Review of "LORD OF THE RINGS: FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING (2001) -- Extended Edition"

" A complete masterpiece that stands alone as the single greatest film adaptation of a book, ever. "

Pure magic ensued on a screen in Universal City last night. The excitement was high, and the crowd was eager to experience an extended edition of one of the only films in the world worthy of such treatment. Ladies and gentlemen...the extended edition of Lord Of The Rings: Fellowship Of The Ring. We sat down in our seats just before the picture hit the screen. The theater was to digitally present one the greatest films of all time to a batch of lucky viewers who were highly anticipating seeing a version of a film which more closely portrayed the greatest fantasy novel of all time. Lord Of The Rings: Fellowship Of The Ring started right on time, and with only one trailer preceding the film, The Two Towers trailer was previewed for a welcoming audience. Then it hit. Fellowship Of The Ring, the way no one had ever seen it unfold on screen before.

I want to say that Fellowship Of The Ring is the perfect movie in many ways. A film like this is why guys like me love movies enough to take magic into other parts of life. It's a feeling of escape and imagination. It's a huge effort of art by so many people, it inspires the legions of movie goers that watch it. Lord Of The Rings is the movies. You watch. You care about the story. You feel for the characters. And when it's all over...you want more. That's what the movies are all about.

All I can say is that I absolutely LOVED this extended version of the film. I couldn't have asked for more as a fan of the books, and a fan of the movie. It was complete in so many ways.

I won't go into crazy details about the extra scenes themselves because I feel that the only true way to experience this new version of the film is do it yourself. I will however rehash a small list of added scenes I feel purists of the book will fall in love with:

- Bilbo's intro into the world of Lord Of The Rings. Bilbo narrates us through the beginning of the first sequences in Hobbiton. I personally found this to be the most enchanting part of the extended scenes. Bilbo opens the door a lot wider into world of Hobbits. The tons of the music changed the mood of the beginning of the film which portrayed the Hobbits as a more serious, but lovable underground creature inhabiting Middle-earth.

- The extended Cave Troll sequence. You see more fighting with the Cave Troll, and being that the Cave Troll was such a popular character in the film, I feel that fans will love to see anything extra involving Mr. Cave Troll.

- There are many extended scenes which add a comedic value as well as a bigger quality in storyline to the film:

Fans will love the gift giving sequence as it is one thing that sticks out in the book that the original release never addressed.

The back and forth murmur of taunting between the elves and Gimli. Great humorous breaks from the seriousness of the mission.

The screen time given to Pippin & Merry. I think people are going to be able to connect with these characters more in The Two Towers if they see the extended edition of Fellowship Of The Ring first. Pippin and Merry receive a lot more screen time, which in turn makes you care about these characters more. I feel that the extended edition of the film gave these characters more life then just being some dumbfounded side kicks.

- The extended final fight sequence. I think people will love ending a lot more now. The changes at the end make you care more about each individual personality in the Fellowship. Especially that of Boromir and Aragorn, and the well being of human kind and the leadership that Boromir so desperately, secretly, and unknowingly yearned for.

- One thing I fell in love with was the change in music in certain scenes. Personally, when I first saw Fellowship Of The Ring I could not stand the music every time we saw Saruman at Isengard. What bugged me was the fact that Howard Shore repeated the same musical theme every time we got updated on Saruman's doings through out the film. This felt like the theme wasn't being latched onto to make the connection to the part of the story we were seeing, as probably originally intended, but rather that the theme was being exploited and played out. It would be like hearing Darth Vader's theme song every time we saw Darth Vader on screen in any of the Star Wars movies.

This is one thing that changed a slight bit in this extended edition, for which I was very greatful. Certain scenes which contained the overused theme before now have a carry over of music from an extended scene preceding. Though the theme is still a bit overused, it's exploitation wasn't as annoying for me this time around.

Overall the added music that Howard Shore went back and scored is amazing, especially in the Bilbo scenes at the beginning of the film. The tone that gets set with the music at the beginning faithfully recreated the felling I personally had while reading the book.

Technically speaking, I can now say that I am now a 100% bonified lover of digital projection. As Fellowship was presented digitally on the screen I could not believe my eyes at times. The picture was so crystal clear, filling every corner and crevice of the theater's screen, which normally doesn't happen with film projection. The colors were more vibrant then ever, leaping into your lap at times as the ring bearer and his companions traveled the depths of Middle-earth.

The sound of the digital transfer is absolutely amazing as well. When the sound is so good and so crystal clear it hurts, you know this was what was originally intended for you to see, and makes for a much better engulfing experience.

Tolkien fans. Lord Of The Rings novel fans. Lord Of The Rings film fans. This is the version you want to see!

After experiencing the film with these extended scenes, you come to understand why the original release of the film was released the way it was. People who haven't the experience of reading the books might not get this edition. They might find it too long at parts and boring and at others. But, if you know Lord Of The Rings in anyway, you will LOVE this version of the film. I personally, don't know if I could watch the film any other way, ever again. It's too perfect this way. So many scenes which seemed rushed in the original version now seem more complete and not as chopped together.

