I'm not sure how or why you guys are not seeing it because it is there: http://www.amazon.com/Hobbit-Extended-F ... on+blu+ray

Valkrist wrote:I'm not sure how or why you guys are not seeing it because it is there: http://www.amazon.com/Hobbit-Extended-F ... on+blu+ray

Haha, this is crazy. Thats literally the first time I have ever seen it on Amazon. I just searched this morning to make sure. Anywho... thanks for posting, I finally got to preorder it!

That is crazy indeed because it was there a week ago. Maybe only Canadians could view it so Amazon can taunt us with the fact that we can't order it unless it comes from the US. They did the same thing with TDOS, except then suddenly it became orderable in Canada a couple of days before the release date.

Valkrist wrote:That is crazy indeed because it was there a week ago. Maybe only Canadians could view it so Amazon can taunt us with the fact that we can't order it unless it comes from the US. They did the same thing with TDOS, except then suddenly it became orderable in Canada a couple of days before the release date.

So you can order from Amazon.com? But then I guess you have to pay more shipping and fees since its coming from the US? Are amazon.ca warehouses located in Canada?

Yes, yes, and yes.

We can order (and so can you) from Amazon in any country. I've ordered many times from the US Amazon, and several times from UK Amazon. Just have to make sure you are on the correct site. Yes, you do incur higher shipping and sometimes customs fees, but it's a good way to get a hard to find buy that your local Amazon is not offering for whatever reason. Lastly, we do have several Amazon warehouses up here.

So is the statue available with non 3D version?

Olorin wrote:So is the statue available with non 3D version?

Thus far, the only available version with the statue is the 3D one I linked to. With AUJ, I only recall seeing the 3D version with the statue, which is what I got, then with TDOS, they had one with, and one without 3D, and I got the latter. With BOTFA, so far it seems to be 3D only. Mind you, my AUJ copy also included the non-3D version of the film, which is why I didn't mind buying it as I don't have a 3D tv. I haven't checked this new one thouroughly yet, but I suspect it will also include both versions of the film.

Olorin wrote:So is the statue available with non 3D version?

I was able to order the non 3d version with the statue for 50 something dollars. I clicked the link Val provided, and it had different versions to click on.

Valkrist wrote:Yes, yes, and yes.

We can order (and so can you) from Amazon in any country. I've ordered many times from the US Amazon, and several times from UK Amazon. Just have to make sure you are on the correct site. Yes, you do incur higher shipping and sometimes customs fees, but it's a good way to get a hard to find buy that your local Amazon is not offering for whatever reason. Lastly, we do have several Amazon warehouses up here.

I see... Seems Canada gets the shaft. This wasn't Amazon but I remember years ago with the sleeve for the DVD EEs it was for US customers, if I remember

That's the problem with us (Canada) being considered a 'small market' by most US companies, like Amazon: it is not worth their trouble and return on investment to provide us with our own version of everything you guys have down there. DVDs and Bluray editions of movies and shows fall under this category because of the issue of Canada being a bilingual country. A different version of every commercially available movie or show has to be made for Canada so that it includes both English and French languages, not only in the packaging, but also in the media content. Needless to say, this is a hassle for companies, and sometimes a special edition or two slip through the cracks. These are the times when I have to order foreign versions of something I want.

I don't recall how the alpha regions codes are set up for BD, but for DVD Region 1 was US and Canada. French was always included as one of the audio tracks and subtitle tracks. I guess the packaging wasn't bilingual.

Anyway, don't feel too bad up there. So far, Amazon Canada has a listing for the complete X Files series remastered on BD, a Holy Grail for me, while Amazon US does not. Hopefully that's about to change though.

And yes, BC is right, the 2D version is on the same link.

I'm not sure which version to get. I don't have a 3D TV, but my EEs of the first 2 Hobbit movies, as well as the TE of DOS, were the 3D editions. In all cases I bought them either because I had to, to get the statue, or thought I did. I didn't resent it too much, thinking whenever I have to get a new TV someday, it would be 3D as they were making all TVs 3D at that time.

Flash forward a year or two, and now that 4K TVs are starting to come out, 3D is nowhere to be seen, at least on 4K. Obviously, I hope it's quite a while before I have to get a new TV, as I have a great one that I love, but someday it will happen. I guess I can't future-proof my Hobbit collection....

