The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (DVD, 2002, 4-Disc Set, Extended Cut; Widescreen)

This is one of the greatest movies made in history, because it is based on the classic "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, written by J.R.R.Tolkien. Most fans of the books realize that it does not follow the book exactly, but the movies are very well done. This is the first film in the trilogy, followed by "The Two Towers" and "Return of the King". If you have never read the books and know nothing of these films, here is a brief description: A young Hobbit must destroy an evil ring of power before it destroys the world of Middle Earth. Many different stories are in each book/volume. The human characters face struggles & choices too, which also determine the outcome of all their futures. If you like fantasy, good sword fights, great backgrounds/scenery, wonderful music and a touch of romance- these films have all of those elements. But most of all, they have loyalty, honor, forgiveness, integrity, faith, courage, strength, hope and love. These films have no foul language and no sex. A rarity there for sure. There's plenty of action to keep one interested, if you can't also appreciate the well-acted scenes that haven't any. A fabulous item about these films is that they contain the "Elvish Language" that the author (Tolkien) himself, invented. Also, many of the songs or background music with choirs or solos sing in Elvish as well. These films are well-acted and well-directed. There is some violence though, which is why the PG-13 rating. These are not for very young children. I personally see references to Christianity which is special to me. Not everyone agrees with this theory, but everyone can be inspired in some way from the stories. I enjoy these films tremendously and have watched them many times. I hope you will too!

What can I say? This is one of the greatest movies ever made.Visually I was stunned story is timeless and as close to the book as you can cram in 4 hours.Acting was great especially by Gandalf(Ian Mckellan) The extras were such an added bonus cause you could watch this DVD collection all day and not feel like you have been watching recycled clips of the same darn thing.I sold my copy when I needed to buy my wife's wedding ring and I was crushed. I loved this flick so much I always planned on getting it back and I did. As well as the next two movies in the trilogy. The dust jacket is cool and looks like an old harcover novel with all the elfish design on it.
I think if I could change one thing I would have put these movies on blue ray so you could pack the entire extended cut of the movie on one disc. Although having to change dvd half way thru reminds you to peel away from the engrossing story and go to the bathroom. Buy this and you wont feel you got a generic movie with crappy extended or extra scenes of nothing. The extras on this DVD are worth it and pertinent to the story and how it is made.Good luck on your quest to buy this.

For LotR fans who watched this edition this is all probably nothing new - but for those who think about purchasing the Extended version, well, hopefully you'll be as pleased as I am.
The extended version is so much better then the theatrical one. You get to see all those great deleted and extended scenes, and it is done so well. It's as if that was how the movie was always supposed to be like. Those new scenes are really well composed into the movie, what with the music, the special effects, and you can really see how much effort has been put into this movie.
The audio commentary is a really funny and great thing. Not only you get to hear Peter Jackson, fran Walsh and Philippy Boyens, there is also the whole fellowship (except Viggo :() + Saruman, the audio commentary of the producers and the design team. And they talk about making this movie come to life, revealing all those little things you didn't know before.
The 2 discs are about making the movie, also very entertaining and just really great to watch.
Hopefully you'll like it

In every aspect, the extended-edition DVD The Fellowship of the Ring blows away the theatrical-version DVD. No one who cares at all about the film should ever need to watch the original version again - seriously, just sell the original DVD. Well, maybe the impatient and the squeamish will still prefer the theatrical version, because the extended edition makes a long film 30 minutes longer and there's a bit more violence (which is what many wanted - though both versions are rated PG-13). But the changes make for a richer film. There's more of the spirit of J.R.R. Tolkien, embodied in more songs and a longer opening focusing on Hobbiton. There's more character development, and more background into what is to come in the two subsequent films, such as Galadriel's gifts to the Fellowship and Aragorn's burden of lineage. And some additions make more sense to the plot, or are merely worth seeing. Extremely useful are the chapter menus that indicate which scenes are new or extended.

Peter Jackson's vision for Tolkien's creation was significant and unique. I don't think that it will ever be approached or matched by other cinematic ventures. The extended edition adds the few pieces to the puzzle that were missing. Get it now!!

I've seen a lot of reviews on this film that are excellent and detailed so, I will not comment on the film as a whole. What I will mention is the value of buying the films in the extended versions. The extra footage goes a long way in filling in the story. For those of us who have read the books, it makes a big difference! When these films first came out, I purchased the first with satifaction. After the second film strayed so far from the story, I junked them both. But, I had the chance, just recently (2010), to view one of the films on TV in the extended form and was pleasantly pleased. I went ahead and purchased all three extended films and was very content. Yes... the 2nd film still angers me at times when it changes the story completely and, in my opinion, completely without reason. However, the extended cuts make it much more tolerable because the story flows better and you get more character development as well as plot development. This first film, The Fellowship of the Ring, actually has Galadriel giving gifts to the whole of the Fellowship and shows Gimli's enchantment with her. When the Hobbits are led to the House of Elrond by their new friend Strider, they actually spend some time there! And even when the scenes are only expanded by a few seconds, it just make so much difference because it gives reasons for the reactions in the following scenes.

So,the bottom line is: If you have these films only in their original cuts, spend the money and buy these extended versions. Any Hobbit fan will find it well worth the money spent just for that. Then, when you add all the bonus materials... well, it's a real bonus. Have fun watching!