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

[kurtlingle]

Ok,

I got these on Tues morning and watched FOTR on Tues. evening with 2 of my friends.

I have a 42 inch TV and sit around 8ft from the screen. I'm in agreement with those that say it's much better than the DVD. I'm happy I got it and did not wait for the EE. The sound is spectacular - way better than the DVD.

The PQ of FOTR is inconsistent like many have mentioned. At times it's pretty sharp (and nearly there) and at other times it's not as good. I agree - the Mines Of Moria looked great. I'd give it a 3.5 for PQ. I am happy with it.

I did not sample TTT but I did look at ROTK. Let me say.... on my 42 inch TV, gee, it's stunning. I only watch the battle at Gondor (White City) when the horses come and charge the orcs at dawn. I'd say that scene is a 4.5 or a 5 on PQ. Just awesome. I think that is what we all wanted/expected from FOTR. I'm not sure if that's possible - from what I've read and understand about how they made FOTR.

I guess the good news is that the movies get better 1-2-3 in the right order.

I'm glad I bought it for 59.99 and feel it's worth it. I plan to watch these every 6 months or so until the EE get announced. Then they go on ebay that day!

If you're on the fence, I'd say buy them. You can't enjoy them any better than this.

[Chordata]

Originally Posted by aiman04

That's why I'm confused, Blu-ray.com says 9 discs but the 2 cases are normal size, just a bit wondering can they really fit 9 discs.

Gandalf Stormcrow, do you have the set? Is it confirmed 9 discs?

Thanks.

In the U.S., it's 2 cases:

One case is a little bigger than a regular, standard case and holds 6 discs (each movie, and the bonus material for each movie).

The second case is a regular, standard case and holds 3 discs (digital copy for each movie).

[easyrider]

From Bill Hunt -

Readers are noting, as I did, that Fellowship looks a little softer than the other two, but that all three are as good or better than they expected. I've since learned that Fellowship was about 70% Digital Intermediate (D.I.) in its post-production, while Two Towers and Return of the King were 100% D.I. in post. That means that in preparing the Blu-ray masters, while Warner could go to the original D.I. for Towers and King, they had to run a new print for Fellowship, and that alone could account for the discrepancy in image detail and crispness

[DaViD Boulet]

Originally Posted by roughneck0101

Funny thing is, The two towers dn Return of the King work just fine.

The fellowship of the ring is the First blu ray I have ever had that had a problem not playing, so the question is..is it a WB problem or a Sony problem? Like I stated above, I called sony and they said call WB about it.

Typical hand off really...but again what are the Odds that after returning the set, that two discs are bad? Frustrating for sure. 69.99 + tax frustrating.

try disconnecting your PS3 from the network/web so that BD-Live can't initiate and try playing the disc again. I've had that fix a few problem discs that seemed to get "stuck" in some way when they automatically tried to engage BD-Live on startup.

[DaViD Boulet]

Originally Posted by aiman04

That's why I'm confused, Blu-ray.com says 9 discs but the 2 cases are normal size, just a bit wondering can they really fit 9 discs.

Gandalf Stormcrow, do you have the set? Is it confirmed 9 discs?

Thanks.

They typically don't count the digital-copy discs in the overall disc totals that get posted. yes, there are 3 digital copy discs in one case, and 6 discs in the other: 3 blu-rays and 3 DVDs for bonus features. I was surprised to see 6 discs inside what looks to be a normal blu-ray case, but they did!

[DaViD Boulet]

Originally Posted by mjbethancourt

So? What's your point? Jackson wasn't involved in the production of the blu-ray, not even a little bit. I don't know how he can be blamed for something he was not involved in. Who cares if Steven Spielberg was involved in supervising the transfer of 'Minority Report'? That doesn't have bugger-all to do with 'Lord of the Rings'. The movies are the property of Warner Brothers, not Peter Jackson. They chose to make the blu-ray without Jackson, and there was nothing he could do about it. Nothing. What's he supposed to do? Break into WB with an armed team and force them, at gunpoint, to hand over control of the blu-ray production?

Jackson saw and approved the HD master used for these blu-ray Discs.

[radagast]

Originally Posted by roughneck0101

Funny thing is, The two towers dn Return of the King work just fine.

The fellowship of the ring is the First blu ray I have ever had that had a problem not playing, so the question is..is it a WB problem or a Sony problem? Like I stated above, I called sony and they said call WB about it.

Typical hand off really...but again what are the Odds that after returning the set, that two discs are bad? Frustrating for sure. 69.99 + tax frustrating.

