What movie less than an epic would make you wait half a year for it to come out on video? I and most of the civilized world have been waiting breathlessly for the most awe-inspiring movie in years to appear in stores, counting the days till August 6th when it went on sale…well, maybe I’m one of the minority there. But I was so relieved when yesterday we bought a DVD player and worked out the details so that I could buy my DVD copy of Lord of the Rings the day it came out.

By this point you have to have been buried deep in the crust of the earth’s magma to not have at least heard about Lord of the Rings, so I’ll give a brief recap for you core-dwellers. The Dark Lord Sauron is searching for the all-powerful One Ring that he made eons ago, in order to destroy the beautiful world of Middle-Earth. The Ring has fallen into the hands of a young hobbit, Frodo, happy and naďve in his peaceful home in the Shire, and positively unprepared to take on the burden of the powerful and corrupting Ring. Lead by the wizard Gandalf and guided by the ranger Aragorn, Frodo, three of his hobbit friends, and three other companions embark on a perilous quest from which they may never return. As he passes through the incredible, almost undefeatable dangers that the Ring brings from the outside and from within, Frodo’s choices draw to a close as the power of the Ring begins to destroy the Fellowship itself…

Six months of not seeing it has definitely made me wild with anticipation, and this movie does not disappoint. It’s certainly different than seeing an Elf army miles deep up on the big screen (which now looks more like an ant invasion) but by and large the splendor of the film is so great that it pops out of your TV screen and makes you forget the small stuff in the adventure of the story. The sheer beauty of the film combined with its wondrous detail and terrific ensemble translate incredibly well to video, from the acting and visuals of the movie itself to the editing and formatting of the full screen version. Be aware that several parts are by necessity rearranged or slightly changed from what you saw in the theaters, like the big “Fellowship” shot only shows about half of them, and a couple scenes are added to a tiny bit. (You should still hold out for the extended edition if you want lots more scenes.)

Even though I have already seen it four times in theater (and reviewed it in that format), I felt myself reliving the magic and adventure of seeing it that first time, glued to this three-hour-and-some-odd-minutes-long movie. The love and care that Peter Jackson has put into this movie are vividly clear in the exquisite assembling of all its components; the acting, directing, scenery, music, everything is beautiful and frightening and as tremendous as it could have been humanly possibly to create in a movie. I love the look and feel of The Fellowship of the Ring – glowingly vivid and sharp with a lush fantastic atmosphere, though many of the settings are dark and shadowed. It looks exactly how a fantasy film should look, a keen sense of reality and clarity amid soaring epic realms.

If you found a 15-feet-high shot of Elijah Woods looking worried a little too bug-eyed, the video might just change your mind. Tiny annoyances and flubs in the characters all but disappear and you can enjoy the story and nearly flawless acting for what it is. The huge cast is dizzying for someone who doesn’t know the characters well, but fortunately there are several stand-out parts. Ian McKellen’s amazing performance as the wizard Gandalf stand outs in stunning detail here as his superb expressions and inflections pop to life; all of the actors in the supporting cast lend impressive talent in their dead-on characters; and of course, as always, the perfect look and personality of Elijah Woods as the misleadingly simple hobbit hero. I warmed up to Liv Tyler as the “warrior princess” Arwen (though I’m still looking forward to Miranda Otto as Eowyn, the real deal when it comes to that role). Galadriel (played by Cate Blanchett), on the other hand, is still as stiff and cold as she ever was.

Yet even if the Elf Queen leaves you cold, the world of Middle-Earth presented here surely won’t! It brings fantasy to a level that nearly anyone can enjoy, offering spell-binding action, eye-popping special effects, very personal emotion, a strong elemental “good versus evil” plot, and a world brought to life in a way never accomplished before. Small lags in the action, like the somewhat anticlimactic intro or…um, there really aren’t any other lags I can think of! Well, the ones I must be missing don’t detract anything significant from this movie, and the other aspects of Lord of the Rings are magnificent enough in full to cover over the minor flaws.

And if you promise not to tell anyone, I’ll let you in on my secret confession: I think the movie is better than the book. It’s blasphemous, I know, but the changes Peter Jackson added to it make the story so much more powerful and effective; and his vision for what this fantasy world is really like develop so beautifully, I can’t help but prefer it slightly to reading the books. However, there are still some things that words communicate more expressively than pictures; the sacred is still preserved. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring is just another portal into the realm of magic and fantasy.


What edition should I get? What’s all this about a ‘special edition’?

The Lord of the Rings film that just came out today is what you saw in the theater, the regular movie plus some little DVD bonuses. The video is the no-frills version – it just has the plain movie and nothing else. Obviously if you want some goodies with it you’ll want the DVD version, a two-disc set that includes:

• Theatrical (PG-13) version of the film
• 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, including:
• -"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, which explore the locales and cultures of Middle-earth and include interviews with cast members Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, Liv Tyler, and others
• 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
• DVD-ROM features: Exclusive online content
• And yes, that annoying “car in the background” and other flubs are gone!

Are all these features worth it? If you’re a fan, absolutely. I enjoyed the documentaries, which are about 30 minutes long each, although much of the information is nothing new. The featurettes were really neat – a closer look at the filming and characters, just a taste of what the extended DVD will be like! The Two Towers preview here is especially good, but several of the other features like the music video and TV spots are disappointing. If you liked the movie in theaters but weren’t sold out, try renting it first and then deciding which version you’d like. Both the video and DVD are available in Full Screen or Wide Screen editions. Here’s an inside tip: Best Buy has really good prices on both of them – $12.99 video and $15.99 DVD. But if you don’t have a Best Buy near you, you can do what I did and bring the flyer advertising the prices into a store that matches prices. Voila! A DVD copy for wonderfully cheap!

However, in November there will be a special “extended edition” that will feature some major changes in the movie itself: thirty more minutes of footage, with Bilbo beginning the movie by telling the backstory (instead of Galadriel). The additions are along the line of Aragorn singing and visiting his mother’s grave, more shots of Rivendell and Lothlorien, Galadriel giving gifts to the fellowship, and so on. TheOneRing (www.theonering.net) has some good information on what to expect from the extended edition. In any case, with four discs (instead of the two in the regular DVD), you can expect hours of extra features and fun stuff.

My mom wanted to know why on earth I would buy the same movie twice – why I couldn’t just wait till November. Isn’t the answer evident? I want to watch it again and again, not just for three days as a rental. The two editions will be drastically different from what I can tell and it’s worth your while to check this one out now. It’s a whole different experience encountering Middle-Earth in your living room – seeing the power and brilliance of its story so close to you. You’ll find in Lord of the Rings very awe-inspiring legend to say the least, and one you will want to relive time and again.


Bottom line

From my line of thinking, this movie deserves a spot beside Star Wars in your video collection. Of course, by now it’s obvious I’m biased, but there is a reason Lord of the Rings is so huge. At the very least rent it and have a weeklong Hobbit fest. As for me, I bought my copy today at Best Buy (on video for $12.99 or DVD for $15.99) and I’ll be watching it a LOT this week. Until The Two Towers comes out in December, this and the soundtrack will be my Lord of the Rings fix. And boy oh boy, what an awesome fix.

If you’d care to read a closer at the movie as I saw it in theaters, you might want to check out my review of it at: http://www.epinions.com/content_51011686020. I wish I could review it as thoroughly here as I did there, but time and space confines me. Fortunately imaginations are not so limited...


Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older