Pre-Order The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy (4k UHD Steelbook) Available for Preorder (1 Viewer)

[ManW_TheUncool]

Yes, I think LOTR was perfection as well.

Also agree...I think The Hobbit would have worked a lot better as one movie. Maybe even two movies as originally planned if I recall, but three just stretched it out way too much IMO. However, I think Warner saw they would be leaving WAY too much money on the table otherwise.

I pre-ordered LOTR, but have not for The Hobbit. I'm not sure yet on that one.

I wouldn't call PJ's LotR perfection -- it definitely has its flaws -- but it's by far the best adaptation of these books and this genre in general so far.

I could also see The Hobbit being good as 2 (shorter, more lighthearted) movies if done right, but despite it being stretched to 3 overwrought films, it still actually misses on some key beloved aspects of the original source material in exchange for the overly indulgent mess they ended up with.

The whole divergence into the love triangle between Legolas, what's her name played by Evangeline Lilly (I can't even be bothered to remember) and Kili(?), is one such. NVM that Legolas (or the elves for the most part) wasn't even supposed to be in this story at all. And then having Legolas seem so whimpy after what they gave us in LotR, especially in the epic battle of Minas Tirith in RotK...

That kind of storyline should've been saved/used for some adaptation(s) of the various parts of The Silmarillion instead, but they shoehorned it into The Hobbit and sacrificed much of the intentions of the original story in the usual Hollywood manner and drive toward their bottomline...

_Man_

 

[JoshZ]

I do wonder if the Hobbit movies came out first, would this criticism of them be as vocal? My gut tells me the criticism would be quite a bit less.

Would the first movie still have the guy covered in bird poop racing a bunny sled through the forest bramble in total defiance of physics and common sense?

That was where I had to turn it off and give up on that entire trilogy.

 

[Malcolm R]

Would the first movie still have the guy covered in bird poop racing a bunny sled through the forest bramble in total defiance of physics and common sense?

That was where I had to turn it off and give up on that entire trilogy.

That "guy" is a wizard (Radagast the Brown), so I presume he has some magical abilities that overcome pesky things like physics. Common sense on the other hand ....

 

[JoshZ]

That "guy" is a wizard (Radagast the Brown), so I presume he has some magical abilities that overcome pesky things like physics. Common sense on the other hand ....

I don't really care how one is supposed to rationalize it, the scene looked stupid and ridiculous, and that was the moment I decided I was out.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I don't really care how one is supposed to rationalize it, the scene looked stupid and ridiculous, and that was the moment I decided I was out.

If you're done then you're done!

 

[Tommy R]

I don't really care how one is supposed to rationalize it, the scene looked stupid and ridiculous, and that was the moment I decided I was out.

For me, it’s a perfect example of something I find super fun and charming about The Hobbit trilogy! It’s positively delightful!

 

[Wayne_j]

I liked that part as well.

 

[B-ROLL]

Target has their box o crap version for LOTR

Premium Packaging + Collectible Ring (Collectible replica of The One Ring on a stainless-steel chain (Noble Collection))
Currently listing for $139.99 USD and as of this writing is part of the B2G1 sale ...

The plain Jane versions of LOTR and The Hobbit are $89.99 each and also as of this writing is part of the B2G1 sale

 

[JPCinema]

Amazon just listed THE LORD OF THE RINGS for $249.99!!! There are no details as to its contents.... Anyone see a full description of this set?

 

[David Norman]

It's just the same version listed as Box of Junk in the post above yours judging by the UPC

140 at target, 130 at DD, 150 at BBY (once BBY opens their preorder).
Pretty much appears to be the same 6 disc set with a Stainless Collectible Ring/Chain

 

[Tino]

Yikes, that is what I feared it would look like.
Glad I missed out.

I thought the HFR made the Hobbit films look spectacular. Especially in 3D.

 

[Sam Favate]

I've decided to hold out and wait for the Middle Earth 4k box set next summer, with new and existing bonus material included.

 

[Tino]

I've decided to hold out and wait for the Middle Earth 4k box set next summer, with new and existing bonus material included.

I’ll probably do the same.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I’ll probably do the same.

I am doing the same!

 

[TravisR]

Same here.

Will anyone be swayed when they see the price on this set dip really low in a few months while the re-release is probably going to be expensive as hell?

 

[smithbrad]

I do wonder if the Hobbit movies came out first, would this criticism of them be as vocal? My gut tells me the criticism would be quite a bit less.

Added to that, many might recall the animated version that was obviously much more lighthearted. Personally, I try to separate the various incarnations, whether that be the animated versions, books, or full blown epic trilogies, and try to enjoy each on their own merits. I fully enjoyed the Hobbit trilogy. The only difficulties, as some have mentioned, with both Hobbit and LOTR is the investment in time needed to watch, which limits me to only a viewing once every couple of years, at best.

 

[Stephen_J_H]

I do wonder if the Hobbit movies came out first, would this criticism of them be as vocal? My gut tells me the criticism would be quite a bit less.

It's a valid question, but I think other factors have to be considered:

• It was Jackson who decided to expand The Hobbit to three films; del Toro was only going to do 2;
• After Jackson completed The Lord of the Rings and the Extended Editions, his theatrical films got longer. Everything up through The Frighteners [my personal favourite Jackson film] is under 2 hours. The Lord of the Rings theatrical cuts are all around 3 hours, but giving credit where credit is due, he chopped a fair amount of material out of each book. Then we get to King Kong [2005], which runs 3 hours and 7 minutes, nearly doubling the running time of the 1933 original and adding just under an hour by comparison to the 1976 version. It feels long. The Lovely Bones gets back to a manageable 2 hours and 15 minutes, but I've never felt motivated to watch it;
• There are some who regard Jackson's adaptation of The Hobbit as a betrayal of the source material, especially the Extended R-rated cut of The Battle of the Five Armies. [Full disclosure: I am in this group] The Hobbit was written as a children's book and to expand it and increase the level of violence actually limits its exposure to the intended audience; and
• There wasn't an appetite for a live action adaptation of The Hobbit until after The Lord of the Rings was released, so it's unlikely to have been considered by Jackson, and he said at the time that his passion was for The Lord of the Rings.

Tl;dr: had there been an adaptation of The Hobbit prior to The Lord of the Rings, we wouldn't have got these films. To suggest otherwise ignores how the director has changed as a filmmaker and other pressures that altered the material in its film adaptation.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

I'd say odds are very strong that Fellowship will be re-graded again when it comes to UHD, and will no longer have the green tint, much like the UHD for Ridley Scott's Alien removed all the teal-and-orange crap that Scott had inflicted on the Blu-ray edition.

Based on my screening, I think you're correct.

I didn't A-B every "green scene" in "Fellowship", but scenes like those in the mountains look "back to normal" to me. For instance, the sky is a pure blue and not tinted any more.

I won't vouch for "recorrected color" in every scene, but I do think the colors are back to the original. It'd be odd for some to revert and others to stay greenish!

 

[Angelo Colombus]

Website The Digital Bits has a early review of the set and it sounds like good news.

Lord of the Rings, The: The Motion Picture Trilogy (4K UHD Review IN PROGRESS) (thedigitalbits.com)

 

[Robert Crawford]

Man, it's hard to believe that this release is coming out on Tuesday.