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

[42041]

Originally Posted by Jimmy Smith

If anything Gone with the Wind should be more difficult to compress than Lord of the Rings. Gone with the Wind is an older movie with a more aggressive grain structure. Film grain is difficult to compress which is why all digital movies look better at lower bitrates then film shot grainy pictures do. If it could be done for Gone with the Wind it can be done just as easily for the Lord of the Rings movies. Especially since the first two movies are actually shorter than Gone with the Wind.

As for 50 gigs not being alot for HD video let me list some titles and the space they used

King Kong - 200 minutes - 36 gigabytes used
Watchmen - 185 minutes - 33 gigabyes used
I am Legend - 103 minutes - 18 gigabytes used

Spreading the movie over two discs is something we would expect had HD-DVD won the format war. Not for Blu-Ray

If I cared to buy the movie, Watchmen would be one of my reference discs for awful compression...
There are countless discs that look "good" just because it's a good-looking movie but are also awash with subtle or obvious compression mush, depending on how carefully the work was done. You can still have something look "good" to an undiscerning viewer squished to like 8000kbps, from my experience. Not really the best idea.

[Cook]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

But who in their right mind will hold on to the EE DVDs once they've got the Blu-rays? Hell, I sold my fancy EE versions (with the Argonath bookends, Gollum statue etc) when I heard about the theatrical BDs, never mind this latest release.

Here's the kicker: it'd still be the same content even if it were squeezed onto a Blu-ray! And that stuff would have to be re-encoded and a new BD authored & pressed etc., all adding to the turnaround time of this set. It ain't cheap as it is, and sticking in another Blu-ray or two would jack the price up even higher.

Don't get me wrongo: I'd love to see the EE extras repurposed with a slicker interface and put on one disc, as the DVDs are a pain in the arse to navigate (hence the sprawling 'map' that came with them). But I don't feel outraged by Warners re-using the existing discs.

This person. I'm not getting rid of something for no profit and turning around and spending $100 for something I had to begin with. I want the movies and not features i already have in the same format i already had them in. Had the features been converted to 1080 and put on some bds i would be much quicker to buy these. As it stands i will wait for seperate releases or a cheap price. Over half this set is old dvds. The price would be half what it is without them. On top of that Alan Lees artwork make the original EE dvds priceless to me as a collector. I will never get rid of them to make a few bucks.

[Geoff D]

Fair enough. I used to think as you do. But now I see such stuff for what it is: clutter which can make me a few quid.

[P@t_Mtl]

All these complaints about getting up to change the discs, can't wait for the first screen shots to be available so that the screen shot police can change the subject

[Cook]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Fair enough. I used to think as you do. But now I see such stuff for what it is: clutter which can make me a few quid.

I have Alan Lees illustrated LOTR trilogy of books and the dvds are nice set to have with that. I usually only keep stuff that have meaning to me. Suchas if my parents bought it as a birthday present or a gift of some kind. The rest I chuck in the bin or give away or trade for smokes or something random. Lol and I have a unique type of OCD. I have to have organized chaos around me otherwise I can't find anything. I have books stacked all over my room. DVDs stacked in the floor even though I have shelves with plenty of space. To most people it looks a mess, but I can find anything in compelte darkness. I keep some stuff specifically to keep my organization the way it is so I can find other things. When I was younger my mom organized all my stuff and threw me off bad and it took me a week to get everything back to where I could find it. So most of the time I just leave stuff where it is unless I have something to put in its place.

[frogmort]

Originally Posted by Todd Smith

You are right, my bad. I assume 6.1 means discrete though, right?

The EE DVDs were 6.1 discreet. The TE BDs were 6.1 matrixed. I really hope the EE BDs carry over the 6.1 discreet(only lossless) of the EE DVDs.

[Variable_Star]

Originally Posted by P@t_Mtl

All these complaints about getting up to change the discs, can't wait for the first screen shots to be available so that the screen shot police can change the subject

Let's not get ahead of ourselves. This one is still going quite strong.

[whitearrow]

I just hope the cases have standard keep-case style hubs, and not the sleeve style (or whatever they're called -- like the Rome BD) where you're supposed to slide the discs in and out. Discs scratch way too easily in those, IMO.

[Cook]

Originally Posted by whitearrow

I just hope the cases have standard keep-case style hubs, and not the sleeve style (or whatever they're called -- like the Rome BD) where you're supposed to slide the discs in and out. Discs scratch way too easily in those, IMO.

Blurays don't scratch unless you take a piece of steel wool to them or deliberately try too and even then its hard to.

[Todd Smith]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

The theatrical BDs had a matrixed surround back channel, even though it sez DTS-HD MA 6.1 on the packaging, menus etc. DTS apparently label matrixed mixes as 6.1 nowadays, having left the ES nomenclature behind with DVD.

