The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring
Warner Bros. // 2001 // 178 Minutes // Rated PG-13
The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers
Warner Bros. // 2002 // 179 Minutes // Rated PG-13
The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King
Warner Bros. // 2003 // 201 Minutes // Rated PG-13
Reviewed by Judge David Johnson // March 31st, 2010
One Blu-ray release to rule them all? Nah.
The flashpoint of unparalleled fanboy rage has finally broken free of the Black Gates and presents itself to the Men (and Women) of the West.
Back in the old times, the days when a vicious war was being waged over the fate of the home video market, there were two competing formats vying for domination and (most importantly) royalty checks for their respective multinational corporations. The two sides battled ferociously, desperately trying to outflank one another, with the Red side gaining ground only to see the Blu side make significant incursions into the public A/V consciousness.
And then one day, known by videophiles the world over as "The Day of Reckoning" or "The Day Blindsided Toshiba Execs Wept into Their Lattes," Warner Bros. cast their lot in with the Blu side, essentially sealing the fate of the Reds and bringing The War to an end. The chief weapon in the Warner Bros. arsenal? The rights to release The Lord of the Rings in high-definition optical media, one of the most sought-after discs ever to be forged.
And so it came to pass that Warner Bros. fulfilled its destiny, and on April 6, 2010, at the beginning of the Fourth Age, brought out the weapon that helped end the War.
But all is not as it seems...
Clicking on this set's Amazon link will take you to a nuclear shockwave of Total Consumer Fury -- nearly 3,000 customer reviews (prior to the set's release) and an overall rating hovering at 1.5 stars. Obviously, this isn't a commentary on the quality of the films. Any cinematic adventurer worth his Mithril knows that Peter Jackson's epic visualization of the mother of all fantasy trilogies was the greatest thing since sliced lembas bread. And since there have been, roughly, four hundred quadrillion words written about these films, I'll spare you yet another embarrassingly fawning reaction (except for Liv Tyler's pale, breathless line readings, which haven't gotten any more tolerable) and simply focus on the Great Issue of Our Time: Should you give Warner Bros. your money?
These are the theatrical versions and Warner's choice to give them the Blu-ray treatment over the Extended Editions is what has fueled so much angst. But the angry Amazon mob has a point. Warner Bros. is obviously going to double dip these, just like they are obviously going to double-dip their underperforming Blu-ray release of The Dark Knight. That's what studios do. They want your money and dangle nifty options for re-releases to tempt you into buying the 43rd version of Evil Dead 2.
I will admit, however, that it is fairly brazen for Warner Bros. to essentially pretend the Extended Editions don't exist. You won't get any argument from me that the EEs are the definitive cuts of the Rings trilogy, and most importantly their massive DVD sets still stand as the greatest home video releases of the last format generation. The re-cut features cemented the status of Rings as the true game-changer in modern blockbuster cinema (the large-scale battles in Return of the King have yet be eclipsed) and the four-disc Extended Editions redefined DVD technical achievements and bonus features.
But enough crying into our pints of Prancing Pony ale. These are the Theatrical Editions and they're the only ones we can currently obtain on Blu-ray. Judging them on their own merits reveals...
Video
Let's get right to it. The 2.40:1 VC-1 encoded, 1080p HD
picture upgrade is the primary attractor for the set (Spoiler: it's certainly
not the extras) and here's the short of it: the visual fidelity is good, but not
great. And that's a disappointment. The bump in resolution is, of course,
obvious from the get-go and a comparison between ROTK on Blu and the
Extended Edition reveals a noticeable upgrade. The detailing is crisp,
particularly when the camera pulls in tight for one of Jackson's characteristic
close-ups. That Orc make-up? Fantastic. The lines on Gandalf's face? Carved into
your TV set. When the action pulls back -- as it does frequently in these films
-- the resolution softens and the visual bump lessens in its disparity. Also,
the color levels didn't pop as much as I would have expected, with all three
films looking a bit washed-out, especially when compared to the dynamic
transfers of high-end Blu-rays, many of which, ironically, have been issued by
Warner Bros. The quality of the visual effects are reflected proportionately in
the HD as they were in the original standard definition: Gollum, Helm's Deep,
the cave troll, the Balrog, the siege of Minas Tirith, the Eye of Sauron, and
Shelob all look super, but the goblin attack in Moria, Aragorn and Frodo's
bridge surfing, and wide shots of the ghost army still struggle. I know this all
sounds negative, but let me assure you this is the finest looking rendering of
The Lord of the Rings you're going to find. The gulf in quality from an
upconverted DVD, however, isn't as vast, and for a release like this, that's
sort of a bummer. Overall, a B effort.
