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THE LORD OF THE RINGS:
The Special Extended Edition of THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING is available in two versions- a standard release for $39.98 and a Collector's Gift Set for $79.98. |
This DVD review 
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DVD
reviews are Copyright © 2004 THE CINEMA LASER and may not be copied
or reprinted without the written consent of the publisher. |
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There
is little that one can say about THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE
RETURN OF THE KING that hasn’t already been said, especially with
this majestic fantasy film doing something completely unprecedented for a
genre offering- earning eleven Academy Awards, including the top prize for
Best Picture. Perhaps the top prize for THE RETURN OF THE KING
should considered a cumulative win for the entire trilogy, because THE
FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING and THE TWO TOWERS were certainly no
less deserving of the award than the final chapter in the trilogy. My only
quibble with the Oscars is that Sean Astin’s performance as Sam didn’t
get some sort of recognition, especially since in many ways his character
becomes the emotional center of this final film, as he supports Frodo
(Elijah Wood) with the heavy burden to destroy Lord Sauron's Ring of
Power, while constantly being undercut by the treacherous Gollum (Andy
Serkis), who wants to reclaim his precious.
If
you haven’t seen THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING or THE TWO TOWERS,
THE RETURN OF THE KING is definitely not the place to begin
watching this trilogy. Let’s face it, the three films could be edited
together into a single continuous motion picture, so there is little point
to buy your ticket and sit down to watch the movie after two thirds of it
have already played out. One absolutely must see THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE
RING and THE TWO TOWERS before even considering viewing THE
RETURN OF THE KING. With the Special Extended Edition of THE LORD
OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING director Peter Jackson
weaves an additional fifty minutes back into his Academy Award winning
triumph, with generally excellent results, although I felt there were a
couple of places where the pacing could have been made a little snappier,
by the removal of a few shots. Still, the Special Extended Edition of THE
RETURN OF THE KING makes the rich cinematic tapestry that Peter
Jackson has brilliantly woven from J.R.R. Tolkien’s novel even richer,
by adding back both the smaller character moments, as well as embellishing
the epic sweep of the enormous battle sequences. Amongst my personal
favorites, is finally getting to see the ultimate fate of Saruman the
White (Christopher Lee), who was pivotal to the story in the first two
films.
THE
RETURN OF THE KING starts off with an introduction to the character of
Smeagol (Andy Serkis), a Hobbit who was instantly corrupted by the Ring of
Power and transformed into something dark and dangerous. This segues to
Hobbits Frodo and Sam continuing their journey to Mount Doom, with the
assistance of Gollum, who claims to know the secret ways in and out of
Mordor. After the victory at Helms Deep, Gandalf The White (Ian McKellen)
and Pippin (Billy Boyd) ride to the city of Minas Tirith to warn that the
final battle with Sauron's army will be fought on their doorstep. At the
same time, Merry (Dominic Monaghan) and Eowyn (Miranda Otto) prepare to
ride into battle with King Theoden (Bernard Hill), while Legolas (Orlando
Bloom) and Gimli (John Rhys-Davies) remain at the side of Aragorn (Viggo
Mortensen), as he prepares to accept his destiny. The cast of THE
RETURN OF THE KING also features David Wenham, Bruce Hopkins, Liv
Tyler, Cate Blanchett, Hugo Weaving, Brad Dourif, Ian Holm and Sean Bean.
New
Line Home Entertainment has made the Special Extended Edition of THE
LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING available on DVD in
2.35:1 wide screen presentation that features the anamorphic enhancement
for 16:9 displays. As with the Special Editions of both THE FELLOWSHIP
OF THE RING and THE TWO TOWERS, THE RETURN OF THE KING
has been spread across the first two discs of this four-disc set to
maximize the bit rate for both video and audio playback. Visually, this is
an absolutely superb presentation that offers a wonderfully rich, sharp
and highly defined image that comes across without flaws. Sure there are
some shots that appear a bit softer than others, but they do not detract
from the presentation and are hardly worth mentioning. Colors range from
vibrant and fully saturated to looking somewhat subdued, but this is
always appropriate to individual moments in the film. As for the hues
themselves, they are without chroma noise or fuzziness. Blacks are pitch
perfect, whites are crisp, plus both the contrast and shadow detail are
excellent. The film elements used for the transfer appear virtually
pristine and there is little appreciable grain during the presentation.
Digital compression artifacts are always well camouflaged, despite the
film’s length, multiple soundtracks and audio commentaries. While I am
utterly impressed with this DVD as it stands, I still can’t wait to see
how good this film when it is eventually released in some high definition
format.
The
Special Extended Edition of THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE
KING is presented with both Dolby Digital 5.1 EX and DTS 6.1 ES
soundtracks. Like the preceding Special Extended Editions of films, the
audio presentation here is every bit the equal of the video. This
soundtrack is the pinnacle of home theater audio, being both completely
atmospheric and highly aggressive. The sound mix is cohesive and
enveloping, while also being astonishing and sometimes a bit overwhelming.
