Who's going to buy the trilogy out Tuesday?

[noelleon69]

could somebody provide some pics of how the contents of the box looks like? the discs and the 'clear view kind of look' part.

 

[tomandshell]

So where do you have to buy the DVD in order to get a Sideshow gift card inside?

 

[The Josh]

So where do you have to buy the DVD in order to get a Sideshow gift card inside?

That's what I want to know.

 

[Mithrandier]

I would like to buy this one, but since I already have the EE and the single disk sets, would I be gaining anything? I would rather wait to see when Peter adds even more deleted scenes and a blooper reel. There has to be tons of bloopers.

Is this a must have for anyone who has bought it to date? If so, why?

 

[jigsaw.96]

Is this a must have for anyone who has bought it to date? If so, why?

For someone who is new to LOTR and doesn't have the EE dvd's then yes this set is a must have but for most of us here we have all of the versions to date. So you're paying $17 for the documentary. Only the most die hard of fans would really appreciate the documentaries in my opinion, same stuff we have on the EE sets.

 

[RoboDad]

I bought mine at Best Buy, and FOTR did have the $25 gift card inside. Thanks, Sideshow!

As far as the documentaries go, I haven't watched them all the way through yet, but they do look very good. And, FWIW, I also skimmed over the movie discs, and as far as the image quality goes, they are actually better than the original EE discs. This is, of course, due to the fact that all of the commentary tracks and the DTS track have been left off of this release, leaving a lot more room for higher video bit rates. I thought people on the fence would want to know that.

 

[Mithrandier]

Thanks for that bit RoboDad. Better quality is always worth it.

Thanks Magic Giraffe as well.

 

[The Josh]

Robo did you buy the FOTR by itself or the set? I'm tempted so I can get the GC. Also if the movies look a little better I might go ahead and grab it.

 

[wampachow]

Not to step on RoboDad's toes, and I admit I haven't seen the new discs yet, but I would be really surprised if the quality is better - especially for ROTK. Cramming 4 1/2 hours of video onto a DVD while retaining quality is not an easy task. Even with DTS and the other 6 audio tracks on the EE, I'm certain the films were encoded at a higher bitrate than the new versions. IGN has reviews of the discs; they are the only online reviews I've seen thus far. They are somewhat cookie cutter (i.e. the guy wrote the review of FOTR and then modified it for the other two), but it might be of interest.

https://dvd.ign.com/articles/726/726891p1.html
https://dvd.ign.com/articles/727/727063p1.html
https://dvd.ign.com/articles/727/727168p1.html

I would really like to see the docs, and if I can be guaranteed to find a Sideshow gift card, I will likely buy them. Can that gift card be applied to one of the large number of preorders I already made?

 

[RoboDad]

I bought all three DVDs (individually, not in the mini-box), and only FOTR came with a GC.

I know I'm a sucker for these movies, but I'm glad I bought them. The documentaries are good, the packaging is pretty well done, it is nice to have both versions on one disc, and getting the GC makes the price of the whole deal under $30 for me. That's pretty hard to beat.

 

[RoboDad]

Not to step on RoboDad's toes, and I admit I haven't seen the new discs yet, but I would be really surprised if the quality is better - especially for ROTK. Cramming 4 1/2 hours of video onto a DVD while retaining quality is not an easy task. Even with DTS and the other 6 audio tracks on the EE, I'm certain the films were encoded at a higher bitrate than the new versions. IGN has reviews of the discs; they are the only online reviews I've seen thus far. They are somewhat cookie cutter (i.e. the guy wrote the review of FOTR and then modified it for the other two), but it might be of interest.

https://dvd.ign.com/articles/726/726891p1.html
https://dvd.ign.com/articles/727/727063p1.html
https://dvd.ign.com/articles/727/727168p1.html

I would really like to see the docs, and if I can be guaranteed to find a Sideshow gift card, I will likely buy them. Can that gift card be applied to one of the large number of preorders I already made?

If you want to go with what IGN says, that's your choice. When it comes to "home theater" type of info though, sorry, but they just don't measure up as far as I'm concerned.

If you want a review from someone who knows what they are doing, check out this one:

https://www.hometheaterspot.com/htsthreads/dvd-review.php?sequence=1500

They actually took the time to measure the video bit rate of the new DVDs, and it is higher. So, unless video compression technology has taken a step backward in the past three years, then it stands to reason that these new DVDs will look at least as good as their older counterparts. And, from my personal experience, they do look better.

 

[Dusty]

I believe that New Line only put the Gift Cards in the FOTR individually wrapped discs - and not in every store. So it's a surprise that way I guess (for you AND for us )

 

[Gruson]

Quality is better for us home theater fans, higher bitrate.

Reviews over at AVS.

I am passing on them since I own the HD versions.

 

[wampachow]

Cool - I hadn't been able to find a reliable review yet. IGN was the only one I'd seen. So no DTS track but a higher bitrate... I'm getting closer to buying these.

 

[wampachow]

Quality is better for us home theater fans, higher bitrate.

Reviews over at AVS.

I am passing on them since I own the HD versions.

Care to elaborate about the HD versions? Did you get them off HBO or something?

 

[spider1135]

i still wanted to know how limited is this set will be??????

 

[wampachow]

i still wanted to know how limited is this set will be??????

I think it's limited in that they will only be available for a specific amount of time, not as in edition size. New Line's shop site says "Hurry, these won't be around forever!"

 

[LOTRFan]

Finished the documentary for FOTR last night, and here are some initial thoughts. It very much feels like a home movie, there is very little introduction, it just paces from one aspect of the crew to another. I don't mind this, it feels intimate in a way -- like you are in PJ's pocket, but if you are one that wants to only watch one department, you are going to be disappointed. Not only that, but there is precious little by way of titles or chapters, again, good for one setting; frustrating if you are used to the EEs.

 

[wampachow]

If you want to go with what IGN says, that's your choice. When it comes to "home theater" type of info though, sorry, but they just don't measure up as far as I'm concerned.

If you want a review from someone who knows what they are doing, check out this one:

https://www.hometheaterspot.com/htsthreads/dvd-review.php?sequence=1500

They actually took the time to measure the video bit rate of the new DVDs, and it is higher. So, unless video compression technology has taken a step backward in the past three years, then it stands to reason that these new DVDs will look at least as good as their older counterparts. And, from my personal experience, they do look better.

Robodad - Have you seen any reviews yet that have graphed out the bitrates? I'm curious to see what they're at - esp ROTK. I know DVDBeaver does this, but they usually just compare various international versions.

 

[The Josh]

I believe that New Line only put the Gift Cards in the FOTR individually wrapped discs - and not in every store. So it's a surprise that way I guess (for you AND for us )

Ok well at least I know what to look for. I wonder if there is any kind of a label on them then? Saying inside is a gift card or something like that.