New Release: The Lord of the Rings Extended Editions Blu-ray

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Warner Home Video released The Lord of the Rings Extended Editions on Blu-ray on June 28, 2011.

The longer cuts of Peter Jackson’s three Oscar-winning films based on the books by J.R.R. Tolkien is available on high-definition Blu-ray only in a The Lord of the Rings Motion Picture Trilogy: Extended Edition set. It contains 15 discs with the fantasy movies plus more than 26 hours of special features, most of which are already on the Extended Edition DVD sets.

The supplements package includes all the original featurettes created by Michael Pellerin, as well as the acclaimed documentaries by Costa Botes, a filmmaker who was given unprecedented access to the sets for each film by Jackson. Botes captured raw behind-the-scenes footage for an intimate and candid backstage pass to the challenges, preparations and camaraderie of the movies, according to Warner. The feature-lenth documentaries, which have more than four and a half hours of footage, focus on a number of complexities that tested the filmmakers, cast and crew during the shoot.

What the set won’t have — and we would have liked — is an early look or interview with Jackson about his film based on Tolkien’s The Hobbit, which has now begun principal photography.

The The Lord of the Rings Motion Picture Trilogy: Extended Edition Blu-ray set was priced at $119.98.

Here’s the full list of special features:

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

Disc 1 (Blu-ray)

• The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Feature Extended Edition Part 1
• The Lord of the Rings: War in the North – The Untold Story Trailer
• commentary with director and writers
• commentary with design team
• commentary with production and post production
• commentary with cast
• BD-Live™ enabled

Disc 2 (Blu-ray)

• The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Feature Extended Edition Part 2
• commentary with director and writers
• commentary with design team
• commentary with production and post production
• commentary with cast
• BD-Live™ enabled

Disc 3 (DVD)

• “The Appendices Part 1 From Book to Vision”
• Peter Jackson introduction
• “JRR Tolkien: Creator of Middle-earth”
• “From Book To Script”
• “Visualizing the Story”
• “Designing and Building Middle-Earth”
• Middle-Earth Atlas Interactive
• New Zealand and Middle-Earth interactive

Disc 4 (DVD)

• “The Appendices Part Two From Vision to Reality”
• 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…”

Disc 5 (DVD)

• behind-the-scenes documentary created by filmmaker Costa Botes during filming of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

Disc 6 (Blu-ray)

• The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Feature Extended Edition Part 1
• The Lord of the Rings: War in the North – The Untold Story Trailer
• commentary with director and writers
• commentary with design team
• commentary with production and post production
• commentary with cast
• BD-Live™ enabled

Disc 7 (Blu-ray)

• The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Feature Extended Edition Part 2
• commentary with director and writers
• commentary with design team
• commentary with production and post production
• commentary with cast
• BD-Live™ enabled

Disc 8 (DVD)

• “The Appendices Part 3: The Journey Continues”
• Peter Jackson introduction
• “JRR Tolkien: Origin of Middle-Earth”
• “From Book to Script: Finding the Story”
• “Designing and Building Middle-Earth”
• “Gollum”
• Middle-Earth Atlas Interactive
• “New Zealand as Middle-Earth”

Disc 9 (DVD)

• “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…”

Disc 10 (DVD)

• behind-the-scenes documentary created by filmmaker Costa Botes during filming of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Disc 11 (Blu-ray)

• The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Feature Extended Edition Part 1
• The Lord of the Rings: War in the North – The Untold Story Trailer
• commentary with director and writers
• commentary with design team
• commentary with production and post production
• commentary with cast
• BD-Live™ enabled

Disc 12 (Blu-ray)

• The Lord of the Rings: The Return of The King Feature Extended Edition Part 2
• commentary with director and writers
• commentary with design team
• commentary with production and post production
• BD-Live™ enabled

Disc 13 (DVD)

• “The Appendices Part 5: The War of the Ring”
• Peter Jackson introduction
• “JRR Tolkien: The Legacy of Middle-Earth”
• “From Book to Script”
• “Designing and Building Middle-Earth”
• “Home of the Horse Lords”
• “Middle-Earth Atlas”
• “New Zealand as Middle-Earth”

Disc 14 (DVD)

• “The Appendices Part 6: The Passing of an Age”
• introduction
• “Filming The Return of the King”
• “Visual Effects”
• “Post-Production: Journey’s End”
• “The Passing of an Age”
• “Cameron Duncan: The Inspiration for Into the West”

Disc 15 (DVD)

• behind-the-scenes documentary created by filmmaker Costa Botes during filming of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Warner also offered an exclusive version of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy Extended Edition Blu-ray through its online store. Priced at $84.95 (with free shipping at the time of this writing), the exclusive set includes all of the above plus seven photo portraits of Frodo, Gandalf and others. Plus, Warner says that consumers who pre-order the set on the studio’s online store will get 10% other Lord of the Rings merchandise purchased at the same time.

Buy or Rent The Lord of the Rings Motion Picture Trilogy: Extended Edition
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