Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (DVD)

The journey is over, along with the wait, as the first of two Return of the King DVD editions is made available to the general public and a choice must be made. Do you buy the movie now or do you wait until the holidays to buy the Extended Edition? Then again, do you buy this version and then the Extended Edition when it comes out as well? You will notice there is no option not to buy the movie at all.

These are definitely worthy questions, but if you are anything like me, waiting is for patient people. So get off your ass and get out and get this movie!

While not packed with special features (those you will get later) you still have anytime access to the greatest of the three Lord of the Rings films in all its glory. I don't have to tell you how great this movie is, if you are reading this review you have either already heard the buzz and are just trying to figure out whether you have the ability to hold out until the end of the year.

With the feature film you get a Dolby Digital EX 5.1 audio transfer, which, while impressive doesn't compare to the DTS transfer which is likely to be available with the Extended Edition as it has been with the prior two. Then on disc two you get yourself a handful of special features to barely hold you over with a majority of features you have likely already seen.

Let's take a quick look at those features, and I will leave you to make your decision.

The Quest Fulfilled: A Director's Vision (22 mins)
This feature focuses on everything that went into bring The Lord of the Rings Trilogy to the big screen and the risks involved. There is a particular focus on Peter Jackson and his approach to the film and his process of going through the production.

The best part is probably something you have heard of, or not, but it is the story of how the films came to be in the hands of New Line Cinema, and even shows the preliminary artwork Jackson used to promote the idea at New Line after the fellows over at Miramax wanted to turn Jackson's scripts into a two film deal. Jackson's dream became a reality when Bob Shay, studio head at New Line, said, "Aren't there three books? You should make three."

You also get a look at the casting of several of the central cast members of the film. There is a focus on not only their ability to act, but there ability to co-exist with each other and their passion to bring the movies to life as best as humanly possible.

A Filmmaker's Journey: Making the Return of the King (29 mins)
The title of this feature pretty much lets you know that it is a "making-of" feature and the first half touches upon similar topics that "The Quest Fulfilled: A Director's Vision" touched on and is a bit redundant, considering they even use some of the same quotes. Often times you think you are watching the same feature.

The more important portions of this feature are covered in the second half including a deeper look at the costume design, the music, the weapons and armors, the locations and the overall attention to detail that was taken in bringing the little things (which ultimately become the big things) to life.

National Geographic Special: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (46 mins)
See how fantasy meets history as you go "Beyond the Movie", this is the focus of the National Geographic special, which has been on DVD long prior to now. This 46 minute feature is narrated by John Rhys-Davies (Gimli) and is a comparison feature that goes to great lengths to compare the subject matter of The Lord of the Rings trilogy to actual historical events. While the feature is interesting to some point it quickly became old as I am far more interested in features related to the creation of the film, that I know I can look forward to once the Extended Edition of The Return of the King is released.

The lordoftherings.net Featurettes
If you are any kind of Lord of the Rings fan and regular browser of the Internet you are going to be familiar with these featurettes as they have been available online for what seems like ever now. It is nice to have them on DVD since it is a bit of a pain to always be watching multimedia on the Net, but it is simply a small taste of what we once again can look forward to in the Extended Edition.

Trailer, trailers and more trailers
This DVD is filled with tons of trailers including two theatrical trailers and 13 TV spots. You also get The Lord of the Rings Trilogy Supertrailer, which is by far the best of the bunch. To me it is absolutely phenomenal that they are able to take so much footage and trim it down to a 6:30 minute trailer, but they did it and I absolutely love it. For some reason I can't get enough of watching trailers over and over again, the more the merrier, eh Pip?

Video Game Feature (3 mins)
This is a preview of all-new Electronic Arts video game, "The Battle for Middle-earth," and a review of past The Lord of the Rings Electronic Arts video games. This is more of a three-minute commercial for the games, and while they look spectacular, I am not much of a gamer so it didn't really interest me that much.

So there you have it, I may have gone on a bit long, but this is your hard earned money you are spending. So decide wisely, either way you are going to be wanting to watch this before the end of the year and renting it over and over can get a bit pricey.