Sound effects are perfectly deployed from all sides and pan flawlessly
across the soundstage. Fidelity is wondrous with elegant sounding music
and lifelike effects. Quieter may actually be more impressive than the
battle sequences, if that is even possible. Dialogue is perfectly
rendered, with the voices maintaining natural timbre and complete
intelligibility, even when the sound effect are their loudest. The bass
channel is powerful and tends to shake the ground quite a bit. The
differences between the Dolby Digital and DTS soundtracks are perceivable,
but not overly pronounced. DTS does have an edge in spaciousness, bass
reproduction and musical fidelity, but then again, if you system does not
accommodate DTS- the Dolby Digital track still sounds magnificent. An
English Dolby Surround soundtrack is also encoded onto the DVD, as are
English subtitles.
Full
motion video, animation and sound serve to enhance the DVD’s elegantly
designed interactive menus. Through the menus, one has access to the
standard scene selection and set up features, as well as a vast array of
supplemental features, which have been spread across all four discs of
this massive DVD set. Discs one and two offer four running separate audio
commentary tracks. Here is a rundown of the participants on the four
commentary tracks: The Director And Writers
commentary track features Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens. The
Design Team commentary track features production designer Grant
Major, creative supervisor Richard Taylor, conceptual designers Alan Lee
and John Howe, supervising art director Dan Hennah, art department manager
Chris Hennah, plus workshop manager Tania Rodger, as well as costume
designer Ngila Dickson.
The
Production/Post-Production Team commentary track features editor
Mike Horton, visual effects supervisor Joe Letteri, producer Barrie
Osborne, executive producer Mark Ordesky, director of photography Andrew
Lesnie, co-producer Rick Porras, composer Howard Shore, co-producer and
editor Jamie Selkirk, additional editor Annie Collins, visual effects
supervisor Jim Rygiel, animation designer Randy Cook, supervising sound
editors Ethan van der Ryn and Mike Hopkins, VFX art director Christian
Rivers, VFX cinematographer Brian Vant Hul, and miniatures director of
photography Alex Funke. The Cast commentary track features
Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Ian McKellen, John Rhys-Davies, Billy Boyd,
Dominic Monaghan, Orlando Bloom, Christopher Lee, Bernard Hill, Miranda
Otto, Hugo Weaving, David Wenham, Karl Urban, John Noble, Lawrence Mahoare
and Andy Serkis. To avoid confusion during theses multiple participant
commentary tracks, subtitles pop up on screen to identify the speakers.
Discs
three and four are identified as The Appendices and contain
hours and hours of supplemental programming. However, to prevent putting
any readers to sleep beyond this point, I will only outline the
supplements. However, I would like to point out all the programming
produced for this set is enhanced for 16:9 playback. Disc three is
entitled The Appendices, Part 5: The War of the Ring and
contains the following programs and subsections: J.R.R. Tolkien: The
Legacy Of Middle-Earth (thirty minutes), From Book To
Script: Forging The Final Chapter Documentary (twenty-six
minutes), Abandoned Concept: Aragorn Battles Sauron (five
minutes), Designing Middle-Earth (forty minutes), Big-atures
(twenty minutes), Weta Workshop (forty-seven minutes), Costume
Design (twelve minutes), Home Of The Horse Lords
(thirty minutes). Also included on disc three are more than fifty still
and text galleries, as well as Middle-Earth Atlas is an
interactive map that allows one to follow the paths taken by the various
characters as they make their way across the landscape of Middle-Earth. New
Zealand As Middle Earth allows one to look at the actual locations
in New Zealand where the trilogy was filmed.
Disc
four is entitled The Appendices, Part 6: The Passing Of An Age
and contains the following programs and subsections: Cameras In
Middle-Earth (seventy-three minutes), Weta Digital
(forty-two minutes), Editorial: Completing The Trilogy
(twenty-two minutes), Music For Middle-Earth (twenty-two
minutes), The Soundscapes Of Middle-Earth (twenty-two
minutes), The End Of All Things (twenty-one minutes), The
Passing of an Age (twenty-five minutes), Cameron Duncan: The
Inspiration For "Into The West" (thirty-two minutes). A
visual effects demonstration for the The Mûmakil
Battle is also provided and features a multi-angle component as
well as optional commentary. A production photo gallery, as well as
DVD-ROM features closes out disc four.
The
worst thing I can say about the Special Extended Edition of THE LORD OF
THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING is that it’s a tragedy that
this majestic motion picture trilogy that has come to an end. Director
Peter Jackson has truly crafted the finest series of fantasy films in the
history of the cinema- a monumental achievement considering he adapted a
literary work long thought unfilmable. As for the DVD set, New Line Home
Entertainment has done their usual spectacular job delivering virtually
perfect video and audio presentations, in addition to the kind of
supplements that one can only marvel at. Without question, this is a MUST
OWN DVD. Absolutely recommended!
