Viggo Mortensen Movie:

		List Price: $24.98		Label: New Line Home Entertainment Salesrank: 570 Released: December 14, 2004
		Our Price: $7.75
		Used Price: $3.72
		MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested) Media: DVD

Editorial Review:
As the remains of the Fellowship prepare for battle, Frodo and Sam, with Gollem in tow, make their way to Mount Doom to destroy the One Ring.
No Track Information Available
Media Type: DVD
Artist: MORTENSEN/TYLER/MONAGHAN/HAWARD
Title: LORD OF THE RINGS-RETURN OF THE KING
Street Release Date: 01/17/2006
Domestic
Genre: ACTION / ADVENTURE

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:
THIS IS THE BEST MOVIE EVER!
2008-09-03 - I sat trying to think of a cool, witty, or flashy title for this review, but I couldn`t think of one good enough for the movie. All of them fell short of it`s wonder. The plot, actors, and screenwriting of This movie left me gasping. So even if you have to settle for a lame review title afterwards, please see this movie.

New Item
2008-08-30 - Item shipped in a timely manner and packaged well against damage. Love the LOTR series and this is a welcome addition to my collection.

A modern--albeit lengthy--classic
2008-08-22 - As the third and final installment in Peter Jackson's directorial magnum opus, The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King is a must-have title--if you already own the other two. Like its predecessors, it is a very long film that could easily be shortened by 45 minutes to an hour without losing anything from the plot. Yes, it's a visually stunning interpretation of a classic piece of 20th century literature, and it deserved the 11 Oscars it won, including best picture, but at almost THREE AND A HALF HOURS it's just too darned long. I mean, just how many monster battles does one need to sit through to get the point? If you're totally into that kind of thing, then this is your all-you-can-eat buffet. For me, the best thing about having it on DVD is the pause button, because you can periodically get up to relieve yourself, of fix a snack, or even have a life while watching it. Taking the thing in at a single sitting isn't just a pastime, it's a commitment.

Of course, we haven't even mentioned the second disc containing several hours of bonus features yet. They're great, by the way, and there's a lot of them. One thing that can definitely be said for this package is that if you like the content, you more than get your money's worth.

Amazingly, there is actually an extended version of this film available that has a running time of more than four hours!!! Now that's the epitome overkill, both literally and figuratively.

I LOVE THE MOVIE!!!
2008-08-18 - I LOVE THE MOVIE OF THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING. CHECK OUT THE TOTAL INFO...

DISC 1:
4 AUDIO COMMENTARIES
- Director/Writer/Producer Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh (Writer/Producer), Philippa Boyens (Writer)
- The Design Team
- The Production/Post-Production Team
- The Cast

SELECT A SCENE:
* New Scene! - ** Extended Scene

AUDIO SOUND:
- Dolby Digital EX 5.1 Surround Sound
- DTS ES 6.1 Surround Sound
- Stereo Surround Sound

LANGUAGE:
- English

SUBTITLES & CLOSED CAPTION:
- English
- Spanish

WIDESCREEN 2:35:1
- Movie Running Time (2Hrs, 7Mins)

THE STORY CONTINUES ON DISC TWO...

DISC 2:
4 AUDIO COMMENTARIES
- Director/Writer/Producer Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh (Writer/Producer), Philippa Boyens (Writer)
- The Design Team
- The Production/Post-Production Team
- The Cast

SELECT A SCENE:
* New Scene! - ** Extended Scene

AUDIO SOUND:
- Dolby Digital EX 5.1 Surround Sound
- DTS ES 6.1 Surround Sound
- Stereo Surround Sound

LANGUAGE:
- English

SUBTITLES & CLOSED CAPTION:
- English
- Spanish

WIDESCREEN 2:35:1
- Movie Running Time (1Hrs 54Mins)
- End Credits (21 Mins)

TOTAL RUNNING TIME (4Hrs 22Mins)

THE END...

DISC 3:
The Appendices Part 5 - The War of the Ring
TRT = Total Running Time

Introduction by Peter Jackson = (TRT - 1:33)

PLAY ALL - DOCUMENTARIES (UNINTERRUPTED 3 HRS. & 24 MINS. EXPERIENCE)
- J.R.R. Tolkien - The Legacy of Middle-earth = (TRT - 29:29)
- From Book to Script: Forging The Final Chapter = (TRT - 25:02)
- Designing and Building Middle-earth = (TRT - 39:57)
- Big-atures: = (TRT - 19:59)
- WETA Digital = (TRT - 47:23)
- Costume Design = (TRT - 12:03)
- Home of the Horse Lords = (TRT - 30:16)

CHAPTERS:
* 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
* NEW ZEALAND AS MIDDLE-EARTH

