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

Lord of the Rings is one of my favorite movie series of all time, and this BluRay version is absolutely gorgeous. First a couple of technical comments about the BluRay version (I have the Extended DVD version of LOTR as well): 1. Each movie is split into two BluRay discs for a simple reason - this allows for a lower degree of compression so that the native resolution and visual quality of the movies can be better maintained. The resolution is especially important if your system has the software to tweak the sharpness and color settings and your screen has a higher resolution than the native 1080p of the BluRay (I watch all my movies on my desktop computer with 30inch 1900 x 1200 native resolution monitor). The result is an outstanding degree of sharpness (without graininess) throughout the movie - better than I can get for my "Avatar" BluRay. I can see every hair and skin cell, it seems, in the close-up shots! 2. Regarding the comments from others about the "green" tint in this BluRay - it must be your BluRay player. I have not had any problems, but then, the video quality of my computer system can be adjusted at three levels - the monitor, the Nvidia graphics card, and the video playing software. 3. Despite the sharp increase in resolution, there are surprisingly few CGI or other glitches visible. Almost certainly, somebody went through this movie with a fine tooth comb to clean up the high resolution details. I only noticed a few minor glitches still - Isildur's scene at the beginning where he puts on the ring and vanishes still looks like it was shot in front of a green screen (there's a subtle mismatch between his lighting and coloring and that of the background), the Army of the Dead move a bit too CGI whenever they ride out in a horde, and at the end, where the pirate ships have an unnatural looking interface with the water. Now for some thoughts about LOTR and this movie series: It has long been apparent that Tolkien based LOTR on the history and mythology of Great Britain and Europe. And so it finally dawned on me one day that Numenor spelled backwards is "Ronemun" a near-anagram for "Roman", and the Numenoreans must indeed have been the Romans who invaded Middle Earth/Great Britain. The serial invasions of Britain by various European peoples and the themes of constant warfare, and of existing people being displaced by new peoples are integral to both LOTR and the history of Great Britain. History is written by the victors and the losers are invariably demonized in those accounts. And so today the Romans are remembered in much the same light as the noble Numenoreans of LOTR and their enemies remembered as savages. It is worth noting that despite their frequent portrayal as the Founders of Modern Western European Civilization, the Romans slaughtered and enslaved millions in their conquests and displaced vast numbers of peoples. It is thus possible to see that buried beneath the themes of good vs. evil in LOTR is the deeper story of human evolution through eternal warfare. Were the Wildmen of Dunland truly evil? Or were they just fighting to regain their lands taken from them by the Numenoreans and Rohirrim? The true story of Queen Boudica and the Iceni versus the Romans comes to mind here. Were the Orcs and Goblins and Uruk-hai truly deformed, evil monsters? Or were they just coexistent species of near-humans, fighting for their right to exist in Middle Earth? We know now that the line that became modern humans evolved alongside many other side branches of near-humans in what surely must have been a Darwinian death struggle. Are the myths of such monsters merely a racial memory from human pre-history? As I watch this wonderful movie series once again, I do see things in a different light. I had just finished HBO's "Game of Thrones" series, which also featured Sean Bean, in a another role as a sword wielding nobleman. Both stories are set in similar fantasy worlds based on Medieval-era Europe, but their story themes are quite different. LOTR has a simple linear plotline detailing the triumph of good over evil. You know the good guys will remain good guys, the bad guys are utterly evil, and then there are those few in between who struggle with being on one side or the other. The good guys win in LOTR, those in between who fail to overcome the temptations of evil are destroyed, evil is destroyed, and everybody who is good goes on to live happily ever after, although not all stay in Middle-Earth. Having created such powerful forces of evil in his tale, to accomplish that happy ending, Tolkien had to resort to several deus ex machina plot devices to save the overwhelmed good guys - the charge of Eomer's Riders straight into the long pikes of the Uruk-hai to save Helm's Deep (not likely to be successful in the real world), the Great Eagles to save Gandalf and Frodo/Sam, and the Army of the Dead to save Gondor. "Game of Thrones" is very different, none more so than the character of Sean Bean, who plays a thoroughly decent, honest, and good man, and yet comes to an untimely end. Who is good and evil in this tale cannot be so easily sorted out, as everyone has a different agenda, and it is just a mass free-for-all struggle for power and survival. The few who appear to be truly good in this tale get crushed in the struggle. History and life are indeed more like "Game of Thrones" than LOTR. But in my heart, I still love LOTR more than something like "Game of Thrones", which although fascinating to watch, makes me squirm. LOTR remains closer to an idealized fantasy myth world. There are some things I wish for, though. I wish Saruman could have had a chance to tell his tale, of why he chose the path of science and industrialization (which after all is what produced technology like this BluRay movie), why he chose to ally himself with these species of near-humans and breed the Uruk-Hai. I wish the Wildmen and the Easterlings had a chance to tell their tale, for surely they had reasons to ally themselves with Saruman and Sauron. There are hints of this back story in the Appendices and other works of Tolkien, but only hints. There is another tale to be told there, I'm sure.

