This is arguably the best film epic of all time. I'm a fan of the Charlton Heston films like Ten Commandments and Ben Hur. Larger than life movies with sweeping themes and a tale too big to be told in 90 minutes. Now, we have a modern movie that does this. The extra footage in LOTR is plot driven, not just excess fluff edited out for time, and deeply satisfying. Sure, you're backside is numb by the time you sit through all three, but hey, no pain no gain!The extra features are well worth the effort of watching, ESPECIALLY the piece on Golem and WETA. Plus, the antique book design of the DVD cases is rich and fits with the movies' theme.