The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (Theatrical)

Reviewed by Drav3n

Format: Blu-ray

Release: April 6, 2010

Rated: PG-13

Runtime: FotR - 178 Minutes, TT - 179 Minutes, RotK - 200 Minutes

"Is this the one trilogy to rule them all?"

The Movie:

Is there anyone that doesn't know what the Lord of the Rings movies are about? Well, for those that are unfamiliar with this trilogy, allow me to provide you with a quick summary with a video from YouTube below.

Anytime I think of Lord of the Rings, Clerks 2 is the first movie that comes to mind. Haha. But, to be honest, I'm not a big sci-fi person. I am actually NOT a fan of Star Wars at all! However, I did enjoy the LOTR movies. And after rewatching the trilogy on blu-ray, I forgot how much I enjoyed these movies.

But anyway, heres a quick summary: The Lord of the Rings focuses on a hobbit, Frodo, who volunteers to leave his home, called The Shire, and travel through the dangerous Middle-earth to the volcanic Mount Doom in Mordor, where he must destroy the "One Ring" by throwing it into the fires. The "One Ring" was created by Lord Sauron to conquer Middle-earth. Traveling along with Frodo on his epic journey are his hobbit friends (Merry, Pippin and Samwise), Aragorn (the future heir to Gondor), Legolas (an Elf), Gimli (a Dward), Gandalf (the wizard) and Boromir (human warrior). Together they become the "Fellowship of the Ring." And let the journey begin.

Along their journey they encounter all kinds of evil such as Saruman, a group of Ringwraiths, and a powerful army of Orcs all trying to do whatever it takes to retrieve that Ring. Just like in any story, the inevitable happens and the Fellowship is broken up, and they go on their separate ways to continue fighting or trying to save their friends that have been captured. Frodo and Samwise are attacked by Gollum, who then leads Frodo to believe that he will help them get to Mordor, when Gollum's real motive is to be reunited with "his precious," aka the Ring. A Character that meets his departure earlier on, re-emerges to continue to help the battle. Gandalf & Théoden rally their forces to defend Gondor from Sauron. Aragon takes the throne of Gondor and then summons a ghost army to help defeat Sauron. After a long journey and many obstacles in their way, Frodo and Sam make it to Mount Doom to finally destroy the One Ring once and for all. And then cue all the endings that follow next.

Oh yes, I left ALOT out. Thats because there's too much too cover in a short little summary. But you get the point. And if you still haven't seen these movies, I don't know what you're waiting for. Unless you have zero interest in seeing these movies, or just don't have the time to dedicate to watching all three films (Over nine hours in total for the Theatrical, and over ten hours for the Extended Editions).

But after re-watching these for the first time since the Extended Editions came out years ago, I forgot how good these movies really are. Yes, they are long, but well worth the time! The amount of detail is amazing in these films. And to note that each film was made for under $100 million (which is almost nothing for a film now), impressive isn't even the word.

All the Academy Awards it's won, including Best Picture of 2003, all the money it's made, all the positive reviews, it's all worth every bit of the hype! The cast was amazing. I actually forgot about certain actor's being involved, and now recognized actors that I didn't know of back then. Every actor involved puts on one hell of a memorable performance. This trilogy is one that's gonna be remembered for many years to come.

Presentation:

All of the films are presented in full 1080p in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio.

• FotR: Wow. First, let me go ahead and say that it does look better than the dvd. BUT, for a blu-ray release, especially for one of the most anticipated blu-rays since the HD era began, this is VERY disappointing! The image is very blurry, colors do not stand out like they should, objects look flat and lack detail, and even the CGI looks pretty weak. Facial shots upclose do look good at times, but the skintones are so oversaturated and just don't look right at all. Probably due to excessive use of DNR.
• TT: Ok, LOTR fans, calm down. This movie looks ALOT better than FotR. Detail was alot more sharper, and the CGI looked alot smoother and clearer, especially The Eye of Sauron and the scenes involving Gollum. Colors were vibrant and strong. Some facial closeups still looked a little blurry, but nothing too distracting. Background images and textures looked really smooth. Again, DNR is still present, and can be heavily obvious at time, but it's not as annoying as it was in part one.
• RotK: Easily the best looking of the three. The whole opening with Smeagol's transformation looked incredible! Also Smeagol seemed to have even more visible detail than was noticeable in part two. Colors were alot more vibrant, blacks were solid, backgrounds were clearer, and the detail on the CGI looked alot better. The only color that seemed to show issue was white (particularly with Gandalf). DNR was still present throughout, but it wasn't as bad and noticeable in this one as it was in part one.

Audio:

Thankfully all three of the films are given a 6.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track. If you have a surround sound system, be prepared to be blown away. Even for those without surround sound, they will still be impressed with the audio track provided. All the dialogue, sound effects and soundtrack come through crystal clear! The LOTR Trilogy was meant to be heard in HD!

Bonus Material:

Ok. This trilogy is a 9 disc set. Each movie gets 3 discs and heres how it breaks down:

• Disc 1 of each movie is the blu-ray disc, which contains the full movie and trailers for the LOTR movies, a trailer for the new "Aragorn's Quest" video game, and a trailer for the trilogy on blu-ray.
• Disc 2 of each movie is THE EXACT second disc that was released with the original theatrical dvd's back in 2002, 2003, and 2004. They even have the trailer for the Extended Edition DVD (yes the DVD, not blu-ray) that was coming out later that year.
• Disc 3 of each movie is a digital copy of each film.

Bottom Line:

It's the LOTR trilogy finally on blu-ray! Hardcore fans of LOTR are going to be highly disappointed because of the lack of releasing the Extended Editions (which Peter Jackson confirmed will be coming with all new special features). However, this is currently the only way you can watch LOTR in HD. Minus the lackluster image of the first movie, the image for the second and third is great! And the audio is top notch! If you really have to have the LOTR trilogy on blu-ray, or don't care about the Extended Editions or special features, then go for it. Otherwise, just hold out a little longer for the Extended Editions with all the special features and all the "new" special features!