Finally! And from the looks of it, many, many people will be spending their holidays (literally) watching and listening to what’s on this set.
dOc DVD Review: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (Extended Edition) (2003)
This extended edition of the third film in The Lord of the Rings trilogy is a fitting final chapter to Peter Jackson’s expansive epic. The extra fifty minutes of added footage, a mix of new and extended scenes that push this version well past the four-hour mark, are each important in their own way, especially if you fall in the “I can’t enough of this stuff” camp.
As with the other extended editions in the trilogy, it is almost like seeing a completely different film. Then there’s the extras%u2014four commentaries featuring over 40 participants, plus hours and hours of detailed documentaries, production photos, sketches, and a couple of funny easter eggs.
And if that weren’t enough, if the hours of behind-the-scenes footage and interviews had not fully sated you, there is a half-hour docu on a teenaged New Zealand filmmaker, hosted by Peter Jackson, that will positively move you to tears, and forever change the way you hear the closing song Into the West
This is how special editions should be done.
Certainly one of the year’s most anticipated releases, it should be no surprise that this come highly recommended.