The Fellowship of the Ring - 2001 - Directed by Peter Jackson
This review covers the 4 disc extended edition
Running time: 208 minutes. Rated PG-13 by the MPAA.
Special Features
- 4 discs (!)
Discs 1 and 2
- The movie, along with 4 commentary tracks, including the director, the writers, the cast, and the production/design teams. Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh demonstrate their encylopedic knowledge of the books, catching points that only a hard-core Tolkien fan would know.
- Deleted scenes. Not jumbled together in a separate section of the disc, but all integrated seamlessly into the movie.
Disc 3
- 6 documentaries covering the transition from the book to the idea for the film. Includes documentaries on J.R.R. Tolkien, screenplay adaptation, planning the film, designs of Middle-Earth, and a close look at the effects workshop.
- Interactive map of Middle-Earth, tracking the path of the Fellowship of the Ring.
- Gallery of art from the movie, with commentary by the artists.
- Storyboards with parallel comparisons to the film.
Disc 4
- 11 (!) original documentaries, covering all aspects of the actual production.
- Photographs from behind the scenes.
Technical stuff
Wow. This is without a doubt the best DVD package I've ever seen, truly worthy of this great film. The deleted scenes deserve special note. Each one is perfectly woven back into the film, with top-notch
production values and new music by
Howard Shore. They are so seamlessly integrated that it's hard to spot where they begin and end unless one is intimately familiar with every second of the film, but the most noteworthy new scene is the extended departure from
Lothlórien. Any fan of the film should get this edition ASAP.
NotBridgetJones sez: re The Fellowship of the Ring: easter egg in the DVD: disc 1 go to chapter selection, put pointer on concil of elrond, move one down (to "Chapters"), and run that link. MTV movie awards spoof is there.
Walter sez: 2nd easter egg: if you do the same on disc 2 (last chapter then keep going down) you get a little icon of The Two Towers. Clicking it will give you a trailer for the 2nd film.
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