That was my thinking when I got the Hobbit in 3D, I figured I'd have 3D TV soon... I still don't and I now just get the 2D editions, unless the one with the 3D is only a couple dollars more, but usually, since I dont have a 3D TV at least, I just stick to the 2D editions.

My sister has a 3D TV and I don't think they ever watch 3D movies.

I watched the extended edition of BOFA tonight. Wow! I won't spoil what was added. I'll just say it is excellent. There were dozens of small additions reinserted in scenes throughout the movie that made them better, as well as several major scenes added. All of it makes for a much better flowing, much more complete and satisfying movie. This may sound like all the new stuff is action scenes (it is definitely not) but there is a LOT more that happens in the battle that was removed. It's like watching a whole different version of the battle. It is much more intense and frightening to watch and goes through much more of an emotional journey than the theatrical version.

There is a bit of Orc blood splattered here and there some Orc crushings, but I did not see anything any worse than what was in ROTK. I still don't know why this was rated R and not PG13. Maybe because it feels more dangerous and intense than ROTK.

I also noticed in several places that some of the effects that were a bit dodgy in the theatrical cut, likely because they ran short on time, have now been 'finished'.

OK, I'll leak a few things. The staff passing scene is in there, but that is not the only new staff scene Most of the other known cut scenes are in there, but so much more too. Oh, and I'll just say - TROLLS. Lots more, and some really crazy troll stuff too. And the river chase. Wow.

There are a few scenes I know about that did not make the EE cut, but I don't think they were needed. This movie is now perfect IMO. Hopefully those will be in a deleted scenes section of the Blu Ray.

Thanks for the high-praise review. INow I can hardly wait to get my copy of the EE!

BladeCollector wrote:I am guilty, although in my defense, back in the day, I did not know of such things as TEs and EEs, and BluRay didnt exist back then, but I have now bought LOTR about 5 times, VHS, TE and EE DVD and TE and EE BD... and I have bought AUJ on TE and EE (luckily they come with both DVD and BD now) and DOS on TE and EE... and will most likely do the same for BOFTA.... and then I will more than likely buy the super duper deluxe middle earth LOTR/Hobbit Box set with super duper extras never before seen ever.

That's funny, because I just ran across the gold box set of Star Wars VHS--pre Lucas edit. I was putting it in the garage sale we had, but then I pulled it back out.

Several TORn staffers posted their thoughts; needless to say, SPOILERS abound.

http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2015/10 ... -botfa-ee/

It sounds like we'll get almost everything we were hoping for...and a non-trivial amount of stuff we weren't.

If you really want to enjoy this movie the way it was meant to be seen, I suggest avoiding that One Ring article until after you watch it. They definitely ruin all the surprises and special moments.

Nasnandos wrote:If you really want to enjoy this movie the way it was meant to be seen, I suggest avoiding that One Ring article until after you watch it. They definitely ruin all the surprises and special moments.

(As Marty Feldman said in Young Frankenstein): Too late!

That's OK though....after reading the comments I am actually willing to give the EEs a try...and this by someone who was thoroughly underwhelmed by the theatre versions.
So are the EEs of the three movies available as regular DVDs, meaning non-3D, non BD?

Yes,for example here's a box set on DVDs. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B014GJBP5 ... ref=plSrch

Olorin wrote:Yes,for example here's a box set on DVDs. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B014GJBP5 ... ref=plSrch

Why is the bluray listed for less than the DVD?

Thranduil wrote:

Olorin wrote:Yes,for example here's a box set on DVDs. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B014GJBP5 ... ref=plSrch

Why is the bluray listed for less than the DVD?

I noticed that too.
But you can shop around a bit and find the DVD set for a lot less.
I'm going to wait awhile...DVD price will come way down within a year, I think.
I'm betting you'll see it pretty affordable on ebay and craigslist...same as what happened with all the LOTR movies... regardless of format.

Here is what Dain's red axe prop looked like, the one I mentioned in the UC replicas thread a while back.

Definitely starting to see why they made him CGI in the end. Shame, that axe looks beautiful and that armour and that helmet.

Is this a screengrab from the EE extras, Kit?

