The Lord of the Rings – The Fellowship of the Rings

DVD Review by Yanman

 
“But they were, all of them, deceived, for another Ring was made. In the land of Mordor, in the fires of Mount Doom, the Dark Lord Sauron created a master Ring, by which he could control all others. And into it he poured his craft, his cruelty, and his will to dominate all life. "One Ring to rule them all."

It is harder to review a DVD release of a super-blockbuster then it is to review an obscure film or even a flop. With a film like the first in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Fellowship of the Rings, you find yourself not only attempting to review one of the biggest films in history, but one that is based on a world renowned book as well. So we will attempt to keep our opinions on the movie itself to a minimum and do what we do best here at Yanman.com review the DVD itself in complete detail.

When a young hobbit named Frodo Baggins accepts the responsibility of holding onto a ring, he has no idea the wonders he is about to behold, or the challenges he is about to face. Follow him and his courageous fellowship of friends and allies as they set out to destroy the One Ring. No easy quest with the servants of the ring’s evil creator the Dark Lord Sauron, hunting them. It is a quest so grand that it couldn’t possibly fit into one movie …

There is truly only one word to describe the video and audio quality of this DVD, awesome. It would not at all be a stretch to say that the video quality of this anamorphic widescreen (Aspect Ratio of 2.35:1), is the best we have ever seen, at least in any live action film. While also available in a full-screen version, I would challenge anyone to look at both versions side-by-side and still choose the full-screen version with is roughly 1/3 less picture. (Have questions about widescreen? Visit our primer The Shape of Things for a complete explanation). Looking for a justification to buy that new widescreen TV? Look no further. The audio is also amazing, presented in Dolby Digital EX; Lord of the Rings truly engulfs the listener in sound. While we would have liked to have heard what a DTS ES version of the soundtrack would have sounded like, this soundtrack is still worthy of one of our highest ratings.

While most two-disc sets are impressive with there overwhelming amount of extras, this set is somewhat lacking. Want to know why there are no deleted scenes or director’s commentary here? The simple answer comes on November 12, 2002 when the Platinum Series Extended Edition 4-Disc-Set is released. Now while director Peter Jackson prefers the term extended edition to the term director’s cut because it has the negative connotation that the film presented in the theater was not the director’s vision (this being the case in many director’s cuts), rest assured that the thirty additional minutes added to the forthcoming release are all provided with his supervision. What extras are available on this release? There is an exclusive 10-minute behind-the-scenes preview of The Two Towers, Three in-depth documentaries that reveal the secrets behind the production of this epic adventure, 15 featurettes originally created for lordoftherings.net, The Enya "May It Be" music video, and more.

While many a true fan may chose to wait for the complete 4-disc Platinum Series Extended Edition, there is a place for this offering in your collection as well. Why have two versions of the film you ask, or why NOT wait for the 4-disc set and never bother with the theatrical release? Well for one the extended edition adds 30+ minutes to a film that is already close to three hours long. If you plan on watching this one more then once (which is why you own a DVD right?) then you may want to stick to a shorter film for the many times you watch it and check out the extended version on longer rainy days. And of course there is the fact that at some point all three parts of the film will more then likely be available in a super-duper end-all boxed set (12 hours you think? Save that for a rainy three day weekend!) – “Are you frightened?”, “Not nearly frightened enough…”

Audio					1/2
Video
Extras
Overall					3/4

This DVD was reviewed on Yanman.com's Reference Theater #1, using a Toshiba SD-4700 DVD player, Toshiba TW56X81, and M&K 750 THX Speakers. Panamax protects all systems at Yanman.com.

The Fellowship of the Rings

"One Ring to rule them all."

Staring:

Elijah Wood
Ian McKellen
Liv Tyler

Directed By:

Peter Jackson

Running time:  178 Min
Rated: PG-13 
Genre:  Fantasy

Bonus Materials

• Exclusive 10-minute behind-the-scenes preview of The Two Towers
• "Welcome to Middle-earth" (in-store special as shown by Houghton Mifflin)
• "The Quest for the Ring" (as debuted on the FBC Network)
• "A Passage to Middle-earth" (as premiered on the SCI-FI Channel)
• 15 featurettes originally created for lordoftherings. net.
• Enya "May It Be" music video
• An inside look at the Special Extended DVD Edition of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
• Preview of Electronic Arts' video game, The Two Towers
• Widescreen anamorphic format
• Number of discs: 2