Customer Reviews

The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy - Extended Edition [12-Disc DVD]

5 star:		(139)
4 star:		(27)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(70)

 

 

This 12 disc set is amazing. 2 discs each for the 3 movies, and 2 discs each for preproduction/production/post production information.
I used to think buying movies with special features (i.e., movie in the making peeks) was just a waste of money, but being a LOR fan I just had to have the extended edition set, and, Lo and Behold! ..I had as much fun watching the special features and it made me appreciate the movie more. My husband wasn't much into LOR (he isn't a 'reader'), but now he's a fan as well. We found everything else on TV boring after watching it when we got it for Christmas.
Plus, you can watch the movie 4 times more with different audio commentaries from cast and crew. It was worth it!

As much as I love Star Wars, this is definitely the best trilogy ever made.

Do I really need to say everything you probably read or heard somewhere already? Yes, all three films are equally great. They were all shot together after all.

Fellowship of the Ring is about as strong an opening chapter as

you could ask for. Two Towers makes you forget it's just a middle chapter

because it's just as brilliant and... Return of the King sets a new standard for the finale of an epic trilogy.

As if owning the best trilogy ever made wasn't enough, these extended editions are superior to the original theatrical versions. They make the films feel more complete. Oh yeah and all those extras are so detailed you'll want to check out everything though you probably will never find the time to do so. Basically, this set may look expensive but it's worth every

dollar.

By the way, if you love the movies, I highly recommend the books. They're

absolutely wonderful as well and I'm not a big reader.

Be warned that this BD release is the original theatrical versions of the film, not the extended editions! The studio pulled exactly the same stunt for the DVD releases of the LOTR trilogy and declined to release both the theatrical and extended versions of the film at the same time to provide fans with a choice. This can only be viewed as attempt to sell the movie series multiple times to fans. If you want the extended versions of the films, wait and do not purchase this set.

That being said, if you do not want the extended theatrical versions, then by all means, purchase this set instead.

Hugely disappointing that the extended edition boxset is being released at a later date (and possibly as late as 2012 if the rumors are true) I love the LOTR series but once you've watched the EE versions, the theatrical versions (although very good) are just not up to the same level of enjoyment and fulfillment as the EE release. Sorry Mr Jackson, but I'll be holding off until the EE set is released no matter how long it takes. I'll rent this to see some LOTR Blu-ray eye candy 'til then.

Shame on you Warner Bros

Edit: March 29....1 week prior to release.

Well....looks like there's even more reason to wait now. The early reviews are coming in now from some of the respected Blu-ray review sites and the reviews have not been glowing. This is not going to be anywhere near the "hi-def demo material" release everyone expected it to be. Numerous complaints of sub par picture quality, excessive use of digital noise reduction and edge enhancement editing are coming in. So now the question is......will Warner hear those complaints, take heed and redo the transfer for the EE release (whenever that is) as is being done for for the noted 2009 sub par blu-ray "Gladiator"? Only time will tell.

I completely agree with the other '1 star' posts - don't buy this. Wait for the Extended Edition. This is a blatant attempt to mislead consumers. It's one thing to release both versions at different times just after the movies have gone through the theatres. But to try this as part of a format change when both versions have been out on DVD for years shows complete disregard for consumers.

Its one thing to double dip by re-releasing on a differnt format but to hold off on the extended editions again?? after they are alread available anyways? No way waste of money especially with this hype about bluray's having soo much capacity yet they release everything with less features then a dvd ? come on. Lord of The rings is awesome but this set is a waste of money wait for the extended.

So I too rate this greatest movie trilogy of all time a 1 star in this product release.
We are rating the product here - not the movie.
I too have been waiting to buy this for, what is it - 2 or 3yrs and now I am being asked to waste my hard earned cash by buying this twice??
This is consumer viral marketing at its best - the only way your dissaude the behemoths from this type of behavior is hitting them where it hurts - in the revenues.
Realize that someone in the marketing team is following this alright thread - and taking note.
Hear the sound of 1 star marching

I share the sentiment of other reviewers here. This is not an extended edition copy, so why should I pay the studio twice to get the film I actually want? This feels like a cash grab and doesn't serve the fan base.

There is NO reason to withhold the Extended editions, other than corporate greed. I am pleased that Amazon shoppers are slamming this release (of a 5 star film). If people stick to their guns and withhold, it will send the message to Hollywood to stop messing around with us. As it is, they are looking for us to purchase a Blu-Ray that most of us already own on DVD. But that isn't good enough... they want us to buy it twice.
Other studios offer upgrade discounts. This studio double dips.
Unforgivable.

By now, everyone is aware that this release of The Lord of The Rings Trilogy contains only the theatrical versions of the movies. That, in and of itself, might be disappointing to those who prefer the Extended Editions, but it is no reason to pan this release. No, the real reason to pan this release is because of the low quality of the video transfer, the complete lack of ANY high definition special features and the utter disdain that has been shown towards the fans of this great trilogy.

Let's put aside the fact that Blu-ray makes it easy to include both the theatrical and extended versions on a single disc using seemless branching. Let's put aside the fact that fans would gladly pay a little extra to have the full compliment of special features in high definition. Let's put aside the obvious cash-grab mentality of this sub par release that is sure to see a "double dip" with the release of the Extended Editions right around the time that The Hobbit hits theatres. Let's set ALL of that aside and focus only on the quality of this particular release:

The video quality sucks!

Rather than give us a pristine, high definition version of the movies, what we have here is a horribly edge-enhanced, film-grain-removed travesty of a video transfer. The picture is soft; not because of the age of the film, but because the video transfer engineers have decided to remove all of the original film grain and thus, completely soften the image. In a failed attempt to make the image look sharper again, they have resorted to disgusting amounts of edge-enhancement that make these movies look like an amateur production that was thrown together on some kid's Mac.

This is a horrible, horrible release. It is completely undeserving of your money. And, in all honesty, if you buy this rubbish, you are only encouraging studios to release sub-par, cash-grab versions of your favourite films!

Do not let the studios get away with this crap! Demand better. And show them, by NOT buying the trash, that you demand better and will not be tricked into wasting your money.