Audio
A+ here, though. The 6.1 DTS-HA Master Audio mix is
killer, an enveloping, aggressive, pounding piece of aural engineering
that will absolutely flood your living room with the wondrous sounds of Orc
stabbing, Ent grunting, Rohirrim charging, and Howard Shore's legendary score.
Straight-up ear porn, friends.
Extras
In the words of Gandalf, to the brain trust that thought
repackaging the lame extras of the DVD theatrical cuts was a good idea, do us
all a favor and "Go back to the shadow." I can understand why the
theatrical versions were released and I honestly don't mind as much as some of
the major detractors. There are scenes in the EEs that I love, but sometimes you
want to sit down and get your Ring quest on without devoting 10 hours of your
day to the enterprise. But essentially re-issuing the same selection of lame
extras that accompanied the DVD releases of these cuts, and stamping them on
Blu-ray no less? Awful. Forget the features themselves, this move by Warner
Bros. stinks and the clunky BD-Live interactivity merely augments the pain.
Dated, standard-defintion promotional featurettes from Houghton-Mifflin, Starz
Encore, the Sci-Fi Channel, and National Geographic? Really?! We couldn't get
anything new and interesting? And the digital copies don't count. A big,
fat F as in "F-this."
The extras boondoggle has driven me to Denethor levels of irritability, but in the categories that count the most -- the audio and the video -- this set mostly delivers and will serve as an okay holdover until the inevitable Super Extended Easterling Edition hits.
Your life is not forfeit.
Review content copyright © 2010 David Johnson; Site layout and review format copyright © 1998 - 2013 HipClick Designs LLC
Scales of Justice, The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring
Video: 85
Audio: 100
Extras: 70
Acting: 95
Story: 95
Judgment: 90
Perp Profile, The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring
Video Formats:
* 2.40:1 Non-Anamorphic (1080p)
Audio Formats:
* DTS HD 6.1 Master Audio (English)
* Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo (Spanish)
Subtitles:
* English (SDH)
* Spanish
Running Time: 178 Minutes
Release Year: 2001
MPAA Rating: Rated PG-13
Distinguishing Marks, The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring
* Featurettes
* Music Video
* Digital Copy
Scales of Justice, The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers
Video: 85
Audio: 100
Extras: 70
Acting: 95
Story: 95
Judgment: 90
Perp Profile, The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers
Video Formats:
* 2.40:1 Non-Anamorphic (1080p)
Audio Formats:
* DTS HD 6.1 Master Audio (English)
* Dolby Digital 5.1 EX (Spanish)
Subtitles:
* English (SDH)
* Spanish
Running Time: 179 Minutes
Release Year: 2002
MPAA Rating: Rated PG-13
Distinguishing Marks, The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers
* Featurettes
* Music Video
* Digital Copy
Scales of Justice, The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King
Video: 85
Audio: 100
Extras: 70
Acting: 95
Story: 95
Judgment: 90
Perp Profile, The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King
Video Formats:
* 2.40:1 Non-Anamorphic (1080p)
Audio Formats:
* DTS HD 6.1 Master Audio (English)
* Dolby Digital 5.1 EX (Spanish)
Subtitles:
* English (SDH)
* Spanish
Running Time: 201 Minutes
Release Year: 2003
MPAA Rating: Rated PG-13
Distinguishing Marks, The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King
* Featurettes
* Digital Copy
Accomplices
* IMDb: The Fellowship of the Ring
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0120737/combined
* IMDb: The Two Towers
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0167261/combined
* IMDb: The Return of the King
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0167260/combined