The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy (Extended Edition) (2001-2003)

[42041]

Originally Posted by ckocher

Am I correct in thinking that we are all judging this release on screen shots from a bootleg found on torrent sites? Common, those things are seriously downgraded.

How about we judge when screen shots from a good source come out...

No, the initial set of caps were from rips, but people have also posted shots from the discs.

[Strevlac]

Bill Hunt thought the original Gladiator looked splendid as well. He hasn't got a very critical eye, to say the least.

[Todd Smith]

Originally Posted by Romansh

Do you know if that's part of the bonus features found on the 9 DVDs?

I am assuming it is part of the bonus features that have been available for years on the DVDs (and now the blu rays which are still on DVDs as you mention), but dont know for sure.

[mrpink134]

Originally Posted by Todd Smith

No comment............Not getting banned again. Shoot me a PM if you want my take/opinion.

I am just asking questions as far as the video goes and I am open to discuss it.......what is your take on it?

I do trust reviewers like Bill hunt and K Brown. One down, one to go. I really don't care to much for screen caps. I will judge on my own when I have the movie in hand. IMO there is no reason to be a FDQ about the movie until the person see's it.

[Todd Smith]

Originally Posted by frogmort

It sounds to me like Todd is trying to have a polite discussion about his opinions. It also sounds like mrpink is trying to rile him up.

Not taking mrpinks bait.......learned my lesson from last time! I am trying to have a polite discussion (thanks) about the video and would like to hear other opinions on it besides my interpretation.

Originally Posted by mrpink134

I do trust reviewers like Bill hunt and K Brown. One down, one to go. I really don't care to much for screen caps. I will judge on my own when I have the movie in hand. IMO there is no reason to be a FDQ about the movie until the person see's it.

I have never found a reviewer that I agree with 100% of the time, but some are better than others from what I usually see/hear in my HT.

[MerrickG]

Originally Posted by Strevlac

Bill Hunt thought the original Gladiator looked splendid as well. He hasn't got a very critical eye, to say the least.

Ok, you are outright LYING with your statement and I am going to call you out on it.

THIS is what he said:

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/review...ews083109.html

Originally Posted by Bill Hunt from original Gladiator bluray review

With that in mind, I've obtained a copy of the release for detailed examination. Upon first glance, and as expected, the HD presentation quality of Gladiator isn't as bad as some online would have you believe. Color and contrast are fine at all times. The problem is with the level of detail. The vast majority of the film has a slightly digital-looking quality to it, and there's clear edge-enhancement "haloing" visible. The extended edition scenes, however, look fine - no halos, no digital patina - they're very natural looking. If the whole film looked like the extended scenes, we wouldn't be having this conversation. What it looks like to me (though it's impossible to be sure, obviously), is that someone at Universal (keep in mind, it's Universal that controls the Gladiator assets for DreamWorks - not Paramount), decided to reuse the digital master of older, sub-par HD transfer. Likely it was state of the art for its day, but obviously it's a far cry from the quality of new HD transfers done today. One of the biggest problems is that until fairly recently, video mastering engineers were still applying edge-enhancement to their digital masters knowing that they were going to be used ultimately for standard-definition DVD release, and also analog VHS and laserdisc. It took the mastering community a long time to break the habit. In this Gladiator transfer, you can see edge-enhancement in the image. It's also clear that the master has been digitally-filtered to reduce the haloing and other artifacts - the signs of DNR are not hard to miss. That's in contrast to the extended edition scenes, which were transferred in HD more recently and so look much better. They're still not quite up to the latest standards, but they look far superior to the rest of the film and there's no edge-enhancement or obvious filtering visible. The footage simply looks natural - as it should. There's been some talk of DNR being so excessive that, for example, arrows and fireballs disappear from one frame to the next. This IS an issue, but the fact is that when you watch the image in full motion it's not something you really notice. The arrow or fireball is highly visible in one frame, less so in the next, more so in the third, etc. You still detect the object in motion, so you don't go, "Oh my god, that fireball just disappeared!" DNR is a problem, but it's not as serious as the overall lack of quality of the master itself. The overall image just looks generally too digital and lacking in fine detail. Audio-wise, the DTS-HD MA track is excellent - the soundstage is big and wide, the clarity and bass are excellent, panning is smooth and natural. The sound is as good as you'd hope and expect.

Don't go spreading lies about people and saying that they said things that they didnt. NOTHING in there says that it looks or even comes close to implying that it looks "splendid"

[MEB]

Originally Posted by Todd Smith

Interesting video posted over on AVS about the color grading on these films............

YouTube - ‪LOTR Digital Color Grading Part 1 of 2‬‏

Check out the comparison shots starting at ~2:20......dont these ungraded images look familiar as far as what we are seeing with this EE FOTR blu ray? The shot at 2:40 is most revealing. Look at the "ungraded" sky in the shots at 2:28, 2:35 and 2:40........I dont know about you, but I sure like my skies blue which happens in the graded shots as opposed to the ungraded shots (which appear to have a green tint by chance). It sure seems to me that many of these "approved" shots are simply ungraded shots which screams lazyness as far as the new blu ray transfer. If I am reading/interpreting this wrong somebody explain it to me.

VERY interesting video. I agree that the ungraded images look similar to what we are seeing in the EE screen caps and videos.

Starting at about 3:47 in the video there is discussion of intentionally adding a golden hue to the scene at Hobbiton. That golden hue is what we see in the theatrical Blu-ray of LOTR versus the much greener hue we see in the screen caps for the EE version.

I'm honestly beginning to wonder if this color-timing change truly is the way Jackson intended it or if it's just cover our asses time from the studio!

