Lord Of The Rings Extended 4k Review
William Dupere
The box set reviewed here is the standard set that features the movies only. There is a collectors issue available which includes all the special features found in the Blu-ray box set should you have the pocket for it.
After our recent review of The Hobbit 4K Edition, it was only inevitable that we would return like a great presence from the east to give you our thoughts on the one true power in this saga, The Lord of the Rings 4K Extended Editions. This version released alongside The Hobbit 4K set at the end of November 2020 and was arguably and understandably the more anticipated of the two releases. In a similar fashion, the box set features both the theatrical and extended editions of each movie with the extended editions being spread across two discs each.
The first, and my personal favourite in the trilogy, introduces us to the lovable group of Hobbits whose lives are about to be turned upside down by the grim hand of fate. In the east, Sauron has returned and sends his forces out to locate The One Ring, the item he requires if he wished to regain his full strength and dominate middle earth. The new ring bearer, Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood) must now set out on a perilous journey an unlikely group of allies with one goal in mind, reach mount doom, the place where the ring was created and the only place it can be destroyed.
It is hard to believe that this movie is nearly twenty years old, not only was it shot amazingly well in the first place but the 35mm film has allowed for a crisp and clean 4K restoration that puts more modern movies to shame. It is probably to be expected but just to make things clear, HDR is much more subtle here than it was in The Hobbit and that is simply because it is not needed as much. The more balanced colours and practical shooting of the LOTR movies add so much more natural life to middle earth in my opinion, it feels like an almost real land straight out of the pages of some far off history compared to the more superimposed world we see in The Hobbit movies, I was worried Jackson might get carried away and oversaturate some of the lighting and landscapes which on one hand would have brought it visually in line with The Hobbit but it would have also ruined what is essentially a beautifully shot movie that many of us have enjoyed for two decades.
The Fellowship has broken, Frodo and Sam (Sean Astin) find an unlikely guide into Mordor while Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) leads the remaining companions to Rohan, home of the horse lords. Each group encounter new friends and enemies as both Frodo and Aragorn come to understand their respective fates while the shadow of Mordor grows ever darker.
The Two Towers is probably the heaviest viewing of the trilogy, not because it is a bad movie, quite the opposite, but a much larger group of characters and lands are introduced as well as the set up for two particularly visceral battles. The core battle taking place at Helms Deep as Aragorn and King Theoden (Bernard Hill) unite to face the forces of Isengard. The second takes place in Osgiliath as a captured Frodo and Sam try to appeal to the better nature of Faramir, Captain of Gondor (David Wenham) to let them continue on their quest instead of seizing and handing The One Ring to Gondor.
The battles sing richly with renewed detail and balanced lighting, strong black levels compliment the reflections on armour and weapons as fire and starlight highlight the details, this especially prominent during the Helms Deep battle which pretty much takes up the final third of the film. It was honestly like watching the battle for the first time again, so many little details stood out from the way the rain glistened as it fell to the details on the Rohan soldiers beards, and there are plenty of beards to go around in this movie.
Isengard has been defeated at the cost of many lives, Frodo and Sam now face the hardest challenge of their journey, enter Mordor and destroy the ring. Meanwhile, Gondor stands unprepared and poorly governed, as the Shadow of War reaches its gates, Aragorn and Gandalf must find a way to unite the peoples of middle earth for one final stand against the forces of darkness and give Frodo the chance he needs to end the terror of Sauron.
Naturally, the epic battles and encounters that take place in this final act all look better than ever with another special nod to the Rohan Charge for standing out impressively by balancing a wide shot comprised of fairly similar colour tones yet provides a great level of detail to each rider.
Middle-earth is brought to life in these Special Extended Editions of the Lord of the Rings motion picture trilogy. The new and extended scenes were carefully selected under the supervision of Academy Award-winning director Peter Jackson.
Peter Jackson didn't seem like the most natural pick when selecting a director for one of the most expensive and expansive film series ever created. The New Zealand born filmmaker's previous works had been more wild and imaginative cult offerings, like 'Braindead' (known in the States as 'Dead Alive') and 'The Frighteners,' not big budget special effects laden blockbusters. But fate smiled upon the tubby (at the time, at least) native, as he was given the reins to adapt the literary giant from famed author J. R. R. Tolkien, the three part sequel to 'The Hobbit' known as 'The Lord of the Rings.'
