6 films were made. Three... three for The Lord of the Rings, the best and most groundbreaking cinematic experience of a generation. Three... three for The Hobbit, the fun but bloated prequel to Peter Jackson's epic trilogy. Six Theatrical Cuts, shorter and to the point for impatient people without attention spans. Six Extended Cuts for people with larger bladders that can put down their phones and who love character development and more nuanced performances. We've owned these movies before. DVD sets. Extended DVD Sets. Blu-ray sets. Extended Blu-ray sets. Extended 4K Ultra HD sets. Fans thought they had it all... but they were all of them deceived. Forged in the dark halls of Warner Brothers - there was another set! A Six-Film 31-Disc Middle Earth Ultimate Collector's Edition to rule them all...
...only not quite because apparently, the really kick-ass appendices from special editions of The Lord of the Ringsare not going to be included.
[UPDATE 9/9/21] The Good folks over at Warner Brothers have gone and done it and officially announced what we pretty much already knew was coming - The Middle Earth Ultimate Collector's Edition 4K UHD & Blu-ray 31-Disc Set. This also confirms that the extensive legacy appendices bonus features of past DVD and Blu-ray releases will not be included. Each of the six films will be available in the shorter Theatrical Cut and better and longer Extended Cut with Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos audio mixes.
Here's the list of new bonus features coming for this set:
Cannes Film Festival Presentation Reel
Alamo Drafthouse Cast Reunion
“The Fellowship of the Ring" - RT: 39:38(with Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Sean Astin and Elijah Wood)
“The Two Towers" - RT: 32:24(with Cate Blanchett, Orlando Bloom, Liv Tyler and Viggo Mortenson)
"The Return of the King" - RT: 29:48 (with Ian McKellan, Andy Serkis, and Peter Jackson)
... yeah. I'll let you take a moment to let that sink in.
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You okay now? There are many pluses to this set coming in the form that it is - I dig the packaging, that's pretty slick and we are getting a lot of great material, but like you I agree they are stretching the "Ultimate" namesake a little thin. Here's a badass unboxing video of the set:
If you waited to buy the films on 4K, you're getting a pretty good package. But if you're like me and bought the regular sets or the nifty SteelBooks you may want to juggle your options.
[original article continues]
Well Tolkien Kids - today's the day! Well, actually yesterday night was the day that pre-orders went live, but I have a toddler so I'm only now getting to this news now. We knew this mega set was in the pipeline ever since Warner Bros. released the Lord of the Rings Extended Edition Trilogyand The Hobbit Extended Edition Trilogyon 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray last year. In time to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of The Fellowship of the Ring- WB will be releasing their ultra mega Six-Film 31-Disc Middle Earth Ultimate Collector's Edition.
As seems to be the standard operating procedure for these things, online retailers are jumping ahead of the studio official announcements to get those lovely pre-orders in ASAP. Unfortunately, this is sticking us in the position of reporting on this set without full specs. Presumably, There won't be any real tech spec differences between the Extended Cut 4K UHD discs and the Theatrical Cut 4K UHD discs with Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos audio - what we don't have in final order are all of the bonus features.
It's been reported for quite a while that the lovely and extensive Appendicies of the Extended Edition DVDs and Blu-rays of past sets will not be included here. Also it doesn't appear that the 3-D versions of The Hobbit will be included either. What is included is a 64-page book, an extra bonus disc with footage of the Stephen Colbert-hosted Alamo Drafthouse appearances, and some mini-posters. Sooo with that in mind, WB might be stretching the term "Ultimate" just a little bit. It's very good, you're getting a lot of great stuff all in one box, but maybe not quite everything.
We are waiting for the official Warner Bros. Press Release which we expect to drop any time now. Those missing bonus features may well be included on the newly authored 4K discs or with the new 1080p transfer Blu-rays of The Lord of the Rings - but that's just speculation. It'd be a shame for WB to leave out so much great content. So once that PR arrives we'll update our listing and this article and fill in all of those content gaps.
