Behind the first Star Wars trilogy, Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings, an adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's classic fantasy novels, has been the most eagerly anticipated series to debut on Blu-ray. That will be remedied on April 6th; however, fans of the films will likely be torn in reaction to this set. It presents the theatrical versions, as opposed to the Extended Editions, which are likely to be released when Guillermo del Toro's The Hobbit hits theaters. The Blu-ray quality isn't as good as the format allows. Also, a letdown are the extras, meager compared to previous LOTR releases, are placed on regular DVDs.
The Fellowship of the Ring opens with the story of the Dark Lord Sauron and the One Ring created to rule over the people of Middle-earth and his defeat on the battlefield. About three thousand years later, the hobbit Bilbo Baggins (Ian Holm) found the Ring during his adventure detailed in The Hobbit. Sixty years after that at his eleventy-first birthday, he left the Shire and the Ring behind. The wizard Gandalf the Grey (Sir Ian McKellen) learned Bilbo had the Ring and of Sauron's return. Gandalf enlisted Bilbo's nephew Frodo (Elijah Wood) to get the Ring out of the Shire. Gandalf tells the wizard Saruman (Christopher Lee) what he has learned, but Saruman has already joined the Dark Lord's cause and is creating an army of creatures.
Joined by fellow Hobbits Samwise Gamgee (Sean Astin), Merry (Dominic Monaghan), and Pippin (Billy Boyd), the foursome head to Bree, chased by Sauron's Ringwraiths, former wearers of the Rings of Power now caught between the living and the dead. When Gandalf doesn't make their rendezvous, the hobbits head to the Elven land of Rivendell with the assistance of a ranger named Strider (Viggo Mortensen), who is also Aragorn, the heir to the throne of Gondor.
It is determined that the only way to defeat Sauron is to destroy the Ring, which can only be done by the fires of Mount Doom where Sauron created it in Mordor. Frodo volunteers for the mission, joined by the hobbits, Gandalf, Aragorn, the man Boromir (Sean Bean), the dwarf Gimli (John Rhys-Davies), the elf Legolas (Orlando Bloom). However, the task is not easy due to Saruman's wizardry and the seemingly endless number of orcs in pursuit.
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Article comments
1 - Christine
Well, it's about time you got this done, EL!
2 - El Bicho
You're a riot. Glad you were able to find it without a promo
3 - Josh Hathaway
I was always going to hold out for the extended editions but am surprised and disappointed to learn the picture quality leaves something to be desired. I never dreamed that would be an issue here. I'll be waiting before I plunk down the cayshe.
4 - El Bicho
I have no doubt if they had released these individually with time between release dates and all people saw was the quality of the Fellowship, the Internet might implode with fanboy outrage. Will be interesting to see what happens on Tuesday when the masses get their hands on them. Thanks for the comment.
5 - Christine
lol, El, I got the inside scoop about this review.
6 - El Bicho
oh yeah? through some type of secret project? dun-dun-dun!!!
7 - Josh Hathaway
I'm sure the fanboys will begin tearing their clothes and howling with outrage when they get their hands on this set.
8 - Josh Hathaway
Actually, the fact that many of them are waiting for the extended might keep this from getting too bloody.
9 - El Bicho
there's some kooky ones who bought the regular DVDs, sold them to pay for Extended, are now selling those for the new Blu-rays, and will in turn likely sell those when Extended comes out for either 10th anniversary or del Toro's "The Hobbit".
If I hadn't gotten a review opportunity, I was completely happy with my Extended DVDs and wouldn't have upgraded