Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		0.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		4.5

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

...one giant leap for hobbit-kind.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III November 27, 2020

NOTE: As of this writing, this title is only available as part of The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy 4K.

Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy broke new ground in the fantasy genre by shooting all three films back-to-back; in all, the entire trilogy took over eight years to complete and cost nearly $300 million. The gamble paid off, and its massive critical and commercial success makes it one of the most ambitious and fully-realized epics in film history. The Fellowship of the Ring is the first chapter in the trilogy, and it does a fine job of establishing a very strong tone while effortlessly introducing us to Middle-Earth and its curious, courageous and cunning citizens.

All three theatrical films were later released on home video as extended editions, each adding new or expanded scenes that broaden the scope and journey of its characters. Most fans view them as the definitive experience. This extended version of The Fellowship of the Ring has already been released on Blu-ray, and Warner Bros.' 4K edition ups the A/V ante with an outstanding 2160p transfer -- which does not include any redone special effects, thank goodness -- and a terrific Dolby Atmos audio mix, both of which bring Middle Earth to life in new and unexpected ways.

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

NOTE: This screenshots for this review are from a previous Blu-ray edition of the film.

Although most of The Lord of the Rings' extended editions are visually identical to the theatrical cuts, The Fellowship of the Ring is different because the Blu-ray featured an infamously green-tinted picture. The first bit of good news here is that Warner Bros.' new transfer -- which includes a fresh 4K scan of the original camera negative and VFX filmouts -- no longer features that garish tint, which allows its extremely vivid palette to shine naturally like never before.

The second bit of good news is that its HDR10 enhancement does an excellent job of tastefully boosting certain hues into very appealing territory without going overboard, from the lush greens of the Shire to glowing blue moonlight, the warm and welcoming environment of Rivendell, and the fiery interiors of Mount Doom. All the while, skin tones -- at least those of humans -- look extremely natural, while colorful background details also add visual interest to cozy interior scenes and the film's most expansive and exotic landscapes with no obvious signs of bleeding. Of course, this enhancement does more than just make colors pop: mid-range contrast levels, deep blacks, and supernaturally glowing whites are all much improved over previous presentations, from the bursting fireworks at Bilbo's birthday party to exploring the deep, dark Mines of Moria and Frodo's awakening in Rivendell with Gandalf at his side.

However, the main draw of this 4K release is its stunning increase in fine detail, density, and refined contrast levels, all of which are immediately apparent from the opening sequence onward. I lost count of how many times I paused to study the fine detail in the film's many close-ups and mid-range shots: the One Ring in Gollum's grubby hand, the ethereal gaze of princess Arwen, clothing and armor textures, the wiry hair in Gimli's beard, and even the stunning, 3D-like textures of the Middle Earth map. All but the most muddy environments come alive in great detail, which is also aided by the transfer's much more robust and film-like appearance -- differences were immediately noticeable after a quick swap with the older Blu-rays. As expected, the image is clean as a whistle and, though obvious from the disc size, each half runs at a very high bit rate from start to finish and there are no perceivable compression issues.

As for the drawbacks...? I'll admit that it was pretty easy to notice some faint to moderate noise reduction either baked in to some of the visual effects or applied to the transfer after the fact -- it's certainly nothing grossly offensive by any stretch, and the extremely high level of fine detail in this picture will likely mask it from most eyes. This fine detail also reveals a few small seams in the early Gollum CGI and makeup effects, which is an unavoidable problem... and again, hardly worth complaining about. Overall, an outstanding effort and a near-definitive visual presentation.

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There's less to say about the new Dolby Atmos mix, but only because previous editions of Fellowship sounded great too. This is a tastefully remixed but extremely powerful track that shares a lot in common with other recent 4K discs like 300 and even V for Vendetta, showcasing countless demo-worthy sequences that are filled with discrete channel separation, panning effects and, of course, Atmos' exclusive height channel. This obviously comes into play during tense battle sequences, cavernous interiors, arrow volleys, and the formidable size of Mount Doom, but also in slightly less stressful moments like Bilbo's birthday fireworks and the majestic rush of the Falls of Rauros. This resulting "sonic bubble" makes an already-great surround mix even better... but even if you're not equipped for Atmos, the folded-down lossless 7.1 track is hardly a major downgrade. Both share a lot of similarities along with crystal-clear dialogue, thunderous LFE, and sweeping music cues that all work together to create a tangible, tantalizing world.

Optional dubs and subtitles (including English SDH) are included in a variety of languages listed above, while the forced subtitles for select lines of Elvish dialogue -- mostly shared between Aragorn and Arwen -- are also still present.

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

No bonus features are included on these 4K movie-only discs.

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Fellowship of the Ring's extended edition is a top-tier fantasy film and, in my opinion, the best of The Lord of the Rings trilogy -- and even if you don't agree, it's at least a worthy start to the journey. Warner Bros.' 4K edition boasts an excellent new 2160p transfer with terrific color and fine detail, as well as a stunning Dolby Atmos mix. It's currently only available as part of The Motion Picture Trilogy 4K set which contains no extras but, even if that changes in the future, this is still an outstanding presentation of an extremely durable and entertaining film.