Lord of the Rings extended cut PQ vs. original dvd?? (1 Viewer)

[Sean Patrick]

i was watching the original Lord of the Rings dvd last night and was wondering if the newer extended cut PQ is any better. Even though it's a longer movie, splitting up the film on 2 discs hopefully helped the compression (which i notice on the old dvd). It was a great transfer i just think it could be better compressed.

 

[Neil Joseph]

I have not compared the two but the EE (from memory) looks better plus the reviews all seem to indicate so as well.

 

[Hank]

Yes. The EE does have the better transfer due to breaking the movie over 2 discs. The DTS track is also better than the over-pumped Dolby track on the theatrical release.

 

[Dave H]

Yeah, the differences are noticeable with the EE being a better transfer or compression. I, too, prefered the DTS cut. Last night I did a comparison between both tracks on the EE, and the bass is too bloated and unnatural with the DD.

 

[Andrew_Sch]

I think the picture quality is a little better on the EE, but I have to disagree about the DTS track. The bass on the DTS track is nearly non-existant, and every time I saw it in the theater, you could FEEL it, just as you can on both DD tracks.

 

[Sean Patrick]

does the extended edition box have a space for the original dvd like it was originally rumoured to?

all the extras from the original are on the EE, right?

 

[PaulP]

all the extras from the original are on the EE, right?

The point for most of us to buy the EE (aside from the longer cut and DTS) was that no extras were duplicated.

 

[Artur Meinild]

The point for most of us to buy the EE (aside from the longer cut and DTS) was that no extras were duplicated.

Which I believe is the most brilliant DVD release strategy ever! Some people does not agree, though....

 

[Neil Joseph]

does the extended edition box have a space for the original dvd like it was originally rumoured to?

all the extras from the original are on the EE, right?

No. It has space only for the four disks and no others. The extras are different from the EE and the original versions. My only beef with the EE version is the lack of trailers but other than that, it is pure perfection.

 

[Sean Patrick]

if i get the new release, is there any reason to keep the old one?

 

[James Reader]

Well, the only reason I can think of is to preserve the Theatrical version.

I assume to would like to preserve the theatrical version?

 

[Colin Jacobson]

if i get the new release, is there any reason to keep the old one?

As mentioned by others, the two releases share none of the same supplements, so you'd need to keep the 2-DVD version if you want to watch those.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

My only beef with the EE version is the lack of trailers but other than that, it is pure perfection.

Same here... my only problem is that it's a BIG beef. Trailers shouldn't even be an extra... they should be standard. The only one on here is the TTT preview from the FOTR re-release early this year, and you have to jump through the easter egg hoops to find it.

 

[Bill McCamy]

Trailer, smailer. I'm quite happy to have the trailers, both theatrical and internet, on the first dvd, along with the fluff pieces from the TV promotional campaign.

If collectors want the theatrical trailers, it seems reasonable to suppose that they will also want the version that was shown in theaters.

Who would want a movie that never appeared in the theater, but would want the trailers promoting that movie?

All that said, I may never watch the theatrical version again; the extended version is so much better.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Who would want a movie that never appeared in the theater, but would want the trailers promoting that movie?

I'd agree, except that (despite New Line's hype to the contrary) they are two different cuts of the same film.

 

[Douglas Bailey]

I've seen both versions and I happen to perfer the extended cut. I did however think the trailers were pretty freakin' sweet. Why should I buy a DVD of a movie I don't want for a couple two minute trailers?

Well, those trailers were created to advertise the theatrical release (and cut) of the film. So I don't think it's entirely unreasonable that they're included on the DVD of that theatrical cut.

 

[Jeff Kohn]

The bass on the DTS track is nearly non-existant, and every time I saw it in the theater, you could FEEL it, just as you can on both DD tracks.

Hmm, I think the bass is fine on the DTS-ES is just fine, except for the death-of-Sauron in the prologue, which is a bit weak. But the rest of the movie sounded fine as far as bass goes. I also think they made much better use of the discrete back channel compared to the matrixed back in the DD-EX mixes.
My only complaint with the EE DTS-ES soundtrack is that the sound-level on the surrounds is too loud in relation to the front soundstage in many scenes, so much so that I had to drop the level on the surrounds.
As for EE's the picture quality, it's noticeably better than the original on my heavily tweaked Mits HDTV. The picture has a more 3d look, with more depth and detail to it. It's one of the best transfers I've seen on DVD, aside a bit of excessive grain in a few scenes (which is consistent with the source film, and not a weakness of the DVD). The scenery in Hobbiton is just beautiful.

 

[Leon Liew]

The DTS track is truly weak on the bass in the EE version.
I use 'Absolute' volume 0 - 80 on my receiver

With the DD track on the theatrical version, I only increase
the volume to 24 and it rock the hell out of my sub.The EE
version's DD track was at the same level of 24 and it still
rock but with the DTS track I have to inrease the volume to
27 in order to hear it rock on par with the DD track.

I agree that the DTS track are more clear at the surrounds and that the picture quality is slightly better than the theatrical version though.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Well, those trailers were created to advertise the theatrical release (and cut) of the film. So I don't think it's entirely unreasonable that they're included on the DVD of that theatrical cut.

Of course not. But I don't think it needs to be an either or situation. Considering the length of them, I doubt it would cost any new extras from making it on if they were just put in the EE.

 

[Rob Gillespie]

Image and sound are both better than the theatrical DVD.

The DTS sounding 'weak' seems to be down to either subjective opinion or differences in hardware setup. There's certainly nothing wrong with it on my own system.