This is NOT the review of the movies. I am solely reviewing the facts that what EXTRA you get in this set than the previous editions. I will start with very basic facts for those who are baffled by so many editions being out there. The basic facts- LOTR series has basically two types of movies- a) Theatrical and b) Extended, each edition are available in both-DVD and Blu ray format. Extended versions of the movies have humongous amount of extra film footage added to the theatrical editions (approx. 30, 40 and 50 additional minutes for movie 1, 2 and 3 respectively). So, go for the extended editions only if you are a die hard fan of the movies. If you are not, the review ends here. Buy whichever movie you like in your preferred format and enjoy. Thanks. FOR LOTR FANS- Let's get straight to-the-point. Now, many of you may as well own the DVD versions of LOTR (Either Theatrical or Extended ot both), and if you are trying to make a decision whether to spend more money on this blu ray extended, here is the comparison- Extended DVD set- For each movie they have 4 discs (2 movie discs and 2 extra features); So total 12 discs. Sound is DTS ES 6.1, which is significantly better than regular dolby digital. This set is probably the most gorgeous I have ever seen for any DVD. Colorful and feature packed, it stands out in your entire collection. Extended Blu ray set- For each movie they have 5 discs (2 movie blu ray discs, 2 extra feature DVDs and 1 behind the scene DVD). So, total 15 discs. Audio is spine chilling DTS HD 6.1 and it has the all the betterments of blu ray (HD pic, HD sound, BD live). Also, blu ray set includes the Digital copy of the Extended Versions of all three movies (Standard definition, not HD). The set itself is a delight, with a sturdy golden cardboard package that is durable and beautiful. The remastering of these movies have been handled excellently and with respect to both picture and sound, this one is SIGNIFICANTLY BETTER THAN THE DVD. The GOOD (Blu ray set over DVD set): 1. Video and Audio significantly improved. Excellent blu ray transfer. I have not noticed any 'darker' colors as mentioned by some other viewers. 2. Blu ray set has THREE EXTRA DVDs (Behind the Scene for each movie) apart from the 2 extra feature DVDs. 3. Blu ray set has Digital copies of Extended versions of all three movies. 4. They did not waste a DVD for digital copy. You download them straight from the server. 5. Digital copies are great downloads and super easy. Together, it's almost 10 GB download, which was overwhelming for me. The NOT-SO-GOOD: 1. Extra feature DVDs (2 for each movie) are the SAME as those of DVD editions. In fact, the DVDs are identical when I do head-to-head comparison. These DVDs are pulled straight from the older DVD editions, nothing new added there. 2. The overall appearence of the set is not as beautiful as the DVD sets. This one is excellently packed though, lacks the colours of the DVD set. 3. Extra feature discs are DVDs and not Blu rays. FINAL VERDICT- If you own the extended DVD set, then buy this only if you want to have a great improvement in pictutre and sound quality. The only extra features you get is 'behind the scenes' DVDs. All other extra feature DVDs (total 6 of them) will be a duplication of what you already own in Extended DVD set. Actually, I noticed that all the extra feature DVDs here are from the various older DVD editions. The two DVDs are from the Extended DVD set, and the one 'behind the scene' is probably pulled from the limited editions of LOTR (the double sided DVDs that New Line Cinema released sometimes back). However, if you do not own the DVD versions, then this is a must buy as this includes almost everything that you can think of (HD movies, extra features, behind the scenes, plus digital copies). UPDATE 1: Also check the images I uploaded which may help make the comparison. UPDATE 2: Thanks for all those who marked this review as helpful. As you are interested in LOTR, I guess at some point you'll consider purchasing "Hobbit" as well. I have recently written reviews for those, hope you find them useful too. Comments are welcome! Thanks again! UPDATE 3: DIGITAL COPIES: When I purchased the set back in 2011, the set came with complimentary digital copies. Nevertheless, the later editions do not seem to have digital copies with them (hence the lower price I guess). Please verify the product information closely before making a purchase. Thanks!

