. And some additions make more sense to the plot, or are merely worth seeing, such as the wood elves leaving Middle-earth or the view of Caras Galadhon (but sorry, there's still no Tom Bombadil). Extremely useful are the chapter menus that indicate which scenes are new or extended.

Of the four commentary tracks, the ones with the greatest general appeal are the one by Jackson and cowriters Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, and the one by 10 cast members, but the more technically oriented commentaries by the creative and production staff are also worth hearing. The bonus features (encompassing two complete DVDs) are far superior to the largely promotional materials included on the theatrical release, delving into such matters as script development, casting, and visual effects. The only drawback is that the film is now spread over two discs, with a somewhat abrupt break following the council at Rivendell, due to the storage capacity required for the longer running time, the added DTS ES 6.1 audio, and the commentary tracks. But that's a minor inconvenience. Whether in this four-disc set or in the collector's gift set (which adds Argonath bookends and a DVD of National Geographic Beyond the Movie: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring), the extended-edition DVD is the Fellowship DVD to rule them all. --David Horiuchi

Movie Details

Cast: Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Billy Boyd, Ian McKellen, Dominic Monaghan, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Bean, John Rhys-Davies, Orlando Bloom, Ian Holm, Liv Tyler, Hugo Weaving, Cate Blanchett
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Running time: 178 min
DVD Aspect Ratios: 2.35:1

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DVD Features:

Available Subtitles: English

Available Audio Tracks: English (DTS 6.1 ES), English (Dolby Digital 5.1 EX), English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo)

DISCS 1-2: The Feature:

Unique version of the epic adventure with over 30 minutes of never-before-seen footage incorporated into the film

Commentary by Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, and Philippa Boyens

Commentary by the design team

Commentary by the production/post-production team

Commentary by 10 actors, including Elijah Wood and Ian McKellen

Easter egg: theatrical preview of The Two Towers

DISCS 3-4: The Appendices:

Two discs with hours of original content including multiple documentaries and design/photo galleries with thousands of images to give viewers an in-depth behind-the-scenes look at The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

DISC 3: "From Book to Vision":

Adapting the book into a screenplay & planning the film

Designing and building Middle-earth

Storyboards to pre-visualization

Weta Workshop visit: An up-close look at the weapons, armor, creatures, and miniatures from the film

An interactive map of Middle-earth tracing the journey of the Fellowship

An interactive map of New Zealand highlighting the location scouting process

Galleries of art and slideshows with commentaries by the artists

Guided tour of the wardrobe department

Footage from early meetings, moving storyboards, and pre-visualization reels

DISC 4: "From Vision to Reality":

Bringing the characters to life

A day in the life of a hobbit

Principal photography: Stories from the set

Scale: Creating the illusion of size

Galleries of behind-the-scenes photographs and personal cast photos

Editorial and visual effects multi-angle progressions

Sound design demonstration

International rating:

Europe: PG
Australia: M

DVD International release dates:
North America: Nov 12, 02