Customer Reviews

Lord Of The Rings Trilogy (Theatrical Version) [Blu-ray]

5 star:		(583)
4 star:		(82)
3 star:		(49)
2 star:		(29)
1 star:		(405)

 

 

I'm going to go out on a limb and assume that everyone reading this already knows a good deal about the Lord of the Rings trilogy, so I won't discuss the quality of the movies in detail. Needless to say that there really is no competition between the theatrical and extended editions so far as the experience is concerned. The Extended Editions feel much more whole and complete and generally far more satisfying than the abridged theatrical version. Equal love and attention is put into the special features, which are immensely detailed and entertaining.

The main topic of debate over this release has been the quality of the video, the use of 2 discs per film, and the use of DVDs for special features as opposed to blu-ray discs.

VIDEO & AUDIO:

Fellowship - The discontent with the theatrical blu-ray for Fellowship is no secret, leading to the new transfer for this boxset. There have been videos showing the high green levels in the transfer, which has led many to write off buying this release. The bad news is that certain scenes do indeed look a little too green - weathertop and subsequent scene when Arwen arrives; Mines of Moria and a few others. There is also a higher level of orange than I remember in other scenes (i.e. Rivendell). The good news is that these are brief little bumps in the road for an otherwise brilliant video. The film finally looks high-definition with beautiful clarity and detail but without looking over digitised. It looks natural and impressive.

Two Towers & Return of the King - There is no major improvement in these films but one thing I did feel when watching the theatrical blu-rays was that the picture, though impressive, was flat somehow... although that may be my imagination. If it wasn't my imagination, then the issue has been addressed as the video seems to have more depth and warmth.

Audio - The unquestionable champion of this set is the audio quality. I had enormous expectations for Howard Shore's soundtrack, which has left me in tears on numerous occasions, and was not left disappointed (or dry eyed). The audio is incredibly detailed and dynamic. You can literally hear the brush of the leaves and trickle of water, along with the perfect soundtrack and crystal clear dialogue. Multi-layered sound effects are used appropriately and never overstated - they will highly reward any good surround system. Every aspect of the audio track is a great success, especially the dialogue, which I had always found difficult to understand in particular scenes but could understand perfectly here. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute spent with each of these terrific soundtracks.

2 DISCS PER FILM:

This issue never really bothered me, although I've always disliked the way in which the split was handled. It's not too bad for Fellowship, with disc 1 ending on the founding of the Fellowship of the Ring - a perfect mid-point. However, both Two Towers and Return of the King cut-offs are sudden and inappropriate, killing the mood and tension slightly. Unfortunately, this hasn't been fixed for this release, which is a shame but not lethal.

SPECIAL FEATURES DVDS:

Again, this is not something which really bothers me. Whilst it would be nice to have a complete set of blu-ray discs and enjoy the special features in high-definition, there is nothing which really suffers from being on a DVD. Considering the time and money that would have to be put into the transfers, I think it is best that they have been left on DVDs.

WHY FOUR STARS??:

Considering I have had nothing but praise for this set, you might wonder why I have only given it four stars. The reason is simple - the US release of this boxset was virtually identical, except that it also included digital copies of the films whereas ours does not. However, both sets are a similar price, or ours is a good £15-20 more expensive if you compare Amazon's prices. While this may have been acceptable before digital copies really came over to the UK, it is now commonplace for the more premium Blu-Ray releases to include digital copies of the film and, for the price tag, we should have been given the same treatment as our American counterparts.

CONCLUSION:

General opinion is that this boxset is still holding back a little and the full deal will be released in the next couple of years to support the release of The Hobbit movies. I obviously cannot predict whether or not that will happen but feel that, for now at least, this boxset is the best we are going to get and it is certainly 100% better than the theatrical blu-ray set. If you loved the extended editions, or haven't had the chance to see them yet, then this set shows them in all their audio-visual glory and should not be dismissed as a half-effort (lack of digital copies aside).

As soon as you receive your extended-edition box set from Amazon, I suggest you check that the second disc of Return of the King plays correctly. Mine is labelled "Part 2" but actually contains the German version of the Appendices Part 6 disc. I imagine someone messed up the duplication as others have reported this problem but so far not on Amazon.co.uk.

I hope this advice helps prevent the disbelief and disappointment that I have just experienced.

POSTSCRIPT: Both Amazon and the UK distributors responded quickly and courteously to solve this for me, so no complaints there.

I bought the original two disc version of The Fellowship of the Ring and was both miffed when the extended version came out, and disappointed at the paltry extras. I resolved to wait until this version, the complete extended version, came out before buying any more. So I've been waiting nearly two years but, boy, was it worth the wait.

There's not much I can add about the films; the extended versions are incredible, SO much better than the original versions, and stunning on a good TV/surround system. The films are so moving that I've found myself moved to tears at times by the sheer power and beauty of them, and I'm not usually prone to gushing over DVD's.

However I wanted to add that the two discs of extras with each film are equally stunning. They manage to be different for each film, and I've watched, transfixed as they take you through the incredible scale of the productions and the sheer love and craftsmanship that went into making these films.