This review is for the Blu-ray extended edition of LOTR. Get it, get it, get it!!! I could stop there, but I'll flesh out this recommendation a bit. First, there seems to be some debate between getting the Blu-ray edition or the DVD edition. In terms of the quality of picture, if you have a good Blu-ray player that upscales DVDs well, the picture image is pretty comparable. Unfortunately, not all B/R players are created equal, and some don't upscale as well as others. If you can relate to this: "The desirability of my player's upscaling capabilities rate right up there with rat phlegm!" then you should definitely consider getting the B/R edition rather than settling for poorly upscaled DVDs. My player, however, does a great job at upscaling, and with that in mind, I have to give a slight nod to the B/R disks. It's close, but B/R edges out DVD by a rat's whisker ("Man, this guy's obsessed with rats!"). One could argue the difference is all in my mind, but I see the B/R edition picture as slightly cleaner and more vibrant than the upscaled DVD. The great news is, if a huge price difference existed between B/R and DVD editions, I would have to lean towards sparing the almighty dollar and going with a wildly less expensive DVD version. But the prices are so comparable now ($69 for B/R, $59 for DVD,) that unless you really don't have $10 extra bucks to spare, I strongly suggest you invest in the B/R edition. In my opinion, the modest improvement between B/R and good, upscaled DVDs is worth the few extra dollars. Regarding the issue with "greenish hue" and overall "darkness" of picture quality, particularly on the Two Towers disks, when I made my purchase, Amazon had a note on the product page saying it was temporarily suspending its own sales of the B/R set due to complaints about these issues. I purchased from a 3rd party seller, and I'm esctatic to report that the images on all B/R disks are pristine and just as they should be. It looks like Amazon simply had a defective stock of product. I notice their disclaimer message has been removed. Presumably, this means they replaced the faulty stock with good product, so I would not hesitate to order through Amazon on that account. If you're still leery of the Amazon connection and think they may have moved your cheese ("Is he about to start talking about rats again?") the 3rd party seller I purchased through was Super Fast DVDs (Roger J. Farney). Fulfillment was done by Amazon, so Prime still applied. It was about $6 more for the B/R package, but I considered that well worth it to avoid Amazon's (then) bad batch problems. I can verify from my experience that Farney's stock of product had no technical glitches. He has a lifetime rating of 97% satisfaction, and more recently has been hitting in the 98% to 99% range. You really can't go wrong there if you're at all still concerned about the problems Amazon had. Probably other sellers have good product as well, but I chose Farney based on his satisfaction ratings, and on the fact that I got the Prime free 2 day shipping. This saved me a couple of bucks and largely offset the extra $6 he charges for the B/R edition over Amazon's price. As for the extended scenes, what can I say? They are magnificent. The theatrical release was excellent, and remained very true to Tolkien's original work. The extended material, while sometimes deviating from a strictly literal recitation of the novels, nevertheless remains true not only to the spirit of Tolkien's vision, but is internally consistent with the rest of the movies. The added material helps the story flow better than ever. It makes an already enjoyable movie experience even more enjoyable. Get this Blu-ray edition, grab your Main Squeeze, park it on the sofa with popcorn and some drinks, and prepare for a truly magical experience! May the Force be with you! (Oooops! Sorry, wrong movie...)

There have been previous attempts to tell this story by animation. All of them have been disasters. All Tolkien fans have been hoping that someone, somewhere, would come up with a believable version. Little did we realize that the someone would be as close as a human being could get to a hobbit and the somewhere would be the island of New Zealand. This version, using primarily live actors in costume and make up, brilliant model work, and much better animation for those effects that cannot be performed live, is as close to perfect as it is possible to get. Is it perfectly true to the book? No. To be totally true to the book, it would have to be at least eighteen hours longer and be broken down into nine volumes instead of three. Nobody would want that. Many beloved passages had to be left out. To those that miss these passages, I say,"Read the book." This movie complements the book well and in no way impedes your enjoyment of Professor Tolkiens brilliant writing. When Peter Jackson started making this series of movies, he actually made two versions simultaneously. The first was a shorter version for release to theaters. This version was astounding and for it he and his associates won more Academy Awards than any other animated film in history. But, at the same time, he was making an extended version for release on DVD. This version was much longer and contained character developement and incidents that would have made the film too long to endure in a theater. In addition, he prepared six "APPENDICES" telling in detail how he went about the making of the movies. The work on this extended edition began at the same time as the making of the theatrical version and continued long after its release. In fact, the final piece of extra footage was shot three days after the theatrical version had swept the academy awards. This is the version that I am reviewing. It is more expensive than the theatrical version, but it is worth every penny. The Appendices