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

[lkmg]

Originally Posted by Blu-Benny

went ahead and bit on amazon's deal of the day yesterday for the set.

it's going to be hard to take the dvd's i have off the shelf.....the artwork in them is so awesome.

Same here. This set is one of less than 20 DVDs I still own. And so tempted to get The Hobbit Extended Trilogy DVD boxset to complete this collection. But then, already have both in Bluray.

[Lionel Horsepackage]

Originally Posted by Blu-Benny

went ahead and bit on amazon's deal of the day yesterday for the set.

it's going to be hard to take the dvd's i have off the shelf.....the artwork in them is so awesome.

Ditto. As a Tolkien collector, I'll definitely be hanging onto them, since the packaging in all three sets is so gorgeous, but the BDs have long since replaced them in my player. But as I said, given how stupendous the EE DVDs were for their time, I'll never get rid of them.

[Geoff D]

Retained the EE DVDs here too. Such momentous releases and so gorgeously packaged.

[Lionel Horsepackage]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Retained the EE DVDs here too. Such momentous releases and so gorgeously packaged.

This. I've even retained the outer packaging-sheet (which listed the discs and their individual contents) for each EE inside the big trilogy-box. Man, those were some great discs.

[GasmaskAvenger]

It's been a decade since I seen a single LOTR movie and always wanted the Extended Editions, so I decided to splurge on that "deal of the day" discount and order the EE blu-ray set.

All I need now is the Hobbit EE blu-ray set and I can finally binge watch the entire Middle Earth saga.

I'll probably have some ultra gory splatter film on standby as a cleanser once i'm done with said binge watch.

[Lionel Horsepackage]

Originally Posted by GasmaskAvenger

It's been a decade since I seen a single LOTR movie and always wanted the Extended Editions, so I decided to splurge on that "deal of the day" discount and order the EE blu-ray set.

All I need now is the Hobbit EE blu-ray set and I can finally binge watch the entire Middle Earth saga.

I'll probably have some ultra gory splatter film on standby as a cleanser once i'm done with said binge watch.

To keep it 100% Peter Jackson-consistent, just put in Brain Dead and/or Bad Taste when you're ready.

[Petra_Kalbrain]

Originally Posted by GasmaskAvenger

It's been a decade since I seen a single LOTR movie and always wanted the Extended Editions, so I decided to splurge on that "deal of the day" discount and order the EE blu-ray set.

All I need now is the Hobbit EE blu-ray set and I can finally binge watch the entire Middle Earth saga.

I'll probably have some ultra gory splatter film on standby as a cleanser once i'm done with said binge watch.

Every year I do a LOTR EE trilogy marathon in one sitting. This year (and probably next) I will be holding off so that when I can get the HOBBIT EE trilogy at the right price ($60 or less -> currently $100 in Canada), I can do a full marathon in one sitting from start to finish without feeling burnt out.

[timcat4843]

Originally Posted by applemac

Enjoy them!
I wish I could watch these for the first time again.

Return of the King (ROTK) - I still remember going to see this and the specific theater I saw it in.


I'm not a huge fantasy genre fan, but the books and these movies are some of the best of their craft.

These will probably be the first flicks I'll watch, after installing the Crowson Tactile Transducer System, into my HT setup.
Next step will be to upgrade to Dolby Atmos.
I'm half way there, as I already have four Pioneer DA up-firing speaker modules.
Now, all I need to do is decide on which Dolby Atmos enabled receiver to purchase.
Decisions, decisions...

[Falaskan]

I've never actually had a LOTR or Star Wars marathon yet in my life like that. I feel like I should at least once lol

[Herry Dunston]

Got the blu-ray set early. Picked the no-rush shipping, received it like I selected the two-day shipping option.

Now to figure out how to get rid of you DVD set.

[timcat4843]

Originally Posted by Herry Dunston

Got the blu-ray set early. Picked the no-rush shipping, received it like I selected the two-day shipping option.

+1

I did the same exact thing that you did and got my Blu-ray set today!
The tape around the shipping box was marked AMAZON PRIME, even though I selected the free slower shipping option.

[Herry Dunston]

*rewatched The Fellowship of The Ring after some years past*

I never thought of it as my favorite of the trilogy before, but now I've grown much more fond of the first film. Especially after coming to grasp on the individual fellowships with their backstory and motivation, and ESPECIALLY having a retroactive effect from watching The Hobbit trilogy. For all the padded flaws the prequel trilogy has burdened, had I not see it, I would still see Gimli's despair in the Mines of Moria with apathy on a tint of confusion. Now, I was like, "Oh, I know Balin. He's the old one with the big goofy nose. He's swell...oh no.", and then my eyes softly twitched.

