I missed a chance to watch the LOTR films overnight in one sitting at a small cinema in Southhampton a couple of years ago, and was wondering if anyone knew of anywhere in the Hampshire area that might be planning to show the films again at the Cinema before the Hobbit part one comes out in December? Cheers..A very excited fan :)
Rich!
I live at the other end of the country so, sadly, I don't have any details for you. I also think, to be honest, it's a little early for cinemas to be scheduling their December rota!
I wouldn't be surprised if some chose to do it, though, and might not even be surprised if New Line / WB decided on an official, limited re-release, too so you might be lucky :-)
I did it here in the states a few years ago when ROTK came out and it was amazing they played the EE versions of FOTR and TTT and then premiered ROTK in the theatrical version I was there all day they had 45 minute intermissions in between each film it was great free popcorn and a large soda which they refilled free it was cool plus I got a film slide in a collectors edition statuette Was a great time really
Nice! I never did get to do it in a cinema (watch the trilogy, I mean) but I did have a marathon session (of the trilogy I mean) with about 8 or 10 friends round my house once. Fellowship, sandwiches, Two Towers, fish n chips, Return of the King, go home.
Good times!
Hi Guys, thanks for the response (I was wondering if I would end up being one of those one post only posts Ha!)
I too have done the Extended Versions with friends on a large screen TV in 'one' sitting (comfort and food breaks between disc changeovers) but I have always regretted not making it to watch all three films in a cinema when realistically I had the chance to!
I suppose it is either a case of doing the same thing again, or keeping my eyes peeled for any signs of the LOTR trilogy being shown anywhere before December. Either that or winning the Lottery and hiring the local cinema showing it myself of course!!
If you win the lottery & do this, don't forget us on here. An invite to your private showing would be excellent!!!
Sadly my wife has never been into the films, but I've managed to get her slightly interested when I've been watching one of them. She's kind of seen them in reverse order though, with half an hour on one film, then a few months later 60 minutes of another. I'm surprised by the relatively few questions from her on what's going on, so there's hope yet in getting her to The Hobbit in 11 months time...
Wow Ken you HAVE to see the Hobbit in the cinema, there is just no comparison no matter how big your telly is, it just doesnt have the same blow your socks off feeling. If you ever get the chance to see the LOTR in the cinema try to see it. Take sandwiches.
Sorry, Julia! I meant I never got the chance to see the whole trilogy in one marathon session. I saw the individual films (five times each!) during their individual runs 2001 to 2003.
You're right about it being impossible to replicate at home, though, especially where The Hobbit is concerned. What with the higher resolution, faster frame-rate and three dimensions it's going to be a revelation cinematically.
phew I am glad I was mistaken, yes me too I used to go to my local cinema on days when there were as little people as possible, so no silly billy crunching popcorn would drive me nuts, the biggest thing that really sticks out to me as being vastly different when I see it on dvd is the sound effect of the moment the tower of Minas Morgul sends the green blast of light up to the sky, in the cinema its very impressive and kind of reverberates and I remember getting goosbumps and going wow under my breath, but on dvd its just blah.
Thats one of my favourite sound effects Julia- its a sort of null sound almost. And particularly excellent in the cinema.
Yep, it's great, but (not to sound like an arse) on blu-ray with an HD surround-sound receiver, it's way more than "just blah", I'm glad to say! I actually upgraded my home cinema sound system for the release of EE LotR on blu-ray and am very happy I did.
Shame FotR was plastered in that horrible green tint, though...
oh I am glad its possible to hear it on the telly, is your surround system put at ear level? I heard thats the best way to get the cinema Dolby surround effect, but I am not an expert on such stuff.
Your front three speakers (center for most of the voice, left & right) should be at approximately ear-level but the rear surrounds (left & right) should be a little higher to allow the sound to "flow over you" rather than conflict with the front set.
Having a surround-sound set-up really does make a phenomenal difference to the experience, even on standard-definition DVD with standard sound. On high-definition blu-ray, though, the increased disc capacity means that (as well as the incredible picture quality) the soundtrack is uncompressed, too; in other words it's (near enough) the actual cinema soundtrack in your room!!
Thank God I live in a detatched house in the middle of nowhere, then...
Would you recommend Blu ray? I have had doubts about it since I heard some people say there is a blue tinge on LOTR, seeing as how there is a lot of blue light used anyway like for example Lothlorien, I thought it might be a bit jarring. I am very nitpicky over colour palettes, so i was wondering if the quality outways the blue cast?
I really like the Blueray copy Julia. it definitely shows off every detail not sure about a blue tinge I never noticed one... and they never said anything about being colorblind at my last eye exam LOL. But I highly recommend them everything is much crisper and the sound quality is definitely an improvement
Ayup All...
Did it last week. Boy, was I knackered at the end of it. Even more so after the Appendices...
Julia!
I'm really sorry, but I've no idea of your level of understanding of this topic so please excuse me if I'm telling you stuff you already know!:-)
Would I recommend blu-ray in general? It depends entirely on your TV and your preferences. If your current TV is high-definition (HD-ready or Full HD) then yes; you're not seeing its full potential if you're only inputting standard-definition signals into it (ie from a normal TV aeriel and normal DVDs). If it's not, though, you'll need a new high-definition TV to get the benefit of blu-ray (and an HD lead to connect the player to the TV) so the cost may outweigh the benefit (of improved picture and colour) if you're not really that big a geek when it comes to Audio-Visual stuff!
