The first movie in Peter Jackson’s adaptation of The Hobbit is just around the corner, and it’s the perfect time to go back for another visit to his classic The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Warner Bros has released the award winning and groundbreaking fantasy films in several ways on both DVD and Blu-ray, the most recent of which was the debut of the Extended Editions as a full trilogy Blu-ray set, back in June of 2011. If that big box set is a little too much to bite off all at once, you now can grab each individual movie on its own and build your collection film by film.
The Extended Editions of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King all arrived as separate Blu-ray releases last month, each sporting a new and gorgeous slipcover and each packing five discs into their cases. The first two discs in each release are Blu-rays that feature the extended cut of each film divided into two parts. The remaining three discs in each are DVDs with loads of bonus content. If you’ve pored through the original DVD releases of the Extended Editions or picked up the Blu-ray collection last year, the additional content will be familiar to you. Still, there’s so much packed in here that it’s likely you still haven’t seen everything these features have to offer.
I previously wrote about the 2011 box set that contained all three movies’ Extended Editions, and you can see my thoughts about that set on the original review. Since I’ve already written about the movies themselves, as well as their Blu-ray transfers, it makes sense to focus on the loads of bonus material this time around. Here’s a rundown of all the goodies you can find in each of these new individual releases:
The Fellowship of the Ring – Extended Edition
Disc 1 (Blu-ray)
- The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Feature Extended Edition Part 1
- The Lord of the Rings: War in the North – The Untold Story Trailer
- Commentary with Director & Writers
- Commentary with Design Team
- Commentary with Production and Post Production
- Commentary with Cast
- BD-Live enabled
Disc 2 (Blu-ray)
- The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Feature Extended Edition Part 2
- Commentary with Director & Writers
- Commentary with Design Team
- Commentary with Production and Post Production
- Commentary with Cast
- BD-Live enabled
Disc 3 (DVD)
- The Appendices Part 1 From Book to Vision
- Peter Jackson Introduction
- JRR Tolkien: Creator of Middle-earth
- From Book To Script
- Visualizing the Story
- Designing and Building Middle-earth
- Middle-earth Atlas Interactive
- New Zealand and Middle-earth Interactive
Disc 4 (DVD)
- The Appendices Part Two From Vision to Reality
- Elijah Wood Introduction
- Filming The Fellowship of the Ring
- Visual Effects
- Post Production: Putting It All Together
- Digital Grading
- Sound and Music
- The Road Goes Ever On…
Disc 5 (DVD)
- Behind-the-Scenes Documentary Created by Filmmaker Costa Botes during filming of
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
The Two Towers – Extended Edition
Disc 1 (Blu-ray)
- The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Feature Extended Edition Part 1
- The Lord of the Rings: War in the North – The Untold Story Trailer
- Commentary with Director & Writers
- Commentary with Design Team
- Commentary with Production and Post Production
- Commentary with Cast
- BD-Live enabled
Disc 2 (Blu-ray)
- The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Feature Extended Edition Part 2
- Commentary with Director & Writers
- Commentary with Design Team
- Commentary with Production and Post Production
- Commentary with Cast
- BD-Live enabled
Disc 3 (DVD)
- The Appendices Part 3: The Journey Continues
- Peter Jackson Introduction
- JRR Tolkien: Origin of Middle-earth
- From Book to Script: Finding the Story
- Designing and Building Middle-earth
- Gollum
- Middle-earth Atlas Interactive
- New Zealand as Middle-earth
Disc 4 (DVD)
- The Appendices Part 4: The Battle for Middle-earth
- Elijah Wood Introduction
- Filming The Two Towers
- Visual Effects
- Editorial: Refining the Story
- Music and Sound
- The Battle for Helm’s Deep is Over…
Disc 5 (DVD)
- Behind-the-Scenes Documentary Created by Filmmaker Costa Botes during filming of
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
The Return of the King – Extended Edition
Disc 1 (Blu-ray)
- The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Feature Extended Edition Part 1
- The Lord of the Rings: War in the North – The Untold Story Trailer
- Commentary with Director & Writers
- Commentary with Design Team
- Commentary with Production and Post Production
- Commentary with Cast
- BD-Live enabled
Disc 2 (Blu-ray)
- The Lord of the Rings: The Return of The King Feature Extended Edition Part 2
- Commentary with Director & Writers
- Commentary with Design Team
- Commentary with Production and Post Production
- BD-Live enabled
Disc 3 (DVD)
- The Appendices Part 5: The War of the Ring
- Peter Jackson Introduction
- JRR 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
Disc 4 (DVD)
- The Appendices Part 6: The Passing of an Age
- Introduction
- 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
Disc 5 (DVD)
- Behind-the-Scenes Documentary Created by Filmmaker Costa Botes during filming of
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
All three movies’ Extended Editions arrived as separate Blu-ray releases on August 28, 2012, and are in stores now.