Can't wait to watch the documentaries when I get my copy

Personally, I think he looks great, though as Kit had mentioned previously, Billy Connolly is truly lost under the prosthetics, and that's the real shame. Not sure why they felt some dwarves, like Thorin, Fili, and Kili, can have essentially human-like faces, yet some others, like Gimli and Dain, have to be buried under a ton of latex. The CGI Dain that they ended up using was far more human-looking in his features than the real Dain in that photo, so if PJ was ok with the final CGI look, why not simply put less makeup on Connolly?!?

I thought the reason why they did the cgi was because Connolly wasn't available for reshoots so they had to do cgi for those, and then redid the live so it matched.

Yes, but perhaps those some of those reshoots would not have been needed had Connolly not been buried under all the prosthetics and forced to mumble his lines to begin with. It seems PJ often has to deal with problems he created in the first place.

Lindir wrote:Definitely starting to see why they made him CGI in the end. Shame, that axe looks beautiful and that armour and that helmet.

Is this a screengrab from the EE extras, Kit?

Can't wait to watch the documentaries when I get my copy

Yes, from the Extras on the EE. Dain's face and armor is basically the same in the finished movie, but they made his nose a bit smaller, and re colored the armor to have more of a bright silver metal coloring rather than the dark steel of the actual armor props.

Olorin wrote:It bought the reason why they did the cgi was because Connolly wasn't available for reshoots so they had to do cgi for those, and then redid the live so it matched.

From what I remember them saying, they were never going to re-shoot anything. It was not the face makeup that prompted the change to CGI, but Billy just could not move effectively under the dwarf proportions suit suit with all that armor on top. He was only on set a few days so I doubt he was able to have the weeks of training to learn how to move correctly like the other Dwarf actors had. They just thought it would be better to re-create him and get the moves exactly like what they wanted and then model his facial expressions based on the footage they did shoot.

Digital Bits review (spoilers of course):

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/item/hobb ... xtended-bd

Woow I really love that axe of Dain

So I saw the EE of the BOFA and... well I'm... I can't even believe I'm saying this but I'm really really disappointed

Begin spoilery discussion

Spoiler tags arent working and I can't change the colour of the text. So please don't read if you want to enjoy the movie for yourself.













[spoiler=]The chariot sequence, while funny in a sick way, was pretty ridiculous and ruined the flow of that section of the movie. Also it's really bizarre the amount of blood in that sequence. Earlier we see Dane using his hammer on an orc's head and somehow it doesn't explode, yet there's so much blood squirting and spraying everywhere and limbs and heads coming off and being eviscerated during the chariot sequence.

My main gripe, is the battle between the Dwarves and Elves... why on earth did they feel the need to do that? I personally thought that it was more dramatic and tense that they NEARLY came to blows, but here we see Elves and Dwarves fighting and pretty much the Elves being slaughtered horrendously by the Dwarves... and then there's no resolution to that conflict. In my eyes, it undoes everything that's going to come in LOTR. Maybe I'm overreacting but... I'm kinda surprised by it and it's also ruined the Dwarves for me because I saw them as this noble race and I'm just thinking... how on earth could Legolas and Gimli be friends, but also how can viewers accept their friendship? There's no resolution between Dane and Thranduil. Thranduil isn't even at Thorin's funeral to place Orcrist on the tomb like in the book which also disappointed me because that was quite an iconic moment and also symbolised the change in Thranduil's character. I will say that Lee Pace's acting during the battle sequence between the Elves and Dwarves was pretty great, even though it was only mostly expression based. I think he perfectly reflected the guilt and horror that Thranduil would have been feeling in that sequence watching his people being slaughtered.

It never explains that the lasgalen jewellery belonged to Thranduil's wife, and he never receives them back. I know the point of it was in the end he came to recognise Legolas as being more important... but it doesn't work and I honestly don't think the majority of people who'll see it will understand that. The funeral scene wasn't needed and Dane's coronation was very lackluster... it was over in 5 seconds.

It was 20 minutes longer... but there wasn't much need in most of it. Beorn was pretty much given 2 minutes more screen time and I don't even think he had a line.

Alfrid's death was ridiculous. It was better that he slipped away I thought.

