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

[Goh78]

Originally Posted by Captain Keen

Yup, there are a few shots that are basically completely B&W now. You can see an example here: https://ultrahd.highdefdigest.com/91...uhdbluray.html

Can someone explain this to me like I'm a 10 year old? I don't understand how color gets washed out like this?

[Roonan]

Originally Posted by Goh78

Can someone explain this to me like I'm a 10 year old? I don't understand how color gets washed out like this?

It doesn't. It's an artistic choice.

[Tim/Rodeo314]

Originally Posted by James Freeman

The new "Remastered" blu-rays are the same as the 4k, they changed nothing.
Extreme DNR and Sharpening are still present, including artifacts like the mid-air horse ear and a lot of scrubbed texture detail.

Pardon my laziness, but there's almost 800 pages to this thread. Where can I find screenshots of the issues you mention (especially the mid-air horse ear)?

Edit: further research shows this as an example: https://imgur.com/a/WPsksQI

The top picture is fairly self-explanatory; I gather the second one is the mid-air horse ear? Does anyone have an approximate time in the movie where these screenshots were captured?

[Chumpster99]

Originally Posted by Goh78

Can someone explain this to me like I'm a 10 year old? I don't understand how color gets washed out like this?

Peter Jackson chose deliberately to change the colour in visions/flashbacks to make it look more like the Hobbit movies, rather than keep it how it originally looked. He's stated that in an interview, so it's not just speculation either.

[DukeTogo84]

So the new Blu-rays have shipped for me from Bullmoose. It will finally be interesting to see how these news remasters look in person as well finally being able to watch Fellowship in HD without the tint.

[DukeTogo84]

Well my movies are out for delivery. The day of reckoning is at hand. Excited and nervous at the same time to see how these turn out.

[Jumpman]

Originally Posted by DukeTogo84

Well my movies are out for delivery. The day of reckoning is at hand. Excited and nervous at the same time to see how these turn out.

Let us know what you think. Mine shipped from Best Buy this morning.

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by DukeTogo84

Well my movies are out for delivery. The day of reckoning is at hand. Excited and nervous at the same time to see how these turn out.

Prepare to see the UHDs in 1080p without HDR.

[DukeTogo84]

Originally Posted by Jumpman

Let us know what you think. Mine shipped from Best Buy this morning.

This review just popped up.

https://thedigitalbits.com/item/midd...RVKlvSUSQWhDus

They seem to really love the new Blu-rays and address the whole DNR debate. They also say that the old Blu-rays had DNR in the same places as this release? But I'm not too sure.

Either way, looks like my package was delivered, but I won't be hope for a bit. After some dinner, I'll be checking these out for sure.

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by DukeTogo84

This review just popped up.

https://thedigitalbits.com/item/midd...RVKlvSUSQWhDus

They seem to really love the new Blu-rays and address the whole DNR debate. They also say that the old Blu-rays had DNR in the same places as this release? But I'm not too sure.

Either way, looks like my package was delivered, but I won't be hope for a bit. After some dinner, I'll be checking these out for sure.

The only way I would say they are better is that the tint is gone from FOTR.

[HonestJohn]

Originally Posted by DukeTogo84

This review just popped up.

https://thedigitalbits.com/item/midd...RVKlvSUSQWhDus

They seem to really love the new Blu-rays and address the whole DNR debate. They also say that the old Blu-rays had DNR in the same places as this release? But I'm not too sure.

Either way, looks like my package was delivered, but I won't be hope for a bit. After some dinner, I'll be checking these out for sure.

Let me know what you think, mine should arrive Monday. Then I'll have to find the time to watch them. It's been a few years between viewings ...

[DukeTogo84]

Originally Posted by HonestJohn

Let me know what you think, mine should arrive Monday. Then I'll have to find the time to watch them. It's been a few years between viewings ...

I've only skimmed through the first two discs of the the Fellowship and the difference is night and day. As someone who has checked the previous Blu-ray of Fellowship about a 100 times in the past 12 months due to the green tint and my OCD I will tell you this is MUCH better. There is DNR, but to be perfectly honest it's hardly different from the previous release, but there is slightly more.