Mark

[Todd Smith]

Originally Posted by MEB

VERY interesting video. I agree that the ungraded images look similar to what we are seeing in the EE screen caps and videos.

Starting at about 3:47 in the video there is discussion of intentionally adding a golden hue to the scene at Hobbiton. That golden hue is what we see in the theatrical Blu-ray of LOTR versus the much greener hue we see in the screen caps for the EE version.

I'm honestly beginning to wonder if this color-timing change truly is the way Jackson intended it or if it's just cover our asses time from the studio!

Mark

Agreed. Like I said, 3rd time will be the charm for FOTR unless we can get a disc exchange for this set after they put in the graded shots.

[frogmort]

I'm still holding out hope that the illegal Chinese, or whatever(no offense), 'filesharing' copy that was being talked about beforehand, and the screencaps we've seen from those, are not what most of us will be getting.

Even if this is legitimate, there could still be a regional problem. Maybe what Bill Hunt saw was completely different than the rip we've been looking at.

[Rik1138]

Originally Posted by marvinski

what no spanish or french subs!?

Look at the information on the Blu-ray.com. Where do you live?
US Release:
https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-L...Blu-ray/12237/
Canadian release:
https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-L...Blu-ray/21826/
German release:
https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-L...Blu-ray/22139/
And the Asian/Thailand release mentioned previously with the Korean, Chinese, Polish, etc subtitles... (That seems to be the one leaked on the internet)

Europe is being released by another company, I have no info on their release. The audio/subtitle information in the links above comes from the ACTUAL DISCS. Not a press release, not Amazon.com or WBshop.com, or an internet download, but the actual discs themselves.

[Rik1138]

Originally Posted by frogmort

I'm still holding out hope that the illegal Chinese, or whatever(no offense), 'filesharing' copy that was being talked about beforehand, and the screencaps we've seen from those, are not what most of us will be getting.

Even if this is legitimate, there could still be a regional problem. Maybe what Bill Hunt saw was completely different than the rip we've been looking at.

The Chinese version is an official WB release (obviously, a pirated version). It looks the same as the US release, which is most likely what Bill was reviewing.

[Romansh]

Originally Posted by Todd Smith

I am assuming it is part of the bonus features that have been available for years on the DVDs (and now the blu rays which are still on DVDs as you mention), but dont know for sure.

Right - I know the DVD bonus features aren't new. But I've never bought any of the extended edition DVD sets, so I really don't know what is and what isn't there. Hopefully someone can clarify it for us.

[mrpink134]

Originally Posted by MEB

VERY interesting video. I agree that the ungraded images look similar to what we are seeing in the EE screen caps and videos.

Starting at about 3:47 in the video there is discussion of intentionally adding a golden hue to the scene at Hobbiton. That golden hue is what we see in the theatrical Blu-ray of LOTR versus the much greener hue we see in the screen caps for the EE version.

I'm honestly beginning to wonder if this color-timing change truly is the way Jackson intended it or if it's just cover our asses time from the studio!

Mark

I have a question why would Peter Jackson have to cover WB ass? He is doing the Hobbit which will make WB a shit load of money. Maybe Jackson did want to change the color? Bill Hunt did confirm that Jackson was involved.

[Todd Smith]

Originally Posted by frogmort

I'm still holding out hope that the illegal Chinese, or whatever(no offense), 'filesharing' copy that was being talked about beforehand, and the screencaps we've seen from those, are not what most of us will be getting.

Even if this is legitimate, there could still be a regional problem. Maybe what Bill Hunt saw was completely different than the rip we've been looking at.

That would be so awesome and I hope that happens as well!

[frogmort]

Originally Posted by mrpink134

I have a question why would Peter Jackson have to cover WB ass? He is doing the Hobbit which will make WB a shit load of money. Maybe Jackson did want to change the color? Bill Hunt did confirm that Jackson was involved.

I honestly don't really know how all this works, but I could pretty much guarantee you that if there is a problem, it would be handled internally.
From the one review that we have, it should be great.

[horizonline]

Originally Posted by mrpink134

I have a question why would Peter Jackson have to cover WB ass? He is doing the Hobbit which will make WB a shit load of money. Maybe Jackson did want to change the color? Bill Hunt did confirm that Jackson was involved.

Directors and studios are chivalrous when it comes to making mistakes.

[mrpink134]

Originally Posted by horizonline

Directors and studios are chivalrous when it comes to making mistakes.

Again he is doing the Hobbit in all likely will be a top grossing movie WB would ever have! So why would he cover WB ass? Would they fire him from the hobbit if he says WB screwed up the color? I doubt that.

[Post Prod]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Post Prod, to enlighten folks (if you do feature films rather than TV series, commericals or music videos and such), you should tell folks in your experience, for the number of hours you spend on coloring a project, what % of the time is the Director, DP or any representation of the film actually present in the DI suite. I think the info would blow their minds.

Heh, much less than people think would be a tremendous understatement.

[horizonline]

Originally Posted by mrpink134

Again he is doing the Hobbit in all likely will be a top grossing movie WB would ever have! So why would he cover WB ass? Would they fire him from the hobbit if he says WB screwed up the color? I doubt that.

That's not what I meant. Anyone who knows me knows that I have used that line for decades. I meant why he wanted to do it, not what the consequences would be.

[frogmort]

Originally Posted by mrpink134

Again he is doing the Hobbit in all likely will be a top grossing movie WB would ever have! So why would he cover WB ass? Would they fire him from the hobbit if he says WB screwed up the color? I doubt that.

Because they are now legally in 'cahoots' with one another.

(sorry for the technical terms)