ADDITIONAL FEATURES:
- Abandoned Concept: Aragorn Battle Sauron = (TRT - 5:18)
- Middle-earth Atlas
- New Zealand: Locations of Middle-earth = (TRT - 16:07)

GALLERIES:
* Audio Commentary: Image with (Blue Stamp) Symbol
* Slideshow Features: By Activating Feature Image with Audio Commentary
- The Peoples of Middle-earth = (1443)
- The Realms of Middle-earth = (679)

SUBTITLES & CLOSED CAPTION:
- English
- Spanish

DISC 4:
The Appendices Part 6 - The Passing of the Age
TRT = Total Running Time

Introduction by Billy Boyd "Pippin" - Dominic Monaghan "Merry" - Elijah Wood "Frodo" = (TRT - 1:40)

PLAY ALL: DOCUMENTARIES (UNINTERRUPTED 3½ HRS. EXPERIENCE)
- Cameras in Middle-earth = (TRT - 1:13:08)
- WETA Digital = (TRT - 42:01)
- Editorial: Completing the Trilogy = (TRT - 22:14)
- Music for Middle-earth = (TRT - 22:02)
- The Soundscapes of Middle-earth = (TRT - 22:09)
- The End of All Things = (TRT - 21:29)
- The Passing of an age = (TRT - 25:11)

CHAPTERS:
* FILMING "THE RETURN OF THE KING"
* VISUAL EFFECTS
* POST-PRODUCTION: JOURNEY'S END
* THE PASSING OF AN AGE
* CAMERON DUNCAN: THE INSPIRATION FOR "INTO THE WEST"

INDEX:
ADDITIONAL FEATURES:
- Production Photo Gallery = (69) * Slideshow Auto Image
- Visual Effects Demonstration: "The Mumakil Battle"
- Cameron Duncan: The Inspiration for Into the West = (TRT - 32:21)
- DFK6498 = (TRT - 4:38)
- Strike Zone = (TRT - 11:16)

THE END...

COMING SOON!

Director Guillermo del Toro
The Hobbit (2011) (announced)
The Hobbit (2012) (announced)
Local Shire Hobbit Bilbo Baggins, relative of Frodo Baggins, is living a quiet, peaceful life until Gandalf the Grey walks into his home with a band of wandering dwarfs and drags poor Bilbo into a quest that entails defeating a dragon, a three way battle of men, dwarfs and monsters and, most importantly of all, lead Bilbo into contact with a peculiar ring that has had and will have a great impact on the future of their world. - More info at IMDb.com

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!


Redefines Catharsis
2008-07-07 - Ambitious in vision, epic in scope, and beautiful in execution, Peter Jackson's "Return of the King" is a fitting end to his adaptation of "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy that is a magnum opus if there ever was one. Everything that you loved about the first two movies are here--if you didn't love or see the first two, don't bother with this, because it's literally the direct continuation--though things in this one take all of that to the next level. While the first two movies were entertaining and told great stories, they were largely build-up for the various climaxes that redefine the term "catharsis" of this movie.

Jackson does a stellar job in adapting these acclaimed books into what may be the best fantasy trilogy of all time, ending it as nicely as he begun it. The level of quality remains consistent throughout, and the level of attention given to each battle, each character moment, each bit of score (which, alone, was tragically beautiful), and each special effect is commendable. Not only did Jackson do a great job of translating the book to work as a film, he also showed a large amount of bravery while doing so. Many lovers of the book might have been disappointed with how Jackson tampered with the structure of the book (leaving out how Saruman took out The Shire in the book version, as well as restructuring Frodo, Sam, and Gollum's journey, moving the Shelob build-up and conflict to this movie instead of keeping it as a part of The Two Towers, but for me that just showed that he was willing to change a coupe of things to make this the best movie as it could possibly be--and his efforts paid off in large, large ways.

Though I'm giving this movie a 10/10 because it is indeed a classic and deserves full marks, it's not perfect. No movie is. I thought that the ending employed too many fade-to-whites and fade outs, which tricked the audience many times over, making them think it was about to end. If Jackson had just used cuts instead of fades, it would have been fine, but when he faded for the third time and the movie still didn't end, I find that most people who haven't seen it before actually laugh--and that certainly isn't what the end of the movie should do. The battle scenes are a bit drawn out, especially the scenes before Aragorn and the army of the dead arrive. Jackson could have achieved a more powerful effect if he trimmed two or three minutes off of the war scenes.

All it all, it's as perfect a fantasy film as there is out there, and highly deserves all the acclaim it's gotten. "The Return of the King" is a fitting end to one of the best stories ever told, and--despite it's length--it has high rewatchability.

10/10 Classic.