On December 17, the final installment of Peter Jackson's epic Lord of the Rings trilogy will open in theaters worldwide. As DVD collectors have learned only too well, while The Return of the King may cap the theatrical experience, unmined nuggets from the LOTR saga will continue to be introduced into the marketplace for years to come.
Unless New Zealand is rocked by an earthquake in the next few months, the arrival of a two-disc, few-frills edition of ROTK in August will precede the November launch of an elaborate four-disc, platinum-series volume. This two-tier marketing strategy has already proved successful for DVDs of The Two Towers and The Fellowship of the Ring. A director's cut of LOTR almost certainly will be released to coincide with Jackson's version of King Kong for Christmas 2005. Look for special "anniversary editions" to arrive every five years thereafter.
In addition to the platinum edition's 43 minutes of previously unseen footage and other bonus features, which arrived in stores last week, New Line soon will compound its gluttony by re-releasing an expanded version of The Two Towers into select theaters to prime the pump for ROTK.
Lest one ignore the source material, Kultur has just released a handsome, four-disc companion piece to the books, which have sold more than 100 million copies in 20 languages, along with The Hobbit. Secrets of Middle-Earth blends the fantastical art of Tim and Greg Hildebrandt and music of Mostly Autumn into a comprehensive and highly entertaining journey through the legendary kingdom. Leading Tolkien experts offer insights, as do members of the author's family, his publishers and other associates.
Other animated takes on Tolkien include Ralph Bakshi's under-appreciated The Lord of the Rings (1978) and subsequent adaptations of The Hobbit and The Return of the King by others. Recently repackaged as a trilogy, the full set now clocks in at 308 minutes. Among the actors who lent their voices to the enterprise were Orson Bean (Bilbo Baggins and Frodo), John Huston (Gandalf), John Hurt (Aragorn), William Conrad, Hans Conreid, Otto Preminger, Richard Boone and Roddy McDowall.
Reach for the sky
No less rewarding is Paramount's two-disc collector's edition of Sergio Leone's monumental Once Upon a Time in the West. Not only did this "opera of violence" breathe new life into a dying genre, it also effectively buried the derogatory "spaghetti western" label. With dialogue as sparse and arid as its desert settings, and a soundtrack that mirrored the cruelty and desperation in the soul of its desperado characters, Once Upon a Time stunned audiences conditioned to define good and evil by the colors of a Stetson. The stellar cast included Henry Fonda as a murderous psychopath, Charles Bronson and Jason Robards. Among the directors who add their comments are John Milius, John Carpenter, Alex Cox and Bernardo Bertolucci, who shared a writing credit with Leone and Dario Argento.
Best reason for a home theater
Each month, the Criterion Collection releases DVDs of such high artistic quality that they've become essential tools in the education of film students and professionals alike. The digital transfers are consistently impeccable and the bonus features truly are special. Recent releases include Steven Soderbergh's wildly inventive Schizopolis, David Cronenberg's fanciful adaptation of William Burrough's Naked Lunch, Yasujiro Ozu's Tokyo Story, Roman Polanski's Knife in the Water, Federico Fellini's La Strada and Jean-Pierre Melville's Le Cercle Rouge.
Maybe it was the wet suit
With the financial success of Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, bombshell Angelina Jolie established herself as an up-and-coming action star, despite critics not being all that impressed. But the sequel, Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life, directed by Jan de Bont (Twister, Speed), managed to disappoint both critics and audiences. Filmed in several wonderfully scenic locations, Cradle of Life required Croft to find Pandora's Box before it could be turned into a weapon of mass destruction. That's right: Pandora's Box. Why not Jimmy Hoffa? Despite Lara's unlikely quest, Cradle of Life should do just fine in DVD.