Quoting kdh1949:

Quote:
widescreenforever's quest for the ultimate Aloha from Hawaii propts me to ask a similar question about the Lord of the Rings trilogy.  I have not watched a single scene from any of the three films (and having trouble maintaining interest in the novels.  Maybe I'm too old.)

Now I'm ready to acquire the LOTR for my video library, but there are so many versions out there.  Which version(s) do you guys/gals recommend?  TIA

Say.. How come you get thirteen replies and I got none??

Does that mean I have everyone stumped?     

Looks to me though that the BMG version (828766092592) with two discs released 2004 seems to be the ultimate version,, But still don't know about picture and sound ratings over previous..

Without doubt, the extended versions.

True to the bookl? Not bad.

Bits missing? yes

Wooden acting? At times

Flawed?  maybe

BUT, as a 10 hour cinematic event on a 50" plasma and surround sound (plus case of your favourite tipple) in your living room?  UNSURPASSED!

The Misses Mole have watched it end-to-end several times.....Madame Mole & I go to the pub!

And so the only question is........

Is it better than Star Wars????

DISCUSS

Quoting Mole:

Quote:
Without doubt, the extended versions.

True to the bookl? Not bad.

Bits missing? yes

Wooden acting? At times

Flawed?  maybe

BUT, as a 10 hour cinematic event on a 50" plasma and surround sound (plus case of your favourite tipple) in your living room?  UNSURPASSED!

The Misses Mole have watched it end-to-end several times.....Madame Mole & I go to the pub!

And so the only question is........

Is it better than Star Wars????

DISCUSS

As much as I love Star Wars (I stood in line for eight hours to see the first show on the first day when the original Star Wars came out, and then got back in line to see it a second time!), it is a pale shadow next to the complex culture, characterization, and allegorical story of LOTR.

Quoting Ken Cole:

Quote:
The HD versions ofc.  Oh, wait...

Being worked on as we type.

As for the movies: both versions.  The EE's have some wonky scenes here and there, in particular the famous "ruined" Shire opening in Fellowship among some other things...

It's funny, on the commentary, PJ's wife more or less says (about another poor addition) -- "What is that doing in the film?  It doesn't really work."

I have both versions and prefer by far the extended. They add to the story by explaining the actions of some, especially where the story deviates slightly from the written story.

I have to confess that I only started readin LOTR after a friend told me thay were being made into movies and while I found it initially hard going, I loved the books and would recommend them anytime. In fact I was still in the process of reading the 1st one, for the first time, when the movie was released and loved being able to see where changes came in. I found that the movies held true to the spirit of the story whilst making slight changes for cinematic splendour etc.

Enjoy when you do finally decide on which to get - you cannot go wrong by buying either as the mvies are so visually great, but I would still recommend the extended for sheer pleasure and splendour!

Another that says 'extended' ... not just because they add to the story (which they do) but because those are the 'originals' which were cut down for the theatrical release rather than the theatricals were 'added to' so the continuity is much better in the extended ones.

BTW, for those in the UK I believe they tried some pitch correction (only on the first one?) to sort out the slightly higher sound pitch you get playing 24 fps film at 25 fps for PAL but they did a very poor job so it may be worth considering the NTSC R1s if you are more sensitive to sound 'problems' than 3/2 pulldown.
FWIW I personally couldn't tell there was a problem but then I don't notice the pitch change in PAL speedup either!

Quoting Voltaire53:

Quote:
Another that says 'extended' ... not just because they add to the story (which they do) but because those are the 'originals' which were cut down for the theatrical release rather than the theatricals were 'added to' so the continuity is much better in the extended ones.

Being an extended guy myself what Voltaire wrote is not entirely true.

There were a lot of EE scenes that have been shot after the theatrical premiere. And the theatrical cut is not a "cut down" of the EE but there are several scenes that were shot twice.

Quoting DJ Doena:

Quote:
Being an extended guy myself what Voltaire wrote is not entirely true.

There were a lot of EE scenes that have been shot after the theatrical premiere. And the theatrical cut is not a "cut down" of the EE but there are several scenes that were shot twice.

Thanks for the additional info; AIUI the gist is right though (the director said he always intended that the Extendeds were definitive and had all the scenes for them planned) and the theatricals do have some continuity gaffes sorted in the Extendeds.