Big Picture Big Sound

Back in 2010 when we reviewed the much anticipated Lord of the Rings trilogy on Blu-ray, there was a fair bit of grumbling in middle earth that the studio had decided to release the original theatrical versions of the films and not the extended versions of the films that had previously been released on DVD. While there was nothing wrong with the theatrical versions of the films (which were rather long to begin with), die-hard fans of the Tolkien literature felt cheated and thirsted for something more from director Peter Jackson. A lot more.

Fans will soon have their prayers answered with those additional hours of storytelling and phenomenal battle sequences restored in all their high definition glory as The Lord of the Rings: Limited Extended Edition is now available for pre-order on Blu-ray Disc.  While the list price is a bit steep ($119.98), Amazon has their usual 30% discount in effect, bringing the price down to the less ridiculous sum of $83.99.  And if it drops below that before release date, you'll be charged the lowest price. 

Director Peter Jackson has been busy working on the 3D two-part prequel to the Lord of the Rings (The Hobbit), but we suspect that he and/or Lionsgate will be taking some heat for the newly announced "limited" extended edition trilogy if it doesn't deliver the goods the second time around. You can only go back to the well so many times before fans start feeling like suckers. Star Wars fans know all about that feeling.

We will all have to wait and see if there has been any improvement of the picture and audio quality, but based on the press release it appears that the additional scenes are all included here. Before you get your Elvish knickers wet with excitement, direct your attention to the phrase "limited" which is cause for some concern. A quick perusal of the content reveals (rather glaringly) that none of the extensive featurettes from the DVD are included in the extended Blu-ray edition. Limited is a nice way of putting it, indeed. The six Star Wars films are starting to look like a genuine bargain over at Amazon.

Unless there is some ridiculous 3-D conversion of the original films going on that nobody knows about (although it couldn't be worse than the upcoming Wrath of the Titans), we suspect that this will be the final Blu-ray version of the LOTR films released prior to the theatrical release of The Hobbit. While not perfect, it may well be the one Blu-ray edition to rule them all.

The Extended Blu-ray Edition includes:

Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

• Over 30 minutes of footage incorporated into the theatrical release of 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: MTV Movie Award Spoof (The Council of Elrod)
• Costa Botes Documentary: The Fellowship of the Ring: Behind the Scenes

The Appendices, Part 1: From Book to Vision (on DVD)

• Peter Jackson introduction
• J.R.R. Tolkein: Creator of Middle Earth
• From Book to Script
• Visualizing the Story
• Designing and Building Middle Earth
• Middle Earth atlas interactive

The Appendices, Part 2: From Vision to Reality (on DVD)

• Elijah Wood introduction
• Filming The Fellowship of the Ring
• Visual effects
• Post-production: Putting it all together
• Digital Grading
• Sound and music
• The Road Goes Ever On...

Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

• Extended edition of the film, with 43 minutes of additional footage incorporated into the film
• Commentary track by writer-director Peter Jackson and writers Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens
• Commentary track by the design team
• Commentary track by the production/post-production team
• Commentary track by 16 cast members, including Elijah Wood, Sean Astin,
• Andy Serkis, John Rhys-Davies, Orlando Bloom, Christopher Lee, Bernard Hill, and Miranda Otto
• Easter Egg: MTV Movie Awards clip (Gollum accepting award)
• Costas Botes documentary: The Two Towers--Behind the Scenes

The Appendices, Part 3: The Journey Continues

• Peter Jackson introduction
• J.R.R. Tolkein: Origin of Middle Earth
• From Book to Script: Finding a Story
• Designing and Building Middle-Earth
• Gollum
• Middle-Earth Atlas interactive
• New Zealand as Middle Earth (map with video location)

The Appendices, Part 4: The Battle for Middle Earth

• Elijah Wood introduction
• Filming The Two Towers
• Visual effects
• Editorial: Refining the Story
• Music and Sound
• The Battle for Helm's Deep is Over

Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

• Extended edition of the film, with 50 extra minutes incorporated into the film
• Commentary track by writer-director Peter Jackson and writers Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens
• Commentary track by the design team
• Commentary track by the production/post-production team
• Costas Botes documentary: The Return of the King: Behind the Scenes

The Appendices, Part 5: The War of the Ring

• Peter Jackson Intro
• J.R.R. Tolkien: The Legacy of Middle-earth
• From Book to Script
• Designing and Building Middle-earth
• Home of the Horse Lords
• Middle-earth Atlas: Tracing the Journeys of the Fellowship: interactive map
• New Zealand as Middle-earth: interactive map with on-location footage

The Appendices, Part 6: The Passing of an Age

• Elijah Wood/Sean Astin/Billy Boyd/Dominic Monaghan intro
• Filming The Return of the King
• Visual Effects
• Post Production: Journey's End
• The Passing of an Age
• Cameron Duncan 

Pre-order Now:

• The Lord of the Rings Extended Edition Blu-ray Available for Pre-Order (Amazon.com)