Can't find what audio format these will be in,does anyone know if it's in TrueHD or DTS HD/MA? If it's in MA I am definitely in on these!(mostly in TrueHD also). I too don't think I can wait 3 years for the EE version. I,m hoping the transfer is as good as the SD versions.IMO these are benchmark movies on how to transfer a movie(especially on the audio side).

+ 1

Unless I can get the set for under $40, i'll wait

Ill ask for the first set for xmas and then get the EE later on. I am a completist and want any and all LOTR versions they offer.

Isn't Warner's exclusively TrueHD now, including the New Line titles.

I actually prefer the theatrical cuts of Fellowship and Return (the extended of Fellowship drags, while the extended of Return completely kills the suspense of what happens to Aragorn when he goes to raise his army, even though it does restore the Saruman scene), so I will be buying this. When I watch the trilogy, I usually watch Fellowship TE, Two Towers EE, Return TE.

even though that scenes obviousily concludes Saruman's character arch, Jackson in the commentary does state even reinstated it still seems not that well edited and perfunctory. What was odd about that scene was that when Entertainment Weekly first published it's initial then 'new' pics of the trilogy Saruman's demise in green screen form was included - it felt like forever to see THAT scene in the extended cut of 'Return'. And yes, I agree with you Two Towers in it's extended cut is the best of the three - watching that cut on the huge Uptown theatre screen was near cathartic

Agree with this. The EE of Two Towers raised my enjoyment of this installment much higher, but I still greatly prefer the pacing of the theatrical FOTR version.

They always use TrueHD. However, given Peter Jackon's clout, they could offer up DTS-HD as well. Sort of how Sony added DTS-HD to Spielberg's Close Encounters, even though they also are a TrueHD studio.

just not on their IMAX bluray titles ... ...

hey if you have $70 to throw around for the inferior cuts more power to you
despite my love for the trilogy the number of times I actually watch it (extended or theatrical) doesn't warrant me rushing to get the first thing thrown out there by New Line. I have never even watched the theatrical cuts since the release of the extended cuts... there is no reason to.
The high quality of the dvds are more than sufficiant to hold me over till the extended cuts are released

The theatrical cuts of Fellowship and Return are actually better edited and paced. Plus the theatrical cut of Return doesn't ruin a major scene for the sake of a bunch of crew cameos. That's plenty reason to watch them instead of the extended cuts, and to spend $70 to get them in HD.

That's just, like, you're opinion, man. As usual, I think you're pretty much wrong on every point.

If there are any new supplements in HD I may check them out. One of the rare film series I try to watch everything.

I think I could actually live with the TE's to a certain extent, but the lack of anything else with Saruman in ROTK ruins it for me.

not sure about the "as usual" part but... yep

As usual? Do we have a history of disagreements?

I think I tend to disagree with your opinions more often than not - no biggie.

Fair enough. I'd never really noticed. Regardless, we can both agree that your avatar is awesome.

So nice!

but why did they have to go with this oddball packaging
why isn't the box blu
it will throw the whole uniform look of my blu collection off

While I prefer the EE of Fellowship, I agree with you about ROTK. Although it was nice to see Saruman, there were just too many unnecessary scenes added to an already long movie. I especially hated the scene you're referring to.

I'll probably end up getting both sets. I presume the extra features will mimic the DVD counterparts, and thus these will have all the TV specials and trailers, and the Extended Editions later on will have the Jackson-produced bonus features.

I'm going to guess that these films will be in the same color cases the dvds came in.

I agree. I think that the Intro in Fellowship is so much better in the TE than the EE. When I watch the EE, I keep thinking how I wish the intro would have stayed the same from the TE. Like Suprmallet said, I think the pacing is much better in Fellowship as well as Return. So I'm going to be a buyer of this boxset.

I wouldn't be so sure. I don't know how much PJ will have to do with this set, but he has said multiple times in the past that he never wants to repeat extras from previous versions when there is a re-release. I'm not sure if this applies to a new format though.