There is plenty of detail and grime to be seen in the Mines of Moira. I've seen bad DNR and honestly this isn't bad in the slightest. It could be better for sure, but so far I consider this to be bad at all. Don't get me started on the colors as well.

Still, I have two more movies to check, but Fellowship gets a huge thumbs up so far.

[mykfergy]

Greetings Cinephile Fellowship!

I’m new and my set of the Remastered Blu-ray Trilogy” Extended Editions arrived @ 1:37pm this afternoon, and...
As I carefully checked for loose disks, righted and secured them in their hubs (perhaps a good point: the hubs &/their snug fit in the cases seem to hold them!)
...it was I Then that I noticed the date on the rim of the Feature read: “2012”-
on All of them. (2011 on the Appendices)
Why would it have That date?
Should I panick?
“Everything” else says these are 1080p transfers of the recent 4K remasters (disk art, “Remastered”, etc.), but that date is the same as the U.S. May 1st, 2012 set- I even noticed an overall similarity as it seems the cases are the same...
Could it Be??
I’m going in for a visual comparison now.

[Sergeant Howie]

Originally Posted by mykfergy

Greetings Cinephile Fellowship!

I’m new and my set of the Remastered Blu-ray Trilogy” Extended Editions arrived @ 1:37pm this afternoon, and...
As I carefully checked for loose disks, righted and secured them in their hubs (perhaps a good point: the hubs &/their snug fit in the cases seem to hold them!)
...it was I Then that I noticed the date on the rim of the Feature read: “2012”-
on All of them. (2011 on the Appendices)
Why would it have That date?
Should I panick?
“Everything” else says these are 1080p transfers of the recent 4K remasters (disk art, “Remastered”, etc.), but that date is the same as the U.S. May 1st, 2012 set- I even noticed an overall similarity as it seems the cases are the same...
Could it Be??
I’m going in for a visual comparison now.

Well, maybe a few of us are now panicking - do you have the US set or the UK (HMV exclusive) TLOTR trilogy-only set? You must report back. Wouldn't be the first time older discs mistakenly found their way in "newly remastered" packaging (or worse - not all of them). This needs punctured ASAP.

[vonDubenshire]

Originally Posted by HD Goofnut

The only way I would say they are better is that the tint is gone from FOTR.

Good find.

From https://thedigitalbits.com/item/midd...-4k-uhd-bd-box

VIDEO & AUDIO QUALITY
Given the fact that I’ve reviewed all of these films multiple times on DVD, Blu-ray, and 4K Ultra HD in the past, I’ll refer you to the previous reviews (linked above ad nauseam). With only one exception, all of the video and audio presentations are identical to the previous editions. That exception is, of course, the new theatrical and Extended Blu-rays of The Lord of the Rings films, which, as noted previously, have been created from the new 4K remasters.

Now… much has been made (particularly in certain quarters of the Internet) of the fact that Peter Jackson has employed a bit of Digital Noise Reduction (when working on the new LOTR 4K remasters) to reduce photochemical grain slightly to conform the films more to the look his recent (and digitally-captured) Hobbit films—something I noted in my original 4K reviews. But the matter has been much exaggerated in my opinion. I’ve been comparing the original BDs, the new BDs, and the full 4Ks on a 110-inch projection screen for many hours now. And I’ll tell you, there never was a lot of grain visible in the LOTR films. The DNR that’s been applied in the remastered image is relatively light for the most part, though it’s a little more obvious in a few scenes (the early portions of Fellowship in particular, in scenes set inside Bag End, and some of the daylight landscape scenes in Two Towers).

