The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Extended Edition) 5-Disc Set Review: Frodo Sets Out

The Fellowship of the Ring is spread across two Blu-ray discs. It opens with the story of the Dark Lord Sauron and the One Ring created to rule over the people of Middle-earth and his defeat on the battlefield. About 3,000 years later, the hobbit Bilbo Baggins (Ian Holm) found the Ring during his adventure, detailed in The Hobbit. Sixty years after that at his eleventy-first birthday, he left the Shire and, as a result, the Ring. The wizard Gandalf the Grey (Sir Ian McKellen) learned Bilbo had the Ring and of Sauron’s return. Gandalf enlists Bilbo’s nephew Frodo (Elijah Wood) to get the Ring out of the Shire. Gandalf tells the wizard Saruman (Christopher Lee) what he has learned, but Saruman has already joined the Dark Lord’s cause and is creating an army of creatures.

Joined by fellow Hobbits Samwise Gamgee (Sean Astin), Merry (Dominic Monaghan), and Pippin (Billy Boyd), the foursome head to Bree, chased by Sauron’s Ringwraiths, former wearers of the Rings of Power now caught between the living and the dead. When Gandalf doesn’t make their rendezvous, the hobbits head to the Elven land of Rivendell with the assistance of a ranger named Strider (Viggo Mortensen), who is also Aragorn, the heir to the throne of Gondor.

It is determined that the only way to defeat Sauron is to destroy the Ring, which can only be done by the fires of Mount Doom where Sauron created it in Mordor. Frodo volunteers for the mission, joined by the hobbits, Gandalf, Aragorn, the man Boromir (Sean Bean), the dwarf Gimli (John Rhys-Davies), and the elf Legolas (Orlando Bloom). However, the task is not easy due to Saruman’s wizardry and the seemingly endless number of orcs in pursuit.

As the first film ends, the fellowship has broken apart. Frodo realizes the Ring is too great a temptation and must venture out on his own. Merry and Pippin create a diversion and are captured by the orcs. Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas head off to rescue them.

The Extended Edition adds 30 minutes of expanded and new material that feature scenes of Bilbo writing in his memoir; Frodo and Sam witnessing the Wood Elves heading to the Undying Lands; an extended gift-giving scene related to the Departure of the Fellowship where Galadriel provides gifts, including Legolas’ bow and Gimli’s lock of hair; amd Aragorn visiting his mother’s gravestone.

The video has been given a 1080p/MPEG-4 AVC encoded transfer displayed at an aspect ratio of 2.40:1. I haven’t found any documentation stating otherwise, so presumably this is the same high-definition transfer from the 2012 Blu-ray, which drew a notable negative reaction online as Jackson used digital color grading to change the appearance of some scenes. Colors are vivid. Blacks are inky but can crush, causing detail to be lost. But most scenes offer very fine detail, such as fingerprints and object textures, and also great depth. On occasion, faces look a touch waxy. Unfortunately, the higher definition diminishes the digital effects’ believability, at times.

The audio is available in DTS-HD Master Audio 6.1 and delivers an immersive experience that will delight audiophiles. The track has a wide dynamic range demonstrated by the ambient effects and composer Howard Shore’s evocative score which engulf the viewer. The subwoofer offers sturdy support for both elements, particularly the former. Some effects move across channels to evoke movement. Dialogue is consistently clear.

The Special Features are:

• Audio Commentaries (Discs 1 & 2): There are four commentary tracks featuring:
  • The Director and Writers: director/co-writer Peter Jackson and co-writers Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens
  • The Design Team: production designer Grant Major, costume designer Ngila Dickson, Weta Workshop creative supervisor Richard Taylor, conceptual designers Alan Lee and John Howe, supervising art director Dan Hennah, art department manager Chris Hennah and Weta Workshop manager Tania Rodger
  • The Production/Post-Production Team: producer Barrie M. Osborne, executive producer Mark Ordesky, director of photography Andrew Lesnie, editor John Gilbert, co-producer Rick Porras, composer Howard Shore, visual effects supervisor Jim Rygiel, supervising sound editors Ethan van der Ryn and Mike Hopkins, Weta animation designer & supervisor Randy Cook, Weta VFX art director Christian Rivers, Weta VFX cinematographer Brian Van’t Hul and Miniatures Unit DP Alex Funke
  • The Cast: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Liv Tyler, Sean Astin, John Rhys-Davies, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Orlando Bloom, Christopher Lee, and Sean Bean.
• The Lord of the Rings: War in the North – The Untold Story (Disc 1, 2 min): A videogame trailer.
• Disc Three presents The Appendices: Part One: From Book to Vision on DVD
  • Introduction (1 min): Peter Jackson provides the introduction.
  • J.R.R. Tolkien: Creator of Middle-earth (22 min): A bio of the author who created the fantasy book series.
  • From Book to Script (20 min): An exploration of how Jackson and his team adapted the trilogy.
  • Visualizing the Story (41 min): Pre-production artwork falls under this heading, which are broken into subheadings: Storyboards and Pre-Viz: Making Words Into Images, three Early Storyboards, Pre-Viz Animatics, two Animatic to Film Comparisons, and a Bag End Set Test.
  • Designing and Building Middle-earth (96 min): How the previous visualizations were brought to life are covered here. Designing Middle-earth covers how the sets came to be. There is a tour through Weta Workshop. A look at Costume Design, and then two Design Galleries (The People of Middle-earth and The Realms of Middle-earth).
  • Middle-earth Atlas: An interactive map that provides geographical context. Can choose between Frodo’s journey to bring the Ring out of the Shire or Gandalf’s journey to discover the true nature of the Ring.
  • New Zealand as Middle-earth (10 min): Various locations revealing where in New Zealand Middle-earth appeared.
• Disc Four presents The Appendices: Part Two: From Vision to Reality on DVD
  • Filming The Fellowship of the Ring (88 min): This four-part documentary features The Fellowship of the Cast, which finds the actors shares stories of their experiences meeting and working together. A Day in the Life of a Hobbit shows the Hobbit actors and their preparations for the work day. Cameras in Middle-earth shows how Jackson worked like a military campaign as he used multiple camera crews shooting various locations. Lastly, a Production Photos gallery
  • Visual Effects (57 min): Jackson allows the viewers to see how the use of scale, miniatures, and Weta Digital executed his vision of the film.
  • Post Production: Putting It All Together (14 min): Editor John Gilbert explains how he works in Editorial: Assembling an Epic then he shows the viewer in Editorial Demonstration: “The Council of Elrond.”
  • Digital Grading (12 min): Jackson and director of photography Andrew Lesnie talk about their use of digital color grading, which quite a bit of online outrage when the Blu-ray was initially released..
  • Sound and Music (15 min): The Soundscapes of Middle-earth focuses on sound design, and Music for Middle-earth focuses on the score.
  • The Road Goes Ever On… (7 min): Jackson and others speak about the film’s release and the reaction to it.
• Disc Five presents The Fellowship of the Ring: Behind the Scenes (85 min) on DVD: A documentary by Costa Botes shot during the production of The Fellowship of the Ring that gives viewers a lengthy peek behind the camera.

The Fellowship of the Ring is a marvelous adventure and is enriched by being extended. The film creates believable characters for the viewer to care about and sets up a conflict with great stakes. Jackson does a fantastic job as director, delivering epic battle sequences and gentle moments between two characters. It is a very good set-up to propel the story. The Blu-rays offer a great high-definition experience. Fans will delighted with all the special features to explore, even if they still are in standard definition.