The Lord of the Rings: Extended Editions

Peter Jackson’s improbably brilliant, mammothly successful trilogy is perhaps the last great cinematic fantasy epic. This breathtaking adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien’s novel, following the efforts of one small hobbit, Frodo (Elijah Wood), to save a world fallen into darkness and evil by disposing of the “One Ring to Rule Them All” in the fires of Mordor, is large-scale moviemaking at its very finest. In his extended editions, initially released only on DVD and Blu-ray, Jackson intensifies and deepens nearly every relationship, plot turn, and battle sequence, making an already staggering experience even more visually and emotionally overwhelming.