The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (Special Extended Edition) [DVD]

Perfect classic family film. Too bad Tolkien isn't here to see how wonderful his book is portrayed on the screen. My family can watch this film over and over again. Highly recommend 10/10

This was brand new and completed my set and I am very happy with this unopened box set. I am very happy about this. -Ren

Like all Tolkien fans, I had once been afraid of this. I had been afraid that our beloved books would be taken by a talentless, indifferent hand and thrown into the horrendous money-making machine. I had been afraid they'd be ground mercilessly and without any consideration for J.R.R. Tolkien's work or for its fans, ground into pieces of overbudgeted FX with not much else left to the eye and to the mind.What we got instead was nothing short of a masterpiece. Hype? Sure, there's been some hype. But The Lord Of The Rings has rendered the word hype obsolete. It takes that hype and smashes it against a wall of pure brilliance. The final installment is a glorious ending to a trilogy that decades down the road, I have no doubt, will be hailed as one of the greatest achievements in modern cinema. Had I written the review right after seeing it, it would've probably consisted of one word. WHOA. But I'm OK now. I'm fine. I've taken my Advil, drank my three cups of coffee, got good five hours of sleep. I'm OK now. I can finally sit down and write a coherent review.On the other hand, do I dare? What can you say about a movie which is, for the lack of a better word, perfect? I know, I know. Of course, no movie is perfect. But this one is as damn well close to perfect as it gets. I've been literally put under a spell, very similar to the one that had seized my mind 18 years ago when I first read the books. Flaws and lowdowns? Sure, there are some, but only if you choose to be a grumpy purist who refuses to get it through his head that literature and cinema are two very different media and therefore cannot be the same, will never be the same. This is as great an adaptation as there will ever be. Call me when you make a movie one-tenth this good.In my eyes, the films are in some ways better than the books. I find it extremely annoying that Tolkien's work is being idealized by his fans. He was but a man and he, too, made mistakes. His books, as detailed and amazing as they are, still aren't perfect. There are characters who do nothing but sit around, scenes the very presence of which is meaningless or at the very least questionable. Think Arwen, think Tom Bombadil... who, while making a part of the story cool and magical, bears next to no impact on the story as a whole (of course, "true Tolkien fans" will probably have my head if they read this, but oh well). But above all, it makes my blood boil when I hear things like "a true visualization of Tolkien's Middle-earth it is not" (sic. Rogert Ebert). With all due respect, who in the world do you think you are to decide what a "true visualization of Tolkien's world" is? No one but Tolkien himself can give us the true visualization of his world, and he's been dead for decades.Peter Jackson & Co had a task in front of them akin to dragging a cross to the top of Golgotha, in metaphorical terms. And, by all that's sacred, I cannot see how a filmmaker could succeed more in such a task. It is no small feat to accomplish what they have accomplished. Not only have they succeeded, they have exceeded all my expectations. You can see and feel with every shot that this is a labor of love. That goes for everything and everyone in the movie. Cinematographically, it's amazing. The FX were just enough and never cheesy or unnecessary. The score moves you deeply - even the normally annoying Enya did not bother me this time. The acting was splendid, and the cast was simply perfect. I grew up with the characters in my heart, and now they finally have faces. I mean, how many times do you actually read a book, imagine the characters, and then see the movie and realize that the characters look eerily close to what you've imagined them to look like?I could go further into details about this particular installment, but I don't think Amazon supports reviews that long. I will simply say that I have never been one of those never-happy purists who nitpick even on the quantity of leaves on trees in Rivendell. I believe these movies should be seen for what they are, not for what they are not. Don't sit there and compare it to the book, or complain how something was added or taken away. Know this: if you want to see Tolkien's Middle Earth, you never will. Only Tolkien himself could give you his Middle Earth, and he's long gone. Look at these films from an overall point of view and try to see that it is simply impossible to film such a leviathan in a way that will make everyone happy. And for what it is, this trilogy is a rare gem. It combines end-of-your-seat action with heartbreaking drama, and brings intensity on both visual and emotional levels, which few films have accomplished so far. For me personally, it was also a memorable experience because I got to share it with a hundreds of moviegoers who sat in the theater with me for three years in a row. We watched in silence, lest we miss anything. We wowed at the sight of the dark, vast Moria, the surreal beauty of Rivendell, the fiery grandeur of Mt. Doom. We laughed at the hobbits' painfully sweet naiveté. We clapped at the grand finale. We couldn't hold back tears in the last few minutes before the credits rolled. We were there, with them, sharing this timeless tale of friendship, destiny, love, the loss of innocence and the reign of good vs. evil. Sounds trite, I know. But this is probably one story where it's not.Your mileage may vary.