alone are worth the extra cost, and the added scenes in Rivendell, Lothlorien, and Mordor are worth twice that. you can, however, space the price out over a more reasonable time since, like the theatrical version, it is also available in three separately packaged volumns In fact, this is the way I purchased it, although I did buy all three at the same time as a combination offer from my dealer. Lets start with the most outstanding feature of both versions, the cast. These movies, more than any I have seen, give a new meaning to the word ensemble. Each actor, including the extras and stunt workers, gave a tremendous commitment to the work as a whole and gave performances that could be written down as a textbook on acting technique. Each performer gave a totally outstanding performance. To single out a single actor for special mention would be to slight a dozen others, but since we never saw his actual face, I think some separate mention should be made of Andy Sertis as gollum. Viewing the appendices, I came to realize that he delivered a performance equal to that of any other member of the cast. One scene from the appendices is especially indicative of his acting ability. Sometime after the close of principal shooting, Peter Jackson realised that he was not satisfied with the scene in Return Of The King, outside Shelob's lair, where Frodo tells Gollum that he intends to destroy the Ring. He needed a shot of Gollum's reaction, so he asked Andy over to his house and asked him to do a shot before his video camera to send to the animaters. Sitting on an english living room floor, dressed in his street clothes, and with no preparation, Andy dropped totally back into the character of Gollum and instantly nailed the shot. It became a riveting shot in the movie and was taken wholly from the expression created on peter jackson living room floor. This level of performance is typical of all the actors in the series. From well established veterans to beginners on their first film, all gave wonderful performances. For the rest of my life, as I reread the books, the imaginary picture in my mind of the characters in the book will be of the actors in this movie. Another "actor" worth special mention is the island of New Zealand in the part of Middle Earth. In every outdoor shot, the sheer beauty of the land shines through. There may be a few places in the world that could have played the part nearly as well, but none could do better. The one thing that makes the extended version more special than other "directors cut" DVDs is the appendices. From them, another story, not directly derived from the books, emerges. In this story, we see a huge group of people from many lands, many occupations, and many backgrounds coming together on a project and forming into a living network of dedication, friendship, artistic cooperation, inventiveness, and mutual respect. We find athletes, professional stuntworkers, professional artists, carpenters, modelmakers, costume makers, armorers, computer geeks, helicopter pilots, professional actors, the usual movie crew, musicians,composers, song writers, singers, martial artists, horse lovers, and a huge portion of the people of New Zealand all joining together for the single purpose of enacting a beloved story. We see them interacting with each other in ways that no one could possibly have imagined. We see them becoming close in a way that has never happened before in the history of motion pictures. In the end, we realise that there have been two fellowships of the ring. First came the nine fictional walkers who set out from Rivendell, Second came the cast and crew of these movies. The first fellowship set out in a fictional time of darkness and danger in a land torn by fear and political division with a forlorn hope to restore peace and defeat a vicious tyrant. They showed how a small group, working together with good will and faith,can save a world. The second fellowship set out with a much simpler goal. They just wanted to tell a story. They accomplished much more. They showed that despite sometimes awful conditions, strange (and sometimes nonexistant) co-workers,odd hours,and sometimes nearly fatal accidents, the workplace can be a place of trust, love, deep personal satisfaction, and a source of inspiration that can illuminate your life long after the job is done. They also showed that this thing called globalization is not terrible thing it looks like to many people. This movie was truly a global work and may well stand forth as the greatest work of art in the globalization era. The funding was American, the music was written and recorded in England,the filming was often by several crews working simultaneously at widely separated locations in New Zealand,Computer effects were happening at one studio, while models and other effects were being built in another place, and in the center was Peter Jackson connected by computer to all of it, not to mention keeping the backers happy back in Hollywood. This fellowship has shown us that people of different backgrounds, scattered far and wide across the world, can come together in cyberspace and create lasting works of fantastic beauty. It is for this vision of cooperation and accomplishment that I value this extended version. Shadows of this vision can be detected in the special features of the theatrical version, but they shine much more clearly in the extended version. Another quality of this set is the clear view it gives of the state of the art of movie making at the start of the twenty-first century. future film and art historians can regard this set of DVDs as an important document and will probably spend many pages analysing the information revealed in it. For the rest of us, we can enjoy it for what it was intended for: a masterful retelling of a grand tale from a truly brilliant storyteller.