I like that each of the fellowship (I know it's not a singular term, just go with it) carried their own weight into the battles. And best of all, there are virtually no Eagles or other Deus-Ex Magical nonsense to save our band of heroes; they had to survive on their own through their wit and skill. Makes the battle feel more tense and exciting, with each loss serve as a consequence on their journey.

And that's why I'm starting to grow distasteful upon revisiting the next two films. I always find The Two Towers to be the underwhelming one of the three because it's unbearably elongated siege and magical saves that derail its sense of urgency laid perfectly in the first film, but even in The Return of the King (which I found as my favorite at the time) does the same damn things. Honestly, I rather have Gandalf the Grey STAY Gandalf the Grey, if you know what I mean. I understand it's true to the source and possibly the mythology of Wizards in Middle-Earth, but I find this approach to be a cheap ploy, and dissolves any emotional pulls. There has to be consequences to make the journey worth it, otherwise where's the dramatic stakes beyond "end of the world"? Same with depending on outside sources to save the day for you (again, the Eagles).

I kinda applaud the third Hobbit film to at least try to gain losses to named characters, even if the plots surrounding them is fruitless.

But that's just me. I hate having deaths reversed, DBZ aside for nostalgic purposes. I hope the new Star Wars sequel trilogy doesn't do the same...without saying anything.

[Geoff D]

That's partly why I like the Hobbit movies: we get a trilogy with Gandalf the Grey being Gandalf the Grey. Only when I rewatched LOTR recently did I realise/remember that he's not actually in it for all that long before he becomes The White Rider, but even with your not-unreasonable complaints about magically resurrected characters I love what Ian McKellen did with it because he performs him almost like a different character anyway.

[Herry Dunston]

*rewatches The Two Towers*

EDIT: Oh crap, I didn't know PIXAR helped made some of the special effects in the film. That's neat.

And here's where it begins: where Gimli turns into a bumbling comic relief, the franchise turns into Dynasty Warriors during epic battles, and Gandalf perfectly times Big Damn Hero moments.

Just wish to sidetrack, because what I'm about to say applies to these two films I saw so far. Watching the films in HD, I'm starting to notice their age in quality. The keying seems more apparent to me: the characters look a tad brighter than the environments surrounding them, and at times the placement of the characters don't match the movement and angle of the camera (notice how Gollum's in a fetal position near a wall when he's captured by Gondor's men, the camera pushes in and it looks like he's somewhat floating). The special effects still hold up for the large part, and while Gollum's looks better in the Hobbit films, he still looks good and his emotional performance carries over his CGI appearance. The films do have to depend on static shots to make certain effects work efficiently, which personally I prefer having fancy effects occur in stationary shots than having them when the camera moves around; somehow, having the camera pan towards the CGI characters makes them look even more fake.

And I'm becoming more despondent at how choppy the fights are edited. I noticed this has been a thing during the early-and-mid '00s, because even Batman Begins had choppy editing during brawls; it's only later in the era when filmmakers are more comfortable shooting fights as long and wide as they could, especially with the Hobbit films. Heck, much as I don't like how fancy the lightsaber fights in the Prequels are executed, at least the camera always keep the fights in place so they're not nauseating.

Back to the film itself, while my thoughts on it hasn't changed in retrospect, I will say that the Extended Edition did more to help this film than the other two of the trilogy. It has an emotional boost that was missing theatrically. Rewatching them made me grown more fond of Boromir, knowing how much of a tragic character he is by these new and extended scenes, and also how much his presence overshadows his younger brother Faramir who just wants to steps into his own legacy at the behest of his belligerent father. My attachment to these siblings made me get more out of the Frodo/Sam/Gollum plot-line. Go ahead and have your elongated siege at Helm's Deep, movie; I'm invested to see how far Sam will fall to the ring's temptation and if Faramir will fall to the same trap that befell his older brother; kinda wish to see Faramir fulfill his own destiny by the time the third film happens. That being said, the Helm's Deep did show the mourning and fear that dwells in these farmers wielding the swords prior to the battle, so the battle does present the basic level of mortal stake at play. Too bad I feel nothing for that elf's demise. Who was that guy? I think he was in the first film a bit. I forgot about him already.

I feel a bit bad for Pippen and Merry's plotline; it's the only segment of the film that feels entirely stretched out, yet I still want to see the Bulk and Skull of Shire attempt to be heroic, which they achieve through their sense of wit. BTW, the Treebeard made a cry that immediately brought all the Ents into battle, yet it a whole day of mumuring between these talking trees to verify Pippen and Merry are not Orcs? I guess it's like an emergency alarm or something...but I digress.

About Gandalf...