Really, forty-five quid for these 12 DVD's represents incredible (yes I know I've used that word about 5 times) value, you really will want to watch all of them. Buy it now!

Forget the whining and the moaning. Forget it all.

Yes, we could have done with JUST the films on Blu-ray and not all the same extras, but we have them and that's that.
Yes some of the green-blue colour change/darkening in "Fellowship" seems overdone in in certain scenes or details, but most of the time these changes are in fact a vast improvement in picture quality and general aesthetics.

And quite frankly the most important thing is simply this...do the Blu-rays offer up a stunning looking, major upgrade from DVD, transfer?
And the answer is a huge and mighty OH YES!

All the films look truly stunning in the sheer amount of extra detail they offer up (backgrounds now pop with stunning clarity and pin sharp definition of even the smallest details) and often some of the depth is startling too, especially in many of the Gollum scenes.
Just take a look at the Rivendell scenes in "Fellowship", the rock/mountain/Gollum scenes in "The Two Towers" and the massive battle scenes and epic vistas in "Two Towers" and "King" and be amazed at the gorgeous detail, depth and clarity that is now revealed.

Play these (and many, many, many more) sequences next to their now flat, grey, blurred DVD counterparts and you will see that buying this Blu-ray set is as essential to any fan of the movies as breathing itself.
And all that's not even taking into account the mighty, thundering, crystal clear HD audio.

Utterly essential!

Having been alarmed by a few claims that the Fellowship of the Ring was looking a bit green-tinged I watched the whole thing as soon as the pack arrived. Honestly can't see what all the fuss is about - this film looks even more gorgeous than it did on the the extended DVDs (I resisted the temptation to buy the theatrical blu-rays). I was fearing a sickly green hue over everything (including the snow !) but the whole thing looks fantastic to me.

A fitting - and hopefully definitive - release for a true cinematic classic.

This Lord of The Rings Extended Edition Trilogy DVD set is the litmus test for which all other future DVD sets should be compared. As well as the longer versions of each film, there are literally dozens of hours of extras, from historical accounts of Tolkien's life, to production design, to story drafts, actor interviews, special effects, art design, you name it, it's here. This set is as epic as the movies.

This is the movie series of the decade, etc etc, and fabulous for New Zealand scenery, etc etc .... I specifically ordered this from Amazon UK for friends in France, assuming it would have subtitles for major European languages - but no! Be warned if this matters to you.

The first thing to note is the huge wave of negative reviews against this product which in my view is COMPLETELY unjustified. In the Product information it Clearly states that this box set is the Theatrical version of the films (so what you saw at the cinema) and not the extended edition... so there should be no reason why people should then complain about this product knowing exactly what it is at point of sale. This is the 6 disk box set with 3 blu-ray disks having the movies on them, The other 3 disks are special features and behind the scenes disks which are in DVD format not blu-ray.

At this point i will say very simply that the quality of the movies are second to none, glorious 1080p and on a big screen you WILL be blown away. Some people have said there is a green shade on the films or it's grainy in parts or the audio isn't consistent, well honestly i don't know what they are talking about as everything I've seen and heard is spot on. ALL Three films are perfect so don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

The thing i do have to say about blu-ray is because it's better than DVD you are constantly trying to find those parts that look stunning compared to their DVD counterpart i.e. the battle scene in helms deep for example. However because everything is stunning and spot on you don't find any parts that are better than others...EVERYTHING LOOKS AND SOUNDS FANTASTIC!!!

The box-set comes as pictured in the cardboard outer sleeve which is pretty standard and nothing special although it does keep the three cases inside from getting damaged.

PROS: VIRTUALLY EVERYTHING, you can't complain about the price or the quality, Audio and Cinematic are as good as they get.

CONS: The movies are in Blu-ray which is the most important part yet the three special features disks are standard DVDs (at least the movies are blu-ray)

VERDICT: For any Lord of the Rings fan this is a must, YES there is an extended version but that is well over three times the price of this box set and the quality of movies are no different only the extra scene here or there, don't forget that the extended box set features two disks per movie so you have to switch disks half way through (which to me is actually a big deal) where as with this box-set each movie is on 1 disk.

So unless you specifically want the extended edition i would HIGHLY RECOMMEND you buy this box-set as you won't regret it, on a side note it came well packaged and delivery was quick!

What can I say
A new Blu-ray player Optic to sound system
a day off work I sat down with my 18 your old daughter ( who loves it )
started watching at 8:15am ( just my lad went to school ) had lunch at 12 for 10 mins
had pizza for dinner at 4:30 with a 30 - 45 min break
finished it at 9:00 pm
What a day sound up so you can feel the floor in the battles :)

No talking
no phones ( unpluged )
no door bell ( unpluged )

It was ace the Extra is soo much better then the standard one 12 hours of play time was out of this world
and still have 26 hours of extra bits.

Best film ever and I hope you have a lord of the Rings Day too
get drink and snackes ready the day before :)

I really like these films. I watched them all in the cinema and these are the very same theatrical versions.

So, if like me you don't have 12 hours to watch a single film and you don't care to sit through 4 days of extras this is the bluray boxset for you. The movies are a steal at this price so buy them and enjoy.