Two comments:

Good to know the blue strip is removable, but what exactly about this release is 'limited'? I still don't get that part.

Thranduil, thanks for posting that pic, it clears eveything up now. Those pewter figurines are not new, in fact they are several years old. They are indeed part of a chess set: the LOTR chess set that Noble Collection put out several years ago following the release of the movies. I have that chess set, so I know what I'm talking about as I already have those figurines and several others. Since there's many more to make up the other pieces of the set, I'm guessing Best Buy probably randomized them. Gandalf and Saruman are the white and black king pieces. On a side note, Noble eventually released TT and ROTK miniature e xp ansions that let you replace the initial FOTR set on the board with new characters.

Just finished the Two Towers, and as anticipated MUCH more pleased with it than FOTR. I think the latter's color issue was a distraction for me, and I still haven't really come to terms with it yet. But being unaltered, TTT was able to shine in all its glorious normal-saturated detail. And boy was it brilliant. One of the major benefits I think is a harder and more crisp focus in TTT and ROTK in general, compared to FOTR (as I touched on previously). So this had great potential right from the start. Add the multitude of sweeping landscapes, long-shots, abundant rock textures, sunlit hair, and intricate armor, and it really shows off. Pretty hyped for ROTK now.

I have to say I feel like these movies are going by way too quickly upon this latest viewing. I can only hope ROTK's thirty endings do the same (seriously my biggest turn off when deciding to watch that one). But as an event as otherwise enjoyable and amazing as it is, I have no complaints.

[quote=""Sedhal""]lol, I forgot to address my first pleasant surprise! Yep, it's part of the removable panel they bend around the back. It hangs over the top and front and that's where you get the stupid BD logo. Rip that sucker off and the case is blue-less. [/quote]

Exactly as I predicted months ago.

[quote=""Valkrist""]
Good to know the blue strip is removable, but what exactly about this release is 'limited'? I still don't get that part. [/quote]

It is not limited. That was preliminary box art. The production box simply says "Extended Edition."

I had mine waiting on my doorstep for me when I got home from work. How pleasant that I actually received it on release day instead of a week or more later, as is usually the case with Amazon.

First impressions.... I watched about an hour's worth of FOTR. The color is a bit different, but if you're not looking for it, you wouldn't notice. In general, the color comes across as richer and warmer than the previous versions. Color seems more noticeable in some scenes that are othewise fairly bereft of color, such as the opening battle and parts of the Moria sequence, although selectively so—you can pick out the color of the Elves' armor from a distance in the prologue, and you get hints of warm colors on metal elsewhere.

It does not in general seem greener. The one scene for which I held the most trepidation, the approach to Caradhras scene that looked terrible in the screen shot Sed posted yesterday, is quite acceptable. Yes, the color is different, there's more of a bluish hint to the snow in the long shot, but it does not look green at all. The effect it suggests to me is of the deeper blue that you get at higher altitudes where there's less atmosphere to diffuse the light.

Digital Bits today referenced a quote from Harry Knowles of AICN. Knowles states that the new master of FOTR has had digital color grading, just as TTT and ROTK did right out of the starting gate, but FOTR never did until now. In other words, it looks how PJ wants it to look.

On to the packaging.... The box is wonderful. It is much sturdier than it looks in the web photos, and there is a hidden magnet to hold the flap closed. Although the overall color is gold, the background behind the lettering and scrollwork has a hint of copper to it, particularly on the covers of the three individual movie cases. Although the inside cases are typical multi-disc BD cases, they are molded in black opaque plastic instead of translucent blue. The fit of the three boxes inside the main box is snug, but if you remove all the throwaway advert inserts and the theft-prevention chip, they slide in and out more smoothly. As Sed pointed out, there is a removable cardstock back cover that folds over the top, and the blue bar is solely on it. The actual back of the box has a gold, Elvish-looking emblem embossed on it. As much as I loved the packaging of the EE DVDs, I think the packaging of the EE BDs is even classier, even though it no longer emulates books.

