The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy (Extended Editions)

Product Information

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring' - And so begins a journey. A journey that will cross the whole of Middle Earth, with every inhabitant affected by the crusade of the few, the proud, the Fellowship of the Ring. A journey that will take nearly ten hours time in human years, unless one pauses to take a burrito break. From the origins of the rings, to the splitting of a group of kindred spirits who set out to free the world, from humble beginnings to great expectations. It’s not a story of heroes or superheroes,” he says. “It’s a story of regular people who set out to save their world.” Head on over to The Digital Bits where they have a long, deep review of this new set worth reading. Remember, the new 4K looks stunning but requires a new 4K disc player + 4K TV. Can an equivalent set be assembled piece by piece? Let’s shop: also available in the 31-disc Middle Earth Ultimate Collector's Edition, which combines the LotR and

Warner’s new 4K Ultra HD release includes both the Theatrical Cuts and Extended Editions of each film, the former contained on a single UHD disc for each film while the latter are split over two UHD discs each. So let’s take a look at the A/V quality of each remastered film one by one…Frodo Baggins, despite being the obvious focal point of the story, isn't all that fleshed out, and he certainly isn't as prominent or in the middle of danger to the same degree he finds himself with each concurrent entry in the saga. He's still so innocent and naive here, a child, with the size and prominence to match. Besides Sauron, Saruman, and Gandalf, the only character to get real attention is Aragorn, the hidden/obscured/irrelevant king. Mortenson deserves all the praise lavished upon him (and funnily enough, he does get the most praise, more so than Wood), as he provides a career re-defining performance as the mysterious, courageous ranger. The Two Towers' - The Fellowship has disbanded, going their separate ways. Some shed of their mortal coil, others to fight the evil of Sauron's forces, to recover captured friends, while two brave hobbits venture alone towards Mordor, with the One Ring in tow. Familiar faces (David Wenham as Faramir, brother of Boromir) will act in familiar fashion, while a fallen friend will show that not even death can slow some men down. Villainous armies will rise and threaten humanity, while Saruman will threaten them further, possessing the King of Rohan, Théoden (Bernard Hill). In the darkest hour, those fighting to free the world from evil must revive treaties of old, and instill bravery in those around them to succeed. Meanwhile, the darkest creature of all, a gangly former hobbit, Gollum (Andy Serkis), threatens to destroy the plan set in motion through his treachery, and unwavering desire to be reunited with his precious, the very item Frodo has been tasked to protect until it can be destroyed.

The obvious selling point of this release is the high def debut for the fan favorite cuts of the film trilogy. On DVD, these editions were released after the Theatrical Edition DVD release of each respective film, timed to coincide with the next film to bow in theaters (while the final Extended Edition release was then released in the same time period as it would have if there were a fourth film). The films now run an epic 228 minutes, 235 minutes, and 263 minutes, with an intermission of sorts caused by the need to change discs. These breaks are located at the formation of the Fellowship, the capture of Sam and Frodo, and the appearance of the wolf's head battering ram.

Customer reviews

Oh, how I wanted to give this set my first ever five star overall score, the mark of perfection or an incredibly close near miss, a set that eclipses its competition so thoroughly that it makes even great releases look shameful. At the end of the day, I just couldn't give this set that highest of honors. The Extended Editions of 'The Lord of the Rings' are just what the fanboy in all of us desires: the films we enjoy or love, but much, much more of them. The changes in the films are mostly improvements, even with the added runtime turning an already difficult marathon into a real endurance test. split between two discs apiece. An even more lavish trilogy collection -- with the possibility of brand-new extras -- is planned for release The tremendous design work that went into the costumes, weapons and set dressing finally gets a proper showcase for the home audience; the detail and definition on these discs is superb. As with the extended DVD editions, the films have been split over two discs, so no information has been lost in compression. The result is a colorful, sublime presentation not seen since these films were in theaters, maybe not even then. The Mines of Moria. When the Fellowship enters the mines of Moria we are taken deep into caverns and tunnels where the dwarves constructed incredible mazes and halls, the depths of which have been revealed much clearer on 4k TVs. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring 4k Digital Still Audio Dolby Atmos/Dolby TrueHD 7.1 There are 15 discs in this set, five per film (two for the extended cuts and three for bonus features), plus 26 hours of bonus material. Just about the only thing it doesn't include are the original theatrical versions. If you prefer those over the extra-long extended editions, you might want to hold on to your previous set. But be aware that the versions on this set aren't just the same prints with the extra footage added in. They've been remastered, so this really is the best the three films are going to get on Blu-ray.