But compared to the previous Blu-ray editions, the new Blu-ray Discs exhibit cleaner and tighter detail, with less visible noise, and better encoding and compression. Contrast is also improved, with deeper, more detailed shadows and slightly bolder highlights, as well as more natural and nuanced colors. The grade is certainly different in places, sometimes a little brighter and bolder. The original Blu-rays actually look oversaturated in comparison in some scenes, and in others the lack of depth and detail in the shadows makes the original Blu-ray image look duller. I challenge the notion that there’s less detail in the new-remastered versions. In fact, to my eyes, quite the reverse is often true (again, it varies a little bit from scene to scene). And here’s something that surprised me today, because I didn’t realize it before: For the scenes in which DNR is visible in the 4K remaster, it’s also visible on the original Blu-rays. (Perhaps it was always there, and the HDR simply makes it appear a little more noticeable?) In any case, I much prefer the new Blu-rays to the previous ones—the improvements in contrast, color accuracy, and encoding make a real difference. If you’re used to the previous Blu-rays, however, the color and contrast differences in the new ones might be a little jarring. My suggestion is to keep an open mind.

However, the previous Blu-rays don’t hold a candle to the new 4K UHD presentations, which exhibit visibly greater and more refined detail in almost every instance in which I’ve compared them. The difference is more obvious on a large display and is dramatic in many scenes. When seen on a 110-inch front projection screen, it’s not even close. So if you’ve read somewhere (in some unruly discussion forum online) that DNR has somehow “Ruined the 4K remasters!” I challenge and encourage you to buy the discs and look for yourself. When you compare the three versions directly, you’ll see that it just ain’t so, Joe.

[DukeTogo84]

So I spent way too much time comparing the Blu-rays. Hours. So my thoughts.

As mentioned before Fellowship is a clear winner with this new Blu-ray over the old Blu-ray. Vastly better. The Two Towers and Return of the King are a bit more tricky. Two Towers does have a bit more DNR, and it's not horrible by any means. I was surprised as to how much different Two Towers and Return of the King look like due to the new brighter colors. Return of the King fares the worst when it comes to DNR. However, it's not used throughout the film, but it is more present. It's also exasperated by the brighter colors. There was DNR in the old release, but it becomes more clear with the brighter colors. Also a lot of the daylight scenes in Return of the King has this somewhat hazy look over them for example when the Fellowship confront Saruman at the start of the film. That haze does a somewhat decent job of hiding the DNR, but the DNR is there. That haze seems to have been completely removed, which again makes the DNR on King Theodens face more noticeable.

Now the question becomes which version do you prefer? With the brighter colors a lot more detail is present. In Return of the King you can see the details in Saruman's beard so much clearer. A lot more detail is overly present and things you might not have noticed will be noticed. Also, the CGI is clearly more CGI and showing its age thanks to the "restoration". Also as mentioned before, when present, the DNR is more noticeable on top of there being more. However, is the DNR bad? Not really. I have a hundreds of other releases in my collection that have worse DNR than this. Barely any motion blur and detail is present. I think the fact that have seen these films will less DNR makes it slightly more jarring.

With that being said, I do think the DNR outrage has been exaggerated. It's there, but it's not that bad. Plus the trade off is that there are scenes that clearly show MORE detail than before. You lose some detail in some scenes, but gain it in others. A trade off I guess.

Overall, it's not perfect, but I think the new Blu-rays are better overall.

[DukeTogo84]

Note: This is only a cell phone photo, but man, there are a few times where the detail is so much more crisp and detailed in this set. For example Gothmog. You can see literally almost all the detail in his face it's insane. I can't imagine how this looks in 4K, but it's outstanding on the Blu-ray.

[shamus]

very promising…

[314carpenter]

Originally Posted by DukeTogo84

So I spent way too much time comparing the Blu-rays. Hours. So my thoughts.

Thank you for providing us all with another viewpoint that doesn't fit the ongoing slaughter of these films. You are a brave sole. Any chance you will creating a write up of some of your viewpoints on the Hobbit EE blu-ray's, if you got them and care to compare?

[DukeTogo84]

Originally Posted by 314carpenter

Thank you for providing us all with another viewpoint that doesn't fit the ongoing slaughter of these films. You are a brave sole. Any chance you will creating a write up of some of your viewpoints on the Hobbit EE blu-ray's, if you got them and care to compare?

I only bought the Lord of the Rings extended set as I fine with the previous Hobbit release.