Lord of the Rings Trilogy (Theatrical Versions) - April 6, 2010

[Grand Bob]

I will know for sure when my copy arrives today or tomorrow, but so far what I'm hearing is that TTT and RoTK are acceptable to most folks, but FoTR is uneven; good in places and not as good in others, and that the lack of PQ consistency may not be due completely to DNR application in the BD transfer process. I have confirmed this watching the TBS broadcast on Friday. So, if this is a result of post-production before the movie was released in 2001, how could it be corrected. Would WB have to re-process the actual raw footage? Is that even possible? If not, I can't see how the EE's, when they are released (hopefully I'll still be alive), would be substantially better.

[petmic10]

Originally Posted by Swearengen

Well, we only demoed the Fellowship of the Ring on the setup below. Projector is a JVC HD1 with new bulb and the screen 104" brilliant Carrada screen and the room 100% light controlled.

I concur with observations, that the transfer is NOT as problematic as the Gladiator release, a release i personally would rate 4/10 on a large screen. The Gladiator release has so many things going against it, I would prefer to watch the DVD upscaled. The bad things outweighs the good things.

Fellowship of the Ring however, is one strange movie to watch. The quality varies very much, from quite good and tolerable HD to waxy and clean with no details in organic material. I can guarantee, that this is not a HD worthy experience compared with "what is in the market and what we know HD can be".

I regard FOTR the very best of the three movies, my favorite fantasy movie and I absolutely COULD enjoy it, had this not been the HD release everyone has been waiting for and had I watched it on my smaller TV set.

The reviews from Hometheaterforum, Hometheatershack, blu-ray.com and Highdefdigest all hits the nail with their criticism of the transfer and the viewing experience. It's not worthy!

Video: 5-6/10

+1

Fellowship could and should have been much better. The difference
is clear especially after watching the Two Towers and ROTK. This
was a lazy effort from the studio but I still think many people will
enjoy it.

[Diesel]

My copy is out for Delivery

[Fors*]

Originally Posted by Diesel

My copy is out for Delivery

+1...mine was shipped on Friday, it is in the next state over right now, so hopefully I will have it tomorrow!

[Grand Bob]

Originally Posted by Diesel

My copy is out for Delivery

Mine was shipped from Michigan last Wednesday and has made it the whole way to South Dakota.

[Chordata]

Originally Posted by Grand Bob

Mine was shipped from Michigan last Wednesday and has made it the whole way to South Dakota.

Ouch, that is some slow shipping.

Did you order from Amazon? I hope not, considering its HQ is right down the street from you.

[Diesel]

Originally Posted by Grand Bob

Mine was shipped from Michigan last Wednesday and has made it the whole way to South Dakota.

Mine shipped from Lansing Michigan at 8 p.m. Wednesday, made it to HODGKINS, IL at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, then Jackson, Mississippi at 6:30 p.m. Friday then shipped out from there this morning at 1:45 a.m. and is now out for delivery here.

[beanham22]

Can one of you blu-ray masters tell me if the transfers will be the same in Canada as it is in the US? I am assuming so because alliance is only crap when they do things on there own.

Even a response like, "it should be" would be good.

Thanks.

[Chordata]

Originally Posted by Diesel

Mine shipped from Lansing Michigan at 8 p.m. Wednesday, made it to HODGKINS, IL at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, then Jackson, Mississippi at 6:30 p.m. Friday then shipped out from there this morning at 1:45 a.m. and is now out for delivery here.

Where is "here"?

What sort of shipping did you select?

[Grand Bob]

Originally Posted by Diesel

Mine shipped from Lansing Michigan at 8 p.m. Wednesday, made it to HODGKINS, IL at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, then Jackson, Mississippi at 6:30 p.m. Friday then shipped out from there this morning at 1:45 a.m. and is now out for delivery here.

I hope to get it by tomorrow. The anticipation is killing me, although the TBS broadcast provided a minor fix.

[Todd Smith]

Originally Posted by Swearengen

I can confirm that I'm not normal then I kind of like that, living in this reality narcissism world of today

I had a friend popping by, who received the set saturday. I'm living in Denmark, so I don't know how strict the release date is upheld here.

Well, we only demoed the Fellowship of the Ring on the setup below. Projector is a JVC HD1 with new bulb and the screen 104" brilliant Carrada screen and the room 100% light controlled.



I concur with observations, that the transfer is NOT as problematic as the Gladiator release, a release i personally would rate 4/10 on a large screen. The Gladiator release has so many things going against it, I would prefer to watch the DVD upscaled. The bad things outweighs the good things.

Fellowship of the Ring however, is one strange movie to watch. The quality varies very much, from quite good and tolerable HD to waxy and clean with no details in organic material. I can guarantee, that this is not a HD worthy experience compared with "what is in the market and what we know HD can be".