When I first saw Fellowship Of The Ring in theaters I was fresh off a reading of the book. I wanted more from the film. I wanted to spend more time in certain areas of the story. But, there's a reason why a lot seemed rushed. And no one can blame New Line or Peter Jackson for doing their absolute best to keep this film under 3 hours even if it is only by 2 minutes.

Now, we have this extended edition. This is it. A complete masterpiece that stands alone as the single greatest film adaptation of a book, ever.

Well, you're in luck because though it did not make it into the film, they did a little bit of filming and are packaging the sequence into a companion DVD: Tom and Goldbery--Aint Nobody Humpin Around.

My wife is wants me to go with her and the kids to see it on the 18th but I want to wait for the DVD. I've got a very nice home theater set up, and am about to improve it with a 50" plasma.

Also, I have an aversion to crowds in general and crowded theaters in particular. Tough phobia for a dedicated movie lover.

After I saw the first one, I reread all four books. I probably read them twenty five years ago and I think I enjoyed them more this time around.

Here's a question posed by my 7 year old. (After watching the movie several times.) In the beginning, where they show the mother of all battles, Sauran shows up and starts kicking major butt.

"Why", asks my little cherub, "isn't he invisible? He's wearing the ring."

"Why", asks my little cherub, "isn't he invisible? He's wearing the ring."

Which is why Tom Bombodil is IMPORTANT! 'cause when HE wore the ring, he didn't turn invisible either. In fact, Tom Bombodil mad THE RING ITSELF disappear!

To sneakers - The swords from the Barrow ARE important, especially when you gets to the Return of the King with Merry and his fight.

Oh well, I guess I should be happy that LORD OF THE RINGS is one of the few movies I've watched that wasn't ruined because I read the book.

Pookie & Me

A film like this is why guys like me love movies enough to take magic into other parts of life.

I love the movie too...but I don't understand this sentence.

You mean you don't take magic into YOUR OTHER LIVES EITHER????

Are you not of the body, friend? PEACE BE UNTO LANDRU...

Pookie & ME

The part about Tom Bombodil in the book struck me as odd. The whole thing about man eating trees and 'timeless' time and a guy seemly unaffected by anything that happened in Middle earth. It seemed it didn't fit into the story at all.

All throught the books though, whenever his name came up I felt like I had missed or overlooked something important. I can only conclude that Tolkien either mean for Tom B to have a signifigance that went over my head, or Tolkien orignially intended for him to have a part in the books that was later abandoned. (he wrote the books over a period of many years. He could have changed the course of the story many times.)

Also, I didn't give much thought as I read either time to metaphore or allusion. I took the books at complete face value. But stuff like this occurs to me and I wonder if I should have given the story more thought.

Galadriel, Mithrandir/Gandalf and others don't disappear - the ones that don't disappear all of something in common as well....

ha!

one clue - if the Firey Balrok (who came from the depths where the drwarves had dug too deep) had found the ring - he also would not disappear and neither would Sauroman.

ok - one more - where did Gandalf come from - how come no lineage is ever referenced? If you know all his names the answer may be in the Silmarillion...

ok - one more - where did Gandalf come from - how come no lineage is ever referenced? If you know all his names the answer may be in the Silmarillion...

My son responds:
Gandalf is a Miar. If you have never heard of the Miar, Valar, or even Iluvitar, they all live acrosss the Sea. Iluvitar made everything, he is the one greatest, his power goes on, and on, and on, (you get the picture). Valar are second in command. Miar are lower still. Gandalf was sent by Iluvitar to help Middle Earth (where Lord of the Rings was set). He is not allowed to actually physically fight Sauron, but he can assist others in doing so. Saruman is a Miar also, and he, Gandalf, Radagast (read LOTR to find out about him), and others make up the order of wizards: the Istari. By the way, Sauron was a Miar also, but was banished from the land across the Sea for assisting in evil deeds. I got all this from the Silmarillion, and Appendices in LOTR.

I am quite impressed. Your son clearly has the wisdom of a Miar himself. My hat is off to such an one. Perhaps he too will assist mankind in fighting the evil one some day. God speed the both of you.

Now his twin sister wants to get in on the conversation:

Read the Silmarillion again and you'll see. In TTT, he says, "Olorin I was in the West that is forgotten," and in the Silmarillion, (see the Valaquenta) a Maiar named Olorin is referred to as 'one who knew the original Sauron for who he was'. Gandalf won't touch the ring because he is as, if not more powerful. You remember, "but through me, It would wield a power too great and terrible to imagine." I think he is less powerful than Melian, but I'm not sure.

We wants it!

I had to buy my first DVD player for the first one, and I decided to buy a 32" TV to watch the extended version. Jackson is going to bankrupt me but we loves it! Looks like the home theater will be for TTT, LOL!

Well, look at it this way. Next year, you'll have TTT DVD and the extended version DVD too, then after that RotK DVD and the extended version of that again.....

It's an investment for the future!

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