I was actually surprised by last year's theatrical blu-ray release because they actually re-authored the bonus DVDs to remove some of the outdated extras (like old video game previews, etc).

I would've preferred the extras being on a Blu-ray myself. Heck, there's enough room on each of the movie discs to include the standard def extras. Even though the material would still be in SD, the more seamless BD menus would have been a nice touch. Also, the artwork and galleries would have likely been redone with HD stills. The clunky DVD navigation cheapens the experience.

Just to clarify, I wasn't defending the practice, just explaining it. Not combining the extras onto on Bluray disc was definitely one of the factors that kept me from buying. I can swap DVD discs as easily as I can Bluray discs. Though I would have liked to seen the Costa Botes documentaries (though they're still 4x3 letterbox???).

Those documentaries aren't worth watching if you've seen the enormous amounts of extras on the EE's. I kind of wonder what all the hoopla is about regarding them. And yes, they are 4x3 pillerboxed. Then again, I may have had my settings not right since I just hooked up a new player.

Heh...and now I see, on blu-ray.com, someone who got a set with duplicated MOVIES (two copies of ROTK and no Two Towers).

Anybody buying this, don't delay in opening it, even if you don't watch right away.

I'm personally very glad they kept them in there, since my name is among them!

Love them.

I also thought FOTR was slightly darker than the previous versions.

You only wish that because you're not in them. Those of us who are, like the fact we made it to Blu-ray.

I like the fan list because I enjoy the long music suite that plays over them. Howard Shore's score for the movies is terrific.

Dumb question I'm sure.....but there's no way to eliminate the widescreen black bars is there to have it be full screen?

Not without cutting off some of the image. Since the film was shot for 2.35:1 scope, shown on a WS 16:9 (1.78:1) HDTV, these Blu-rays are still going to have black bars on the top and bottom in order to fit the full image into the frame.

If your TV or Blu-ray player has a zoom function, you may be able to use it to cut off a portion of the image from the sides to fill your screen. As a straight center crop though, this may cause some odd framing, as people and actions towards the edge of the shots are not going to be visible as intended.

Why Don't the Black Bars Go Away?

Well, I think my TV is set a bit brighter than my projector is, as the projector is meant to watch in a darkened room. It's not the settings though, as The Two Towers looked fantastic. My main issue with the new Fellowship transfer is that it's just so dark. It was often difficult to make out various facial expressions and such when it was quite clear before. And Moria was a nightmare. I had no such problems when watching The Two Towers...

At least I can confirm that the digital copy is the original transfer. No green tint, no crushed blacks...

Get a rope...

Going to do the whole trilogy tonight. I found it odd the cases are in reverse when you open it i.e top to bottom rotk ttt and fotr. I had to rearrange them back in proper order. I think i have ocd

Are the Costa Botes Documentaries brand new? I dont recall seeing them on the regulars or extended editions

There are no new extras.

These were included with the "limited edition" DVDs that had both the theatrical and extended cuts seemlessly branched over a two-sided disc.

These were released after the separate theatrical/extended DVD releases, so a lot of people probably passed on them since by then they probably had whatever version(s) they wanted. Plus the extended DVDs already had 6-7 hours of documentary footage included per movie.

No, I did the same.

Sorry I don't spend all my time here combing through everything, was just a question, and that's why I wrote probably a dumb question.

You can buy a 21:9 TV to (virtually) eliminate the black bars in 2.35-2.40:1 movies.

totally for got about that TV. sooooo in other widescreen formats...would one get the bars as well?

Content narrower than 2.35:1 would be pillarboxed with bars on the sides.

It's just a fairly odd question to be asking in 2011, a good 14 years after letterboxing for OAR (Original Aspect Ratio) became standard practice on DVD.

Use the "Zoom" feature on your television or blu-ray player, if available.