PLEASE let the EEs be discrete 6.1 on Blu!

That is a good point. I hope the EEs are discrete as well.

[Todd Smith]

Originally Posted by frogmort

The EE DVDs were 6.1 discreet. The TE BDs were 6.1 matrixed. I really hope the EE BDs carry over the 6.1 discreet(only lossless) of the EE DVDs.

Exactly This is my hope as well.

[frogmort]

From what I understand, even on blu-ray, the video has to be compressed to fit on the disc. I would think that spreading the movies, especially one's as long as these, over 100GB, would be better than cramming them on to 50GB. Even if the quality is only 0.01% better, I'd still rather have two discs per movie.

[Todd Smith]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

But who in their right mind will hold on to the EE DVDs once they've got the Blu-rays? Hell, I sold my fancy EE versions (with the Argonath bookends, Gollum statue etc) when I heard about the theatrical BDs, never mind this latest release.

Here's the kicker: it'd still be the same content even if it were squeezed onto a Blu-ray! And that stuff would have to be re-encoded and a new BD authored & pressed etc., all adding to the turnaround time of this set. It ain't cheap as it is, and sticking in another Blu-ray or two would jack the price up even higher. Oh, and I can hear the complaints now: "WHY are there SD extras on a BLU-RAY DISC! What a GIP!".

Don't get me wrongo: I'd love to see the EE extras repurposed with a slicker interface and put on one disc, as the DVDs are a pain in the arse to navigate (hence the sprawling 'map' that came with them). But I don't feel outraged by Warners re-using the existing discs, not at all. You people had better not check the extras discs in your Blu-ray editions of Patton or The Longest Day, you might blow a gasket.

No doubt. My EE DVDs are going up for sale so I am glad we are getting all these same extras again. I dont care if they are on BRs or DVDs if they are still going to be SD.

I am so happy with this news though! I have been waiting for this announcement since buying my first HD-DVD and Blu ray players! Christmas in June this year and a 4th of July LOTR-a-thon sounds AWESOME!

[PUsokrJosh305]

I've never seen the extended Lord of the Rings Trilogy and would love to, however I'm not convinced with this set. It seems WB is once again screwing us fans over. If Newline was still it's own company, these movies would have been given the care and respect that it deserves. Like with every studio, WB wants money and they want a way to make these releases cheaper, hence the dvds. It's the same thing with the HP Ultimate Editions. WB is screwing those over too. I would love to experience these movies, but when WB gives you DVDs and not BDs, I'm not buying it.

[Kryptonic]

You have to take a piss over the course of four hours. The alternative is either to wear a diaper or blow out your bladder. Of course some fans...ehhh...

[iam1bearcat]

Originally Posted by Kryptonic

You have to take a piss over the course of four hours. The alternative is either to wear a diaper or blow out your bladder. Of course some fans...ehhh...

i don't know if you HAVE to, but come to think of it, i can't recall a time i went longer than four hours without a trip to the rest room

[MerrickG]

Originally Posted by Kryptonic

You have to take a piss over the course of four hours. The alternative is either to wear a diaper or blow out your bladder. Of course some fans...ehhh...

Originally Posted by iam1bearcat

i don't know if you HAVE to, but come to think of it, i can't recall a time i went longer than four hours without a trip to the rest room

[frogmort]

Originally Posted by merrick97

Now that's a LOTR EE seat/toilet!

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by Kryptonic

You have to take a piss over the course of four hours. The alternative is either to wear a diaper or blow out your bladder. Of course some fans...ehhh...

A catheter and a piss bag are an LOTR fan's best friends. But me, I'm old-fashioned. I dont mind leaving my seat every now and again.

[jebhdb]

Originally Posted by merrick97

I seriously hope you are not refusing to buy this set because you have to change the discs during playback. You say you are going to keep your EE dvds, but you do know that you do have to change the disc for those also?

I just don't know how to respond to that other than to just shake my head in disappointment.

The reason I will be waiting to purchase this set are:

In my opinion the price is way to high. I already own all of the dvd's in the set so I would be paying $84 dollars for the movies only.

Because I already own all of the dvd's they are of no added value to me. If they had released some or all of the extras in high definition then it would have been a different story.

Least of all reasons for not purchasing this set is yes the fact that the movies are split over two disc. Yes I want the movies to be of the best quality and no I am not to lazy to change the disc. Like others have said, I just would have liked to have the option to watch the movie uninterrupted if I so chose.

If at some point the price of the extended editions drops to a reasonable price I am sure that I will pick them up. I love the Lord of the Rings movies and like I mentioned I have purchased every version released prior to this set. I just think $84 is way to expensive when I already own most of what will be contained in this set.