I've added a number of package shots for the US release here

Good to see Warner is still releasing HD-DVD cover art without those gray Look and Sound of Perfect swirls obscuring the artwork.

the regular edition art looks kinda dumb to me...i'll def be picking up the 'Ultimate'(i love me some digipacks and random books that i'll look over once)

Damn the Ultimate Collector's Edition is nice! Hate being a hore for packaging since I would want that one and the HD-DVD version.

The HD-DVD artwork might look much better if those designers would've just cropped out the Ultimate Edition's main focal points and color scheme.

That Ultimate Edition, however, looks outstanding.

Wow, that's really nice. I'm going all out and getting the UE.

The movie was released R, I don't get the PG-13 concerns in the quotes.

Maybe they cut the movie for 'PG-13', got an 'R' and then didn't have the time to recut it to a true 'R' version.

I'm not sure if I remember the movie correctly, but I think that there was nothing in it that made it an 'R' movie - they only needed to cut a few seconds from two scenes to turn it into a 'Not under 12' movie in Germany (and we're much harder on violence in movies than the US).

No, the theatrical cut was plenty violent. Maybe not as graphic as, say, these torture porn films that are so popular nowadays but Troy did indeed earn its R rating.

Damn, i'll probably double dip for this.

Same here. Sadly, unless something similar is announced for HD DVD, I may find myself purchasing both the Ultimate Edition DVD and the HD DVD release. Similar to the decision I face with Blade Runner. :(

I almost bought the existing 2-disc for $5 a couple days ago. Glad I held off -- I'm gonna need that extra $5 to pay for this pricey ultimate edition that I will absolutely have to have. Looks sweet!

I'll pick up the Ultimate Edition. I generally liked the theatrical version, so I'm excited for this one.

Just the standard two-disc for me.

I noticed that it is coming out the same day as "The Whole Bloody Affair", Sept. 18. That is gonna be an expensive Tuesday.

UE looks very nice...will probably pick it up.

I believe the Kill Bill set got pushed back till Nov. 6th....rednowgreen

Really? I didn't here about that. Oh well. At least I can save some money that week :) Thanks for the heads up!

Das Troy: Direkten Cutten! :banana:

i keep hoping that warner will put these deluxe sets out on HD-DVD as well. Forbidden planet gave me hope that it would happen, but RIo Bravo and now troy lead me to believe they have shelved that idea

What's the diffrence between both movies on the new releases ultimate edition vs. the 2 disc edition. The 2 disc edition has a running time of 196 minutes and the ultimate edition doesn't specify how long the movie is. Is there a diffrence in movie times between the two?

The only thing the UE gives you is this:

Other wise the movie and the extras are the same.

Here's the difference, as noted above:
http://www.dvdactive.com/images/news...shotr1art4.jpg

Thank you. I'll just get the 2 disc version then. I don't need to pay $10 or so more for extras that i'll never watch anyawy. I still haven't watched all of those extras on the Kingdom of Heaven 4 disc set that was released years ago. Although a excellent movie.

I now what you mean on Kingdom of Heaven I to have not watch all of the extra features for that.
And the Alien Quad I'm half way thru that one as of now.

I don't know what you mean by that, because the Ultimate Edition in the photo I posted contains that same 2 disc version. The difference is that it's in a bigger more elaborate package with booklets, photos and other collectible stuff. No additional DVDs or anything like that.

This is quite interesting. I pre ordered a copy of UCE at amazon.

<embed width="425" height="350" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/W-MwgH5oDgU" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350"> </embed>

I've never seen this movie and purchased it after reading the glowing review here on DVD Talk. Am I going to regret the blind buy? :) I heard the orginial verson was just o.k.

^ It was decent if you like epic historical battle flicks. Definitely worth at least a rental. Reviews are calling this extended cut much better and I will be picking this one up, not having purchased the original 2-disc version.

How come no one's talking about Troy?! It came out Tuesday right? No one got it?

It can't ALL be about Death Proof right? :P


I think i'm gonna double dip this weekend. I love sweet collector's edition and i thought the movie was good.

I've watched the first hour of this new cut so far. A few differences:

Violence is more graphic. More blunt-force impact hits, limbs sliced away, and the levels of blood are much higher.

Occasional flashes of mild nudity, achieved simply by re-framing certain scenes that originally kept that nudity below the frame.

Better character development. Motivations are clearer, people seem to give more thought to their decisions.

So far, It's a better film. Some things seem a little awkward (an inserted scene or two such as one where Achilles seems to mock the gods after beheading the statue of Apollo) and some scenes feature dialogue spoken a little differently, meaning the words are the same, but emphasis and tone of voice are different.

The entire film has been recolored to appear more vibrant and is a vast improvement over the theatrical version visually.

The music....what have they done?

Almost none of the music in the original film is where it should be. It comes across as extremely sloppy with no sense of continuity, and therefore no narrative structure. It just randomly plays from one scene to the next.

Now obviously there was no way to make the music fit extended scenes when the music was so rigidly written (meaning written to fit the theatrical version exactly with no room for changes) but the edits were so poor it called attention to itself too often. The ethnic vocals are gone, (a good thing) but parts of Danny Elfman's "Planet Of The Apes", Basil Poledouris' "Starship Troopers", and Edward Shearmur's "The Count Of Monte Cristo" have been mixed around (again almost randomly) with James Horner's original score, and even Gabriel Yared's rejected music makes an appearance.

Finally, perhaps in response to the endless criticism about the music in the theatrical version being too overpowering, the music plays at a much quieter volume throughout. I'd say at half the volume.

thankz for the review..
but does the extra stuff make it worth buying?? No one rents the new SE
the Kingdom of Heaven SE was a major change & lifted it to worthy status for me.
but with movies like 300 out now will I watch Troy SE more than once??

also are the disc the same in the 2disc dir cut & the ultimate edt??

Everyone is waiting on stupid Warner store to ship their copy. :(

I did get the Troy 2 disc that was just released. I'm in the process of watching it now. I have noticed extra scenes already, like the previous person has said, the battle scenes are more graphic, heads exploding with arrows and swords is one example. It's a very long movie, over 3 hours, and I just haven't had time to sit down and watch the whole movie yet. I'm about halfway through it but I just haven't had the time yet to sit through it.

I ordered mine through Columbia House (using B1G1 free) but it won't ship until tomorrow. So I won't get it until late next week (if not later).

I picked up the UE (if I buy something, it always has to be the most elaborate edition) and, even tohugh I haven't watched it yet, I'm very pleased with the overall package. For $27.99 it's a great deal for this set. I'll probably watch it this weekend once I get some free time.

is this/will this be available on netflix? I seem to remember adding it to my queue when this was announced, but it seems to have disappeared from my queue and netflix altogether. anyone know what is going on?

I can't find it for rent anywhere.
4 online & all my local B&M's don't have it.
I was surprised that Blockbuster Online didn't have it. They usually get all the big SE double dips. I use them to see if they are worth buying.
When I used Netflix they never got the double dips.

I decided to pick up the 2-disc $14.99 version at Best Buy. I really couldn't justify spending the extra 13 bucks for the book, cards and bigger case....Yeah it was nice and all, but I would have preferred a 3rd disc instead.