Since 1977, I have read, re-read and watched every Tolkien product. As soon as the extended versions were available, I bought them. Now, having it to stream on my prime video page is easiest. But like most Tolkien fans, having two copies of the professor's books (Hardback and paperback) and movies (DVD and digital) is normal. As for the content of the movie itself: I love it, and all of them. The added scenes make a big difference to me.

This is an extended version of Return of the King. The movie is spread across 2 discs and has extra scenes that were cut from the original. The last 2 discs are full of extras. Each part of the trilogy had a theme. The first was about the costs the Fellowship of the Ring would suffer on their quest to destroy the Ring. The second was about not giving up hope. This the third was whether the Fellowship could overcome the power of the Ring and complete their task. The dangers is laid out with a story of how Smeagol found the Ring and turned into Golem. It was a warning of what the Ring could do to Frodo.

Out of the three extended versions of the Lord of the Ring trilogy this is by far the best one. The cut scenes really fill out the story and have some great images to them. For instance, there’s a scene about what happened to Saruman after his defeat in the last movie. In the other two movies the additions were nice and interesting but not essential. This one is actually better than the original release.

I love the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy of 2002-2004, and this film ties up the loose ends. It's well-done and exciting. The ending scenes seem to drag on a bit too much for my liking, but I may be in the minority of opinion on that topic.
This film, like its predecessors, shows off the gorgeous scenery of New Zealand in its "Middle Earth" guise, with the Misty Mountains, Fangorn Forest, Hobbiton, Rohan and Gondor all featured. Characters from the second film become more developed. Large battle scenes with myriad beings involved are featured as the story reaches its climax.

I love this movie, and while owning it on DVD as time passes it becomes harder and harder to find ways to watch the physical edition. So naturally the answer is to buy it digitally, and for quarter the price I paid for it years ago. Sadly though you do not get all the additional features, such as director's commentary, deleted/behind the scenes, etc. I mean the original extended edition came on 4 DVDs. While disappointing I understand this, and the first two films make up for this by having the actors and Trivia data, normally covered by Peter Jackson for the director's cut, show when moused over or the movie is paused. Sadly the third and final movie does not do this - instead they just lump all the actors and all the trivia together and it does not change to follow the movie as it plays. After the Fellowship and Two Towers did so, I feel disappointed that they opted not to continue this attempt to make up for the lost content. But I cannot deny how great this movie is, nor argue that even this would have prevented me from buying it.

These are not simple fantasy movies. Return of the King is a film about love, friendship, duty, and the extraordinary lengths we will go to defend the people and places most dear to us. You can feel the human condition expressed differently in each character, and the desperation created during the bitterness of war. Tolkien wrote these themes following his service in WWI, and they are portrayed so vibrantly in these films that you can get a true understanding of where his mind was when he wrote the books.

So many extras! I have spent an immense amount of time rewatching this and the extras. LotR is brilliantly done by Peter Jackson. Too bad he hadn't had the time and control to do the same with the Hobbit which I haven't even watched the last part yet. If I had told any of my past selves that a hobbit movie would come out and I didn't want to see it even for free I'd be sure that my present self was telling a cruel lie.

I purchased this for two reasons. I wanted a digital copy of this version, and I liked the cover art. When I searched for a digital copy, this version kept coming up. I liked the cover art, so that was a bonus. When it arrived (on time and well packaged, so kudos to seller), I was saddened to open and find no digital code. Two discs for each half of the movie. I would like to be able to watch this film without having to change discs halfway through. I already had the DVD and blu ray versions of the extended films from when each was initially released.

The extended versions of these are THE ONLY way to go. The TV versions are just too chopped up. Only problems: Peter Jackson thinking he is Tolkien, making story changes...and important action which is missing, losing important nuance. This one has many missing elements, giving short shrift to the passage through the Pathts of the Dead, the Houses of Healing, the journey home; and completely passing up the Scouring of the Shire (having killed off Saruman prematurely). Still, it was great, if hours too short. I DID like the contemporaneous telling of the stories of Frodo and Sam, alongside the battles, though.