Fifteen discs...to rule them all, and take up quite a bit of shelf space. My golly goodness is this one hell of a big box set! The Extended Editions of 'The Lord of the Rings Trilogy' have finally arrived on Blu-ray! The packaging itself is a very sturdy, metallic clasping six sided box that's as golden as can be, with light embossing only adding to its beauty. The front folds open to reveal a map of Middle Earth on the inside of the front and spine sections, with a cast shot atop the case holders. Each film in this set gets its own Blu-ray case (unlike the Theatrical Edition set), with a five disc black cased box with identical layouts on the art. The spines themselves for these titles have a very slight hint, matching the colors of the book-fashioned DVD set: blue for 'The Return of the King,' red for 'The Two Towers,' and green (how fitting) for 'The Fellowship of the Ring.' The first two discs for each film are BD50s, each with half of the film. Yes, dear fans, you'll have to get up off the couch to switch discs. Yes, I know, burning calories is the antithesis of a proper marathon viewing, I get it. However, the end result is worth said minimal strain (and, come on, you'd have to get up to switch movies anyways!). The third and fourth disc for each film contain the Appendices, the final two discs on their respective original Extended Edition DVD releases. The fifth disc in each set contains the Costa Botes documentary for the respective film. Due to the way this set sprawls out, every extra from the DVD releases can be found here, whereas the Botes documentaries were not found in the four disc book packs. The final score on this set is Blu-ray: 6, DVD: 9, where the DVDs could have all easily fit on a single BD50 disc per film (even at a maxed out DVD9, that would just be barely more than a BD25 disc, before reconfiguring and updating menu systems. Like the previous Blu-ray release, there are again Digital Copies, though this time, they're non-disc, contained on a piece of paper with URL and download code information. There is no extended/new scene indicator, as is found in some other alternate cut home video releases; however, the chapter selection for each film has single and double apostrophes next to each chapter indicating what changes are made. Each film has a booklet in its respective black case, that has a chapter selection (with additional indicator marks), as well as a spreadsheet for the supplement package. There isn't, though, any space in the black cases for anything else, whatsoever. Put in the additional paper inserts in the case (the shameless advertising, such as a Harry Potter mini-catalog...what's that about?!?), and the case will bulge and have difficulty closing. As of yet, there is no announced release date for these films individually, but it's sure to happen, just as it did for the Theatrical Editions on Blu-ray. Sound: "Three films, three DTS-HD Master Audio 6.1 mixes, one reason why this release may rule them all." The adage concerning not fixing what isn't broken applies to the audio New Line provided 'The Lord of the Rings' trilogy. In fact, I'm much more impressed with the sound this time around than I was back then, even if nothing has changed in terms of what type of mix has been provided. The entire trilogy sounds quite literally flawless, for its entire runtime. Not once in the entire viewing marathon did I have a moment where I wished some element was heftier, or some speaker had more activity. This was perhaps one of the most pleasant, accurate to the action on screen mixes I've encountered in some time. All three tracks are nothing short of splendid, with pitch perfect dynamics, wonderful directionality, constant and appropriate localization effects, superb clarity, impeccable prioritization, wonderful volume spikes, and plenty of down and dirty bass to keep the entire experience engaging, no matter how thoroughly worn out you are by the length of the material. The soundstage is constantly filled, putting you in the middle of the experience throughout the entire affair, be it in a not-so-crowded hall or a battle littered with combatants from all angles. There's never an inappropriate moment or sound, not a single hair out of place. Range is brilliantly unchecked, and the echoes found in this trilogy, there may not be any better example on this format! I loved how regularly the bass had a different kind of roar, with frequencies and potencies changing, creating a fun new experience each time there was the need for extreme power, and I loved even more the fact that not once in the entire runtime did I need to adjust the volume settings on my receiver. The sharp clangs of sword on sword, the cold thumps of bodies hitting the ground, the whizz of arrows swooping across the room at any given angle, the thunder beneath a massive creature's footstep, the haunting melodies, the sharp spikes of victorious yells and screams, the screeching of the undead, the rumble of a volcano...all part of a perfect audio experience. The Extended Editions of 'The Lord of the Rings' trilogy all earn perfect marks, with no regret or nitpicks. The most thunderous element after these three tracks played was the sound of my applause for a job more than well done. Easter Eggs There are three "easter eggs" on the Blu-ray discs, with each being found on the disc one of each film, in the supplements tab, where an entire tab is a ring. They're not exactly hidden all that well, to be frank, so putting them here is a bit of a stretch, but ah well! On the 'The Fellowship of the Ring' disc, we get a three minute SD alternate version of the council of Elrond, starring Sarah Michelle Gellar and Jack Black. This one has to be seen. It's definitely not for children. It's horribly crude, yet hilarious at times, especially the Frodo gag. On the 'The Two Towers' disc, a three minute SD MTV movie award acceptance speech is shown, as Gollum won an award for best virtual performance (tough category, that). It's pretty poor, really, but calling Dobby a %$@ing &^% is quite epic. On