The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		5.0

The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy Blu-ray Movie Review

"The fate of the world will now be decided..."

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown June 17, 2011

Fans have long clamored for an Extended Edition Blu-ray release of director Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings, and some even cried foul when 2010 only brought the theatrical cuts to high definition. Doomsayers and cynics were convinced Jackson's expanded trilogy wouldn't arrive on Blu-ray for another two or three years, when The Hobbit was readying its march into theaters. But here they are, just a year later, in all their extended, high definition glory. Rather than posting one massive, all-encompassing, unavoidably overwhelming review of the Extended Edition box set of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, though, I've divided my lengthy analysis into four separate reviews:

1) This short review, which will focus solely on the box set, its quality and its contents
2) A review of the Extended Edition of The Fellowship of the Ring, in its 5-disc entirety
3) A review of the Extended Edition of The Two Towers, in its 5-disc entirety
4) A review of the Extended Edition of The Return of the King, again, in its 5-disc entirety

Simply click on the individual links above to access each review. Suffice it to say, with so much ground to cover, there simply isn't a more efficient and thorough way to cover the full 15-disc Extended Edition release. So, without further ado, onto the box set...

The Extended Edition box set is a well-crafted, smartly designed, eye-catching beaut. Its sturdy gold and onyx outer box -- adorned with an image of the One Ring on the front and a simple rune on the back -- is slightly oversized, but no so much that it will cause any problems for cinephiles with limited shelf space. The box opens to reveal a handsome map of Middle-earth, three individual standard-sized Blu-ray cases, and authorization codes for downloading a digital copy of the extended cut of each film (offer expires in June of 2012). The individual Blu-ray cases are black, contain five discs a piece, and include booklets that detail the various special features found on the corresponding discs. Each film and its commentaries are spread across two BD-50 discs and the remaining documentaries and Appendices content is spread across three standard DVD discs. (While that will no doubt give some pause, keep in mind that all of the extras were originally produced in SD, meaning high definition source files don't exist.)

It's a fairly straightforward box set, rising above others only by sake of its attractive design and individual cases, and there are few frills to speak of. For complete reviews of each film, its video transfer, DTS-HD Master Audio track and special features, follow the links below:

The Fellowship of the Ring
The Two Towers
The Return of the King

Note: the six BD-50 discs in this release are Region Free. The nine supplemental DVDs are Region 1 locked.