- Oct 9, 1999
- 17,627
- 5
- 81
This isn't a review of the MOVIE, cause you all know my thoughts on that...this is just a review of the technical aspects mostly.
Disc 1 (the movie):
These are some GREAT looking menus first of all...they aren't overdone, they're just beautiful looking...not only that but they are Dolby 5.1 encoded (kinda rare for menus!). Subtle animation, no annoying transitions, perfection.
The Video:
This transfer is exceptional. It's one of the most film like transfers I have ever seen. It's reference quality and that's saying a lot. It is up there with great transfers such as Starship Troopers, Fifth Element, Seven, Braveheart, and Sleepy Hollow. The colors are richer and deeper than anything you would've seen in the theater...this is one film that definitely looks better on DVD.
The best part is that there's no sign of edge enhancement at all. This is what I was most worried about because a transfer can be ruined by this horrible effect that is applied by the video encoders to make video look sharper on crappy TV sets. But put it on a decent set with s-video or component and you will see ringing and white lines around the edges (apply a strong sharpen filter in photoshop and you'll see what I mean). It's just ugly. LOTR doesn't suffer from this flaw though. There also isn't any compression artifacts to be seen. (if you want to see some horrible edge enhancement, check out the examples here
Again, this transfer is pure reference quality. My only complaint is that the layer change is poorly placed.
I took some screenshots of this piece of art
The Audio:
My sound setup is nothing stellar, but it's light years beyond most of the crap out there. You can see a list of my equipment in my signature.
Before this DVD my favorite discs for audio where Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, Saving Private Ryan DTS, Jurassic Park DTS, and U-571 DTS. The Phantom Menace was on top of all of course...an expansive, aggressive sound mix that you can't get sick of, no matter how bad the movie itself gets.
The Dolby 5.1EX mix on this DVD even surpasses Phantom Menace IMO. Phantom Menace suffered from being too "overcooked"...it just wasn't realistic sound, even though it sounded damned good. LOTR's sound stage on this DVD is completely NATURAL. The sound scape is gigantic no matter how big your room is...sound doesn't sound like it's coming from the speakers, it sounds like it is just THERE. This is rare in a surround mix, but they accomplished this with LOTR.
The dialogue is never drowned out by music, everything is always at a perfect volume, there's fantastic dynamic range, nothing is compromised. The LFE (bass) is incredible. The Prologue and Mines of Moria will really give your subwoofer a work out. It's always there in the right plces and never feels like it's too much.
Disc 2 - The Extras:
Most of the extras here are fluff, but still, it's good fluff. The real mccoy will come out in november...then we will get REAL special features. There are 3 documentaries that are most promotional pieces...they have been aired on TV before, they are worth a viewing though since there's a bit fo behind the scenes stuff. Also there is about 15 short videos that were originally posted on the official site. All of the trailers and TV spots are included with the exception of the original internet preview from April 2000. Also, the trailers are presented in Anamorphic widescreen and Dolby 5.1...another big plus.
Now here are the two best features on disc 2:
The Two Towers Preview! It clocks in at just over 10 minutes. It's also presented in anamorphic widescreen with dolby 5.1. Most of it is behind the scenes footage, with some scenes from the actual movie thrown in. We have seen some of the scenes in the Two Towers teaser, but many of the ones shown are new. We also get to see some footage of Andy Serkis doing motion-capture for Gollum - really cool stuff. The best scene from this preview has to be a scene with Aragorn and King Theoden...you can see this quote in my signature
There is also a split second shot of an AMAZING helm's deep scene. Check the screenshots!
Next is the preview for the Extended Edition of LOTR: FOTR which is due out November 12th. This has already leaked onto the net so many of you might've seen it already. It shows a bunch of short scenes that will be added back in. Some amazing stuff...the movie will be a *lot* better with this extra footage. My favorite shot from this has to be Gollum clinging to a log, floating down the Anduin following the Fellowship (see screenshots again).
Bottom Line:
An exceptional DVD, way above average. And to think this is just New Line's way of saying "here's something while you wait for the mother-of-all DVDs in November" ...I heard they were actually embarassed about this release and that's why they didn't send any copies to reviewers in advance. What's to be ashamed of? NOTHING!!