So, there it is, folks. If you can get past the very minor difference that FOTR's colors are a bit different, this is truly One BD Set to Rule Them All. For anyone who's still on the fence about this, hie thee hither to your retailer of choice and get it, if you still intend to consider yourself a fan of these movies. Until the Überbox containing both a retweaked LOTR and The Hobbit comes out in about 2015, this is as good as it's going to get.

Looks like I am gonna be late to the party, as far as the pre-order-ers go, mine is due to get here on Friday, I just selected normal shipping.

Sorry, Olorin, I know you're getting exasperated with this issue but so am I. Many websites are still showing the old blue strip that says "Limited" on it. I'm sorry, but it's a fact, and I can post a half-dozen links to show you if you want. Seems they never got the memo and failed to update the picture. On the tv ad the print is too small to see as the box is in the background, but since it is blue with white lettering, you can excuse me and others for thinking it still says "Limited."

[quote=""Valkrist""]Sorry, Olorin, I know you're getting exasperated with this issue but so am I. Many websites are still showing the old blue strip that says "Limited" on it. I'm sorry, but it's a fact, and I can post a half-dozen links to show you if you want. Seems they never got the memo and failed to update the picture. On the tv ad the print is too small to see as the box is in the background, but since it is blue with white lettering, you can excuse me and others for thinking it still says "Limited." [/quote]

Sorry, I wasn't trying to e xp ress exasperation. I just wanted to allay fears and be definitive that the set is not limited, at least insofar as its packaging states.

Incidentally, I don't know that I understand the thinking behind the region coding for BDs, or at least how that translates into what languages are put on a disc. For DVDs, Region 1 was the US and Canada, so the spoken languages on disc were always English and French. BD has fewer regions and Region A includes the Western Hemisphere, Southeast Asia, Japan, and Korea. So, for its spoken languages, the new EE BD has English and Portuguese.... I guess anyone speaking any of the myriad other languages in Region A is SOL. But you can let us know how good the Portuguese translation is!

If anything, it will be interesting hearing what terms they use for words like orcs, dwarves, and elves. I also thought it was an odd choice, as Spanish or French would have made more sense. Is LOTR huge in Brazil or something? Because Portugal is tiny.

Addendum: Am I the only one that feels that region coding on media is an archaic concept that needs to die?

I get why it was put in place originally, but with most movies being released simultaneously domestically and overseas, and with the pervasiveness of the internet, what really is the point anymore? Just seems like a step backwards toward globalization on something that no longer provides a useful function. One major stumbling block though is that there are still three main video standards across the world that impede all of this media being interchangeable: PAL, NTSC, and SECAM.

No, you are not the only one who feels that way about region coding. As for the formats, in the era of BD, there is no NTSC vs. PAL. I bought the UK BD of "Wizards" and it plays just fine on my BD player.

Getting back to the EE BDs, the gorgeous menu screens from the EE DVDs have carried over, although only the first "page" of it, the main screen. The secondary pages for sound options, etc., and the beautiful Shore soundtrack that accompanied them, are gone because the set uses the typical BD popups to access those functions.

I watched at part of TTT tonight. By "watched at," I mean I put the first disc in and let it play, because I was too tired to do anything else this evening (as evidenced by the fact that I fell asleep about when Gandalf the White made his debut). In some places, the image is just stunning. In others, it's very good, but I almost feel like it's not better than the EE DVD was. Apparently my system upconverts DVDs very well, as depending on the disc, the DVD can look very good....and the LOTR DVDs always looked great. Often, it seems the main difference between an upconverted DVD and a BD is not so much the final detail and image clarity, but rather the lack of artifacting in the BD image. Of course, I am unable to do a proper comparison to test this. Well, that's not true. I could put the DVD in the DVD player, which is still hooked up, and the BD in the BD player. I guess I'd have to say that currently, I am too lazy and uninspired to conduct this test.

MINE ARE HEEEEEEEEERE! Although I needed to finish my TE BDs first!! I guess I am having an LOTR-marathon 4th of July Weekend!!

I love the packaging, it isn't like the leatherbound editions that we had on DVD, but the gold and black is so elegant and beautiful, fits nicely with LOTR.