You should get a replacement disc. While they're at it, tell them to remaster the whole movie first.

[radagast]

Originally Posted by danman227460

Did you unplug the ethernet? Some discs don't play well with PS3. I know my Terminator Skynet disc had that issue. It wouldn't load no matter what but once I unplugged the ethernet, it worked fine.

That's because Skynet didn't like you playing that disc.

[MarkWM]

Originally Posted by radagast

You should get a replacement disc. While they're at it, tell them to remaster the whole movie first.

[tilapiah6]

The one and only problem I detected with my 46 inch Sony Bravia was the scrubbed faces, which still weren't a deal breaker. I think some of you guys are way to critical on video transfers.

Gangs of New York's first release: HORRIBLE video transfer
Lord of the Rings FoTR: good to GREAT video transfer

[Grand Bob]

Little bit of fun trivia: in 'Fellowship' we get our first 1080P look at Figwit. He is an Elf with dark hair at the Council of Elrond - you can see him at the right side of the screen at the end of the "argument" for a couple of seconds. When the movie was released, people made a big deal about him as a joke because of the brevity of his role, and at one time he had several fan websites. As a reward, Jackson gave him a bigger role later - he is the Elf that tries to talk Arwen out of going back to Rivendell after she has her vision of her son. Figwit stands for "Frodo Is Great Who Is That?"

[HDPlasma]

Originally Posted by iceman_mw21

but it could be possible that a whole bad batch was delivered to where ever u bought it, return it and go get another set from a different location.. it dosent hurt to try again, but i kno its annoying

It's not just his location. the release of FOTR was a bad batch. Everyone got them but some players tolerate the disc issues and people tolerate the PQ issues once the disc is accepted by the player.

[HDPlasma]

Originally Posted by tilapiah6

The one and only problem I detected with my 46 inch Sony Bravia was the scrubbed faces, which still weren't a deal breaker. I think some of you guys are way to critical on video transfers.

Gangs of New York's first release: HORRIBLE video transfer
Lord of the Rings FoTR: good to GREAT video transfer

Scrubbed faces is not an issue ?

[owa]

Finished watching The Two Towers and ROTK last night and was very impressed. The last two are definitely sharper but overall, I'm happy with all 3, especially since the audio is great in all 3. I got chills when the majestic music was playing as the fires were being lit to call for aid (when they're panning over the mountains). A little surprising since I've seen the movies so many times I thought I was past all that. In fact, I got a little emotional in certain sections throughout the trilogy and that was definitely unexpected. Maybe it's because I hadn't watched them in a while. Anyway, I love these movies so I'm really happy to have them on blu-ray. IMO, they didn't disappoint.

[Grand Bob]

After reading more posts in this thread, I revisited some scenes in 'Fellowship' last night, and for those that think the PQ is bad, I just can't see it. Other than a few soft scenes, especially where CGI elements are involved, or some minor blurring (e.g. a few places where Gandalf moves his beard), most of it looks very good. For those that rated this a 2 out of 5, I can't imagine what would be satisfying - you are pretty much limited to watching Pixar titles.

[jonmoz]

Well put "Grand Bob",some people will never be happy.

I think they have done a great job on these,and before anyone says anything i watched them on a 108 inch screen and sat the correct distance away!!!

[jonmoz]

I think people will always be divided on this one Todd,by the way have you seen them yet?

[Grand Bob]

Originally Posted by jonmoz

I think they have done a great job on these,and before anyone says anything i watched them on a 108 inch screen and sat the correct distance away!!!

108 in screen? I would love to have a screen that size - the mustering of the Rohirrim and battle of the Pelennor fields in Return of the King would make great system demo material!

[Todd Smith]

Originally Posted by jonmoz

I think people will always be divided on this one Todd,by the way have you seen them yet?

No. As I mentioned (you might have missed it) it might be the holidays before I even rent these since that is when I do my LOTR-a-thon, but as I also mentioned I might give in and check them out before that (if these were the EEs, I would be watching them this weekend). I will report back with my opinion when I do though. I agree though that this is one where people will always be divided from the most critical eye to the most casual viewer.....very interesting IMO.

David and Kens reviews are very interesting to me........I respect and value both of these individuals as far as their opinion and as far as the well known reviewers go, but there perceptions are VERY different.

[jonmoz]

I have to say Bob that before i watched "Fellowship" i was a little worried after reading some reviews,but once i started watching they disapeared.

And yes some of the scenes are awsome,i even picked up the color difference in The two towers,as it's a much cooler palette then the other two movies.