Originally Posted by Geoff D

That's partly why I like the Hobbit movies: we get a trilogy with Gandalf the Grey being Gandalf the Grey. Only when I rewatched LOTR recently did I realise/remember that he's not actually in it for all that long before he becomes The White Rider, but even with your not-unreasonable complaints about magically resurrected characters I love what Ian McKellen did with it because he performs him almost like a different character anyway.

And yet Gandalf the Grey in The Hobbit films does the same pulls he did as Gandalf the White, even if he is in his most vulnerable form. True, McKellen managed to distinct between two versions of the same Wizard. The White is more humble, collective, and not very prone to humor and temper. Yet I never felt any more distinct from him in his new upgrade. I wish these stories would make a further stand at how much he's no longer the Gandalf Greyhame we know and love, instead of just patting the Fellowship in the back and say he's okay. Of course, that couldn't be done in this film, since he and Frodo are far apart, and Gandalf's largely going around enlisting people for nick-of-time dramatic rescues.


EDIT (latest): GOD. DAMN. IT!

The first disk of Return of the King skips during the final meet between the Fellowship and Saruman with Wormtongue. I cleaned the disk a few times, and it's still happening.

Time to plan on returning this item to Amazon. I just wish there was a simple way of doing this, because this issue is only on THIS disc. Why not replace the Return of the King case instead of the entire box set? Y'know what the worst case scenario for this? I get a replacement set and the particular disc works fine, but now a random disc from either of the past two LOTR films turns out to be defective. I can't spend 11 hours rechecking the entire trilogy to make sure all works properly.

[J-Mart]

Originally Posted by Herry Dunston

EDIT (latest): GOD. DAMN. IT!

The first disk of Return of the King skips during the final meet between the Fellowship and Saruman with Wormtongue. I cleaned the disk a few times, and it's still happening.

Time to plan on returning this item to Amazon. I just wish there was a simple way of doing this, because this issue is only on THIS disc. Why not replace the Return of the King case instead of the entire box set? Y'know what the worst case scenario for this? I get a replacement set and the particular disc works fine, but now a random disc from either of the past two LOTR films turns out to be defective. I can't spend 11 hours rechecking the entire trilogy to make sure all works properly.

Try contacting WB first.

[stvn1974]

WB was great at sending me out a replacement for my second disc of Return Of the King when it was actually a mislabeled disc one. Of course I ordered it directly from their website so that might have been why.

[Herry Dunston]

Originally Posted by J-Mart

Try contacting WB first.

I emailed them. Let's see what they can do.

[frogmort]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

That's partly why I like the Hobbit movies: we get a trilogy with Gandalf the Grey being Gandalf the Grey. Only when I rewatched LOTR recently did I realise/remember that he's not actually in it for all that long before he becomes The White Rider, but even with your not-unreasonable complaints about magically resurrected characters I love what Ian McKellen did with it because he performs him almost like a different character anyway.

[Herry Dunston]

*rewatches Return of the King*

Well, until I do something with the set, I had to watch the rest of the film.

I take what I said on a couple of comments. I forgot Faramir didn't do squad in the third film, aside from eying on Eowyn. I also forgot that Gandalf WASN'T the one starting the big damn hero moment in here, and really while it's following the same dungeon-siege/subsequent-rescues scenario, there's a lot of visual prep and build-up for those moments so they don't feel all that cheap. And none of that was carried in the very final battle (aside from the damn Eagles), which gives it a little more tension.

That exchange with the Witch-King saying "no man can kill me", then Eowyn said "I am no man"...I still find this to be cornball. I read that Arwyn wasn't originally meant to be a warrior princess in the movies, but that changed in later drafts to be what she originally was in the books; was Eowyn also just a maiden in the books?

I'm not gonna be wordy about it this time. The 3rd film still affected me as strongly as it did the first time seeing the movies, both original and extended. Every character and plot-point falls nicely into place, and it doesn't feel tiring in any one. I don't know what's anyone's opinion on the matter, but this may be the only genuinely excellent third movie in any trilogy.

Rewatching the three films do give me pause about Legolas. From the boarding down the stairs to shoot some orcs, to that whole Elephant slide finishing movie, there was already precedent in him do cartoony moves before the prequels did.

I have a question about the orcs, and there's a bit of confusion on my part since at times I can't tell the difference between the orcs, the goblins, and the Uruk-hais. Are the orcs in this trilogy the same orcs that are from the Hobbit trilogy, or they just happen to be a different species of orc which is why they look like guys in rubber masks and not video game monsters?

[StingingVelvet]

Originally Posted by Herry Dunston

I emailed them. Let's see what they can do.

They replaced a scratched Harry Potter disc from my Hogwart's Collection. They will annoyingly insist you send the damaged disc back to them first though.