Lord of the Rings on blu-ray! These are words fans have been waiting for pretty much since blu-ray hit the market. The trilogy seems tailor made for high-def viewing on large screens at home. I'm not going to get into the movies themselves too much due their extreme popularity but I will say that while I think they are amazing movies, I don't worship them either. The focus here will be on the blu-ray's and whether or not you should upgrade from the DVD's.
The first thing to note is that these are the theatrical versions of the films and not the extended versions. At some point the extended editions will be released on blu (probably when The Hobbit hits theaters in 2011) so if you pick this set up you will eventually have a choice of whether or not to "double dip."
There's more bad news as well and it comes in the form of the picture quality on Fellowship of the Ring. The easiest way to describe it is SOFT. There's a severe lack of detail present throughout the movie. Faces look scrubbed and waxy, and the costumes don't reveal any intricities that the best high def transfers do. Black levels are not very deep either and appear more as dark gray's throughout. The transfer is not a total loss however as colorization is fine and some of the wide shots look exceptional. It's been reported that a lot of the problems are the fault of the way the picture was shot and post processed, not necessarily with the transfer itself but the bottom line is that, for a high profile release such as this, the picture quality on Fellowship just isn't great.
Things get better in the other two movies. Both The Two Towers and especially Return of the King while not being 5 star video transfers are still excellent. Blacks are much deeper and the costume detail lacking in Fellowship is generally exceptional. Close ups of faces still can look like shots out of a wax museum from time to time but are also much improved over Fellowship.
There is absolutely nothing to complain about in regards to the audio. The DTS-HD 6.1 mix is completely amazing for all three films. Low end shook my floors when it was called upon (which is quite often). Surround use is constant, not just in action scenes but also in supplying ambiance in quieter moments. Directionality is perfect and nothing seemed out of place. Dialogue is never overshadowed either with every word, whether yelled or whispered, being completely understandable. This is a reference grade track that really puts the viewer into the middle of the action.
I don't usually go into a releases extra features but it is worth noting that there's not much in the way of new stuff here. Apart from some new trailers for various things, almost everything is copied over from the original DVD releases What's worse is that apart from those new trailers it's all presented in standard definition..
All in all the blu-ray's do offer a considerable upgrade in picture quality from the DVDs, even though Fellowship is very flawed. Also the audio tracks for all three are simply stunning. A total lack of new extras is also very disappointing. Personally I will not be picking this up (I rented these from Netflix) due to the flaws I mentioned as well as not wanting to double dip but I'm sure a lot of people will not be able to wait.
Ratings:
Movies 4.5/5
Blu-ray picture: 3.5/5
Blu-ray audio: 5/5
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