Just to reiterate some things already said... once you open the shrinkwrap, the blue stripe goes bye bye. There is no traditional "blu-ray" blue anywhere, its fabulous, I was really getting sick of BDs all being in basically the same packaging, the blue case, etc. Although movies have been getting better, especially in the multi-disc sets like the new Narnia, etc.

Also again those Best Buy figurines are the chess set pieces like Val said, one of the inserts that came inside the packaging lists the Noble Collections and in there was an ad for the Chess set as well as the TTT and ROTK sets that Val mentioned. In that case, I am glad I stuck with the Amazon set. Getting the Best Buy set would have bothered me not having all the chess pieces, which in turn would have caused me to spend more money trying to get that chess set, and a chess set that beautiful needs to be displayed at all times, so then I would have been mad again because I have no where to display something like that! Sorry for the ridiculously long run-on sentence.

I can't wait to start watching them!!!!

Fairly brief and humorous article on the new color grading.

http://blogcritics.org/video/article/co ... the-rings/

Yes, but does Greedo still shoot first?

[quote=""BladeCollector""].... Getting the Best Buy set would have bothered me not having all the chess pieces, which in turn would have caused me to spend more money trying to get that chess set, and a chess set that beautiful needs to be displayed at all times, so then I would have been mad again because I have no where to display something like that! Sorry for the ridiculously long run-on sentence....[/quote]

No need to apologize, BC. That is probably the greatest run-on sentence I have ever read! Too funny!

Another "small" advantage of the new set is that they take up less room on your movie rack. I have the new set, last year's theatrical BD set, and the Bakshi animated LOTR BD sitting between the Argonath bookends and I had to scoot the bookends closer together.

Wow... the DVD EEs don't even deserve a place of honour between the bookends that came with them?!?

I always knew you were a cold-hearted villain, Olorin, and now I see that your soul is firmly in the grasp of the BD devil.

Haha! Good one Val!!

I was thinking while I was watching the TE BDs... I need a bigger TV for the EEs... haha. My 42" seems small, I have more room on my TV stand, and while I am at it, I could use some surround sound! Just need that little thing they call money!!

[quote=""Valkrist""]Wow... the DVD EEs don't even deserve a place of honour between the bookends that came with them?!?

I always knew you were a cold-hearted villain, Olorin, and now I see that your soul is firmly in the grasp of the BD devil. [/quote]

I tossed the DVD set in the garbage the day the BD set arrived.

I gave the DVD set to charity for needy Tolkien fans.

I am using the DVD discs as coasters.

I sent the DVD discs to Janet Jackson to tuck into her shirt in case she has another wardrobe malfunction.

I am whipping the DVD discs into the air and fooling my neighbors into thinking they are (very small) UFOs.

I put the DVD discs under my cats' dishes to use as saucers.

Actually, the DVD set was moved into my library where it will eventually occupy a position of honor among my Tolkien books. I can't think of a better afterlife for it than that. And in putting all my Tolkien-related BDs into the Argonath atop the movie rack in the living room, I've freed up considerable space within the rack. Space is a consideration when you have hundreds and hundreds of discs like I do.

[quote=""Olorin""]Space is a consideration when you have hundreds and hundreds of discs like I do. [/quote]

It sure is. I think I've passed the 400 mark myself recently.

Phew! For a minute there I thought Olorin was about to have a name change to Sauron

[quote=""Thranduil""]Phew! For a minute there I thought Olorin was about to have a name change to Sauron [/quote]

Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny.

Oops, sorry, wrong franchise.

Amazon.com has a FANTASTIC price on the LOTR EE BD for 49.99 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0026L ... =384082011

Just to put it in perspective, I spent 72.97 on mine.

At Comic-Con PJ teased the possibility of an extended extended cut of LOTR. (Yes, you read that right.)

http://www.deadline.com/2014/07/comic-c ... ve-armies/

Hmmm... I can't say that I am not intrigued by even more extendeder scenes. There is potential for an even super duper ubererer middle earth collection. LOTR EEEs and Hobbit EEs...

I'm curious to what there might be that would add to the story. I think we've talked about this before. If he adds in the scene of Gandalf eating toffee because he's trying to quit smoking, that would be a definite case of subtraction by addition. If he adds back some dialog snippets (I'm thinking specifically of a Gandalf VO that was used in a sneak preview of ROTK), that would be good.

