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

[SpikesBluBlooded]

OK, I've searched (and perhaps simply don't know how to filter correctly), and I cannot find any mention of anyone having problems obtaining their digital copies, so maybe my situation was unique. Where are they?!?! I don't have any discs labeled as such, and no insert with codes (like every other digital copy included with a blu-ray). Is anyone else having this problem?

[HeavyHitter]

Originally Posted by Ken Brown

Mr. Hunt's early reports weren't official statements or verifiable reports. He'd be the first to admit that. He was simply trying to be helpful to the community at large, to let people know something was in motion. But without an official statement or a quote from the filmmakers, his reports, while certainly helpful, were not official studio or filmmaker responses to the controversy. If so, there would have been a lot more quotation marks in the posts he made. (And remember, even he went silent on the matter for almost a week and a half. No, that isn't shady. He was just being responsible. I would have done the exact same thing.) Even he said it took two weeks to verify things. Besides, if it took two weeks to verify no problem existed, then it only serves to say no one behind the scenes had a final answer to offer for two weeks

It would be a lie to say I'm 100% convinced, I'll admit. Deep down, things don't quite add up as neatly as I'd like, leaving my certainty dangling just above 90%. (Ironically, the same thing has been happening with you, just in regards to my posts.) To be very clear: I would be shocked if it was suddenly revealed to be an error; not because it looks undeniably intentional, but because Warner's statement would put everyone in an even more precarious PR situation were they to suddenly change direction. In other words, I'm quite, quite certain the official statement is fact and the this is exactly what the filmmakers intended. The only responsible course of action at this point is to take what the studio and filmmakers say at face value. Until something suggests otherwise, their only fault IMO is in avoiding complete transparency and settling the controversy in a way that would settle all doubts, small as they might be.

However, I don't think it's a bad thing to raise questions about vague PR statements and filmmaker silence -- after all, no one has mentioned the word "tint" yet, which leaves room for reasonable doubt, and Jackson and Lesnie have yet to directly comment on the matter in a public fashion, which also leaves room for reasonable doubt. Nor do I think raising those questions calls Bill Hunt, Peter Jackson or Warner's integrity into question. It's just good journalistic form.

I also don't think it's bad to ask that Jackson explain an intentional tint, especially when he has revealed in the past that he loves using color to subtly affect the viewer. I accept that the tint is intentional; I'd just like to know what effect he wanted to achieve artistically. A simple "to bring it in line with the Hobbit" or "to make the tone of the whole film a bit darker, a little less vibrant" would make me ecstatic. Not because it verifies the tint is intentional, I already believe that. But because it would allow me to understand the change that has been confirmed as intentional.

Keep in mind, this is the guy who put more than twelve hours of documentaries and 62 hours of commentaries on his trilogy. He's all about revealing the reasoning behind every decision he makes. (This is also the guy who addresses tricky questions on his Facebook page almost every week.) He's also shown that he isn't shy when it comes to shrugging off criticism and detailing why a change works in his mind. He does this in every books vs. films debate that pops up in the Appendices

Ultimately, I am convinced the tint is intentional. And the further we get from the release date, the more that small 9% window of doubt I have will close. It will never entirely close; not until Jackson addresses the tint and explains, even briefly, what mood he wanted to evoke by adding it in. That said, I don't think anyone should criticize those with nagging doubts, as those doubts aren't illogical, unreasonable or the ravings of crazed purists. Even those with little attachment to the LOTR films, analyzing the situation as it has developed, would raise questions some seem so bound and determined to dismiss as reactionary and meritless. Again, transparency is the key, and the only official statement in the wild isn't what I'd call transparent. Broad? Sweeping? Assuring? An acceptable confirmation of intent? Sure.

The tint is intentional. That's easy to accept. If you look back at my posts from Saturday to Tuesday, I turned on a dime. Not with 100% certainty, mind you, but close. It would just be nice to know what that exact intention was, that's all. "Why some extra green, Mr. J?" "Cause it makes it all Hobbit-y, my friend." If nothing else, it would provide context to what should be a very informed discussion at this point. After all, in the last three weeks, the public has only been offered two official sentences, and those came two days ago

Whew. I hope that all makes sense. I don't have a hidden agenda here, I'm just trying to proceed as responsibly and professionally as I can.

Ken,

Thanks for your openess and honesty about my question.

As I mentioned previously, I believe it is 100% intentional but perhaps not perfectly meticulous.

