Lord of the Rings on Blu-ray

Geekyfanboy · December 14, 2009, 07:39:15 AM

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy Hits Blu-ray April 6!
Source:Video Business
December 14, 2009

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=61612

Video Business reports that Warner Home Video will release "The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy" will hit Blu-ray on April 6.

The trade says that the nine-disc set will contains the original theatrical versions of the three Peter Jackson-directed Rings films along with more than seven hours of special features. The supplemental package will contain mostly special features that were on the various DVD versions of the movies, including featurettes that were originally on LordoftheRings.net. However, the Blu-ray versions will offer high-def trailers.

The set also will include digital copies of each film and have BD Live access.

The extended versions of the films will bow on Blu-ray at a later date.

Also getting its Blu-ray debut on April 6 is the 1978 animated adaptation of "The Lord of the Rings" directed by Ralph Bakshi.

Geekyfanboy · December 14, 2009, 07:39:53 AM

Why release just the original versions on Blu-ray..why not have them both in the set... I think I'll wait for the extended version later in the year.

Rico · December 14, 2009, 07:41:45 AM

Quote from: Geekyfanboy on December 14, 2009, 07:39:53 AM
Why release just the original versions on Blu-ray..why not have them both in the set... I think I'll wait for the extended version later in the year.

More Money!

Bryancd · December 14, 2009, 07:45:50 AM

Very excited to hear this but I too will wait for the extended versions before buying.

Geekyfanboy · December 14, 2009, 07:46:35 AM

Yeah.. but do they really expect people to buy this blu-ray version knowing that the extended version will be out on Blu-ray later that year...

Bryancd · December 14, 2009, 07:50:49 AM

Quote from: Geekyfanboy on December 14, 2009, 07:46:35 AM
Yeah.. but do they really expect people to buy this blu-ray version knowing that the extended version will be out on Blu-ray later that year...

Clearly they do. I suppose a more casual fan wouldn't care....I suppose.

X · December 14, 2009, 08:24:44 AM

Quote from: Geekyfanboy on December 14, 2009, 07:46:35 AM
Yeah.. but do they really expect people to buy this blu-ray version knowing that the extended version will be out on Blu-ray later that year...

They really aren't changing how they do things. When the first DVDs came out, it wasn't until months later that the extended came out. They also made it clear before the regular DVDs came out that the extended ones would be a few months behind them.

So, this really doesn't come as a surprise to me in any way. It's SOP now.

I also get why the do it. One movie is for people that just want to see the film, which is already very long. The second and more costly is for the fan who wants all they can from the films.

You cater first to the casual fan because there are more of them, then you do something for the larger fans. The larger fan can wait for the good stuff, buy the new Blueray, or continue to watch the old extended one upscaled until the good stuff comes out.

I don't know how they came up with the system, but it's been there for every release and clearly it's working for them on some level. I think it's because the two products target to different groups. Also, knowing that it will be out later extended, they aren't trying to trick you into buying the plain one and then suddenly show up with something better.

Rico · December 14, 2009, 08:32:26 AM

When I bought the first DVD's of LOTR I had not heard of "extended versions coming" and I think a lot of people don't hear about this a lot of the time. So it's quite understandable why people feel like they are being ripped off a little bit. It doesn't happen with every movie and sometimes the time between releases is quite long. I'd be fine buying one version to have a new version put out a few years later with some added stuff they found and put in. But releasing something twice in the same year (or a short period of time) seems like seems a bit greedy to me.

Bryancd · December 14, 2009, 08:37:02 AM

Quote from: Rico on December 14, 2009, 08:32:26 AM
When I bought the first DVD's of LOTR I had not heard of "extended versions coming" and I think a lot of people don't hear about this a lot of the time. So it's quite understandable why people feel like they are being ripped off a little bit. It doesn't happen with every movie and sometimes the time between releases is quite long. I'd be fine buying one version to have a new version put out a few years later with some added stuff they found and put in. But releasing something twice in the same year (or a short period of time) seems like seems a bit greedy to me.

x2 in regards to having no idea that an extended version was in the works when I first bought the initial DVD release of LOTR. But I don't ever look at a biz as being "greedy", they are just being a business, it's their nature to make as much momney as they can. As the consumer, i can make my own choices.

Geekyfanboy · December 14, 2009, 08:39:27 AM

X3.. what everyone else said.. no idea about the extended version before.. at least this time I mention them.

X · December 14, 2009, 08:54:19 AM

Everyone that I knew that was into the movie knew about the extended editions. The problem that we had was waiting for them instead of buying the basic versions.

I don't even remember when we found out, but I sort of recall Peter Jackson saying after the first one came out that some of the actors had to go back to shoot some scenes for the extended editions.

I guess it was more of who you knew and where you were for the extended edition knowledge. I'm sure that had I not known about the extended versions, I would have been told by my friends who wanted to scoop me on knowing.

If I'm not mistaken, the extended ones were timed to release a month or two before the new movie was to release and create a spike in attention for the franchise.

I think that because I knew ahead of time I wasn't bothered. I also think that from a business side, you would want to keep product A separate from product B because you had to spend more money on product B and the people involved in the extended versions would want to get paid correctly for their work. If you lump them together, I think that someone's check will be shorted.

Bryancd · December 14, 2009, 08:59:57 AM

It was news to me and was NOT announced in any official capacity at the time of the original release, that's for sure. So this situation is very different in so far as the announcement prior top their release.

X · December 14, 2009, 09:09:42 AM

Quote from: Bryancd on December 14, 2009, 08:59:57 AM
It was news to me and was NOT announced in any official capacity at the time of the original release, that's for sure. So this situation is very different in so far as the announcement prior top their release.

I found this article that was written at the time of the release of fellowship.

http://worldfilm.about.com/library/weekly/aafpr113002.htm

And this one was when the first dvd came out:

http://worldfilm.about.com/library/weekly/aafpr081002.htm

The information was out there. I guess some people missed it, but I knew I had heard it before the DVDs came out.

Bryancd · December 14, 2009, 09:17:46 AM

Well, now hold on. That's just said "anyone paying attention" but I don't see anything like an official release from New Line stating that they were going to release another version PRIOR to the DVD release like they are with this Blue-Ray.

Bryancd · December 14, 2009, 09:20:46 AM

Quote from: Just X on December 14, 2009, 09:09:42 AM
The information was out there. I guess some people missed it, but I knew I had heard it before the DVDs came out.

I would say MOST people missed it. Not one person I knew had any idea that was coming.