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		List Price: $24.98		Label: New Line Home Entertainment Salesrank: 600 Released: December 14, 2004
		Our Price: $9.72
		Used Price: $9.50
		MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested) Media: DVD

Editorial Review:
The WINNER of 11 Academy Awards* including BEST PICTURE is now 50 minutes longer! This extended version of the epic conclusion of The Lord of the Rings trilogy includes new score by Howard Shore and over 350 new digital effects shots.

DVD Features:
Audio Commentary
DVD ROM Features
Documentaries

Description of The Lord of the Rings - The Return of the King (Platinum Series Special Extended Edition):
The greatest trilogy in film history, presented in the most ambitious sets in DVD history, comes to a grand conclusion with the extended edition of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Not only is the third and final installment of Peter Jackson's adaptation of the works of J.R.R. Tolkien the longest of the three, but a full 50 minutes of new material pushes the running time to a whopping 4 hours and 10 minutes. The new scenes are welcome, and the bonus features maintain the high bar set by the first two films, The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers.

What's New?
One of the scenes cut from the theatrical release but included here, the resolution of the Saruman storyline, generated a lot of publicity when the movie opened, as actor Christopher Lee complained in the press about losing his only appearance. It's an excellent scene, one Jackson calls "pure Tolkien," and provides better context for Pippin to find the wizard's palantir in the water, but it's not critical to the film. In fact, "valuable but not critical" might sum up the ROTK extended edition. It's evident that Jackson made the right cuts for the theatrical run, but the extra material provides depth and ties up a number of loose ends, and for those sorry to see the trilogy end (and who isn't?) it's a welcome chance to spend another hour in Middle-earth. Some choice moments are Gandalf's (Ian McKellen) confrontation with the Witch King (we find out what happened to the wizard's staff), the chilling Mouth of Sauron at the gates of Mordor, and Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin) being mistaken for Orc soldiers. We get to see more of Éowyn (Miranda Otto), both with Aragorn and on the battlefield, even fighting the hideously deformed Orc lieutenant, Gothmog. We also see her in one of the most anticipated new scenes, the Houses of Healing after the battle of the Pelennor Fields. It doesn't present Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) as a savior as the book did, but it shows the initial meeting between Éowyn and Faramir (David Wenham), a relationship that received only a meaningful glance in the theatrical cut.

If you want to completely immerse yourself in Peter Jackson's marvelous and massive achievement, only the extended edition will do.

And for those who complained, no, there are no new endings, not even the scouring of the Shire, which many fans were hoping to see. Nor is there a scene of Denethor (John Noble) with the palantir, which would have better explained both his foresight and his madness. As Jackson notes, when cuts are made, the secondary characters are the first to go, so there is a new scene of Aragorn finding the palantir in Denethor's robes. Another big difference is Aragorn's confrontation with the King of the Dead. In the theatrical version, we didn't know whether the King had accepted Aragorn's offer when the pirate ships pulled into the harbor; here Jackson assumes that viewers have already experienced that tension, and instead has the army of the dead join the battle in an earlier scene (an extended cameo for Jackson). One can debate which is more effective, but that's why the film is available in both versions. If you feel like watching the relatively shorter version you saw in the theaters, you can. If you want to completely immerse yourself in Peter Jackson's marvelous and massive achievement, only the extended edition will do.

How Are the Bonus Features?
To complete the experience, The Return of the King provides the same sprawling set of features as the previous extended editions: four commentary tracks, sharp picture and thrilling sound, and two discs of excellent documentary material far superior to the recycled material in the theatrical edition. Those who have listened to the seven hours of commentary for the first two extended editions may wonder if they need to hear more, but there was no commentary for the earlier ROTK DVD, so it's still entertaining to hear Jackson break down the film (he says the beacon scene is one of his favorites), discuss differences from the book, point out cameos, and poke fun at himself and the extended-edition concept ("So this is the complete full strangulation, never seen before, here exclusively on DVD!"). The documentaries (some lasting 30 minutes or longer) are of their usual outstanding quality, and there's a riveting storyboard/animatic sequence of the climactic scene, which includes a one-on-one battle between Aragorn and Sauron.