It almost seems they applied a very subtle green/teal tint (or whatever color you want to call it) layer to the entire film then worked back to adjust things accordingly. As a result, this left the text and whites in some cases tinted slightly. I'm sure the scenes are what the filmmakers requested, but perhaps there's just a bit of digital residue left over (for lack of better words).

[MerrickG]

I do have a slight problem with the disc in my Oppo player.

Frankly I have had more problems with this player than any other bluray player I have owned.

Anyway, the player always locks up when I put in a 2nd disc.

I have to turn off the player and then restart it with the disc inside of the player to get it read.

[Ken Brown]

Originally Posted by HeavyHitter

Ken,

Thanks for your openess and honesty about my question.

As I mentioned previously, I believe it is 100% intentional but perhaps not perfectly meticulous.

It almost seems they applied a very subtle green/teal tint (or whatever color you want to call it) layer to the entire film then worked back to adjust things accordingly. As a result, this left the text and whites in some cases tinted slightly. I'm sure the scenes are what the filmmakers requested, but perhaps there's just a bit of digital residue left over (for lack of better words).

It's my pleasure! Thank you for understanding. It will always be hard for me to scrub away all doubt when it comes to such complex issues. The upper-90s percentile is sometimes as high as my brain will go. I'm just that guy

And I agree with your assessment. That's my prevailing theory as well. I guess the point I'm ultimately trying to make is that you explained that theory in three concise sentences. I would imagine an explanation from Mr. Jackson would take even fewer words. If Jackson offered his thoughts on the tint, it would genuinely eliminate every ounce of doubt I have on the matter. His word on the tint is sacrosanct IMO. I may not like every decision he has made in the course of his films (Denethor!), but I can respect and accept each change he's made without any lingering doubt. He's shown himself to be an extremely transparent director, and I appreciate how active he has historically been in pulling back the curtain on his productions, methods, choices and changes

[threefiftyrocket]

Originally Posted by SpikesBluBlooded

OK, I've searched (and perhaps simply don't know how to filter correctly), and I cannot find any mention of anyone having problems obtaining their digital copies, so maybe my situation was unique. Where are they?!?! I don't have any discs labeled as such, and no insert with codes (like every other digital copy included with a blu-ray). Is anyone else having this problem?

Mine had one sheet with 3 codes on it, one for each film. The sheet was packaged in between FotR and TTT along with some ads for Harry Potter and LotR stuff from The Noble Collection. If it was not there with all that stuff, then it may not have been packaged with your box set (this has happened to be before). And there are no digital copy discs... they are downloads only.

[threefiftyrocket]

Originally Posted by merrick97

I do have a slight problem with the disc in my Oppo player.

Frankly I have had more problems with this player than any other bluray player I have owned.

Anyway, the player always locks up when I put in a 2nd disc.

I have to turn off the player and then restart it with the disc inside of the player to get it read.

Its been reported that people have the same problem with Sony S570's... so it may be a firmware issue.

[Pirate King]

Just a brief note to Ken:

Thank you. I value your reviews very much. Blu-ray.com has been very helpful and informative to me the last several years in my buying decisions. It was here that I first learned of a company who builds subwoofers (SVS) and it is here that I always learn about new releases, pricing, and reviews.

You have been absolutely professional in every way throughout this entire debate concerning LOTR. You had already earned my respect as a reviewer, but now you have earned my respect as a person. I feel that I know you, and I know that I can trust your judgement and opinions. I admire your work ethic in responding to practically every post. You have invested your time willingly and to the benefit of all. Blu-ray.com is a better place because of people like yourself.

Thank you very much.

[TheZoof]

Ken -

'Hobbit-y'.

That is good stuff.


Has anyone noticed the 'green' slowly changes through the movies? I am watching TTT second disc now(working at home) and it definitely seems to be changing.

Perhaps this color timing is a reflection of the world of middle earth... or it could be I am trying to see things.


Still looks great though.

[MerrickG]

Originally Posted by threefiftyrocket

Its been reported that people have the same problem with Sony S570's... so it may be a firmware issue.

All I know is I am getting tired of having problems with this player. Oppo is considered the gold standard for most, but I have had more lock ups and start up failures on this BY FAR than any previous player I owned.

[Strevlac]

Originally Posted by merrick97

Oppo is considered the gold standard for most

It's kind of expensive and not something you can pick up at Best Buy, ergo A/V geeks love it. Not sure it has much to do with actual quality.

