The first time I saw The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring I was on the edge of my seat and completely lost in the world that director Peter Jackson had created. Elements of whimsy, desperation, epic storytelling, and immense passion took hold of me for three solid hours. I never once looked away from the screen, never once wondered about the time. I was genuinely captivated and amazed by what I saw. This is epic storytelling at its best.

The second time I viewed the film in the theater, some of the intensity and awe had worn off. But that didn’t make the film any less compelling. I was now able to make some sense out of the story’s intricate mythology and draw distinctions between a host of similar-sounding names and places. For instance, I finally realized that it was Aragorn and not Boromir who was heir to Gondor, and it was the spirit of Sauron who was the all-seeing "eye" wrapped in its wreath of flame. Still, I had much to learn compared to those who could confidently strike up a conversation in Elvish. Lucky for me the DVD was released.

The absence of a DTS-encoded soundtrack had me worried at first (it likely was deleted in order to put the lengthy film on a dual-layer disc). But such worries vanished immediately after the film’s opening battle sequence. I’m not sure what the folks at Dolby have been up to, but the detail and dynamics of this Dolby Digital effort could pass for DTS. Bass and LFE impact are especially impressive, and did a thorough job scaring both my wife and me throughout the film. The detailed transfer also brings out subtleties in the soundtrack that weren’t apparent during the theatrical experience. A first-class effort!

The special features are strictly second-class. Recycled Internet-produced interviews with the cast and crew, a shameless Houghton-Mifflin marketing campaign in the guise of a lame documentary, and a DVD-ROM section that didn’t play on my laptop or a colleague’s DVD-ROM drive make up the second features disc. No commentaries, no deleted scenes, no biographies, and no in-depth technical documentaries demonstrating and explaining the myriad of impressive special effects are offered. One can learn some interesting facts from the Internet interviews, but they’re too short to fully quench a techno-geek’s thirst. This superb film deserves better.