Neitzl

AMEN!
I'm with you. It's pretty much the only reason I bought these. I love the beginning of FOTR much more than in the EE. Can't wait to watch it tonight.

bunkaroo

I suppose there's an outside chance the eventual EE edition will contain the TE's via branching. Assuming there is some kind of video improvement that might be one reason to wait.

Lastblade

I will wait for the EEs and hope for a better transfer. I was watching RoTK EE on PS3, and it still looks damn good in 480p.

SUPERMANROB

So for the people that did buy this,what is your conclusion on the transfer? How about the audio side of it? I felt that the audio transfer of the SD versions(especially FOTR) was outstanding! How does the BD version compare?

lizard

FWIW, DVD Talk has a review up now:
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy: Theatrical Editions (Blu-ray)

parrotheads4

From the DVDTalk review:

When I saw this in theaters I specifically remember this scene looking much softer than the rest of the film.

Rammsteinfan

Was surprised that Best Buy sold out of most of them on the stand up today. Went at 10am got my copy and went back at 3pm to get another universal title using the $5 off coupon and the stand only had 2 copies left.

Watched about 15 mins of each film during lunch and the first movie does look a tad soft in some scenes that I scanned through and the second and third film looks really good. Glad I got it and will get the Extended when it comes out in the years to come...

snausages

Yes, here's a list of the special features included for each disc.

Mr. Cinema

My set included an extra sheet of codes for the digital copies. That's an extra 300 pts for my WB rewards.

bunkaroo

I was really tempted to buy this the other night when I saw it in the store. Then last night in an effort to talk myself down, I started reading over all the scenes that were added or expanded in the EE's, and I just can't imagine watching the movies without them now. Stuff like Theodred's funeral in TTT - man I love that scene.

I really hope they do not wait until The Hobbit to release the EE's. I feel like if I get the TE's on Blu now I'll never want to watch the DVD's again, and then it will be like waiting for the EE's to come out for the first time again. Nooooooo!

slop101

I'm betting on the EEs being out on blu-ray by this Christmas.

mzupeman2

I've always thought it would be sooner rather than later myself but, who knows?

Rammsteinfan

Is anyone else having issues where the cases are really tight in the cardboard box? Its a tad annoying to have to pull them out when they dont just slide out easily.

Mr. Cinema

I watched FOTR yesterday. Inconsistent is definitely the word for this transfer. It flips back and forth between average, below average, and above average. There's some solid looking shots and plenty of sub par ones. When they're in the Mines of Moria, the exchange between Gandalf and Frodo regarding Gollum looks superb. The closeup of Gandalf's face is extremely detailed, crystal clear. But then there's sequences like the fight involving the troll and it looks pretty bad. The troll fight finale is probably one of the worst looking scenes I can recall on BD. Just a blue tinted, swirling mess. That part was a bit rough on the eyes.

The audio is fantastic though, no doubt about it. I think the video ratings of 2.5 and 3.0 out of 5.0 are warranted. But I don't have to dvds anymore, so I imagine FOTR looks much worse on that format.

I'm more anxious to check out Two Towers now as it's supposed to be quite a leap in video quality.

snausages

For anyone who is interested and live or wish to travel to NYC, Howard Shore and Radio City Music Hall are doing a live to projection performance of The Two Towers this October. Basically the score will be performed by the 21st Century Orchestra while the film is shown. If you went to The Fellowship of the Ring last year, it is a continuation that experience.

SUPERMANROB

How do you think the audio compares to the SD versions?

I saw a similar performance here a few years back. The orchestra played the live music as they walked thru the video/picture clips of the movie. I can't remember who the production was by but it was fantastic!

Eric F

I'll take that bet by 2yrs.

naitram

The sound is great. Much more balanced and lively than the other two soundtracks that were on DVD previously. I didn't have to adjust my volume at all to hear dialogue, the score came through beautifully, and there was some nice bass at times, but not overpowering like it was on the previous Dolby mix.