I'm also a little disappointed that Thranduil and Tauriel aren't given much of a conclusion and there's no real closure for their characters. Same with Radagast and Beorn. The sequence with the elven rings was interesting, but again... it wasn't needed. There was no conclusion to this and I personally felt like it fell flat. I was looking forward to the supposed sequence they filmed where Sauron was tempting Galadriel and I was sure that would make it into the EE but it's not there.

Little confession, I torrented the EE. I have the physical copy on pre-order and I still intend to purchase it primarily for the documentaries... but someone please please please tell me that the EE version available on torrent sites is fake

As sad as this may seem, I feel a little heart broken by this. I'm really disappointed. [/spoiler]

Wow, Lindir!
I'm sorry for your disappointment...but that took a lot of courage to give that very honest review.
I was really no longer on the fence about getting the EEs (any of them) meaning, I had already decided against it.
I just could not make myself get "involved" enough in "The Hobbit as interpreted by Peter Jackson".

You kind of put the stake through the heart of any lingering interest, tho'.
So, thank you, even if it's kind of a sad thing to be thanking you for.

It won't stop me from buying it, but I have to agree with Deimos on her words. I'm sure many will disagree, but PJ has shown more than once how absurdly out of touch he is with the source material at times. He's gotten so much right, and has touched this Tolkien fan base so deeply in many ways, yet the few times he has deviated, he has gone off the rails at high speed. We've come to expect these EE cuts to be a nod of respect and love to the fans, filled with character moments and additional material from the books. Not sure why Jackson felt a need to inundate the movie with more battle scenes, especially violent ones between the supposed good guys. I get the movie has the word "Battle" in the title, and there truly has been bad blood between the elves and dwarves for thousands of years, but must it be gratuitously thrown in when it doesn't add anything worthwhile to the experience? Like Lindir said, I totally love the tension in the original version when the two sides nearly come to blows only to redraw their battle lines at the last moment to face the goblins. This will completely break the flow and edge of that scene.

Still, I am heartened by Kit's assertion that this is a much improved version of the movie and there is lots to like and be touched by. I guess I'll find out how I feel about it in just a few days. Thanks for your honest review, Lindir.

I'm glad you're happy with my honest review, but I'm personally pretty sad that I am the one with a negative review.

I need to clarify that I still love the Hobbit movies, I love the characters and I love the story. But for me personally, The Battle of the Five Armies EE is just not good enough. I gave it another watch and I stand by my comments, but I want to retract my thoughts on the Dol Guldur scenes. I prefer the extended version. I am aware though that the history of the rings is most likely part of material that their license doesn't cover and so they can't explain the three elven rings. It's interesting however that the movie never states that Elrond has Vilya. We see Narya and Nenya, but no closeup of Vilya. Also, I love some of the closeups of Elrond fighting.

I'm not one for fan edits, but as a little hobby project I'm planning on doing my own cut of the movie. Just for personal use of course, but there are definitely some scenes I want to keep from the EE, and some will be removed.

So has anybody actually received the version that comes with the statue? I have it pre-ordered from Amazon, and although my order still claims it's shipping as early as Friday, on the website the item shows as unavailable and availability date unknown.

I've read some horror stories over at the S&F forum where people are saying Amazon.com completely dropped the ball on this release and though most got shipping notices, the order now says the movie with the statue won't arrive until well into December for some reason. There's either a shortage from the supplier, or they bungled something else up. I ordered mine from Amazon.ca (once it finally became available,) got the shipping notice on the 16th, and according to tracking, it is due to arrive Friday. Let's see whether that actually happens or not.

Amazon's been botching shipping for years for me. I never order from them unless they have an insanely different price from other stores or if they're Amazon exclusive, which far too many Bluray releases have been of late.

Mine has been "preparing for shipment" since Sunday. Just got the shipping notice late last night along with another item that had bee "preparing for shipment" since Sunday. Like you, Val, mine says it should show up tomorrow.

Keep me posted!

My pre-ordered blue-ray set from Amazon) arrived on Tuesday. I'm looking forward to watching the extended edition of the movie and all of the extras this weekend.

I am for the most part die hard loyal to Amazon, I have had a couple issues with things overall, but most of my issues have been error on the delivery side, not Amazon side. As in, UPS didnt put my stuff on the truck and it was in the shipping warehouse, etc. Nothing on the lines of Amazon not shipping something out on time.