Amazon has the set up for pre-order - don't be too shocked that price tag is the full SRP price and we expect online retailers to really dig in and crush the price down.
What do you think? Is this the set you've been waiting for? Or are you going to stick with the 4K and Blu-ray sets you already own?
Here's the full press release from Warner Brothers:
WARNER BROS. HOME ENTERTAINMENT ANNOUNCES PETER JACKSON’S MIDDLE-EARTH ULTIMATE COLLECTOR’S EDITION
31-Disc Set features the theatrical and extended versions of the six Middle-earth films in 4K resolution with High Dynamic Range (HDR) and on remastered Bu-ray
Ultimate Collectors’ Edition also includes Bonus Content never before released for Home Entertainment, collectible packaging, art cards, and more!
BURBANK, CA, September 9, 2021 – Celebrate 20 years of adventure and friendship as Warner Bros. releases the Middle-Earth Ultimate Collector’s Edition, timed to the 20th anniversary of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. The 31-disc Ultimate Collector’s Edition of Peter Jackson’s Middle-earth saga contains new special features along with the theatrical and extended versions of all sic films in 4K Ultra HD and on Blu-ray discs remastered from the 4K master. The Ultimate Collector’s Edition will be released on October 26.
The Ultimate Collector’s Edition includes the theatrical and extended versions of the six films from New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures in 4K UHD with HDR - The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, and The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, which won Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay.
The Ultimate Collector’s Edition comes in unique “Puzzle Box” collectible packaging and includes a 64-page booklet featuring costumes, photography and production notes from the film, and art cards featuring travel posters and images from iconic locations throughout Middle-earth including The Shire, Lake-Town, Erebor, Anduin, Rohan, Minas Trith, and Rivendell.
Also included are the original Cannes Film Festival presentation reel, and footage from the recent Alamo Drafthouse cast reunion featuring director Peter Jackson along with cast members Sean Astin, Cate Blanchett, Orlando Bloom, Billy Boyd, Ian McKellan, Dominic Monaghan, Viggo Mortenson, Andy Serkis, Liv Tyler, and Elijah Wood.
4K Ultra HD** showcases 4K resolution with High Dynamic Range (HDR) and a wider color spectrum, offering consumers brighter, deeper, and more lifelike colors for a home entertainment viewing experience like never before.
The 4K remastering process was overseen by Peter Jackson.
The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray discs of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, and The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King will feature Dolby VisionTM HDR that dramatically expands the color palette and contrast range and uses dynamic metadata to automatically optimize the picture for every screen, frame by frame. The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray discs will also feature a Dolby Atmos® soundtrack remixed specifically for the home theater environment to place and move audio anywhere in the room, including overhead. To experience Dolby Atmos at home, a Dolby Atmos enabled AV receiver and additional speakers are required, or a Dolby Atmos enabled sound bar. Dolby Atmos soundtracks are also fully backward compatible with traditional audio configurations and legacy home entertainment equipment.
Middle-Earth Ultimate Collector’s Edition contains the following special features:
Cannes Film Festival Presentation Reel
Alamo Drafthouse Cast Reunion
“The Fellowship of the Ring" - RT: 39:38(with Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Sean Astin and Elijah Wood)
“The Two Towers" - RT: 32:24(with Cate Blanchett, Orlando Bloom, Liv Tyler and Viggo Mortenson)
"The Return of the King" - RT: 29:48 (with Ian McKellan, Andy Serkis, and Peter Jackson)
BASICS PRODUCT SRP Ultimate Collector’s Edition $249.99 Street Date: 10/26/2021
Ultra HD Blu-ray Languages: English, Latin Spanish, Canadian French, Brazilian Portuguese Ultra HD Blu-ray Subtitles: English SDH, Latin Spanish, Canadian French, Brazilian Portuguese Rating: All films rated PG-13 except for The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies – Extended Edition, which is Rated R for violence DOLBY ATMOS [CC]
Discs mentioned in this article: (Click for specs and reviews)