The PQ to me was fantastic for the most part. This is how I've wanted to see it since the theater (where it was soft-ish to me both times, too). Very film-like for the most part, some amazing detailed scenes, and the dark scenes held up very well. The are some random "weird" shots, but in my opinion, because they are contained to certain short, specific shots, it's in the source material (pick-up shots, maybe?). I honestly don't think they are indicitive of extra filtering or messing around with the picture for this release. There are a lot of very shallow-depth shots which seem deceivingly soft in this movie, but when I looked at them closer, the focus points were very detailed and I just don't scream the "DNR demon" on this that I've seen on other releases. I spent probably 90% of the movie in awe of how good they looked compared to the DVDs, and only about 10% less impressed.

I'm viewing from about 7' on a 51" tv, so I'm sure those with larger screens might see something different. I'm personally very pleased, and I like the theatrical versions more anyway, so YMMV obviously. I watched about the first hour of Two Towers right after, and the picture quality does take a "jump" I guess, but obviously this is a source issue. It looks different from FOTR, and that's just the way it is. These films aren't even 10 years old yet; they aren't going to go back and do a complete remastering for at least another 10 years I'm sure, until technology moves further and these films start to look dated. A solid buy IMO, and I'm glad I didn't hold off because of the doggery these have received, much of which I think is way overblown. They sure as hell look better than the 35mm scenes of Dark Knight on Blu

slop101

I'm only basing my theory on what they did with the DVDs: theatrical in the early Spring, followed by the extended version in the early Winter. If it's later than this year, I doubt it'll be as late as 2 years - maybe one year at the most. I mean, there's money to be made here, and the sooner they release the EEs, the greater distance they can have for the super-uber-edition that will come out in conjunction with the Hobbit movie.

pinata242

Those are fair assumptions and I hope that as well because I have no use for the TEs. That said, the EEs original schedule were largely influenced by the theatrical release of the next movie and the holidays. Hopefully you're right and we'll see those by EOY for all the reasons you listed, but there is nothing pressing to push the releases out either.

Drexl

You have to hope the EEs aren't out by the end of the year, if you're disappointed with the quality of this set. Assuming these are the old transfers, the EEs would probably be in the same shape because they were done at the same time. And if they were going to do new transfers, they probably would have held the TEs back for those.

It's possible that due to the lukewarm reaction to these, they may decide to do new transfers, even if they weren't previously planned. In that case, they probably wouldn't make it out by the end of the year anyway.

Mr. Cinema

I had gotten rid of the dvds several months ago. However, the DTS-HD audio is very comparable to other higher quality mixes. The Dark Knight, Incredible Hulk, Master and Commander are some of mixes I think are top notch and LOTR definitely is in that group. Very active surrounds.

I did watch Two Towers today and it is easily a much more consistent transfer than Fellowship. Still not the "wow" transfer you'd expect from such a massive film, but pretty clear and detailed throughout the film. There was only a couple of soft shots that I noticed. I think the 3.5 is probably an accurate rating. But again, as big and popular as these films are, you expect 5.0.

Audio again was outstanding. The scenes of Sauroman's army marching is just a booming thunder. And the score just blasts through. Plenty of demo material to use.

Mr. Cinema

I don't expect the EE's out this year. One reason is they'll want to push this box set during the holiday season. No reason to compete against yourself with another box set. Also, there's going to be plenty of other high profile releases already for Q4. Not just new theatrical titles, but also the Alien Anthology, possibly Jurassic Park, and we're assuming Indy Jones will make it as well.

I'd at least save them for Q4 of 2011 at the earliest. I think everyone wants the EE set to have all the bells and whistles that BD provides. This set lacks that completely. There's no new features, no interactivity. Just a quick, cash-in effort. The EE set should have new content and better transfers. I think they'll go all out on that set.

Artman

That's my guess as well. If the Hobbit is pushed to Dec 2012, I think a spring release similar to these would be the case. Two yrs isn't too bad when you think about it...

XavierMike

I had pre-ordered the set from Best Buy and went to pick it up today. They were out of the regular edition, so they gave me the special edition for the same price. It looks like a mock up of Aragorn's sword is the only thing different.

My gf has not seen these, so I am going yo wait and watch them with her.