And Lord forbid it be Arwen at Helm's Deep....

I can't possibly think of what they might add that would benefit these movies in any way anymore.

The scenes I wanted to see were apparently never shot (Gil-galad's death by Sauron's hand,) and Tom Bombadil, the Barrow Downs, and the Scouring of the Shire never existed. Anything else is just going to be fluff or Gimli making yet more bodily noises.

At best, we might get to see Theodred defending the Fords of Isen.

Pete has been hinting at this for a long time, even as recently as on the AUJ commentary.

There are many scenes they could not fit in the EE's that are known to have been filmed, things the film makers or actors talked about being filmed, some of which are shown being shot in the extras or bits that were seen in trailers. It's things like more scenes shot for the prologue of FOTR, Arwen and Aragorn's first meeting in Rivendell, Eowyn fighting Orcs when they attack the people hiding in the Glittering Caves, Sam using the Phial of Galadriel to pass the Watchers, the longer ROTK epilogue with Eowyn and Faramir together, Legolas and Gimli, et cetera. Then there are lots of small scenes of extra e xp osition that could be added back in, like Gandalf e xp laining how Sauron forged the One Ring at the Council of Elrond, and other things filmed in Rivendell.

There used to be a couple of websites with lists of all the known unused scenes. It's a lot of stuff that would probably bore the average person and only appeal to the die hard fans, but I would welcome it.

You know, a few years ago PJ's DVD/BD supplements producer said that new footage for LOTR would be shot while the Hobbit was in production, for extra scenes and/or tweaked scenes. I haven't heard a peep about that since then. For several years now I hoped that PJ had gotten the message and several things that he had badly screwed up would get fixed. Sadly, I no longer hold out hope that will be the case.

You know though, the irony about this new super-EE knews is that as recently as the recording of the commentary for the AUJ:EE, PJ said that he considers the current LOTR EEs essentially set in stone and he's not inclined to monkey with them. This was in response to a question/suggestion from Phillipa Boyens that he might digitally add Thranduil to the Last Alliance battle at the beginning of FOTR. So if he wasn't inclined to make a small tweak like that, either he's not serious about adding anything, or he's had a change of heart. Or maybe his wallet is growing a bit thin.

I think that response on the AUJ commentary was in regard to adding something that was never scripted or shot for LOTR in the first place. I'm sure he is wary of being labeled a George Lucas if he started doing that kind of thing. He has said he wanted to make a super long cut with stuff that never made the EE's long before that.

The only mention I ever heard of shooting additional scenes for LOTR was back when there was talk of a third bridge film, before Del Toro was the director, but nothing like that was even scripted that I know of. There were rumors of shooting some scenes with a young Strider in Rivendell for film 3, but considering Viggo has already said he was not asked to come back, and he has criticized the Hobbit recently, not likely. But you never know...

He also criticised the LOTR movies. It seems odd because a few years ago he seemed keen on going back if I remember correctly.

I personally would love longer LOTR movies

Just thought of a scene I would gladly buy an entire new edition of blurays to see: a full cut of Gandalf and the Balrog fighting atop Zirak-zigil. That would be something else.

I would guess there could be more of that than what made it into the cut we've seen.

You know, that touches upon another area of disappointment of PJ's portrayal of Middle-earth. Tolkien doesn't describe the battle in any detail but hints at its violence through Gandalf's suggestion that distant viewers would have thought the mountain top wreathed in a terrible storm. (Remember also Tolkien's description of Frodo seeing from afar Gandalf's battle with the Ringwraiths atop Weathertop: cold green light and fierce fiery light leaping into the sky at each other.) I interpret such descriptions to mean tremendous use of magic. I'd have thought we'd have seen some indications of Maiar power revealed through wrath, such as Gandalf glowing like PJ had Galadriel glowing, at a minimum. There would have been no innocent eyes nearby from which Gandalf would have been required to conceal his power. However, all we got was Gandalf absorbing a lightning blast into his sword and then transmitting it into the Balrog's chest. Everything else was just swordplay.

