Lord of the Rings Motion Picture Trilogy, The (Extended Edition)(BD Remaster) [Blu-ray]

After getting the 4K extended version of The Hobbit Trilogy, I knew I had to get The Lord of the Rings. Caught it on a sale price and now own with no regrets.As we all know, this was the most ambitious cinematic presentation of a Fantasy series created so far. The discovery of the Great Ring of Power and how the most humble and un-pretentious being, a Hobbit named Frodo Baggins, became the ring bearer and carried it to Mount Doom to destroy it in the volcano. The journey goes over the epic battles and wars that happened to defeat the forces of evil as well as the quest of the ring bearer to carry something so evil that it was slowly consuming him.There's so much to be said about this movie series. Each one is extremely well made and is an example of fine storytelling. While there are some embellishments and "artistic licenses" taken, the movies don't lose the overall plot of Tolkien's written works and is a generally faithful adaptation. What's also really good is the fact that there are two versions of each movie: The Theatrical version and Extended version. Theatrical is great for those who are being exposed to the story for the first time. Then, for those who really want to go deeper, there is the Extended version. Of course, the truly best way to know the story is to read the books because as long as the Extended version is, there are still aspects of the story that had to be left out. Still, the films are a visual treat with characters that you really learn to admire, appreciate, and love.The package is good. 4K High Definition really makes everything look and sound fantastic. Altogether, there are 9 discs in the package. 3 discs for the Theatrical movies and six discs for the Extended versions (two discs per film). Since the Extended versions are so long, it's actually a good thing to put them on 2 discs each because it gives you an excuse to take a break while you get up and change the disc. Just like with the Hobbit 4K package, this package just has the 4K movies only. There are no Blu-Rays or Digital Copies. Also, the 4K discs just have the movies. There are no special features or commentaries. There are multiple language options in both audio and subtitles, but that's it. If you want Blu-Ray or Digital copies, you will either have to keep what you may already have or you may want to make additional purchases. I already had the Theatrical versions on Blu-Ray, so I'm keeping those. Just something to keep in mind if you're trying to decide on this package.Overall, this is a really great package and one of the best ways to view this incredible Fantasy series. Highly recommended for Lord of the Rings Fans.

Lord of the Rings is my favorite trilogy so I had to get the extended versions. I never realized how great they are! If you love these movies you have to get this!

Let me start the same way I did reviewing the Hobbit 4K set, if there was ever a series that needed to be in 4K it’s the Middle Earth series! The visuals are incredible, the sound is crisp and clear! I’ve seen a lot of bad reviews about the condition of the cases they came in, and yes they are flimsy and mine arrived somewhat damaged, but I just took the 4K discs and put them in the regular DVD case that i already had, simple. As far as playback issues, I ran into only 2 and they were very minor and easily remedied. The Fellowship of the Ring, both discs played perfectly fine with ZERO issues. The two towers, the first discs main menu wasn’t showing properly and it did get stuck at the final minute and a half or so, but that turned out to be more of an issue with my player than the disc itself, because I put the disc into my PS5 and the issues went away. The Return of the King, both discs played perfectly fine as well with no issues at all. All three films looked and sounded fantastic and I highly recommend getting this set.I use a Panasonic 4K player, with a Yamaha 5.1 sound system, and a Samsung 4K smart tv. I’ve found the best set up to get the best experience from 4K, was to put the picture mode on Natural, make sure the contrast is all the way up on the TV settings (and dvd player settings if applicable) put the sharpness about halfway up, brightness at zero, and backlight at max. Your set up may differ, play around with the settings to get the best from your viewing environment and enjoy!

I was pretty late getting on the bandwagon for this new 4k release, I had looked at other people's reviews for them (it is very bipolar) and figured that I would give it a shot. I actually got the extended trilogy on 4k digital on a sale that VUDU had almost a year before I ever got the physical media ($30), although I hadn't watched them through except for a few scenes here and there just to get a glimpse of how they looked (seemed good to me, but that's not really a good example). After I finally got the physical media (again on a sale for about $50), I decided to actually give them a watch through to see what all the fuss was about (extended editions of course). I was very happy to see that the green tint that plagued The Fellowship of the Ring on the Blu-ray edition was gone, the detail also got a very nice upgrade. In terms of detail, I'd say that the Fellowship might be the most detailed of the three, but the Two Towers and Return of the King are still the best they have ever been and are amazing. You can really make out the texturing on clothing, the pores in people's faces, and some of the cool New Zealand landscapes (I do hope to go there someday). With the new 4k resolution, there were times that the CGI seemed a little out of place, but I didn't think that it really deterred from what else was on the screen that much (nothing like the original trilogy of Star Wars. I really wish George Lucas would release the despecialized editions). I have also noticed some DNR that others have mentioned, but it didn't seem to be that much to me (some said it was like T2, no one looked like Barbie dolls to me so I don't know what they were looking at. The new 4k Star Wars editions also come to mind). I also liked that they used so many more costumes and practical effects for the LoTR Trilogy unlike the Hobbit Trilogy, it just made everything seem more realistic (shooting on film rather than digital can also have something to do with that). The new Dolby Atmos track was pretty stellar, it was great to hear what was already a great track to begin expanded to height channels, hearing rain and arrows coming from above was exhilarating. You could also hear voices echoing between each of the speakers better when the characters were in either the Mines of Moria or in the caves above Minas Morgul. The subwoofers had a pretty good work out too, the scene with the Balrog, or the drums from the orcs are always cool. Dialogue was never hard to hear (Tenet, I'm looking at you). Hearing Howard Shore's orchestral track is always treat. I have not watched the movies in Dolby Vision yet, only standard HDR, but even that was pretty impressive. The one thing that I did wish that was included was the Appendices that were on the original extended DVDs, it would be nice to see how Peter Jackson created this world in an updated format (even if that were standard Blu-ray), especially for those that never had them to begin with. I do find it a little odd that only the 4k versions are included and not also the standard Blu-ray, but that is something that I can deal with. I have loved this world that Tolkien created and these movies since I was a little boy and these additions have made me appreciate them even more. While I do believe that the books are better (please read them!), these movies will always hold a special place in my heart, especially with how well they were handled even if there were some things cut (The Hobbit Trilogy was a pretty abysmal adaption, though the J.R.R. Tolkien Cut of the film was pretty good since it removed all the unnecessary material that was never in the book and made it one 4 1/2 hour film rather than three 3 hour films). If you are 4k capable and have a 4k player, get these, it is the best they've ever looked and sounded, and they look better than a lot of other 4k movies out there.