Movies - Lord of the Rings...(part 4: in the media)

If you want to read my previous reviews,
Part 1  is my introduction to the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings books and movies
Part 2 reviews LOTR books and finally, part 3 reviews the movie trilogy itself, which brings me to...




LOTR... in the medias

I usually try to give you details about the different dvd/bd editions, but in regards to LOTR this is almost an impossible mission. Indeed, there are too many editions!

For individual movies, and in France alone, I counted 2 BD editions and… 7 simple or double dvd editions, and 2 more limited dvd editions with collector statuettes…

For the trilogy, again in France alone,  I counted 6 BD and 7 DVD editions… If I had to compare each one of them and then UK’s, I’d never finish…

Hence, I shall review my own two boxsets, and compare them to their direct equivalent editions in France.
The UK Motion picture trilogy EAN 5017239151415 corresponds to the theatrical cuts for each movie, in FULL 1080p HD on a region B bluray disc, with an anamorphic 16/9 image format, 2.40:1, only in original English (and Tolkien languages) in 6.1 DTS HD-MA sound, with optional English subtitles.

The French editions EAN 3512391195090 & 3512391144555 are also a in FULL 1080p HD on a region B bluray disc, with an anamorphic 16/9 but the image format is 2.35:1 instead of 2.40:1 (I don’t think it’d matter much, would it?)


Sound is downgraded to DTS-HD MA …5.1 both for French dub and original English (+Tolkien languages) and subtitles are both French and English.

I remind you the durations of the movies are 178+179+200 minutes, and that each BD also offers trailers for the movies as well as for ‘’Aragorn’s quest game’’.

The special features seem to be the same in all countries, but each country has its own subtitles in the appropriate language.

Disc 2 for each movie is a zone 2 DVD for special features in standard definition, in Dolby Digital sound. The total duration for

There are 7 hours and 4 minutes of bonus material, as well as ''untimed'' features.
Here's the breakdown, per film.

Fellowship of the ring (total 2:29:45)
3 trailers and 6 tv spots  (total 10:08) – nothing you cannot find on youtube… 
Bonus dvd: Welcome to Middle-earth (16:42); Quest for the Ring (21:26); A Passage to Middle-earth (41:36)
 15 short featurettes (total 39:31) as follows Finding Hobbiton (2:11) ; Hobbiton Comes Alive (2:32) ; Believing the World of Bree (2:51) ; Ringwraiths: The Fallen Kings (4:34) ; Rivendell: The Elven Refuge (3:52) Languages of Middle-earth (3:07) ; Two Wizards (1:53) ; Music of Middle-earth (4:04) ; Elijah Wood (1:42) ; Viggo Mortensen (1:42) ; Orlando Bloom (2:15) ; Cate Blanchett (1:46) ; Liv Tyler (1:36) ;Ian McKellen (1:42) Weathertop: The Windy Hill (3:00)
Exclusive Behind-the-Scenes Preview of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (10:41)

Enya “May It Be” Music Video (3:37)
Preview of Electronic Arts’ Video Game The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (3:00)
An Inside Look at the Special Extended DVD Edition of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (3:04)
DVD-ROM part includes Screensavers, Wallpapers, ecards and links

The Two Towers :(total 2:19:01)

On the Set – The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (14:00) ;  Return to Middle-earth (42:53)  - this documentary was broadcast just before the two towers was released and includes a preview to the movie’s scene #26, so you can compare it with sound effects and no music (which wasn’t added yet).

The Long and Short of It – a short film directed by Sean Astin (7:04) and its making off (8:06)

Only 8 featurettes (totalizing here 34:03) as follows : Forces of Darkness (4:33) ; Designing the Sounds of Middle-earth (4:00) ; Edoras: The Rohan Capital (4:42) ; Creatures of Middle-earth (4:35) ; Gandalf the White (2:49) Arms and Armor (4:41) ; The Battle of Helm’s Deep (4:04) ; Bringing Gollum to Life (4:12)

Exclusive Behind-the-Scenes Preview of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (12:33)

A theatrical trailer (3:06), a teaser (2:01) and 16 tv spots, about 30 seconds each (total 8:11),

“Gollum’s Song” Music Video by Emilliana Torrini (4:00)

Preview of Electronic Arts’ Video Game The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (3:01)
An Inside Look at the Special Extended DVD Edition of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (5:14)

The DVD-ROM part includes a free download for Gollum’s song sheet music, cast and crew Palantir – to view filmography informations (better just use imdb which is updated!) ;

Character Palantir/ Relator feature gives you the possibility to print portraits or play a movie clip or two, and relational notes… I’ll have to explore this feature, but I don’t plan on printing images for everyone as that’d deplete my ink.

