Imagine it: Peter Jackson's Middle-earth masterpiece released as a director's cut with 30 minutes of additional footage and an expanded musical score. It's enough to make a hobbit choke on his ale.

Re-edited by Jackson, who claims the scenes were cut purely for "pace and momentum", this special edition might not offer any story developments, but it does add some wonderful embellishments.

Some of the scenes are simply extended versions of those in the original while others, like Aragorn's mournful campfire song, are completely new. Our favourite is the moment when Gimli (John Rhys-Davies) falls in love with Galadriel (Cate Blanchett) and asks her for one of her hairs as a keepsake.

DVD Extras:

With six hours of new documentaries and featurettes, multiple commentaries, interactive maps, interviews and on-set footage, this four-disc box-set is the DVD to rule them all. Highlights include Jackson's story of tracking down the Tolkien artists John Howe and Alan Lee, computer storyboards of the Stairs Of Khazad-dûm sequence, and interviews with the production designers.

Jackson is one of the first filmmakers in the world to fully grasp the potential of the DVD format, saving and documenting everything for this moment. Forget the two-disc set out a couple of months ago - the Collector's Box-set is one of the most comprehensive DVDs on the market and a benchmark for all future releases. We'd sell our granny to a Balrog for it.