The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy [Blu-ray] [3Blu Rays+3 DVD's] [2017]

Product Information

split between two discs apiece. An even more lavish trilogy collection -- with the possibility of brand-new extras -- is planned for release The Lord of the Rings is that rare film trilogy that gets better with each installment and saves its best for last. The Extended Editions of each are among those rare films that actually improve in their longer versions. And the final installment, The Return of the King, deservingly won the coveted Oscar for Best Picture.

With the introduction of Blu-ray in 2007, New Line and Warner Bros released the theatrical versions of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King in high-definition in 2010 in The Motion Picture Trilogy box set. ( Reviewed here.) No special features. Disc 27 – The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King – Extended Version, Part 2 (4K UHD) Hairy Hobbit feet! We always knew the Hobbits had hairy feet, but perhaps we forgot how hairy they were. Along comes this new 4k upgrade and although there are not many closeups of their feet you can almost count the Hobbity hairs when pausing the video.

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

But here’s the thing: I’ve been reviewing Blu-ray and DVD quality professionally now for twenty-three years on The Digital Bits, and 4K Ultra HD quality for the last four of those years. And I don’t think I’ve ever seen a 4K remaster that made quite this much of a difference over a previous Blu-ray release before. Meanwhile, while The Hobbit films had a more troubled production history, aren’t quite as faithful to their source material, and tend to feel a little more padded in their Extended form, they’re still enjoyable and provide a strong narrative foundation for the earlier films (set later in the vast and detailed history of Middle-Earth). Due to the extensive nature of the Trilogy we’ll be updating this review with further moments from the two sequels.) The Movie

The Maps in LOTR of Middle Earth never looked so sharp, and neither have the shots of the ‘One Ring’ with carved inscriptions that are incredibly detailed, beautifully luminous, and perfectly legible (if you could read Elvish tengwar – if not, Galadriel provides the translation). Finally, The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy Extended Edition box set followed on Blu-ray Disc a year later, in 2011, complete with both The Appendices and Costa Botes content. ( Reviewed here.) However, if you do not own the DVD versions, then this is a must buy as this includes almost everything that you can think of (HD movies, extra features, behind the scenes, plus digital copies).

The Movie

On the audio side of things, Warner’s new 4K UHD release also includes a brand new English Dolby Atmos mix (that’s 7.1 Dolby TrueHD compatible). And the most important thing you need to know is that, is that it’s—hands down—a reference quality cinema surround sound experience. For one thing, the soundstage is absolutely huge, and not just across the front—this is a truly complete and hemispheric sonic environment. Every channel is active at once, including the overheads, uniformly engaged in creating a sense of whatever space is being depicted on screen at that moment. Dialogue is crystal clear and naturally-positioned. Panning is so smooth as to seem effortless. And the dynamics! There are moments so soft and subtle they’ll take your breath away with tiny little environmental sound effects filtering in around you—burbling water, bird calls, insects at night. And then, in the middle of the action, the full sturm und drang of battle assaults you from all sides, as if to shake the very foundation of your house. Swords scrape, clash, and ring sharply, their sounds lingering in the air. The orc drums in the depths of Moria, the roar of the Balrog, Boromir’s horn of Gondor—you can practically feel the low end in your chest. One of the scenes that surprised me most with this mix was Gandalf and Saruman’s first confrontation in Orthanc—just listen to the surround panning and bass as Gandalf is being thrown around the room! It’s marvelous. And topping it all off, Howard Shore’s score has simply never sounded better, presented here in lossless fidelity. Additional audio options on the 4K EXTENDED EDITION discs include French 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio and German, Italian, and Castilian Spanish in 6.1 DTS-HD MA, with optional subtitles in English for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, French, German for the Hearing Impaired, Italian for the Deaf, Castilian Spanish, Dutch, Simplified Chinese, Cantonese, Korean, Latin Spanish, Czech, Danish, Finnish, Greek, Norwegian, Polish, Swedish, and Thai. Additional audio options on the 4K THEATRICAL CUT disc include French 5.1 DTS-HD MA, German and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital, Italian 6.1 DTS-HD MA, and Spanish 2.0 Dolby Digital, with optional subtitles in English for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, French, German for the Hearing Impaired, Italian for the Deaf, Dutch, Simplified Chinese, Korean, Latin Spanish, Czech, Danish, Finnish, Greek, Norwegian, Polish, Swedish, and Thai. Inside the set, each slipcase holds a pair of multi-disc Amaray cases—one for each film. Each of these comes with its own matching “o-card” slipcover. Here’s a look at those…

Gathering our family and friends for an impromptu movie night, we were able to relive the epic tale together. These movies hold a special place in our hearts, and we are forever grateful to have them in our lives once again. Extra feature DVDs (2 for each movie) are the SAME as those of DVD editions. In fact, the DVDs are identical when I do head-to-head comparison. These DVDs are pulled straight from the older DVD editions, nothing new added there.For more about The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy and the The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy Blu-ray release, see the The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy Blu-ray Review published by Randy Miller III on November 17, 2021 where this Blu-ray release scored 4.0 out of 5. Note that this should be in 16x9 widescreen, but instead it’s been incorrectly authored in squeezed 4x3. (Oops.) Disc 24 – The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers – Extended Version, Part 2 (BD) trilogy) on the format as a complete set that includes the theatrical and extended cuts of each film. This surprise holiday I use a home theater PC for all my movie watching, so if you're like me, you can stop here. Just open the final MKV file in your favorite video player, and you're done. Extended versions of the movies have humongous amount of extra film footage added to the theatrical editions (approx. 30, 40 and 50 additional minutes for movie 1, 2 and 3 respectively). So, go for the extended editions only if you are a die hard fan of the movies. If you are not, the review ends here. Buy whichever movie you like in your preferred format and enjoy. Thanks.

releases. Although the new 4K editions of all six cuts are only available in this collection for now, it's possible that they'll be offered separately in the Watching The Lord of the Rings Trilogy in 4k with HDR is really like watching the film for the first time. Even though you may already have every scene memorized, the visual improvements are like candy for your eyes. Dim your lights, crank up the volume, and make some microwave popcorn for this binge-worthy home theater experience.The thing with 4K is not just to go for pristine sharpness,” he says, “it is to preserve the cinematic look of it at the same time as everything becoming crisp.” This is happy news for those of us who refuse to surrender our Blu-ray 3D format to 4K. For one who grew up on a collection of View Masters, 3D is like putting on an old comfortable shoe. For me, 3D opens up the movie (but many beg to differ ... that's ok). Obviously, and like many of you who are enthusiastic fans of these films, I personally own most or all of the above—which collectively take up an entire row on my video library here at The Bits’ HQ.