Return of the Kings: (total 2:15:24)
The Quest Fulfilled: A Director’s Vision (22:59) ;  A Filmmaker’s Journey: Making The Return of the King (28:29) ;  National Geographic Special – The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (45:55)
The last 6 featurettes of the trilogy (total 21:15) as follows:  Aragorn’s Destiny (3:26) ; Minas Tirith: Capital of Gondor (3:12)  ; The Battle of Pelennor Fields (2:16) ; Samwise the Brave (4:33)  ; Éowyn: White Lady of Rohan (3:45) ; Digital Horse Doubles (4:37)
2 trailers (3:58), 14 tv spot, also about 30 seconds each (total 7:06)
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy Supertrailer (6:38)
A Special Look at Electronic Arts’ The Lord of the Rings Series of Video Games (3:02)
This last DVE-ROM has the most features:
“Uncovering Middle-earth: Exploring the relics of its Ages.”
Constructing Middle-earth –construction drawings of many of Middle-earth structures
Saruman’s book & The Murals of Rivendell show illustrations, and Alan Lee’s notes about them.
Character Palantir ; Cast & Crew Palantir, just like in The Two towers features

Details about the extended edition, here bellow.... 








The extended edition is comprises of 6BD and 9DVD discs.

I have this gorgeous UK one (EAN 5017239151934)

As compared to the darker French one  (EAN 3512391564278) :

 

In either edition, each movie is spread over 2 BDs, and its bonus features on 3 dvd
The movies are presented in full 1080p HD, with a 2.40:1 aspect radio in the UK edition and 2.35:1 on the French edition.

They both offer the original English+Tolkien languages in DTS HD-MA 6.1 ; the French edition adds French in both 5.1 & 6.1 DTS-HD MA (an improvement over the theatrical boxset which had only 5.1)

Subtitles : on UK edition, only SDH English subtitles available from the menu.
There is also an option to display them only during non-English dialogues, but this doesn’t seem to be indicated in the language selection menu ;you can activate these subtitles during the movie, so I suggest pausing before the first image, and selecting subtitle #2.
Subtitles #3 to 6 aren't actually subtitles. They are only there to indicates changes in speakers during the 4 audio commentary tracks (which are audio tracks 2-5).


(The French edition has French and English subtitles. I have no idea if the previous option is also present here.)  

Durations of the extened movies are 208+223+251 minutes (not counting the extra end credits for the fans), confirmed on both editions.

Each movie comes with four, stereo, audio commentary tracks organized in categories: Director and Writers, the Cast, the Production Team, and the Design team. These are all on the bluray discs, so you get to watch the movies… another 4 times!!


The bonus features are the same in either edition ; I assume the French edition adds French subtitles for them.
They are very informative and interesting, and totalize a whooping 26 hours for the trilogy, spread over 9 dvds, and include many documentaries, called appendices, divided in parts, and the 4 & half behind the scences documentaries by Costa Botes.


The Fellowship of the ring
Part 1 From Book to Vision: Peter Jackson Introduction ; J.R.R. Tolkien: Creator of Middle-earth ; From Book to Script ; Visualizing the Story ; Designing and Building Middle-earth ; Middle-earth Atlas Interactive ; New Zealand and Middle-earth Interactive

Part 2 From Vision to Reality (DVD) : Elijah Wood Introduction ; Filming The Fellowship of the Ring ; Visual Effects ; Post Production: Putting It All Together ; Digital Grading ; Sound and Music ; The Road Goes Ever On…

The two towers :
Part 3: The Journey Continues: Peter Jackson Introduction  ; JRR Tolkien: Origin of Middle-earth  ; From Book to Script: Finding the Story ;  Designing and Building Middle-earth ; Gollum ; Middle-earth Atlas Interactive ; New Zealand as Middle-earth

Part 4: The Battle for Middle-earth : Elijah Wood Introduction ; Filming The Two Towers ; Visual Effects ; Editorial: Refining the Story ; Music and Sound ; The Battle for Helm's Deep is Over…

Return of the King

Part 5: The War of the Ring :  Peter Jackson Introduction ; JRR Tolkien: The Legacy of Middle-earth ; From Book to Script ; Designing and Building Middle-earth ; Home of the Horse Lords ; Middle-earth Atlas ; New Zealand as Middle-earth

Part 6: The Passing of an Age : Introduction ; Filming The Return of the King ; Visual Effects ;Post-Production: Journey´s End ; The Passing of an Age ; Cameron Duncan: The Inspiration for Into the West

a bonus dvd, with an hour & half Behind-the-scenes documentary created by filmmaker Costa Botes accompanies each movie.