the 'The Return of the King' disc, there is a nine minute SD interview between Monaghan and Wood, played off as a hoax of sorts on Wood. Monaghan doesn't do a bad German, but the joke here is on us, not Wood, as it isn't all that funny. On the Appendices DVD discs, there is a symbol at the bottom of each page that is a not-so hidden link to the DVD credits. The following Easter Egg has been found by one of our readers (John Bowdle, take a bow, and thanks!): After finishing 'The Fellowship of the Ring,' watching through the end credits (or even fast forwarding through it all), you are brought back to the main menu, and if you let the screen sit for a short while, past where the audio cuts out, the menu seems to make a choice for you, the screen goes black, and Peter Jackson introduces the theatrical preview for 'The Two Towers.' Jackson says DVD, and it's in SD, so you know this is an old bit of footage from a past home video release, but a three minute HD clip of the second film, that's something, isn't it? Researching this tip further, when this trick is done to the 'The Two Towers' disc...nothing happens. I kept waiting and waiting, but after four minutes, I had enough. Since there's no way 'The Return of the King' would have a trailer for 'The Hobbit' or one of the previous two films in the series, I didn't even investigate that disc. Thanks go to reader/forum member Tiny Angel for spotting this extra. On disc two of 'The Return of the King' Blu-ray, at the black screen, select to view the main menu. From there you get a traditional menu, and another not-so-well-hidden ring in the supplements tab. This six minute MTV feature has Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, and Peter Jackson sitting down as the two actors faux-interview Jackson about making a sequel to the 'The Lord of the Rings' trilogy. It's not bad, by any means, and gets better as the runtime rolls on. Still, MTV means it panders quite a bit. [...]

CRITIQUE I once heard a Star Wars fan boy tell me that Peter Jackson ripped off George Lucas. He said, "Come on - RETURN OF THE KING?!?! Peter Jackson obviously ripped off RETURN OF THE JEDI!" I could enlighten you with the rest of the conversation, but I don't recall much else because my intelligence dropped to the ground at that very moment! In case you have been living under a rock, The Lord of the Rings has been around for quite a while. I don't wish to give the history of it. Just check the MANY documentaries that are featured on this set. It gives great detail about the books, and the man who wrote the books. But what I will do for you is remind you how much influence the books had. The Lord of the Rings certainly did not start the fantasy genre. The Wizard of Oz, maybe. The Bible, definitely! But The Lord of Rings is only 50+ plus years old. Sure, it has its AARP card handy. But it is not ancient by any means, even if it feels like it. It wasn't until the `70s when people started getting turned on by Middle Earth. It inspired many songs by Led Zeppelin and Rush. It inspired Stephen King to write his magnum opus, The Dark Tower series. It even inspired George Lucas to make a certain space opera, something fan boys don't care to admit! For many years, the talk of a movie adaptation plagued by, `it will never happen.' But as Stanley Kubrick once said: "If it can be written, or thought, it can be filmed." And Peter Jackson did both. The Lord of the Rings films are rare. For one thing, it is rare to see movie(s) as close to its source material as possible. It's even rarer to find someone that is in deep love with the source material that they are adapting. There was a lot of fear that these films could fail. But it did the very opposite. It succeeded in ways that I am sure not even Tolkien could dream of. And even more rare, to have a trilogy that is as good from start to finish. Even the fan boy's so-called `greatest trilogy,' has its weak moments (especially anytime a certain someone goes slaphappy with the revisions! These films inspired a new era for the fantasy and epic movies to come. It also made role playing games at friend's house cool again, yearly visits to your local state's Renfest not so embarrassing, and kids to read Tolkien's classics. It made people want to revisit Middle Earth again. And I am sure these films will be beloved years from now. It goes without saying that these films also have its share of mockery. I think Kevin Smith did it best on Jay Leno (before he used that material in Clerks 2). Yes, these three films are VERY slow moving. But that's what makes them great - it doesn't rush into things or spoon-feeds the audience. It allows the characters to think and feel - and the payoff is greater when that extra amount of attention is given. THE VIDEO Lord of the Rings trilogy (all three films) is presented on two dual-layer MPEG-4 AVC video 50GB Blu-rays with 2.40:1/1080p widescreen transfers. All films are slightly darkened with some green tint (and it's very obvious with any light texture). There is some uproar with fans about the green tint. Personally, it didn't bother me. It's not like some controversial drastic change that makes you yell NOOOOOOOOO! The only real reason I decided to upgrade is the picture quality. As much as I loved my extended DVD sets, I noticed the poor picture quality as I was watching the DVDs on my widescreen TV. I don't have the biggest TV on the face of the Earth, but the resolution was noticeable. After reading the reviews with this Blu Ray set, I bought it used via Amazon. It wasn't cheap, but it wasn't too pricey either. I was out for the picture quality. I popped Fellowship into the player with no real high expectations. The few flaws with Blu Rays I noticed is dark scenes is sometimes hard to make out. The Harry Potter Blu Rays, for a good example, has a lot of dark scenes with poor resolution. Fellowship opens up with dark scenes. I was surprised with how clear it was. From the start of the New Line logo, everything is as perfect as it could possibly be. Even the LORD OF THE RINGS