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NEW LINE

SERIES INFO

Director:
Peter Jackson
Cast:
Elijah Wood, Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen
Writing Credits:
Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens

Synopsis:
A collection of the three Lord of the Rings and three Hobbit movies in 4K UHD.

MPAA:
Rated PG-13/R.

DISC DETAILS
Presentation:
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Audio:
English Dolby 2.0
Subtitles:
English
Spanish
French
Closed-captioned


See individual reviews for additional specs on the collection.


Price: $249.99
Release Date: 11/16/2021

Bonus:
• Both Theatrical and Extended Versions of All Six Movies
• Audio Commentaries for All 6 Movies
• “Home of Middle-Earth” Featurettes
• Trailers
• Easter Eggs
• 3 Cast Reunions
• Cannes Presentation Reel
• 64-Page Booklet
• 7 Art Cards
• Blu-ray Copies


PURCHASE @ AMAZON.COM

EQUIPMENT
-LG OLED65C6P 65-Inch 4K Ultra HD Smart OLED TV
-Marantz SR7010 9.2 Channel Full 4K Ultra HD AV Surround Receiver
-Sony UBP-X700 4K Ultra HD Dolby Vision Blu-ray Player
-Chane A2.4 Speakers
-SVS SB12-NSD 12" 400-watt Sealed Box Subwoofer


RELATED REVIEWS


Middle-Earth Ultimate Collector's Edition [4K UHD] (2001-2014)

Reviewed by Colin Jacobson (November 14, 2021)

MIDDLE-EARTH ULTIMATE COLLECTOR’S EDITION

THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING: “It took me a few viewings, but I finally figured out why so many people love The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. I don’t know if I’ll ever reach their level of fervor, but I’ve come to really enjoy the flick and think it works quite well.”

THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS: “Although The Two Towers doesn’t feel as engrossing as its predecessor, that’s almost inevitable given its spot as the middle chapter of a trilogy. It’s still an excellent movie that continues the tale well.”

THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING: “A terrific conclusion to a remarkable trilogy, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King provides a real winner. It moves quickly, keeps us involved and excited, and pays off with a satisfying and emotional finish.”

THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY: “As the opening chapter of a three-part saga, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey introduces us to its tale well. Though some scenes threaten to sag, they remain enjoyable and engaging, so the film keeps us with it across its long running time.”

THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG: “As the second chapter in a trilogy, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug does fairly well for itself. Though the tale can drag and feel padded at times, it still packs enough adventure and drama to make it an enjoyable experience.”

THE HOBBIT: THE BATTLE OF THE FIVE ARMIES: “Does The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies finish the trilogy in a satisfying fashion? Yes and no – while it comes with plenty of excitement, it lacks the emotional depth/impact that it needs.”


The Disc Grades: Picture A/ Audio A/ Bonus B

The Bonus Materials:

20 years ago, Peter Jackson brought JRR Tolkien’s epic Lord of the Rings series to the big screen via 2001’s Fellowship of the Ring. The first chapter in the trilogy, 2002’s Two Towers and 2003’s Return of the King followed.

Not content to stop there, Jackson returned to the Tolkien well in 2012 with An Unexpected Journey, the first of three movies that adapted The Hobbit. 2013’s Desolation of Smaug and 2014’s Battle of the Five Armies created another trilogy.

Both Hobbit and Rings series got their 4K UHD debuts in 2020, as both came out in separate three-film sets. This 2021 “Middle-Earth Ultimate Collector’s Edition” packages all six movies in one big box.

The “Middle-Earth Ultimate Collector’s Edition” packages the same 4K discs found in the 2020 sets. This makes sense, as it would seem odd for New Line to redo the films after only one year.

The 2020 4K releases offered no bonus materials, which this 31-disc set rectifies. The 2020 4K package also lacked Blu-ray copies, which changes here as well.

The 2021 Blu-rays bring remastered versions of the six movies, and all six films also come with audio commentaries absent from the 2020 4Ks. All of these reproduce commentaries from prior versions of the movies.

Note that while the discs include both theatrical and extended versions of the movies, the commentaries only come with the longer cuts of the flicks.

I won’t detail all of these commentaries here, as that’d feel redundant. Please click on the links involved to read my specific thoughts about the commentaries themselves:

FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING: Four commentaries (Director/Writers, Design Team, Production/Post-Production Team, and Cast).

TWO TOWERS: Four commentaries (Director/Writers, Design Team, Production/Post-Production Team, and Cast).

RETURN OF THE KING: Four commentaries (Director/Writers, Design Team, Production/Post-Production Team, and Cast).

AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY: One commentary (Director/Writers).

DESOLATION OF SMAUG: One commentary (Director/Writers).

BATTLE OF THE FIVE ARMIES: One commentary (Director/Writers).

Each of the three Hobbit movies offer New Zealand: The Home of Middle-Earth featurettes. I discuss these in full during the above-linked reviews.

Trailers appear for Battle as well as all three LOTR films.

The three LOTR movies also provide Easter Eggs on the Extended discs. Fellowship offers a three-minute, 30-second MTV Music Awards parody with Jack Black, while Two Towers gives us a two-minute, 54-second MTV Award acceptance speech from Andy Serkis and Gollum.

Finally, King boasts a nine-minute prank interview of Elijah Wood conducted by Dominic Monaghan. All three are fun additions.

On a separate “Special Features” disc, we get materials not part of prior releases. Created in 2021, we find three Cast Reunions. Hosted by Stephen Colbert, we find these virtual panels:

Actors Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Billy Boyd and Dominic Monaghan (39:39);

Actors Cate Blanchett, Viggo Mortensen, Orlando Bloom and Liv Tyler (32:25).

Writer/director Peter Jackson and actors Ian McKellen and Andy Serkis (29:50).

Across these, the actors discuss their initial reactions to their early LOTR experiences as well as aspects of the shoot and general thoughts about the movies and their work.

As a Tolkien super-fan, Colbert brings a contagious enthusiasm to these discussions, and he helps bring out a fun sensibility. I can’t claim we find real revelations in these reels, but it’s a delight to see so many of the LOTR principals back together after all these years, and we get enough insights to make them informative.

From 2001, a Cannes Presentation Reel goes for 26 minutes, 55 seconds. After a quick intro from Jackson and McKellen (in character as Gandalf), we see scenes from the still-a-work-in-progress Fellowship - and some quick slivers of the other two films as well.

As an archival piece, this may come with some value for fans. Outside of the brief intro, though, it feels pretty useless.

A few non-disc-based materials come with the package as well. A 64-page booklet mixes production notes, photos and costume sketches. The booklet adds value.

Seven Travel Poster Art Cards appear. These come for one location per movie as well as Middle-Earth as a whole. They act as “tourism pitches” for these places and seem like a clever addition.

Should one expect this “Middle-Earth Ultimate Collector’s Edition” to live up to its title? No – though it brings us decent “one-stop shopping” for the 6 Peter Jackson Tolkien films, it lacks a huge array of pre-existing bonus features. Picture and audio seem excellent and the supplements we find offer appeal. It simply remains a shame that the set fails to make this a true “ultimate edition”.

Viewer Film Ratings: 4 Stars Number of Votes: 1
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Review Archive:  # | A-C | D-F | G-I | J-L | M-O | P-R | S-U | V-Z | Viewer Ratings | Main