Lord of the Rings Complete Trilogy DVD Collection with Bonus Glossy Artcard (The Fellowship / Two Towers / Return of the King)

I'm a bit perplexed by the short-sighted and self-centered campaign currently underway on Amazon, led by a surprisingly large group of vocal and unreasonable fans. It's a rampant mob mentality on display by people who claim to love these movies.The fact is that each version of each film stands brilliantly on its own. There's no reason NOT to release the theatrical versions of the Lord of the Rings films, as each is a brilliant bit of film-making that successfully brought to the big screen a beloved book, whose fans had all but decided would never be rendered on celluloid.This product is IT. The original. The complete package of the film trilogy that had fans laughing, crying, cheering and applauding after they'd lined up for hours to be the first into the theaters at midnight on opening day. The much-beloved characters are all here in their most memorable moments. The story stays true. It's a perfect package, ready to arrive in the homes of those adoring misfit fans who have, until now, had to settle for the lowly (heh...) quality of the DVD releases.So why the hate? Why the anger? Because Newline has decided to "double-dip?" I say let them. Let them, especially if the resulting profits results in more such movies being made. I'll gladly support these films in any incarnation by dropping my debit card on the counter twice over. And if, for whatever mad reason, Jackson and Co. choose to release some inflated über-extended release in the future, then down goes the debit card a third time, by God.If these aren't the versions for you, then they aren't. No amount of hyperbolic praise, no amount of considered logic, and no amount of well-intentioned waterboarding is likely to change your mind on the matter. So if these AREN'T the films you're looking for, then by all means wait until the release of the Extended Editions on Blu-ray. Make your statement through your wallet. It's your right. No one will stop you. No one will even TRY to stop you.Meanwhile, I'll be watching the films in glorious hi-def on release day, and laughing at your lo-def extended editions through my popcorn. :)

Obviously I don't have this product yet, however I am eagerly anticipating it and I expect it will be worth purchasing even for people who have the extended edition DVDs. The main reason I think this is that it's well known that the Lord of the Rings Trilogy was made in high-def and so has a lot more detail present in the masters than can be revealed at DVD resolution. If you search the web you can find a comparison of screen grabs of the DVD vs the high-def cable TV broadcasts. For the epic vistas sprinkled throughout the movie (mordor, rivendell, minas tirith) the limitions of DVD lead to a blurred and indistinct image for small picture elements which is transformed when shown at high def. I'm also confident that New Line will once again apply the necessary resources to achieve the highest possible quality the format allows, just as with the extended edition DVDs. I just can't wait for this product to be released!**update** Having just completed watching this set, I am very happy with it. It is good to see the cinematic cuts in their full high-def glory. On my system the picture and sound are WAY better than the DVD versions. It reminds me that the Extended Editions are too long. I loved seeing all the extra bits, but the net result is more like a six-part mini-series.I understand that some fans are unhappy with this product because it "should" have been the EE version (in their opinion at least), but to me since it was clearly indicated this is just the cinematic versions, it gives me the choice.

To rate this product as 1 star because you think it's a ripoff is absurd. Not everyone wants to spend an entire day watching one movie and don't care to spend the extra money for an extended edition that they'll rarely watch. I personally prefer to not spend an entire week watching all three movies...I mean honestly, you're in the minority if you can sit and watch all of these movies, start to finish, in one sitting. Most people are quite content with the (long enough) theatrical versions.You're being extremely hypocritical to say "Rate this one star! The product sucks! It's a ripoff!". You'll be the same person going off and rating the other one 5 stars because it's awesome and a great deal. Just because it's not right for you doesn't mean it's not right for the majority of the buying public.The product you're rating here is the movie no--matter how you want to dress it up to justify your 1 star rating.This particular version of the movies is great. There's no reason to throw your moronic self-centered opninion around and force it on other people. Be objective and keep your personal grudge against the studio out of it.

C'mon everyone,This is no rip-off. This is the movie as we saw it in theatre. We didn't feel ripped off then, did we? As a serious collector of Lord of the Rings memorabilia, I find it intriguing to finally get a high-def version of the theatrical edition, and look forward to the same when the extended cut comes out. Yes, the longer cut is clearly my favorite, but when introducing this movie to first-timers, it's easy to understand why the shorter cut comes in handy. At any rate, I aim to own both. As Peter Jackson has commented in the director's commentary on the extended cut, some of the scenes (such as at Lothlorien) were actually DIFFERENT in some aspects from one film edition to the other. For that reason alone I want to have both versions. I'm also a big Harry Potter fan, and although extended cuts of those films have only been shown on TV to date, I would gladly fork over more cash to get them if they were ever released. A true fan wants ALL available editions of a movie.