logo looked just right. I was in geek heaven from the getgo! One negative about the quality - the more pristine the picture looks, the more evident the blue screen `effects' look. And one little, tiny, micro, Hobbit-size nit-pick: the movies on two discs. I am not sure if it would ruin the quality, but it would have been nice to see the movie(s), it its entire, without changing discs. I am sure in the future; there will be a set like that. THE AUDIO English DTS-HD Master Audio 6.1 blasts/booms/blares/and boosts the home theater system world in ways I haven't seen (or heard) any other Blu Ray title I own has. Compared to my DVD sets, this set is louder, crisper, and better all ways around. Worth cranking it up! THE EXTRAS Take my word for it, this set is loaded! Everything from the extended DVD sets is ported here. They are on DVD discs though. The only Blu Rays is the movies themselves. I don't care! And I'll be honest; I never really went through the entire special features on my extended DVD sets. Maybe I should make an effort this time. The only other nit-pick I have is a few extra bonus materials that would have been nice to see. No, not the theatrical cuts (don't really care for that! But it would have been nice to see the 70s animated films included on this set. I am sure that is a studio issue, though. Also would have been cool to see Neil Peart, Robert Plant, Stephen King, George Lucas, J.K. Rowling, and many others talk about the influence Lord of the Rings had on them. No question Dungeons & Dragons, Magic: the Gathering and the other entire role playing games out there also have LOTR influence. But that is just micro-nit-picking. FINAL THOUGHTS Let's get this straight once and for all. This is the set to get. NOT THE STAR WARS SAGA SET! And you know why that is? I never once noticed Gandalf blurting NOOOOO at random moments, creating cringe-worthy reactions! Peter Jackson's trilogy is by far superior in its scope, its direction, and its story telling. It is based upon the very material that is beloved by many, and has inspired many. I do expect more LOTR sets to follow much like the various DVD sets. But this is it for me. I am satisfied with the picture/sound quality. And with the gazillion hour's worth of bonus material, there really isn't much else they can do to these movies, other than maybe adding unnecessary scenes or dialogue! Who knows? Maybe in 20 years, Peter Jackson will get bored and add NOOOOOOOO to random scenes!

This is what I have been waiting anxiously and impatiently for such a long time. It has seemed like an eternity at times, but the precious is here! I was little worried about the quality of Fellowship of the Ring after reading and seeing some of the comments and screen caps floating around the internet, especially in regards to the "green filter" being applied to Fellowship of the Ring. I should have known it was just nitpicking and closet movie dullards trying their very best to create a wave a controversy. People, there is absolutely zero reason to be worried. The Extended Edition of Fellowship of the Ring is the most pristine and dazzling that I've ever seen the movie, including multiple times at different theaters in the past. It's much ado about, well, nothing. As I was watching Fellowship of the Ring, my eyes kept gawking and gazing at the fine details and rich colors on the screen. This is the best you will ever see the Fellowship of the Ring look, there is no bones about that whatsoever. I was dancing around like Smeagol at Mount Doom when he captured the ring from Frodo - the Extended Edition Blu-ray of Lord of the Rings delivers in spades. The main gripe that the internet kiddies are harping over is director's intent, and in this case Peter Jackson signed off on these and Warner Brothers has already released an official statement. I haven't the foggiest notion what people are expecting, but this Extended Edition of Lord of the Rings looks absolutely phenomenal on my 55" Sony HX701, using either a PS3 or Samsung BD-P1600. I think in some cases, people are using inferior displays or just joining up with the loud-mouthed minority to be "e-cool". Whatever the reasons or motives, I find it to be a pathetic collective of lemmings. At any rate, that's enough for me about that nonsense and the war band of wannabe Hollywood directors up in arms. As I said, Fellowship of the Ring looks completely pristine, with rich and varied colors, and the fine details that capture your imagination. In regards to The Two Towers and Return of the King, they were already "ok" with the theatrical versions on Blu-ray - but the Extended Edition of all three movies was given extra TLC and it shows. I found The Return of the King to be a reference quality disc on the Extended Editions, as in one of the very best movies that Blu-ray has to offer in order to showcase a high-definition movie. Your jaw will be slack and your eyes wide open when you watch this trilogy of extended editions on Blu-ray. The new transfers and changes are sublime, and worth every penny. I'm in Peter Jackson and Andrew Lesnie's camp and have found their vision and presentation of the Extended Editions to be a visual smorgasbord of pure euphoria - especially to the Lord of the Rings fans out there. In terms of the visual palette: rich, deep blacks are apparent, the colors are saturated and 'pop', contrast is spot on, the details from top to bottom will be like watching these movies for the very first time again. I'd liken it to a religious experience if you're a Tolkien fan (which I very much am). Audio: Be ready to make your eardrums bleed - seriously. With a nice or adequate sub and speaker setup, the sound, music, and dialogue of this Extended Edition will make your chair and mind rumble. They knocked it out of the park with the audio quality as well. Overall: a stunning high-definition trilogy. Kudos to Peter Jackson and Andrew Lesnie, Middle Earth has never looked so amazing and vivid. For any Lord of the Rings fans out there, put simply, this is something that you must own.

