The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King Special Edition
THE 11-TIME ACADEMY AWARD-WINNING CONCLUSION TO THE LORD OF THE RINGS
THE RETURN OF THE KING:
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King - the record-breaking, 11-time Academy Award-winning conclusion to one of the most successful motion picture franchises in entertainment history has hit shelves in a four-disc, special extended DVD edition from Roadshow Entertainment.
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Special Extended DVD Edition will be priced at $69.95 S.R.P. The limited edition Collector's DVD Gift Set will be available at a $139.95 S.R.P.
"In this Special Extended Edition, Peter Jackson has created the ultimate conclusion to a true filmmaking achievement," said New Line Home Entertainment president and chief operating officer, Stephen Einhorn. "With even more added footage than the Special Extended Editions of The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers, this new version of The Return of the King is truly a landmark cinematic experience."
Created under the supervision of Academy Award-winning writer/director/producer Peter Jackson, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Special Extended Edition offers a stunning, new version of The Return of the King featuring approximately 48 minutes of never-before-seen scenes and sequences woven into the theatrical feature.
The original, theatrical version of the film was named Best Picture by The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (Golden Globe Awards), and scores of print, broadcast and online film critics and moviemaking guilds and is currently available on DVD and VHS.
Composer Howard Shore has returned to his original, Academy Award-winning The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King score and written entirely new music for this Special Extended Edition. Similarly, the artisans and visual effects artists at New Zealand's WETA Digital have contributed over 300 new special effects shots.
The 240-minute feature is contained on two discs in Widescreen, Dolby Digital EX 5.1 Surround Sound, DTS ES 6.1 Surround Sound and Stereo Surround Sound. Four complete, separate audio commentaries are supplied by Peter Jackson and more than 30 members of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King cast and production team, including Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Orlando Bloom, Academy Award®-winners Richard Taylor, Howard Shore, Randy Cook and many more.
Discs Three and Four contain hours of all new supplemental material. These one-of-a-kind features include production documentaries and featurettes; design and photo galleries of thousands of images; interactive maps; and more.
Limited Edition Collector's DVD Gift Set
Roadshow Entertainment has released an exclusive, limited edition Collector's DVD Gift Set. A must-have for every The Lord of the Rings fan, the Collector's Gift Set will include the entire four-disc Special Extended DVD Edition in elaborate package art conceived and designed solely for the gift set by famed J.R.R. Tolkien illustrator Alan Lee. Inside will be a hand-painted, intricately detailed, polystone sculpture of Minas Tirith - the seven-tiered City of Kings, beneath whose ramparts the greatest battle in The Lord of the Rings is fought. The Minas Tirith statue also lifts off its base revealing a lined keepsake compartment. The sculpture was created by Sideshow Weta Collectibles workshop under the supervision of Peter Jackson and Academy Award-winning visual effects artist Richard Taylor and created exclusively for the boxed set.
The limited edition Collector's DVD Gift Set will also contain a fifth DVD titled, Howard Shore: Creating The Lord of The Rings Symphony - A Composers Journey Through Middle-earth. This 50-minute bonus DVD includes excerpts of live concert footage of The Lord of the Rings Symphony recorded with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra.
Saruman Returns! The Mouth of Sauron Revealed! Faramir and Éowyn Romance Heats Up in the Houses of Healing! Peter Jackson Cameo and More!
With close to 48 minutes of added footage and 300 new special effects shots, fans can expect several extended sequences that did not appear in theaters.
A central character in the Trilogy, not seen in the theatrical edition of The Return of the King, makes a final appearance as the evil wizard Saruman (Christopher Lee) is confronted by Gandalf The White (Sir Ian McKellen) at the ruins of Isengard.
One of the most powerful and treacherous figures in all of Middle-earth, Saruman will at last get the fate he so richly deserves.
Entirely new to viewers is the Mouth of Sauron, one of the Dark Lord's most grotesque and horrifying physical manifestations. When Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) leads the charge on the Black Gate at Mordor in order to create a diversion for Frodo (Elijah Wood), the gate opens to reveal a terrifying figure on an enormous black horse. With an armored face like a skull mask, this figure, known as the Mouth of Sauron, reveals Frodo's mithril shirt to the assembled warriors, leading them to believe Frodo has died pursuing his quest.
Another sequence that can be seen only in The Special Extended DVD Edition occurs between Faramir (David Wenham) and Éowyn (Miranda Otto). After his deranged father Denethor (John Noble) attempts to burn him alive, Faramir is taken to the Houses of Healing - a Middle-earth-style hospital - where he has an emotionally charged encounter with Éowyn.
Finally, fans will relish a surprising cameo by Peter Jackson. Though the mastermind behind the Trilogy could be glimpsed in the theatrical cut playing one of the pirates whose ship is overtaken by Aragorn and the newly raised Armies of the Dead, in The Special Extended Edition, Gimli (John-Rhys Davies) causes one of Legolas's (Orlando Bloom) arrows to misfire, accidentally hitting and killing Jackson!
Extended Feature Running Time: 240 minutes
For more information about The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, visit www.lordoftherings.net
Review:
For those of you who have read the book, the Special Edition offers a more true to the story account. All LOR fans will enjoy the extra footage that explains much of the story that was missed. Behind the scenes footage and making of the film is captivating and gives the viewer more depth to what has transpired to make this extraordinary trilogy the success it is and will be for years to come.
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