The Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring

Story

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

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

Cast

Alan Howard	The Ring (voice)
Elijah Wood	Frodo Baggins
Noel Appleby	Everard Proudfoot
Sean Astin	Samwise 'Sam' Gamgee
Sala Baker	Sauron
Sean Bean	Boromir
Cate Blanchett	Galadriel
Orlando Bloom	Legolas Greenleaf
Billy Boyd	Peregrin 'Pippin' Took
Marton Csokas	Celeborn
Megan Edwards	Mrs. Proudfoot
Michael Elsworth	Gondorian Archivist
Mark Ferguson	Gil-Galad
Ian Holm	Bilbo Baggins
Christopher Lee	Saruman
Lawrence Makoare	Lurtz
Andy Serkis	Gollum / Witch-King (voice)
Brent McIntyre	Witch-King
Ian McKellen	Gandalf the Grey
Peter McKenzie	Elendil
Sarah McLeod	Rose 'Rosie' Cotton
Dominic Monaghan	Meriadoc 'Merry' Brandybuck
Viggo Mortensen	Aragorn
Ian Mune	Bounder
Craig Parker	Haldir
Cameron Rhodes	Farmer Maggot
John Rhys-Davies	Gimli
Martyn Sanderson	Gate Keeper
Harry Sinclair	Isildur
Liv Tyler	Arwen
David Weatherley	Barliman Butterbur
Hugo Weaving	Elrond
Peter Jackson	Albert Dreary (uncredited)
Alan Lee	King of Men - Prologue Sequence (uncredited)