The Lord of the Rings Trilogy Theatrical and Extended Limited Edition DVD with Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen (PG-13) +Movie Reviews

Duped again

N. Durham | Philadelphia, PA | 08/30/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"DVD double dipping, it's become a standard of the home video world. Case in point, Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy. When the films first saw the light of day on DVD, they were released on New Line's Platinum Series DVD line, featuring two discs of mostly fluffy extras. Then, the four disc Extended Editions would be subsequently released, featuring extended versions of the films with a horde of commentaries and extras that brought fans to their knees. While I always recommended the theatrical versions to casual fans and the Extended Editions to the Tolkien fanatics, New Line has once again dipped into our wallets by releasing the Theatrical and Extended versions in one set, with some "new" extras thrown in for good measure (because they need to sell it to those of us who bought either or both versions before). Now, I'll say right off the bat, each of the three films are technical marvels of modern film making, with incredible battle scenes, effects, and everything else that's made these films the Star Wars trilogy of a new generation. That in mind, these new editions of the film are only worth owning for those who don't already own any of the previous releases; the rest of which should leave the new editions of the trilogy on the shelf where they belong, and maybe then and only then, will the studios stop with the double dipping frenzy that's been going on forever now."

What is the point of this?

Pen Name | Fairbanks, Alaska | 08/30/2006

(1 out of 5 stars)

"I can't figure out who this is marketed to. It seems like New Line is trying to come up with every combination of LOTR footage they can get onto different DVD editions. Let me explain exactly what you get here:

2 discs for 3 each movie, 6 discs total. 1 disc contains the theatrical edition of the film on one side and the extended edition on the other. The second disc contains a brand new two-hour featurette by filmmaker Costa Botes. The featurettes are basically a guy walking around with a camera while people get ready on the set and filming people. They are not comprised of 30 minute "making of Helms Deep set" specials or anything like that.

Apparently, New Line has to release the films with the documentaries due to contractual obligations, however, I still can't see anyone but the most hard core of fans buying these. The documentaries are actually quite good, and it's too bad they weren't on one of the other versions that has been released. But unless you are solely buying these dics for the documentaries (and even then, they're not so good as to charge this much), you don't not want this set. The dics do not contain Dolby DTS surround sound, and they contain literally NOTHING aside from the films. No commentaries or anything.

As I said, the documentaries are pretty interesting if you're a huge fan and can afford that much money to watch Sean Astin make jokes about his makeup or scenes of bloopers and stuntmen falling off their horses, but if you are looking at purchasing this for any other reason or to own a copy of the movies, I strongly suggest you get one of the other trilogy sets instead."

Don't waste your cash....

K. Whitmore | Rochester, NY USA | 08/30/2006

(1 out of 5 stars)

"While still feel that Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings movie trilogy is the definitive version of the classic novels - if you're Lord of the Rings fan don't bother with this edition.

One - if you feel you MUST purchase this limited edition buy the movies individually - you'll save yourself a bit of cash (stupidly the studio released it with a higher cost to buy the box set which has NOTHING extra compared to buying the movies individually.

Two - the documentaries leave much to be desired and don't let it be believed that these documentaries are entirely composed of unreleased footage - there is plenty of 'encore' presentation of the same tired footage (Astin's shard in the foot a prime example). I don't need to see or know that there was a semi-heated discussion regarding the distribution of walkie-talkies during the production. I would much rather have seen more of the stuff while they set up scenes on the mountainside with the fellowship or at Rivendell or....

Basically - this is New Line looking for a way to pull in a bit more cash - I suspect they're missing the gobs that the movies raked in over the course of three years."

Overpriced, and a bit unnecessary for most

crLovesMovies | LA, CA | 08/30/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"There really isn't a lot of anything very new in this bundle. Even a couple snippets of the documentary footage seemed a bit familiar and wasn't 100% new.

To its credit, the documentary/behind-the-scenes footage did get progressively better and was mostly unfamiliar. The one for The Fellowship of the Ring is a bit of a snoozer, in my opinion, but it picks up in The Two Towers, and is truly fascinating in Return of the King, where we get a combination of hilarious cast interactions along with some of the more interesting insights into the making of the film, such as overlaying CG elements onto the live action.

I can really only recommend this bundle to those who won't miss the money spent for the documentary parts and/or are missing either the extended or theatrical versions of the movies, and want them. If you're strapped for cash, I suggest you wait for more used copies to become available if you really want the documentaries.

Lastly, and sort of tangentally, I really wish someone could give me a satisfactory explanation for why two halves of a movie can fit on a disc (or in this case, one side) but they can't fit the entire movie on one disc or side.

At any rate, the movies are fantastic, and if you need copies, this is as good a bundle as any. But don't rush out to get this bundle-- particularly brand new-- just for the documentaries unless you really have the cash to spare or you really cannot live without them."

THANKS.....BUT NO THANKS!!!!

Mohd Jafar | Hyderabad, AP India | 08/29/2006

(1 out of 5 stars)

"Let me accept the fact that LOTR is my most beloved film and I already own the extended editions of the films in one set! I'm really not surprised to see New Line coming up with another edition of the trilogy. With films like these they will squeeze the collectors as much as they can!! Still, inspite of this new set containing both the theatrical versions and the extended cuts of the films and also the much hyped Costa Botes documentaries, my advise to anyone buying LOTR for the first time is- DO NOT BUY THIS SET! Spend a little more and you get all the movies in full 6.1 DTS EX glory, alongwith hours of endless in-depth bonus features which probably you'll spend rest of your life watching!!

Please be aware, these new editions DO NOT contain DTS tracks, no commentary tracks by the director, Weta workshop or the cast. All you get is both versions crammed into one single disc and just one documentary as a bonus on the second disc...AND NOTHING ELSE. It would have been a better idea had New Line released the documentaries separately without forcing the consumer to buy the films again....And even this is not the end, once the HD format gains a little more acceptance, they'll have another excuse to come up with a new version of the trilogy!

Beware, Extended edition set is the ultimate LOTR experience, in terms of films or bonus features. Go get it...Its worth all the money spent!!"

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