‘Lord of the Rings’ Extended Edition Bluray Details Announced

There is no other movie series in history that has had me dangerously anticipating in Bluray release than the ‘Lord of the Rings’ trilogy. Of course, we did get the announcement for a Bluray release last year but then all my anticipation deflated when after all these years, New Line Cinema was still giving us only the theatrical editions for the Bluray and not the definitive Extended Editions for the trilogy. I waited up for the following moment that has finally arrived.

Amazon has details on the new Extended Edition Bluray set for the trilogy and it sounds amazing. There’s a whole lot of discs and a whole lot of extras. The only problem is that the release date is ’2011 or 2012′ which is as definitive as saying ‘wait and see’. Still, Warner Home Video will announce something soon enough for us Middle Earth geeks.

For now, bask in the details of the collection below.

Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Over 30 minutes of footage incorporated into the theatrical release of the film
Commentary by Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, and Philippa Boyens
Commentary by the design team
Commentary by the production/post-production team
Commentary by 10 actors, including Elijah Wood and Ian McKellen
Easter egg: MTV Movie Award Spoof (The Council of Elrod)
Costa Botes Documentary: The Fellowship of the Ring: Behind the Scenes
The Appendices, Part 1: From Book to Vision (on DVD)

• Peter Jackson introduction
• J.R.R. Tolkein: Creator of Middle Earth
• From Book to Script
• Visualizing the Story
• Designing and Building Middle Earth
• Middle Earth atlas interactive

The Appendices, Part 2: From Vision to Reality (on DVD)

• Elijah Wood introduction
• Filming The Fellowship of the Ring
• Visual effects
• Post-production: Putting it all together
• Digital Grading
• Sound and music
• The Road Goes Ever On…

Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

Extended edition of the film, incorporating 43 minutes of footage incorporated into the film
Commentary track by writer-director Peter Jackson and writers Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens
Commentary track by the design team
Commentary track by the production/post-production team
Commentary track by 16 cast members, including Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Andy Serkis, John Rhys-Davies, Orlando Bloom, Christopher Lee, Bernard Hill, and Miranda Otto
Easter Egg: MTV Movie Awards clip (Gollum accepting award)
Costas Botes documentary: The Two Towers–Behind the Scenes
The Appendices, Part 3: The Journey Continues

• Peter Jackson introduction
• J.R.R. Tolkein: Origin of Middle Earth
• From Book to Script: Finding a Story
• Designing and Building Middle-Earth
• Gollum
• Middle-Earth Atlas interactive
• New Zealand as Middle Earth (map with video location)

The Appendices, Part 4: The Battle for Middle Earth

• Elijah Wood introduction
• Filming The Two Towers
• Visual effects
• Editorial: Refining the Story
• Music and Sound
• The Battle for Helm’s Deep is Over

Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Extended edition of the film, with 50 extra minutes incorporated into the film
Commentary track by writer-director Peter Jackson and writers Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens
Commentary track by the design team
Commentary track by the production/post-production team
Costas Botes documentary: The Return of the King: Behind the Scenes
The Appendices, Part 5: The War of the Ring

• Peter Jackson Intro
• J.R.R. Tolkien: The Legacy of Middle-earth
• From Book to Script
• Designing and Building Middle-earth
• Home of the Horse Lords
• Middle-earth Atlas: Tracing the Journeys of the Fellowship: interactive map
• New Zealand as Middle-earth: interactive map with on-location footage

The Appendices, Part 6: The Passing of an Age

• Elijah Wood/Sean Astin/Billy Boyd/Dominic Monaghan intro
• Filming The Return of the King
• Visual Effects
• Post Production: Journey’s End
• The Passing of an Age
• Cameron Duncan