Four discs to rule them all

You probably don't remember, but way back in August I took a look at the first, two-disc release of "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" and spouted off about the money-grabbing marketing weasels at New Line Cinema who decided to torture poor, helpless fans by putting out two different versions of the film.\nI was excited knowing that the "Extended Edition" would include a half-hour of extra movie and boat-loads of special features, but that financially-burdened, anti-corporate college cynicism kicked in, and through it I channeled my anger, longing for the days when the decisions regarding movies went little beyond, "Do I see it in the theater or do I rent it?" In some weird way, I wanted to be disappointed in this huge DVD release, because then I would be justified in my frustration.\nBut damn it all, this is the coolest DVD that has ever been made. Ever.\nOK, similar to the film, this review is going to be hefty (there's tons to discuss), so lets talk about how this DVD is organized, as it seems to me that such a discussion will be the most illuminating and natural way to organize the meat and potatoes of my review.\nLike I said, there are four discs in the set. The first two are dedicated solely to the film and the four commentary tracks with which you can choose to view it (all of the tracks contain dialogue from nearly every important player in the creation of the film). I'm serious: two discs just for the movie and the commentary. The other two discs are the most densely packed collection of behind-the-scenes information that I have ever seen, titled, respectively, "From Book to Vision" and "From Vision to Reality." \nFirst of all, regardless of the physical demands required of your butt, the 208-minute "Extended Version" (Jackson is vehement in not calling this a "director's cut") is quite entertaining. In almost every case, it seems, a re-inclusion is primarily of an event detailed in the book that, for temporal and pacing issues, was cut from the theatrical release.\nSo having gone through this version of the film a few times, I'll say this: they are all good scenes, and some are really great to see back in the film (particularly scenes cut from the Fellowship's experiences in Lothlorien), but for the most part, it is clear that the overall pace of the film is slowed by their inclusion. It's cool, but by-and-large, it's for the fans.\nAnd then there are the special features -- two discs/appendices that, as a whole, represent the most interesting, in-depth and awe-inspiring look into the filmmaking process I have ever seen. No joke. Seldom in the history of film production has such an ambitious project yielded such a remarkable result, and never before has it been so well documented. In watching any section of either disc, rarely do five minutes go by that some little tidbit of information is not divulged, warranting by its very utterance a relieved sigh of "Ohhh! That's how they did it." \nTackling this DVD may be an insanely large viewing experience in which to engage yourself, but without reservation I'd recommend it to anyone who enjoyed seeing the film the first time. Surprisingly, it is not difficult to find this huge set for less than $30, and in terms of the dollars-to-entertainment-time ratio, that's quite a deal. Now, I suppose, the only trouble is finding the time to watch it all.