The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy [Extended Edition] [15 Discs] [Blu-ray]

Let me start with the good, the content is great. The disks were flawless and the image quality is everything you would hope for. You get all three extended edition films, plus several disks worth of bonus content, behind the scenes, documentaries, extended lore, everything that's been in previous versions of these films is here in crisp high definition. The exterior packaging is gorgeous, the cardboard case that holds all the plastic movie cases is very well made, with a magnetic latch and very pretty box art. !!!HOWEVER, BE WARNED!!! The three cases inside that hold the 15 disks are very poor quality. Each case holds five disks on a set of plastic inner leaves that hinge at the back of the case and allow it to open like a notebook. This plastic is EXTREMELY fragile. When I opened all three of my cases, they were filled with shards of broken plastic. Every single hinge in my set had shattered and the inner leaves were hanging at odd angles. Even the tabs that the disks press onto to hold them in place are fragile, and many of those had shattered as well, leaving the disks just sort of floating around loose. Luckily I did not see any scratches on my disks and to transfer the disk to different generic DVD holders I had laying around, and just display the empty cardboard case on my movie shelf. If you purchase this set, do so with the knowledge that you may very well have to abandon the packaging it comes with, pretty as some of it may be, in order to protect your disks from scratching.

After the huge debacle over the first blu ray release of the Lord of The Rings theatrical versions, here it is... the Extended Editions of the best movies ever made (in my opinion). Let me star off by addressing the one thing that some people have a hard time getting through their heads... I know that Blu Ray discs have a much higer storage capacity than DVD's, I know this set is on 15 discs and I also know you must get off your couch and change the disc ONE TIME during a four hour movie. My question is, what's the big deal? Come on people, you are getting superior video/audio quality, you are getting probably the best set of special features/commentaries/making of/behind the scenes content on any movie of all time and your getting it at a very reasonable price! I personally am very happy they have put these on 2 discs, it just means the video/audio quality is going to be outstanding and isn't that more important? Is it really that big of a deal that there are a lot of discs? I mean really, can you logically explain why that is such a horrible dilemma? Also, if you can't manage to get up one time and take 3 minutes to swap a disc then flop back down on your couch then something is wrong. Just enjoy the movies guy's... this is probably the last version of these films they will release and the best version and the only version needed. Long live Lord of The Rings!

Bill Hunt from digitalbits.com said it best 'It's my opinion that The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, in this long form, is an achievement unmatched in the history of cinema.' Now the Extended Editions have come to Blu-Ray and can now be viewed in stunning 1080p video and 6.1 DTS-HD MA audio. Much has been said about the improvements made to the first film. I believe the color timing is an improvement. It appears that it now matches the look of the other three movies. You really notice in the Bridge of Khazad-dum scene. In the DVD release of the Extended Editions it looked different from the first movie and the beginning of the second movie. That has been remedied with this release. Also there has been some complaints about the number of discs offered in this release. Specifically that with the memory size of a Blu-Ray disc these films should fit on one disc. I believe that the fact that they are still split over 2 discs is only a plus. This allows the best video and audio to be shown. The down-side is that there are no 5-disc Blu-Ray players. There are only 400-disc varieties that are very pricey. The DVD extras were unfortunately not filmed in HD and therefore are again released on DVD with this Blu-Ray release. This release gives you all the supplemental materials from the previous 2 DVD releases. With that being said, this is the most complete release of these movies and I feel confident that I won't have to buy another release later down the road. This is the best you are going to get with the Lord of the Rings. Buy it now!

As someone that bought the DVD extended versions, I am glad the Blu-ray versions are finally here. I can't believe how picky people can be and actually complain that there is "too much" in this package of disks. I mean I can understand if you think you're not getting enough for your money, but getting too much? I guess it's maybe for those that would like just the movies and do not care for the extras, but with it on sale for $70, that is less than $5 a disk. I am one of those that love the extras. Plus if you bought just the extended movies they would probably cost at least $20 each, so that would be $60 for all three films anyway. This one collectors box has all fifteen disks (six movie disks and nine extras disks) and it is the size of the box for just one movie of the DVD extended versions (so now one box will replace three). You have five disks in each case (which is about the size of a standard BD case). Two disks are the movies and three disks are extras. And finally you get download codes for the digital versions of all three extended movies. The codes are good for a year, which is better than most who usually give you only three or four months before the digital code is invalid.