[quote=""Nasnandos""]Pete has been hinting at this for a long time, even as recently as on the AUJ commentary.

There are many scenes they could not fit in the EE's that are known to have been filmed, things the film makers or actors talked about being filmed, some of which are shown being shot in the extras or bits that were seen in trailers. It's things like more scenes shot for the prologue of FOTR, Arwen and Aragorn's first meeting in Rivendell, Eowyn fighting Orcs when they attack the people hiding in the Glittering Caves, Sam using the Phial of Galadriel to pass the Watchers, the longer ROTK epilogue with Eowyn and Faramir together, Legolas and Gimli, et cetera. Then there are lots of small scenes of extra e xp osition that could be added back in, like Gandalf e xp laining how Sauron forged the One Ring at the Council of Elrond, and other things filmed in Rivendell.

There used to be a couple of websites with lists of all the known unused scenes. It's a lot of stuff that would probably bore the average person and only appeal to the die hard fans, but I would welcome it.[/quote]

I too, would welcome a version with just about every scene you list....guess that makes me a die-hard fan (well, duh! )

I wouldn't say Vigo criticized the Lord of the Rings. What he did was point out the obvious, and point out that it turned out alright anyway but that, like everything else in the world, it has flaws and isn't perfect. I doubt that any of that would effect his decision to come back to Middle-Earth for more filming, I think PJ just didn't want to do it.

I would love to see all those clips, and yes totally some more of when the SHTF on top of Zirak-Zigil. That would be awesome. And I think Kit (and Peter Jackson, for that matter), have got it right when he says that they don't want to digitally add things that weren't done before, like Thranduil. Just extended cuts that weren't shown.

Besides, anyone who's read the legendarium knows that we'd just have to watch him and his dad getting their a**es whipped into the Marshlands.

If they ever tinkered with the Prologue and added Thranduil in (and Oropher, otherwise it wouldn't make much sense,) I still hold it would be criminal not to show a bit more of Gil-galad. The guy is set up as being important by being shown as one of the keepers of the Three, and then only in a split-second shot as he kills an orc. No one even sees what happens to him. Granted the masses have no clue who this guy is, but for the die-hard fans, it's a lousy way to under-e xp ose such an important personality. And before the obvious is pointed out, yes, I know PJ was unhappy with Mark Ferguson's performance, but he could just dub the lines if they were that bad. As it is, it looks like Elrond is the leader of the elves at that point in history, and this is very incorrect. While they're at it, and if new scenes were shot on purpose, they should include Anarion, another character who got royally shafted in PJ's version of ME history.

I am surprising myself by feeling ambivalent about the addition of very much material (other than "fixing" my own pet dislikes). The current EE's are nearly at their breaking point for my personal attention span. If PJ were to add more than a few seconds here and a few seconds there, I strongly feel that the discs should be structured with seamless branching where you could select the version you want to watch. They could then put the TE, EE, and Super-EE all in one set. That would truly be One Edition to Rule Them All.

They should make a whole movie of the LOTR prologue

I'd be okay with a whole movie of the LotR prologue. I don't think PJ is going to digitally add anyone or anything that wasn't there in the first place. He's got too much respect for the legacy of his Lord of the Rings trilogy to do that. But I could see him adding in more material that he cut. I've watched the entire EE trilogy in one sitting before, so I can handle a long play. Not exactly proud of that, (maybe a little ) but it is what it is, and I love being lost in Middle-Earth.

BC, you've made me think of something...Peter has the rights to the Appendices. I wonder if he could feasibly make movies about the second age, the Last Alliance, etc. If he got filming rights to The Unfinished Tales, he wouldn't even need the Silmarillion. We could have material about Celebrimbor, Gil-Galad, the Kings of Numenor....an interesting thought.

[quote=""Fingolfin""]

BC, you've made me think of something...Peter has the rights to the Appendices. I wonder if he could feasibly make movies about the second age, the Last Alliance, etc. If he got filming rights to The Unfinished Tales, he wouldn't even need the Silmarillion. We could have material about Celebrimbor, Gil-Galad, the Kings of Numenor....an interesting thought.[/quote]

People have mentioned quite a bit about Silmarillion being adapted into a Game of Thrones style TV series, but I think a TV series about the Last Alliance and all that good stuff would make excellent TV!

