The Complete "The Lord of the Rings: score - with 5.1 DVD (1 Viewer)

[Dan Szwarc]

I'm guessing that if this 4-disc set does not sell well, we will never see the complete collection of recordings from the other two movies. While I would prefer a complete 9-disc set (as other internet sites had noted), I'll take whatever they release. Chopping up 180 minutes of soundtrack down to 74 minutes to fit on one CD is terrible. John Williams always does this with Star Wars soundtracks. I hate that about him.

Does anyone know who is pre-ordering it yet? I checked Amazon and no dice. Post the best price here!

 

[TheLongshot]

Well, my 2CD soundtracks for each of the original movies must be a figment of my imagination.

Really, I think this is a record company thing, since full score releases are rare. I think they think that we want just the "greatest hits" version of the score, since they all squeeze scores on one CD, no matter how long the movie was.

Jason

 

[Dan Szwarc]

Nor are they a figment of mine! It's just that other than the Special Edition soundtracks and the missed-our-point "Ultimate" edition of Phantom Menace, all the Star Wars soundtracks are butchered, out of order, edited, etc. from their original composition. Ah, well...

I wish all soundtracks were complete like this LOTR:FOTR set may be. I can dream, can't I?

 

[Josh Simpson]

I own all of those, and the Ultimate Edition of Phantom Menace. What do you mean by "missed-our-point?"

 

[Dan Szwarc]

The fans didn't want an exact copy of the music in Phantom Menace, complete with the loops, and repeats, and cuts done in the movie to maintain musical continuity.

We wanted the complete score, as recorded FOR the film.

The loops and edits in the film were mostly due to Lucas making last minute changes after the music was completed. Add 5 seconds to a scene and you have to add 5 seconds to the music that went with it.

I guess one can never be completely satisfied.

 

[Josh Simpson]

Ok, that's what I figured you meant. I just wanted to make sure.... so one more like the single disc release, but with the complete score, right? Oh, and I am all over this Fellowship score when it comes out.

 

[Felix Martinez]

Just heard from Bill Bentley at WB that the release has been delayed until Dec. 13 and technical issues (i.e. audio format) for the content on the DVD disc are being decided now.

 

[Paul.S]

Sigh. I don't know why I'm surprised by this kind of nonsense anymore: why do a press release if you don't have your shit together, especially about something as fundamental as the audio format?

-p

 

[PaulP]

Hopefully the delay means they're doing it right. I doubt they'd mess up the LotR franchise. So hopefully the 5.1 disc will be a DVD-A.

On a related note, I saw A History of Violence last night. Howard Shore scored this as well. I guess he just had to squeeze it in, working on King Kong at the same time, or whatever, but the end titles suite sounds like a FotR outtake!

 

[Dan Szwarc]

DVD-A AND regular DVD 5.1 for those of us who do not have DVD-A yet.

 

[Paul.S]

Every Warner DVD-A I have includes DD and/or DTS for backwards compat.

-p

 

[Dan Szwarc]

Shows you what I know!

 

[PaulP]

WinDVD has DVD-A decoding capabilities.

 

[Craig S]

I thought all of the quieter music in AHoV had a FotR feel to it. Not a direct melodic copy by any means, but very similar sound palette and chords. A good way to put it would be that the score often sounded like it was just about to burst into one of the familiar LotR themes. To be honest, it kind of took me out of the movie (especially with Viggo on screen).

 

[PaulP]

It's finally up for preorder:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000BNI90O/

$59.98 MSPR, and no usual Amazon discount, at least of yet. Release date is given as 12/06.

 

[Craig S]

CD Universe has it up for pre-order as well, for $41.99 (30% off). And... there's a track listing!!!

Disc 1

1. Prologue: One Ring To Rule Them All
2. The Shire
3. Bag End
4. Very Old Friends
5. Flaming Red Hair
6. Farewell Dear Bilbo
7. Keep It Secret
8. Keep It Safe
9. A Conspiracy Unmasked
10. Three Is Company
11. The Passing Of The Elves
12. Saruman The White
13. A Shortcut To Mushrooms
14. Strider
15. The Nazgul

Disc 2

1. Weathertop
2. The Caverns Of Isengard
3. Give Up The Halfling
4. Orthanc
5. Rivendell
6. The Sword That Was Broken
7. The Council Assembles
8. Great Eye
9. Gilraen's Memorial
10. The Pass Of Caradhras
11. The Doors Of Durin
12. Moria
13. Gollum
14. Balin's Tomb

Disc 3

1. Khazad-dum
2. Caras Galadhon
3. The Mirror Of Galadriel
4. The Fighting Uruk-hai
5. Parth Galen
6. The Departure Of Boromir
7. The Road Goes Ever On...

Notice Disc 1, Track 12 - "The Passing Of The Elves". That's an Extended Edition scene!! Woo hoo!!

 

[PaulP]

That doesn't seem to be the complete listing for Disc 3. Only seven tracks? And no "May It Be"? Also tracks are all either renamed or split and/or combined, as the original score has the following tracks:

 

[Craig S]

There's some discussion of this set over in the FotR thread in the Movies section. In this post someone copied an interview about the set, in which it was stated that the tracks would be on the long side:

This is not too surprising; as we all know, "The Breaking of the Fellowship", while a great track, differed quite a bit from what we heard in the film.

 

[Dan Szwarc]

Does anyone know if $41.99 is the best price?

 

[Mike Frezon]

The price drops begin...at least lets hope so...

The amazon.com link above now says $53.99...10% off the MSRP of $59.99 (a savings of $5.99).