Would I recommend the blu-ray of EE LotR? It's a mixed bag. Two Towers and Return of the King look sensational (and sound it, too, through a surround-sound system) but Fellowship of the Ring is a travesty in places. Yes, a travesty.
Whilst detail levels are exceptional, Jackson and Lesnie re-did the colour-grading for it, too, as it was never done to their satisfaction back in 2001 and lots of what they did is lovely. The opening Last Alliance battle looks much, much better now and the somewhat over-done "bloom" on the Rivendell scenes has been calmed down a lot and the whole sequence given a more muted, realistic tone.
BUT, other decisions are utterly, utterly bizarre and lead to either ugly colours or even inconsistencies with the later films. For example, in line with the latest fashions, a heavy blue-tint has been added to the "cold" Caradhras scenes and a teal tint to the "homely" Shire. A strong blue light has also been added to the interior of Orthanc which now contrasts with the same (flashback) scenes in Two Towers. Midgewater Marshes are now tainted with an unsightly, acidic tint (which actually makes the Hobbits' eyeballs blue!) etc etc. On top of these regrettable decisions, there's also a blanket green tint across the entire film resulting in some further inconsistencies and a much darker picture (eg Merry's waistcoat is now orange during Boromir's demise but still yellow in the flashback to the same shot in RotK). The crime of crimes? FotR now therefore has now visual continuity with the subsequent films; in fact, it makes them looked washed out and part of a different production.
If you sit and watch it from the start (in the dark with the brightness turned up on your TV), your eyes eventually adjust and the changes described above aren't quite so grating as they may seem. But once you've noticed them, they leap off the screen every time and render viewing FotR a tarnished joy.
Here's a helpful YouTube clip to illustrate what I mean (though it's by no means the worst example in the film). The newly tinted EE blu-ray is on the left, the old Theatrical blu-ray on the right:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vwcm-73kZE8
Here's a link to one of many, many, many pages around the internet where fans have been doing their best to understand (and remove!) the tint:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=20663179
The next time I watch the movies, I'm tempted to use the blu-rays of TT and RotK but resort to my old DVD of FotR...
PS I was so outraged by this that I started a thread on Jackson's official Facebook page and the LotR one, too. After hundreds of posts from similarly disgruntled fans, Facebook closed the Discussion facility on its website (as you well know!) and nothing ever came of it. Jackson, scandalously, has never once even acknowledged the controversy.
Sorry. Just to make it perfectly clear: the controversial colouring and increased contrast applies only to the Extended Edition blu-ray of FotR (released around June last year). The Theatrical Edition blu-ray doesn't have the tint.
But, then, the Theatrical Edition's picture quality is terrible (which was part of the reason Jackson and Lesnie re-did FotR from its original 2K master for its extended release) so we're on to a loser either way...
Take your pick: poor detail but natural colours or pin-sharp detail and a heavy tint.
For what it's worth, the color-grading issues were not an issue for me. I saw all the side-by-side clips and screenshots well before getting the Blu-ray EE but I was barely able to notice the difference, and mainly because I was looking for it. As Kendalf says, your eyes adjust to the various tints and it hardly jumps out at you. The side-by-side videos are nothing like the actual film, IMO. Also, FOTR looks absolutely gorgeous in terms of detail and visual richness, even moreso than the already excellent DVD EE release. I'd very much recommend all three EE films. They're fantastic.
Eldo's right to point out that many of the side-by-side comparisons online are misleadingly stark (deliberately so in order to fan the controversy?) but many of them are not and there is simply no denying that on Caradhras, in Orthanc and in the Midgewater Marshes (among others) there's been some very questionable tinting added.
If you really _are_ fussy about colour palettes, Julia, then maybe renting it first would be a good idea...
You can buy Towers and King without a moment's further thought, though! As Eldo said "They're fantastic".
wow thanks ken you gave me a very detailed expaination, I didnt know about the technical stuff but i understand exactly what you mean about the colour palettes on the original FOTR, I loved Rivendell but it was far too orangey and as you said over done, when i look at it now it kind of looks like a fluorescent sunset, and i am glad in bluray it is toned down, yes I am super nit picky over colour as I colour match retouching paintings for a living, so although I am not a techno geek, I know when colour is off. I dont think i will bother with bluray for FOTR, it sounds aweful, the blue light used for Lothlorien and Orthanc is beautiful if not over done, and although the Dead Marshes could have been less sunny and more misty and mysterious I dont want to see blue eyeballs either. thanks for all the info Ken, its a great help.
You're very welcome :-)
Ayup Ken...
Just looked at the first Linky, and I prefer the Theatrical version. the tinted side is just TOO Dark for me.
Yep. But, to be honest, the darkness of the image is the least of your worries. The ugly, unnatural tints are the greater crime.
Jeez. I thought I'd gotten over this but explaining it all again to Julia has got my blood boiling once more!! It's an absolute travesty that such an iconic trilogy has been marred in this way.
Some suspect he's done it to more closely match the look of The Hobbit and, from the trailer, they may have a point. But then why not do it to the entire trilogy?? Madness. Absolute madness.
hehe I do have a tendency to get peoples blood boiling, its good for the circulation. Beats going for a jog in the rain anyway.
Sure gets my blood boiling.
Buisness as usual then?
Nice... all info on The Hobbit movie can be found here: http://www.squidoo.com/an-unexpected-journey
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