It's safe to say that the end result speaks for itself. Over one billion dollars in domestic ticket sales, and almost double that in foreign take. Opening weekend numbers that nearly doubled from the first film to the last. Best selling home video releases, and incredibly high rankings from fans in IMDb's Top 250. Academy Award wins on each outing, culminating in Best Picture and Best Director wins with the third installment. This fan's favorite literary giant became a fan favorite cinematic giant immediately, but will it be a gigantic Blu-ray system seller?
'The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring' - And so begins a journey. A journey that will cross the whole of Middle Earth, with every inhabitant affected by the crusade of the few, the proud, the Fellowship of the Ring. A journey that will take nearly ten hours time in human years, unless one pauses to take a burrito break. From the origins of the rings, to the splitting of a group of kindred spirits who set out to free the world, from humble beginnings to great expectations.
Nine Rings of Power were granted to the kings and rulers of the world. One more, dubbed the One Ring, crafted by Sauron in the volcanic Mount Doom of Mordor, to control them all. War led to the defeat of Sauron, though the greed, treachery, and lust for power of mankind prevented its destruction, and soon after, it was lost for over two thousand years.
Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood) didn't think himself much a hero, or much of anything for that matter, as his life consists solely in the safety of his home, the Shire, along with the other furry footed Hobbits. His uncle Bilbo (Ian Holm) has led a life quite the opposite of Frodo's, full of adventure, the defining moment coming with his acquisition of a mysterious, powerful ring. One birthday, upon the guidance of his old friend Gandalf the Grey (Ian McKellen), Bilbo bequeaths his possessions to his nephew, so he may live out his life creating a novel of his adventures. And while the ring has laid fairly dormant in the sixty years it resided in Bilbo's pocket, an evil stirring in Mordor has awoken the ring. Evil forces have set out to reacquire their master's long lost possession.
With the assistance of a few fellow mischievous Hobbits (Sam Gamgee (Sean Astin), Pippin Took (Billy Boyd) and Merry Brandybuck (Dominic Monaghan)), Frodo sets out to keep the ring safe, with little knowledge of the true powers that are in his control, and the great dangers he is about to encounter. With the forming of a Fellowship to help guide Frodo along his path to Mordor to destroy the ring where it was created, all races have put their fate and faith in their newfound Hobbit friend. The brash and mysterious Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), headstrong Legolas (Orlando Bloom), equally headstrong Gimli (John Rhys-Davies), and power hungry Boromir (Sean Bean) will have their wills tested, as the evil Saruman (Christopher Lee), a group of haunting Ringwraiths, and an infinitely powerful Orc army will stop at nothing to plunge the world into chaos once again.
'The Fellowship of the Ring' certainly was a unique and innovative fantasy film upon its release in late 2001, redefining a genre with its lengthy narrative, gorgeous scenery, and numerous themes and messages, all mixed in with sorcery, mischief, and old fashioned warfare. Looking back, with the other films finished, it stands apart as certainly the least polished of the trilogy, but to start out a story with this much bang was just what the series needed.
'Fellowship' does more than just set the entire series into motion, despite the fact that it doesn't have a true conclusion. This isn't some boring three hour trek interspersed with action set pieces, many characters are fleshed out in this chapter, and others in the ones to come. New characters will come into play, along with countless, diverse new settings. In that sense, 'The Lord of the Rings' isn't all that different than 'Star Wars,' save for the fact that each new habitat is on the same planet, rather than one per each varied area.
Frodo Baggins, despite being the obvious focal point of the story, isn't all that fleshed out, and he certainly isn't as prominent or in the middle of danger to the same degree he finds himself with each concurrent entry in the saga. He's still so innocent and naive here, a child, with the size and prominence to match. Besides Sauron, Saruman, and Gandalf, the only character to get real attention is Aragorn, the hidden/obscured/irrelevant king. Mortenson deserves all the praise lavished upon him (and funnily enough, he does get the most praise, more so than Wood), as he provides a career re-defining performance as the mysterious, courageous ranger.
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