One DVD Set to Rule Them All
Peter Jackson's trilogy has set the standard for fantasy films by adapting the Holy Grail of fantasy stories with a combination of fidelity to the original source and his own vision, supplemented by outstanding writing, near-perfect casting, glorious special effects, and evocative New Zealand locales. The extended editions without exception have set the standard for the DVD medium by providing a richer film experience that pulls the three films together and further embraces Tolkien's world, a reference-quality home theater experience, and generous, intelligent, and engrossing bonus features. --David Horiuchi

The Lord of the Rings - The Return of the King (Platinum Series Special Extended Edition) Reviews:
One Ring To Bring Them All And In The Darkness Bind Them
2009-11-05 - So here it is, the crown jewel of the three films. While the third film was already a tiring (for some) 3 hour 20 minute venture, this extended edition of 50 new minutes of footage extends it to an impressive 4 hours and 10 minutes. Again the cast delivers and thanks to this extended version, Christopher Lee and the actors who played the Witch King and Mouth of Sauron (its been awhile since I've watched the documentaries); as I was anticipating to find out what happened to Saruman )Christopher Lee being one of my favorite actors) and was expecting a little more from the Witch King, how threatening Gandalf made him feel then all we see of him is in the big battle, fight Mirando Otto and then get defeated. I find it hard to critique this one as I find no faults with it at all, until we get to the end, where it does drag a little but that's an otherwise small complaint for an otherwise flawless film. Action sequences are the best of the three; the Battle of Pelennor Fields being the highlight and Sam's moment of fighting Shelob as a brilliant moment of the character showing his loyalty to his friend. Howard Shore again provides an excellent score and Into The West is a great, melancholy song to end the trilogy.

Lord Of The Rings (Platinum Extended series)
2009-11-04 - All I can say is Great! Great! Great!
We especially love the actor interviews.

AWESOME!
2009-11-02 -
It's a wonderful thing that the makers of this DVD decided to trust the public and incorporate the "deleted scenes" into the movie, where they belong. It's also very fine that they chose to add so many scenes that help us know and understand the characters and the depth of the story, instead of just more action scenes. Not that I don't like the action, but this is a story of great human interest, of courage, compassion, amazing strength of character. This comes through with much greater impact than in the "cinema" version. The relationships between the characters are much more filled out and their depth is easier to comprehend. The trust they have in each other and the support they give one another is more representative of what is found in the books. I'm glad they did these extended versions, and I appreciate their length. After all, if you need a bathroom break, there is always a pause button.


Stellar service from sender, steller product.
2009-10-21 - The product was in TIP-TOP shape. NEVER before opened, everything was brand-spankin'-new, no dings, no corners bent and the extended edition of this film is the ONLY way to see this movie. There's a Blu-Ray edition coming out of these movies & I knew that before purchasing this Extended edition of the 3rd installment of the series. However, the blu-rays are the theatrical releases only & the extended edition blu-ray comes out way later, so I opted to purchase this in DVD. This Extended Edition is more thrilling, 50 minutes (almost an entire HOUR)of extra film added to the viewing experience seamlessly integrated into the whole film.....a gazillion hours of extras-bonuses-goodies. An Extended Edition on DVD is far superior than a stinkin' Blu-Ray THEATRICAL release, hands down. Get this extended on DVD to hold you over 'til Blu-Ray Extended Edition packaged with better stuff, then it'll be PERFECT. If you play the DVD on a Blu-Ray anyway...like my PS3...the quality of the DVD gets upscaled, so you're still getting a win-win deal. Trust me...don't think...just buy this. End of story!



Great movie!
2009-10-15 - We received this order in good time- we love this series and now can enjoy it whenever we want! The movie was in perfect condition!