[SpikesBluBlooded]

Thanks 350! I was pretty sure I just happened to be the unlucky schlub who got dissed, but I went to WB's support page and they hooked me up, so no worries, I just wanted to know if I was alone on this one, or if it was a wide-spread problem. Thanks again for clarifying what I should have found (I did have the LOTR online game insert, and the HP insert, just missing the DD insert apparently...).

[ranitasus]

Originally Posted by aherron

Not sure if this has been mentioned here, I was just watching a video of the unboxing of the US version and as the guy was explaining each one, his copy of The Fellowship Of The Ring came with two copies of Part Two no Part One. The moment I saw this I immediately checked my whole entire set making sure I had Part One and Part Two of each movie. Glad to see that they're all correct. Just a heads up. Here's the video of the gentleman with the two copies of Part Two of FOTR.





YouTube - ‪Lord Of The Rings Extended Edition blu ray Trilogy unboxing review‬‏

I just grabbed my unopened set and checked. All there..sigh...lol I would hate the feeling of opening up one of the most awaited sets to see two of the same discs. Especially if you purchased it online.

[threefiftyrocket]

Originally Posted by merrick97

All I know is I am getting tired of having problems with this player. Oppo is considered the gold standard for most, but I have had more lock ups and start up failures on this BY FAR than any previous player I owned.

Hate to sound like I'm advertising, but I've owned 2 standalone Sonys and a PS3, all three still work excellent, no issues whatsoever. and they're quite affordable too!

[Hobbun]

Originally Posted by TheZoof

Ken -

'Hobbit-y'.

That is good stuff.


Has anyone noticed the 'green' slowly changes through the movies? I am watching TTT second disc now(working at home) and it definitely seems to be changing.

Perhaps this color timing is a reflection of the world of middle earth... or it could be I am trying to see things.


Still looks great though.

Actually, from my understanding, the ‘green’ tint only exists in FotR due to the first movie was the only one remastered this time around.

[threefiftyrocket]

Originally Posted by SpikesBluBlooded

Thanks 350! I was pretty sure I just happened to be the unlucky schlub who got dissed, but I went to WB's support page and they hooked me up, so no worries, I just wanted to know if I was alone on this one, or if it was a wide-spread problem. Thanks again for clarifying what I should have found (I did have the LOTR online game insert, and the HP insert, just missing the DD insert apparently...).

No problem...

Sometimes crazy things happen :P

WB pretty good about this kinda stuff though

[Ken Brown]

Originally Posted by Hobbun

Actually, from my understanding, the ‘green’ tint only exists in FotR due to the first movie was the only one remastered this time around.

Correct, the prevailing green tint -- again, slight as it is -- only appears on FOTR. TTT features scenes that boast prominent greens, and even scene-specific and region-specific digitally color graded green tinting. But not a complete tint. The scenes in which Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas are tracking Pippin and Merry are fairly green-ish (for lack of a better term). In that case, a faint hint of green was added to match the cloudiness of the sky and the earthiness of the Rohan landscape. The same could be said of early scenes with Frodo, Sam and Gollum. Many other scenes, though, don't feature much green at all. I can see where it would be confusing

Hope that helps clarify!

[Strevlac]

Originally Posted by threefiftyrocket

Hate to sound like I'm advertising, but I've owned 2 standalone Sonys and a PS3, all three still work excellent, no issues whatsoever. and they're quite affordable too!

I have the lowly Sony BDP-S350 and it has operated almost flawlessly for almost 4 years now. I say almost because I had to update the firmware once to get Evil Dead to play.

Expensive bluray players = overrated, waste of money IMO.

[omicron]

Originally Posted by Strevlac

It's kind of expensive and not something you can pick up at Best Buy, ergo A/V geeks love it. Not sure it has much to do with actual quality.

The Oppo (i assume BDP-83) supports a lot more disc formats including DVD-A, SACD than almost any other player, has exemplary DVD upscaling and very fast load times plus excellent support, and came out of the box with all HD codecs working. At the time it was released no other player could match it. Maybe that is not true now, but at the time it was clearly the best bang for the buck.

I am not as convinced about the BDP-93 as an upgrade. For my needs anyway.

[flodsby]

I just finished the first disc of ROTK... wow.

"That's all I gotta say about that."

[threefiftyrocket]

Originally Posted by Strevlac

I have the lowly Sony BDP-S350 and it has operated almost flawlessly for almost 4 years now. I say almost because I had to update the firmware once to get Evil Dead to play.

Expensive bluray players = overrated, waste of money IMO.

Yup, I've updated firmware on my S350/S360 only a couple times. I'm very very happy with them.