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Laramie Movie Scope:
Lord of the Rings:
The Fellowship of the Ring DVD
five-disk gift set

Expanded version of Fellowship in 5-disk gift set

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by Robert Roten, Film Critic
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December 25, 2003 -- Extra footage helps smooth the continuity of “Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring.” This expanded version of the film is actually better than the original theatrical release. It is probably too long for a theatrical release (especially without an intermission) at almost three and a half hours, but it works fine as a two-DVD (or blu-ray) film. The end of the first DVD provides a good intermission to take a break, if you need one.

The most impressive thing about this movie is the opening scene which manages, in a very brief time, to give the viewer enough of a history of mythical Middle Earth to make sense of the story to come. It is a brilliant example of writing, narration and images that not only sets up all three films, but introduces the viewer to some upcoming characters, like the immortal elves, Galadriel (played by Cate Blanchett) and Elrond (Hugo Weaving).

Blanchett narrates this opening scene, which provides a glimpse of the impressive computer graphics to come, with its digitized army of elves and men fighting the evil of Sauron, weilding the One Ring. Then the story jumps years ahead to the next age, where Frodo the Hobbit (Elijah Wood) becomes the unwilling bearer of the all-important Ring of Power. He and Samwise Gamgee (Sean Astin) take the first steps on what will become a long and incredibly dangerous quest to destroy the ring, and end the threat of Sauron.

This film adroitly introduces us to all the main characters in the trilogy, including the fellowship of the ring: The Hobbits, Frodo, Sam, Merry (Dominic Monaghan) and Pippin (Billy Boyd), the Dúnedain Ranger, Aragorn (Viggo Mortenson), the Elf, Legolas (Orlando Bloom), the reluctant warrior of Gondor, Boromir (Sean Bean) the Dwarf, Gimli (John Rhys-Davies) and the Wizard, Gandalf the Gray (Ian McKellen).

At the time this movie was released, a lot of these actors were not well known. Among the exceptions are Blanchett (“Elizabeth”) Weaving (“The Matrix”) Rhys-Davies (“Riders of the Lost Ark”) Sean Astin (“Rudy”) Christopher Lee (countless horror films) who plays Saruman and the acclaimed stage and screen actor, McKellen, fresh off his performance in “X-Men” and his award-winning performance in “Richard III (1995). This trilogy made Viggo Mortenson, and some other lesser-known Rings actors, stars. Talked into this role by his son, Mortenson plays the heroic, swashbuckling role of Aragorn just the way it needed to be played, the way an old school movie star like Errol Flynn would have done it.

This movie has the tough job of sending the long journey of this trilogy off on the right foot, and it does the job beautifully. It is filled with drama, magic, wonder and carefully crafted myth. This is arguably the best movie trilogy ever made, and I watch it every year. I enjoyed the books, too. This film rates an A.

The extra features on the three additional disks are exceptional. There are lots of good “making of” documentaries, especially “a day in the life of a Hobbit,” in which Sean Astin tells just how many scenes did not show his feet at all after he endured hours of being fitted for his “Hobbit feet.” The features reveal lots of interesting trivia about the film. There is an excellent documentary called “Scale,” revealing how tricks of perspective and small stunt doubles were used to make big people look small. Gimli (John Rhys-Davies) was actually the tallest person in the fellowship, but is made to look like one of the shortest. There is a funny bit in one of the documentaries about how John's makeup made it very hard for him to see. This made battle scenes very difficult for him. It turns out he did not have good enough vision to finesse the fights, so he actually was hitting the stuntmen who were fighting against him. All he needed to know was who was fighting him first, second and so on. Luckily, the stuntmen were skilled enough and tough enough to avoid injury from his free-swinging axe.

Other documentaries show how sets and props were designed from conception to final scenes, including the ranch that became The Shire. There are also features on how the screenplay was written, how the music was composed, sound, editing, and other aspects of the film. One interesting documentary shows how digital grading works, and how about 70 percent of the film in the movie was scanned, manipulated digitally, and then converted back into film stock. Digital grading enabled the filmmakers to create consistent color and brightness in scenes shot months apart in different lighting conditions. “The Soundscapes of Middle Earth” demonstrates how the sound effects were created for the movie. The DVDs also have loads of art, including storyboards, a large collection of production photos and production artwork. In sum, the 18 film documentaries show how much work, care and thought went into the making of the films. It also shows how many people it took to make the films. Lots of goodies for Middle Earth fanatics are in the set, including an interactive map of Middle Earth.

The fifth DVD is a National Geographic special, “Beyond the Movie,” about J.R.R. Tolkien, author of the Lord of the Rings trilogy and other Middle Earth books. It provides a historical context for Tolkien and what and who influenced him. His circle of literary friends included famed author C.S. Lewis (featured in the movie “Shadowlands”). Tolkien also served in World War I, which informed the darker passages of his books. Since it was a National Geographic special, I was expecting something on the geography and “Middle Earth” locations of New Zealand, but it has none of that. It does provide excellent background on Tolkien and his books, however.

About the only thing I did not like about the set was a problematic aspect of the packaging, specifically, the plastic used to keep the DVDs in place. The press-down release bar in the center of the DVDs is so stiff and unworkable one almost has to break the DVDs to get them out. In fact, I ended up having to break the plastic tabs to make it easier to get the DVDs out of their holders, and even then, it was ridiculously hard to get them loose. The movie industry should standardize these holders and settle on one design. There are designs out there that are vastly superior to the ones used by New Line for the Lord of the Rings series. The best ones release the DVD with a simple press of a finger. Of course, you don't want packaging which fails to hold the DVD securely, otherwise, the DVD will come loose in shipment and be damaged. I've seen that happen, too.

The gift set also includes a special “Hobbit-sized edition” of the Lord of the Rings Fan Club magazine and trading cards. A handsome set of Argonath bookends rounds out this exceptional five-disk set. The gift set I have comes in a widescreen version of the film. Sound is Dolby (TM) digital EX 5.1 surround as well as DTS ES 6.1 surround (DTS allows a higher bit transfer rate) and stereo surround sound. There are four feature-length commentaries by the director, Peter Jackson, and 30 other participants, including cast members Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Liv Tyler, Sean Astin, John Rhys-Davies, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monahan, Orlando Bloom, Christopher Lee (the Tolkien expert of the cast) and Sean Bean. The picture and sound quality of the DVD are first-rate. I first saw this on a new big screen JVC rear-projection TV with a Sony surround sound system and a Sony progressive scan DVD player. The big-screen TV image was great and the sound was almost identical to good movie theater sound (I have seen this film in a THX-certified theater). This gift set rates an A.

Click here for links to places to buy or rent this movie in video and/or DVD format, or to buy the soundtrack, posters, books, even used videos, games, electronics and lots of other stuff. I suggest you shop at least two of these places before buying anything. Prices seem to vary continuously. For more information on this film, click on this link to The Internet Movie Database. Type in the name of the movie in the search box and press enter. You will be able to find background information on the film, the actors, and links to much more information.

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Copyright © 2003 Robert Roten. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.
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Robert Roten can be reached via e-mail at my last name at lariat dot org. [Mailer button: image of letter and envelope]

(If you e-mail me with a question about this or any other movie or review, please mention the name of the movie you are asking the question about, otherwise I may have no way of knowing which film you are referring to)