LOTR & Hobbit UHD versions coming soon.

Actually, I’m such a narcissist I thought I’d dig back and find my original review!

Nitefly said:
Without reading the other reviews in here I'll give my opinion:

I went into this optimistic and open minded but I ended up really disappointed. Although it was cool too go back to middle earth, there were so many things that were just... bad.

First things first, the HFR 3D version of the film. Holy poo was that hard to get used to. At times it looks amazing but before my eyes could adjust a lot of it looks like a Benny Hill sketch or in fast forward mode. Even with that aside, with a combination of the 3D and the HFR, or for whatever reason, the fast paced action scenes looked fake and false.
The main offender was the brown wizard and his sleigh. That looked terrible
. Perhaps it's because the more realistic you try to make something the more your eye can see that it's false.

So with that in mind, I really don't know if I could recommend the HFR version... it just didn't sit right with my eyes. I completely understand the comments from critics suggesting it looked more like a slick BBC TV production than a feature film, but I don't think that made it any worse. It looked sharper and more fluid, but is that 'better' in this context? Hmm.

Any-who, onto the actual film. There is the fundamental problem is that the film lacks what the LOTR trilogy has in spades: the sense of threat. There is nothing menacing going on and as a result it's not a dramatic film, relatively speaking or otherwise. It's just not that exciting. The next problem is that there is some seriously misplaced goofy humour and some seriously misplaced goofy characters.
The portrayal of the brown wizard was just terrible. Likewise the scene with the trolls around the fire was silly due to their herp derp nature and voices. Only one of the songs was warranted (the second song in bag end with the humming). The first song with the tidying up of dishes... again, really bad. The biggest offender by a long way was the dwarf with an orange beard. Oh wow hilarious look at the fat dwarf doing fat things like falling over a lot. Peter Jackon. On behalf of the world: He's fat. We get it.
Fair enough the story isn't as 'epic' or 'menacing' as LOTR, but does that mean we have to suffer this dumbness?

With no malingering sense of dread or doom, and the above silliness, it is an enormously lengthy and at times a tedious watch. Far too long considering the content anyway. I'm pretty sure nearly everyone in the audience groaned with disappointment when they realised that even after escaping the mountain, it wasn't over.

Good parts:
  1. The scene with Gollum.
  2. The introduction of the Necromancer
Misc. Bad Parts:
  1. King dwarf and leader of the troupe was just a douchebag.
  2. Did I mention the brown wizard :/

Enough said :(

4/10
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Completely forgot about the 48fps fiasco!

Looking back at that thread it really was a much livelier and more happening time on the forums...

Oh and how funny that I distinctly remember saying “WTF” out loud when reading this post :p

Glaucus said:
What a great film, a fair bit better than lord of the rings.
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:eek:
 
I'm getting a ps5 at launch. If I get round to also upgrading my TV, then this wild be the first 4k bluray that I would like to see.
Will wait for reviews on how it looks in 4k.
 
 
I can't decide if to buy them yet or not. I already own them all on Apple TV so I am hoping they get the free 4k upgrade, as I want to see what this mega pack brings next year.

If I do buy them, I will just nab them from the WB site standard copies, as the code Welcome brings it down to £67.49.

Waiting to officially here if PS5 will support dolby vision and atmos for movies as well, as that will be my source of player.
 
I've pre-ordered both steelbook collections off amazon, 2 pence more than zavvi but i get same day delivery, plus zavvi was sold out at the time i came to order.
 
lotr.jpg
 
Awesome, thanks for this, didn't know it was happening so soon. Pre-ordered the LOTR trilogy...I wasn't overly fond of the Hobbit films, despite being a huge fan of the book so not that fussed about watching it again in 4K
 
should point out the only difference between usa and uk version of steelbooks and standard edition of both lotr & hobbit trilogy is that the uk has no digital download code.
 
Gandalf and the Rohirirm charging down that hill at the end of Two Towers all in glorious 4K and surround sound. Yes plz!

Sod The Hobbit though.
 
Kainz said:
Gandalf and the Rohirirm charging down that hill at the end of Two Towers all in glorious 4K and surround sound. Yes plz!

Sod The Hobbit though.
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I'll be getting lotr! I do wonder if the sfx will hold up well though? I don't think these were filmed at 4k either but the upscaling tech is pretty good these days. Dolby Vision and atmos should more than make up for it!

Not sure about hobbit yet but may get just to see what was in the extended versions. Such a shame those movies had such troubled run. Too many mouths trying to feed from the trough forced some really bad decisions on the studio side which all filtered through to the production. Contrast to the pre-production of lotr were they had the bulk of what they wanted to do done a year before filming. Really showed in things like the score. It'd be great in some scenes and then just felt out of place and jarring in others.

Anyway, if these things sell like hot cakes who is betting against 25th anniversary edition enhanced sfx versions in 2026? Can't believe the first one is nearly 20 years old! There are kids today that think of these as old movies like I used to think of movies made in the late 60s or 70s.
 
Washout said:
I'll be getting lotr! I do wonder if the sfx will hold up well though? I don't think these were filmed at 4k either but the upscaling tech is pretty good these days. Dolby Vision and atmos should more than make up for it!

Not sure about hobbit yet but may get just to see what was in the extended versions. Such a shame those movies had such troubled run. Too many mouths trying to feed from the trough forced some really bad decisions on the studio side which all filtered through to the production. Contrast to the pre-production of lotr were they had the bulk of what they wanted to do done a year before filming. Really showed in things like the score. It'd be great in some scenes and then just felt out of place and jarring in others.

Anyway, if these things sell like hot cakes who is betting against 25th anniversary edition enhanced sfx versions in 2026? Can't believe the first one is nearly 20 years old! There are kids today that think of these as old movies like I used to think of movies made in the late 60s or 70s.
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The LotR trilogy was filmed on 35mm I think so there won’t be any upscaling needed.

The CGI effects are being fiddled with and upscaled to 4k too from what I read.
 
Simmz said:
I can't decide if to buy them yet or not. I already own them all on Apple TV so I am hoping they get the free 4k upgrade, as I want to see what this mega pack brings next year.

Waiting to officially here if PS5 will support dolby vision and atmos for movies as well, as that will be my source of player.
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My thoughts too. I am holding off from purchasing them on the ATV though incase they release a separate 4k version of each film. Very confused about that one. Hoping the PS5 does Atmos too for the reason you stated. I have a few UHD discs that I got free here but no player yet.
 
I thought there already was a 4k version of these movies :rolleyes:

I can see these all being scalped up ready for Christmas and then being resold at a higher price.

The Hobbit is already out of stock
 
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