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

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 small step for a hobbit...

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.

This theatrical cut, much like its extended edition counterpart, has long been available in several home video formats, both as a stand-alone release and part of a trilogy collection. 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.

Since the theatrical Blu-ray of Fellowship of the Ring did not suffer from the same green tint as the extended edition, Warner Bros.' new 2160p transfer may not represent quite as a dramatic a change in comparison. But in every way, this is a near-perfect presentation that stands as the theatrical cut's best home video presentation to date.

For starters, the UHD disc's HDR10 enhancement does a consistently 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 snow-capped mountain pass of Caradhras to the deep, dark Mines of Moria and Frodo's serene 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-ray. As expected, the image is clean as a whistle and, though obvious from the disc size, the entire film runs at a high bit rate from start to finish with 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 this 4K movie-only disc.

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

Although it's not quite as "breathable" as its extended edition counterpart, the theatrical cut of The Fellowship of the Ring is still a top-tier fantasy film that will remain special to those first introduced to the film franchise in 2001. Warner Bros. has done right by the film with a near-flawless 2160p transfer that, quality-wise, looks basically identical to the extended version due to their shared source materials, as well as a Dolby Atmos track that packs a heavy wallop. 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.