LIke many other reviewers, I have already reviewed the theatrical releases of each film, so I will concentrate on the value of the additions and of the "extras" CDs. First and foremost, the time added to the theatrical edits is remarkable, from 20 minutes for "Fellowship" to an hour for "Return". The value of the additions will depend a lot on how well you know the books. Since I have read LOTR about ten times, there was nothing new for me, and neither of the two "big" scenes cut from the book (Tom Bombadil and the Scouring of the Shire) are in the extensions. So, if you are not familiar with the novel, the added scenes will be a genuine treat. (By way of comparison, the 18 minutes added to "Avatar" made a huge addition for me, since it was all new material.) Very few of the added scenes are outtakes. Most were shot especially to add those scenes to flesh out the story. I know of one exception, which was the short scene at the gates of Mordor where Aragorn and Gandalf parley with "the mouth of Sauron". I looked forward to that scene, because "the mouth of Sauron" was played by Australian actor, Bruce Spence (of Mad Max fame).The scene was removed from the theatrical cut because "the mouth of Sauron" was suggesting that Sauron had aquired the ring, but the viewing audience new the ring was still safe. If I were disappointed with anything, it would be that nothing of substance was added to break up the long, long, long winding down from the distruction of the ring to the last scene as the elven ship departs from the Grey Havens. That was the climax, immediately followed by three or more denouments, depending on how you count them. This is where that hour would have fit nicely, since that is exactly what it does in the book. It inserts one last dramatic chapter near the end, where there is some suspense and a chance that things can still become unravelled for the four hobbits. For someone intimately familiar with the story, the greater value was to be found in the documentaries on the third and fourth disks for each film. As I watched each of these in turn, I was simply floored by the size of the crews working on all different aspects, from art, design, planning, costumes, props, set construction, miniatures, life size bodies (especially a lifesize figure of an Oliphant (mumakil) corpse for the battle of Pelannor Fields. And, that battle was even longer than in the theatrical release, which (since I just now checked) is far, far longer than the description in the novel. It was astounding to see that some people, such as artists, costumers, model makers, and CGI crews spent up to seven years on the film. The main actors spent close to 2 years in New Zealand, including extra shots for the extended edition. The level of detail, to capture a very small effect, is remarkable. The costumes of the principle characters, most especially Theoden, were so elaborate, they had detailed designs on the inside, which you could not even see. There were two men who spent over two years doing nothing but making chain mail vests out of small rings of plastic pipe. Lots of people worked 12, 14, 16, and 18 hour days. One lead CGI artist spend his whole 2 week Christmas holiday constructing the computer model of Barad-dur, so that it could realistically be destroyed. The job of the principal actors, especially those who appeared in all three films, seemed akin to spending a year in a Marine boot camp, and John Rhys DAvies had it the worst, as he was allergic to his prosthetics covering his face. In a dramatic scene, where Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas are running after Merry and Pippin in Rohan, all three, Mortenson, Rhys Davies, and Bloom were injured in some way, but they soldiered on to keep the shooting on schedule. The coordination of documentary segments from film to film was well done, as each one begins with the way Tolkien conceived of the story in each book, how design was done, how sets, costumes, and props were made, and how each was shot. I was floored when I saw the size of some of the sets. For Helm's deep, virtually the whole fortress was built, in a quarry, which looked a lot like the Middle Earth terrain. The grandest set was Minas Tirith. It was the largest film set ever built in the southern hemisphere. By the time I finished watching all the work that went into the films, I found it delightful to relive the moment at the Academy Awards when Stephen Spielberg opened the envelope for best picture and said "It's a clean sweep."