It feels almost redundant to review "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King." How much promotion does this DVD need? The movie earned $1.1 billion worldwide in its initial release, the second highest-grossing film in history. It nabbed eleven Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Critics raved about it. Audiences staggered out of the film in stunned amazement. Certainly, there are people didn't like it. Some viewers simply aren't interested in fantasy, and a small minority of J.R.R. Tolkien fans objected to the changes made to the original novel (I belong to the majority that believes the movies, despite alterations, remain extremely faithful to the source book). However, no film in my recent memory has garnered such strong love and adulation as "The Return of the King." It has become the great epic film event of its time, the same way that "Star Wars" was over thirty years ago. All effects films will now be measured against it. If you've seen it, chances are you loved or at least liked it and will want this DVD. If you haven't seen it, no time like the present...you'll have to see it eventually!For the buyer, however, a note of caution: an expanded special edition DVD set will hit shelves later this year. As with the releases of the previous installments in the trilogy, this second set will contain a longer version of the film (four hours in length) with two discs loaded with extras that total in excess of seven hours, plus four feature-length commentaries!By comparison, the DVD offered here is far slimmer: only two discs long, with `basic' extras and the theatrical version of the film (a bit over three hours). The documentaries are promotional pieces from TV, and don't have a lot of info in them because they were released before the film and kept many parts of it secret. (The National Geographic Special has already been available separately on DVD). The short featurettes are adequate and only whet your appetite for the expanded DVD release; there's not much hard data here. The inevitable ad for the videogame hardly counts as an `extra'. The six-minute "Super Trailer" for all three films is a pretty nice feature, however.For a casual viewer, this DVD should satisfy them. People who really loved the film might want to wait a few months and get the expanded edition instead. Tolkien lunatics like myself should get both. (I want to be able to watch the two different cuts separately, and if I don't have time to sit with friends and watch the four-hour version, we can watch the slimmer theatrical cut.) Whether you buy this DVD or the later one depends on how important "The Return of the King" is to you personally.The final third of the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy of movies exceeded all expectations. Jackson took the most epic portion of the novel, with the final showdown between Sauron's forces of Mordor and the Men of Gondor, and Frodo and Sam closing in on the completion of their quest, and fashioned a film both magnificent in scope -- surpassing not only the previous two films but every film ever made -- and with deep emotions and wonderful characters. It's an astonishing feat that the biggest of the three films is the most touching and "human." Frodo's struggle against the Ring as he closes in on Mt. Doom unbearable torment, and his companion Sam (Sean Astin, in a role that should have received a Supporting Actor nomination) shows the greatest bravery and dedication of any character in the story. Every character gets his or her chance to shine, whether in a dramatic scene or a battle sequence.And the battles...nothing like them has ever been shown before. The initial strike on Minas Tirith, with catapult rocks decimating entire columns of orcs and flying Nazgul making vertigo-inducing dives onto the city, steals away one's breath. The climatic clash before Minas Tirith, with the Rohirrim battling a brigade of mumakil (titanic elephants), is the most sweeping battle scene ever put on screen. The technical effects are the best in cinema history, and they are all put in service of the story instead of existing to wow audiences, as happens in most popcorn summer flicks. The meld of drama, character, and technical achievement in "The Return of the King" is seamless; I doubt we will see the like of it again -- at least during the next decade.The most common complaint about the film is that it has "too many endings." I don't understand this criticism at all. After three full movies with these characters, it would be a cheat to abandon them without giving each one a special farewell. It would also let down the epic story, for this is a great tale that requires a large deal of wrapping up for it to work. For Tolkien fans, indeed, the ending feels too quick! (A major portion of the end of the novel, "The Scouring of the Shire" was not filmed because it would have dragged the ending on too long.) It's rare for a film today to let its characters stretch and resolve their stories correctly, and I commend Jackson for not cutting "The Lord of the Rings" short at the end in a hurry to `get it over with.' Savor this film to the end...it's a remarkable achievement.It's with some sadness that I face this DVD release, for it means that "The Lord of the Rings" movie trilogy is over, and there will be no highly anticipated, thrilling release coming this December. But I have the movie in my hands now, mine forever to cherish and re-watch whenever I want to relive the stunning experience. No DVD owner should be without this cornerstone of epic cinema -- in one edition or another.

Achetez à 30 euros, même si ce ne sont que des DVD à l'époque du blu ray 4K, les coffrets sont justes magnifiques !Niveau déco, poser sur une étagère du salon, j'en suis plus que ravi !

Collection

This one arrived within the last week not yet watched this version / copy yet

Excellent film! Arrived on time!

tres bon produit