For The Hobbit, I got an update the other day that says I am now going to receive it on Dec 18, which is quite the delay. Is it Amazon's fault? Is it the company that mass produces the actual discs? Is it WETA for not getting the statues ready on time? Is it Amazon for not getting their stock all ready and put together on time? I mean its an Amazon exclusive set, so its not like they are competing with everyone else on their stock.

When you go to the actual page it says it is in stock but may require additional processing days, so if its in stock and I preordered in September why am I waiting until Dec 18? I think they just threw out a date far enough in the future to cover their proverbial butts, and the actual items will show up sooner.

I'm sorry to know that the item has not been shipped yet. I completely understand your disappointment. That's definitely not what we want our customers to experience.

I've checked the availability for Hobbit, The: Battle of Five Armies Extended Edition with Figurine [3D Bluray + Ultra-Violet] (Amazon Exclusive) [Blu-ray], and can confirm that it's now back-ordered. I'm sorry about this delay--we certainly didn't expect this would happen.

I want to make sure your order gets to you faster once we have stock. To help make up for the delay, I've upgraded the shipping method to One-Day Shipping at no additional cost.

Although the shipping method is faster, it'll still take some time to get the item. As soon as we receive more stock, we'll ship your order and send you an e-mail to let you know.

So saith Amazon when I emailed them. Now I guess I wait, at least if I want the statue.

BladeCollector wrote:I am for the most part die hard loyal to Amazon

Me too, but this is the third time they've dropped the ball for me recently. First, they didn't have the retailer exclusive for Terminator Genesis, and when I found out that Best Buy had one, I had to buy the Best Buy one and send the Amazon one back. Second, they made the new Seal album an Amazon Prime exclusive, so I had to go to Best Buy to get one. and now this Hobbit annoyance. Aargh…

For me, Amazon too frequently uses USPS for delivery, and the USPS is terrible in my state. I say state, because it's been bad for the past four places I've lived within the state. Things are late, lost, damaged, etc. constantly. I've had many discussions with Amazon about not using USPS (even when I pay for 1 or 2 day shipping, they'll use USPS) and they always "make a note of my experience" and proceed to send another box set through the USPS where it's crushed and the case is split, discs scratched...Been very wary of these last few orders...

Mine is not the version with the statue, just the Bluray 3D/Bluray set on its own.

I use Amazon quite a bit for movies, but I have had a few issues with them using USPS. Rather than take packages to big for the mail box to my door, they try and cram them into my mail box. My wife spent some time trying to unwedge the package with my BOFA EE in it from the back of our mail box a few days ago. It had to be partially crushed to get it out.

I just got a shipping notification that my BOTFA box set has shipped out and is expected Dec 18. Now... looking at the calendar, that is a month away. Unless they are sending it by horse and carriage, or Bilbo, Gandalf and a pack of 13 dwarves come hand deliver it, I don't see why it is going to take that long.

BladeCollector wrote:I just got a shipping notification that my BOTFA box set has shipped out and is expected Dec 18. Now... looking at the calendar, that is a month away. Unless they are sending it by horse and carriage, or Bilbo, Gandalf and a pack of 13 dwarves come hand deliver it, I don't see why it is going to take that long.

You're right...that makes no sense. You ought to email and ask about.

I am frustrated about my situation, but I guess there's nothing I can do since I definitely want the statue, other than wait. My frustration is yes, I really want to see the extended edition and see the extra footage. But also, I was planning a big days long festivity of watching all six middle earth extended editions. Now that's been thrown into complete disarray because of this delay. I didn't want to wait until almost Christmas to start this. I guess I'll have to go out and rent the BOFA Extended Edition.

New shipping notification... It is expected to be delivered by 8 PM ...TODAY. Something wonky is going on with their systems it looks like.

Definitely. The tracking info on their site says my package is close, USPS says it's still in New Jersey.

I've found recently that the information in their emails, their notification texts, and on their website is not always in sync.

So you guys who actually have the thing on the way, is it 2D or 3D?

Mine is just 2D, or what I like to call regular-D. I got a couple movies in 3D, especially when its a combo and relatively the same price, but I still dont even have a 3D TV and I don't foresee watching many movies in 3D when/if I ever get one... so I just got regular-D on this edition.