These movies are some of the best movies of all time. All three are in the imdb top 100, they sparked tourism to the filming locations in New Zealand, and the incredible cast's range brought Middle-Earth to life. Alas, these films are ubiquitous and if you're shopping for the extended edition, then you've probably come to love them and need more... Yes the extended versions are "extended"a lot. Some by 20ish minutes, to an already 3+ Hr. run time. Others extended by near an hour, but is it ever glorious! The true magic in the extended editions, is the documentaries that accompany each film. They are the most comprehensive records of the making of any film, bar none. You get to experience the life of the film, through the eyes of its cast members, its artists, its producers. They rival(perhaps best) the films in run time and are masterfully created. If you want to learn about making a film, watch these. Forget film school, and watch these. Live them, emulate them. The bluray release, is of far better quality than the original DVD. This bluray isn't tack sharp all of the time, which to my mind, leads to a very pleasing dream-like quality. There is scarce an image that isn't a master shot, or one that could serve as a dissertation of the medium. The sound track is equally impressive and the fidelity of the bluray is sufficient. At the moment, these are the best versions of the film available to the public. Highly recommend them.

For any one who has acheived the herculean task of reading the entire Lord of the Rings, from cover to cover, director Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy is a delight. Though the book has tons more than hollywood could cram into any length film, what has been included is executed marvelously. Each film simply shines in this re-release of the extended editions. High definition is what this movies were made for since cosmetic computer touches run the length of all three. The armor suits shine with more detail, actors are more wrinkly than memory recalls, and biggest reason to get them on their original release dates (6 months after the standard dvd release some ten years ago) was that the first movie ran an extra half hour; the second a full hour longer; and the third nearly five hours long! We all remember the agony of holding it in an hour into the film because they were worth it, right? Mercifully the home versions can be paused, and with blu-ray the sound can be heard uncompress for the first time. If I only had a more modern receiver I could be watching this film in 7.1 sound, but I have an older high current receiver. However it still rocks! Totally worth the money but you should always be smart about your money and shop online. In-store; a bit pricey. Sit back and enjoy every frame.

I was happy to hear this to finally come out months ago to now be able to watch at home. Very nice box set. The box that holds the discs is designed like a novel. All 3 extended edtions are housed in the box in their own separate cases. As for the multiple discs if you goto the site THEDIGITALBITS.COM and read the detailed review that is listed you can see why the studios went with the multiple disc option and with the runtime on all 3 movies. The studios decided to let these movies have as much room as they can to breath on blu ray. The movies have alot of visual detail and audio. The more the video and audio is compressed on a disc is when you get a down grade in audio and video. This is the best blu ray set I have seen. picture and audio is stunning. On a big screen tv and surround sound system really makes these movies shine. So if your a fan of all 3 of these movies and have a blu ray player pick this set up while you can. The extended editions are the way to go. With more story in these movies is always a welcome for this series.

Finally, the extended version comes to Blu-Ray with HD audio. Not only that, but the packaging is leaps and bounds above the DVD version and takes up just about as much space as ONE of those boxes. It also includes a digital copy (standard def) so you can take the movies on the go. Many of the extras are the same as those found on the extended DVDs, each movie has one additional disc of content. Frankly since this basically cost nothing for them to throw into the box I am glad to have another copy in much more compact packaging. Yes, the disc split is back, but these editions are known to use the lowest possible compression and they are also using lossless audio, so the audio and video quality is amazing. The disc split never bothered me before (usally a good time to take a short break anyway) and I'll take it if it means the movie quality is better.