Page 1 of So what do you think of LOTR? Possible spoilers!

I got R1 W/S 2-discer from CDWOW t`other day, and I was interested to hear what people`s impressions of it were. I`ve watched up to scene 27, where the gang are about to enter Moria mines. So far, i`ve been really impressed by the soundtrack. Really, really excellent - loud, lots of rear speaker and sub action, superb clarity, and the music is tremendous. For me, it is the standout feature so far. However, it seems that this sonic excellence is at the expense of the visuals, which are a little disappointing, I feel. Quite grainy in places, and in the dark scenes with the Nazkuhl (spelling?) where there`s lots of fog, there was quite a bit of pixellation. Also, and this may be a symptom of the big->small screen transition, some of the cgi looked a bit tacked on. Specifically, in places, the Nazkuhl`s faces (or lack of) looked noticeably blacked out, and the bird (owl?) that Gandalf flies away on from Mordor looked silly.

So what do you other pre-release getter`s think? I haven`t watched the extras yet, but will post when I can comment. And i`ll do an update after i`ve watched all the film (just need to find the time!). Despite what i`ve said above, it`s still a cool film! And before anyone asks, I do have the 4 disc special edition on order, and yes, I AM a sad git!

Bb

edit1:
ok, finished watching the film. Awesome, just as before. To go back over what i`ve said, the film still seems, to my eyes at least, to be grainy in places. I`m willing to concede that this may just be my set-up though, although i`d like to know if any other Region 1 copies (Canadian) suffer similarly. Anyway, on to the extras - watched the preview of the extended edition, which looks ace. Shan`t spoil it though! Also, preview of TTT, which the production crew reckon will put FOTR in the shade - a tantilising prospect indeed. From what they showed, the scale of the film looks even more epic and impressive than FOTR, which is some achievement, if they pull it off (and I dont doubt that they will). Lastly, I watched the preview of the FOTR game, which looks like it might be alright. Difficult to say though, because they only showed a few `teaser`s of the action, that mimic`d the film. One thing did confuse me though - afterwards, they showed signs for PS2 and Gameboy, but no Xbox or PC. Are they to miss out?

This item was edited on Thursday, 1st August 2002, 20:37

I totally agree with you regarding the sound, its Fantastic!

I disagree about the films visual quality though, I think that the dark scenes are much improved in comparison to the cinema, they are much clearer, sharper and well defined. A lot of the scenery i din`t notice as much as on the DVD release.

Very Impressive.

Oooooh, I`d decided to wait for the extended release, but with it being available for around £11 from http://www.devoted.com.au I`m not sure I can wait.... especially as I have a projector waiting to be set up and be christened......

Saruman - what region is your copy?

For what it`s worth:
Nazgul
Owl = Eagle - escapes from Orthanc (Saruman`s gaff)

This item was edited on Thursday, 1st August 2002, 12:33

The copy I watched was region 1 from CDWOW, watched at a mate`s house!

I have the region 2 on order with PLAY, still not shipped :(

Regarding the games:

EA (Electronic Arts) are making a game based on the MOVIE for the PS2, Xbox, PC and (possibly) GBA.

Vivendi are making a game based on the BOOK for the PS2 and Xbox (don`t know about other formats).

The one previewed on the LOTR: TFOTR disc will be the EA one.

Saruman - thought you`d be region2-ing it!

Saruman,

I checked my R2 pre-order of FOTR from Play this morning and it apparently shipped yesterday afternoon. I`d check if yours has gone out.

Roll on tomorrow when it arrives !!!!!

Yeah jsut taken a look, it was disptched yesterday at 3pm! Sweet.

I was going to get the region 1 when it was on offer at CDWOW for £13.99, but decided to hold out for the region 2.

Mine too!!
Let`s hope they get here for Saturday.

Dave

I stuck with my pre-order from a month back, although I did get a bit concerned when the R1 copies started shipping a week ago. I`m R2 all the way when i`m not getting screwed on extras.