If you liked the movie, get both DVDs...you won't be disappointed.
screenshots again\
Release Date: August 6th
Disc 1 (the movie):
These are some GREAT looking menus first of all...they aren't overdone, they're just beautiful looking...not only that but they are Dolby 5.1 encoded (kinda rare for menus!). Subtle animation, no annoying transitions, perfection.
The Video:
This transfer is exceptional. It's one of the most film like transfers I have ever seen. It's reference quality and that's saying a lot. It is up there with great transfers such as Starship Troopers, Fifth Element, Seven, Braveheart, and Sleepy Hollow. The colors are richer and deeper than anything you would've seen in the theater...this is one film that definitely looks better on DVD.
The best part is that there's no sign of edge enhancement at all. This is what I was most worried about because a transfer can be ruined by this horrible effect that is applied by the video encoders to make video look sharper on crappy TV sets. But put it on a decent set with s-video or component and you will see ringing and white lines around the edges (apply a strong sharpen filter in photoshop and you'll see what I mean). It's just ugly. LOTR doesn't suffer from this flaw though. There also isn't any compression artifacts to be seen. (if you want to see some horrible edge enhancement, check out the examples here
Again, this transfer is pure reference quality. My only complaint is that the layer change is poorly placed.
I took some screenshots of this piece of art
The Audio:
My sound setup is nothing stellar, but it's light years beyond most of the crap out there. You can see a list of my equipment in my signature.
Before this DVD my favorite discs for audio where Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, Saving Private Ryan DTS, Jurassic Park DTS, and U-571 DTS. The Phantom Menace was on top of all of course...an expansive, aggressive sound mix that you can't get sick of, no matter how bad the movie itself gets.
The Dolby 5.1EX mix on this DVD even surpasses Phantom Menace IMO. Phantom Menace suffered from being too "overcooked"...it just wasn't realistic sound, even though it sounded damned good. LOTR's sound stage on this DVD is completely NATURAL. The sound scape is gigantic no matter how big your room is...sound doesn't sound like it's coming from the speakers, it sounds like it is just THERE. This is rare in a surround mix, but they accomplished this with LOTR.
The dialogue is never drowned out by music, everything is always at a perfect volume, there's fantastic dynamic range, nothing is compromised. The LFE (bass) is incredible. The Prologue and Mines of Moria will really give your subwoofer a work out. It's always there in the right plces and never feels like it's too much.
Disc 2 - The Extras:
Most of the extras here are fluff, but still, it's good fluff. The real mccoy will come out in november...then we will get REAL special features. There are 3 documentaries that are most promotional pieces...they have been aired on TV before, they are worth a viewing though since there's a bit fo behind the scenes stuff. Also there is about 15 short videos that were originally posted on the official site. All of the trailers and TV spots are included with the exception of the original internet preview from April 2000. Also, the trailers are presented in Anamorphic widescreen and Dolby 5.1...another big plus.
Now here are the two best features on disc 2:
The Two Towers Preview! It clocks in at just over 10 minutes. It's also presented in anamorphic widescreen with dolby 5.1. Most of it is behind the scenes footage, with some scenes from the actual movie thrown in. We have seen some of the scenes in the Two Towers teaser, but many of the ones shown are new. We also get to see some footage of Andy Serkis doing motion-capture for Gollum - really cool stuff. The best scene from this preview has to be a scene with Aragorn and King Theoden...you can see this quote in my signature
There is also a split second shot of an AMAZING helm's deep scene. Check the screenshots!Next is the preview for the Extended Edition of LOTR: FOTR which is due out November 12th. This has already leaked onto the net so many of you might've seen it already. It shows a bunch of short scenes that will be added back in. Some amazing stuff...the movie will be a *lot* better with this extra footage. My favorite shot from this has to be Gollum clinging to a log, floating down the Anduin following the Fellowship (see screenshots again).
Bottom Line:
An exceptional DVD, way above average. And to think this is just New Line's way of saying "here's something while you wait for the mother-of-all DVDs in November"
...I heard they were actually embarassed about this release and that's why they didn't send any copies to reviewers in advance. What's to be ashamed of? NOTHING!!If you liked the movie, get both DVDs...you won't be disappointed.
screenshots again\
Release Date: August 6th
Facebook
Twitter