I regard FOTR the very best of the three movies, my favorite fantasy movie and I absolutely COULD enjoy it, had this not been the HD release everyone has been waiting for and had I watched it on my smaller TV set.

The reviews from Hometheaterforum, Hometheatershack, blu-ray.com and Highdefdigest all hits the nail with their criticism of the transfer and the viewing experience. It's not worthy!

Video: 5-6/10

5-6/10......ouch! Great review, thanks.

[Diesel]

Originally Posted by beanham22

Can one of you blu-ray masters tell me if the transfers will be the same in Canada as it is in the US? I am assuming so because alliance is only crap when they do things on there own.

Even a response like, "it should be" would be good.

Thanks.

It is.

Originally Posted by O_V_N

Where is "here"?

What sort of shipping did you select?

Louisiana

The standard shipping WB Shop offered (it was free)

My order originally said it wouldn't even ship until two days from now.

Originally Posted by Grand Bob

I hope to get it by tomorrow. The anticipation is killing me, although the TBS broadcast provided a minor fix.

When was the last time you watched the movies again?

[beanham22]

Thanks Diesel.

[Grand Bob]

Originally Posted by Diesel

It is.

When was the last time you watched the movies again?

Finished RoTK yesterday

[Chordata]

Originally Posted by Grand Bob

Finished RoTK yesterday

I held off since I knew I'd be watching them on Tuesday and Wednesday.

I LOVE LOTR weekends on TNT/TBS, though.

[radagast]

Originally Posted by Grand Bob

Finished RoTK yesterday

Since we're reading the books, did the story changes stick out to you a lot?

[DaViD Boulet]

We watched the first film last night, on our 48 inch Plasma and PS3. I specifically went into the screening without mentioning any of the alleged problems to the three other people watching the film with us (my missus, brother and his girlf), in an attempt to gauge the reaction of someone unfamiliar with the idea that this was a faulty release in some way.

Were you farther away than 2 screen widths from that Plasma? If so, then your impressions wouldn't reflect the detail-related issues being criticized in this release. Where issues like DNR really become problematic is when you're replicating a theatrical experience by using an approximage 1.5 screen-width-distance ratio for viewing (about 30 degree viewing angle). Most of the time the nasties from DNR aren't too visible when you move back byond 1.75 or 2 screen widths which is more common for those watching TVs rather than projection systems (though any viewing angle can be achieved with any set just by moving forward to get the wide-angle).

I'm also curious why you'd consider the impressions/opinions of non-HT viewers to indicate a problem or lack of a problem? If I invited my friends over to watch LOTR and put on the DVDs instead of the blu-rays, chances are they'd all tell me how great the movies looked and not even be aware that I hadn't put on a 1080p source, yet the lack of image detail in comparison to native HD would be obvious to me and my other HT buddies.

[Fors*]

Originally Posted by O_V_N

I held off since I knew I'd be watching them on Tuesday and Wednesday.

I LOVE LOTR weekends on TNT/TBS, though.

+1....I held off....barely. My wife had to remind me to not ruin my enjoyment of watching these on blu soon, since I have waited 16 months now since the last time I watched them. But I love(d) the LOTR weekends too.

[Chordata]

Originally Posted by DaViD Boulet

Were you farther away than 2 screen widths from that Plasma? If so, then your impressions wouldn't reflect the detail-related issues being criticized in this release.

I'm also curious why you'd consider the impressions/opinions of non-HT viewers to indicate a problem or lack of a problem? If I invited my friends over to watch LOTR and put on the DVDs instead of the blu-rays, chances are they'd all tell me how great the movies looked and not even be aware that I hadn't put on a 1080p source, yet the lack of image detail in comparison to native HD would be obvious to me and my other HT buddies.

Oh come on. His opinions are his opinions. His friends' opinions are his friends' opinions.

Not every opinion in here has to be challenged just so it supports your own conclusions.

[DaViD Boulet]

Originally Posted by O_V_N

Oh come on. His opinions are his opinions. His friends' opinions are his friends' opinions.

Not every opinion in here has to be challenged just so it supports your own conclusions.

Viewing angle is absolutely a ciritical bench-mark in interpreting any viewer's impressions. It's not "challenging", it's *clarifying*. Someone sitting 3 screen widths away from an HD image won't see DNR or EE or a host of other problems that someone watching from 1.5 screen widths will. Since the poster said he was watching on a 48" Plamsa, clarifying viewing distance is essential so folks will know how to interpret those impressions.

The comment asking about non-HT viewers should be obvious. Honestly, I wouldn't expect *any* non-HT viewer to find fault with these discs even at 1.5 screen widths. Only someone bothered by DNR would find fault, and most general viewers don't notice or care... just like they often don't notice or care about most of the things enthusiasts care about.

Even with transfers that are horrendous like Gladiator, the problems usually have to be pointed out to the average viewer before he/she realizes what they are. That's not a bad thing, it just means that the problems we're talking about on these discs, by their nature, won't bother the average viewer.