We've debated before whether PJ might have rights to material from Unfinished Tales, part of which represents LOTR material that was not published within the covers of LOTR. The consensus was that he does not have access to it, that he has to stick strictly to LOTR and The Hobbit.

The Saul Zaentz Company/ Middle-earth Enterprises only has rights to what is within the covers of TH and LOTR. Some things in the LOTR films and some of the film merchandise has occasionally stepped outside the bounds of that and into SIL AND UT, but they are being even more strict not to now.

I just wonder if the Estate would have an easier time giving up rights to the Unfinished Tales than The Silmarillion, if the price was big enough. Christopher keeps a really tight reign on The Silmarillion and doubtless will some of the others, but maybe they'd have an easier time letting go of UT, since a lot of its material is from LotR?

Money will eventually talk. Christopher Tokien will eventually exit this Earth and a younger generation of Tolkien will see opportunity, and maybe... MAYBE there will be super duper Middle Earth Land to rival disney world!

Christopher holds the copyright on Sil, not the estate, and he has made it clear this will never happen. You can bet it will be specified in his will that film rights will never be sold. Even if he did like film media, which he does not, the simple fact of the treatment the estate and gotten from the movie studios alone over the years justifies him never wanting anything to do with them.His copyright won't e xp ire until 70 years after he passes on, so it will be at least that long before it could even be considered.

[quote=""Nasnandos""]Christopher holds the copyright on Sil, not the estate, and he has made it clear this will never happen. You can bet it will be specified in his will that film rights will never be sold. Even if he did like film media, which he does not, the simple fact of the treatment the estate and gotten from the movie studios alone over the years justifies him never wanting anything to do with them.His copyright won't e xp ire until 70 years after he passes on, so it will be at least that long before it could even be considered.[/quote]

You are one large wet blanket.

But you speak truly...if he can keep anything else from being filmed, even after he dies, he will.

Oh man...I didn't realize the outlook was so bleak. So it's unlikely that we'll see any future adaptations of other Tolkien works? At least within the next 70ish years?

[quote=""Olorin""]You are one large wet blanket.

But you speak truly...if he can keep anything else from being filmed, even after he dies, he will.[/quote]

Maybe on his deathbed he will have a change of heart and relent...
(Stranger things have happened on deathbeds....)

Yeah, sorry to be such a downer, but I lost all hope after hearing a bit of inside info several years back, and Christopher basically confirmed it all publicly last year. I completely disagree with his assessment of the films, and his feelings on all this are a bit puzzling, but it is his property to do with as he pleases. Having to go to court against New Line just to get their contractual share of the film profits (as Pete also had to do) is probably what drove the spike in the coffin.

Still, no matter how much he dislikes the film media and all the licensing and marketing headaches that goes along with it, how could one not appreciate the 1000% increase in LOTR book sales that the LOTR films generated? It put the books in 25 million peoples hands from 2001-2003 alone. I would think Tolkien would be very pleased with so many new readers.

[quote=""Nasnandos""]Still, no matter how much [Christopher] dislikes the film media and all the licensing and marketing headaches that goes along with it, how could one not appreciate the 1000% increase in LOTR book sales that the LOTR films generated? It put the books in 25 million peoples hands from 2001-2003 alone. I would think Tolkien would be very pleased with so many new readers.[/quote]

Very, very well stated. You would think that sort of positive impact would yield a more favorable response from him.

Well I'm not up on all the info here but he is going to have to do better than a will to keep it locked up. I've seen many wills successfully challenged. You really only need time, a driving force and agreement from most of the people involved. I guess he appoints a literary heir and then we see how he is swayed by money - or not.

[quote=""Idril""]Well I'm not up on all the info here but he is going to have to do better than a will to keep it locked up. I've seen many wills successfully challenged. You really only need time, a driving force and agreement from most of the people involved. I guess he appoints a literary heir and then we see how he is swayed by money - or not.[/quote]

"...or not."

if the literary heir already has tons of money it could very easily be "not".