Now, with all of that disc use information out of the way, let me start to really examine the video quality here on these films. On 4k Blu-ray there are some shots that are about as good as you could ever expect. The color is vibrant, details crisp, and the range of contrast impressive. In other shots the transfer quality doesn’t quite hit the same high marks, but that may have to do more with the way certain scenes are presented. For example, Galadriel and Arwen are always given a softer focus than other characters. There are also some shots you can find quips about, for example some of the forced perspective (used to make the Hobbit actors look smaller than other characters) does look a bit odd in today’s standards. Watching The Lord of the Rings Trilogy in 4k with HDR is really like watching the film for the first time. Even though you may already have every scene memorized, the visual improvements are like candy for your eyes. Dim your lights, crank up the volume, and make some microwave popcorn for this binge-worthy home theater experience. This is Dolby Atmos at its absolute finest and one of the most impressive sets of mixes in the sound format that I have heard to date. This (trilogy entirely) would be in my personal favorite top 5 releases on the format with Dolby Atmos sound. It’s that downright incredible. This is something you’ll just have to hear to believe, but trust me, you will not be let down by the sound presentations. This film in both its theatrical and extended versions earns a perfect and definitively earns itself perfect reference material 5 rating for audio quality. Wow. Just, wow. These films sound simply more astonishing than they ever did before and this [on 4K UHD Blu-ray] is the ultimate way to experience it. Warner’s new 4K Ultra HD release includes both the Theatrical Cuts and Extended Editions of each film, the former contained on a single UHD disc for each film while the latter are split over two UHD discs each. So let’s take a look at the A/V quality of each remastered film one by one…

In the second film the sound of the wind, early on, can be heard practically coming from the entire speaker configuration, and most especially via the height and rear channel speakers. The sound of horses galloping in large groups is something that will fill your room with a loud thunderous bit each time a scene comes up involving such. There’s a lot of oomph behind the sounds of horses galloping and even their neigh reactions. Things can truly get intense during the large battle scenes, especially when swords start swinging and orcs or humans in armies are present. The sounds in the forest, especially that of a tree (fairly early in) are downright monstrous in terms of bass and the amount of height and rear channel usage. The music here, now presented in Atmos, can go from softer to a level of intensity that’ll leave you blown away. Low-end bass drops for sound effects also are something you’ll feel a whole lot of in the second film and it is downright incredible. The audio presentations found here on all these films in the trilogy, and their two versions for each, are nothing short of amazing. Perhaps there also may have been a light use of some edge enhancement (EE) to sharpen things up here. Things can feel a tad bit different in terms of clarity in some scenes more than others, feeling sharper than others that feel softer. The CG visual effects, the makeup, costumes, miniatures, in-camera effects and all look impressive here and rarely show off many flaws. Still, one should keep in mind that these films were made almost 20 years ago and that CG effects and blue screen techniques have greatly improved since then in newer films. That said, they manage to definitely hold up visually in 4K and at times can feel impressive. However, this trilogy feels like it could have looked just slightly better somehow if they perhaps hadn’t applied so much DNR and left the original film grain and detail as sharp as it should have been. I just believe it could have looked a great deal better, but it’s almost enough to somewhat do these incredible motion pictures the visual justice they deserve. I still think that the average consumer will be pretty much happy with the 4K presentation, as I had mentioned, but some will find things that weren’t done correctly and prevent it from looking perfect. Available in 4K for the very first time, the arrival of the two Middle-earth trilogies in the UHD format will fill the gaps in the movie libraries of legions of film fans who still hanker after the physical medium for their collections.

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The upgraded audio isn’t as much of a jump as it is in video, as previous Blu-ray editions already featured incredible DTS-HD Master Audio 6.1 surround sound. But the Dolby Atmos capabilities expand the potential to distribute sound overhead and behind (with the right speaker system) and add other audio channel to the surround sound format. This trilogy of films now on 4K UHD Blu-ray will leave you completely overwhelmed and extremely satisfied now in Dolby Atmos. I don’t care how amazing you thought the sound was before on Blu-ray or even during the theatrical showings, this is superior and just unlike anything you have experienced this film in. Fans are going to absolutely love this and likely receive complaints from landlords, neighbors, family members, police, and whatnot for it being louder than all hell. Sorry, but that’s what makes a “demo disc” that delivers absolute reference material from the very start until the very end credits, for each and every film and each version. So, DNR has been applied to the new 4K DI (digital intermediate) new masters for each film, and it would seem was intended by the director himself. However, I personally don’t see that to be a dealbreaker of an issue. This still manages to hold a light amount of film grain, as I’ve seen with some other Super 35 source material when it comes to 4K. In the first film especially I felt that the original music sounded so much ethereal at times, which is very impressive and a dramatic change-up in mixes that can be extremely intense for the most part. The music itself helps to drive some of the intensity with its original score which can be all throughout this trilogy very passionate and powerful. The music, and even the action itself, can become quieter for short bits which just works so well. Even during the quieter scenes, you’ll still be hearing it makes excellent use of the height channels. In scenes where there’s a large area, you’ll hear the voices and sounds coming from the height channels ever so fairly in a very realistic atmosphere echo.

Subtitles: English, French, German, Italian, Dutch, Chinese, Korean, Spanish, Czech, Danish, Finnish, Greek, Norwegian, Polish, Swedish, Thai As of 2023, no streaming services offer The Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit films in 4K to stream. The Lord of the Rings is available to stream on HBO Max and Hulu. With one account you can get both subscriptions. You can stream all three The Lord of the Rings films and three prequel films to the story, aka the Hobbit trilogy. Unfortunately, at this time, you can only stream the movies at 1080p and to experience it in 4K you have to buy them digitally or buy the Blu-ray discs. You might be wondering next: Does this new 4K remaster really make that big of a difference? Is the image and sound really improved over the previous Blu-ray release? The answer to that is: HELL yes. However, if you don’t already have them, you’ll need to get a 4K display, a 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray player, and a surround sound system that’s compatible with Dolby Atmos.The Return of the King: Behind the Scenes” (1:51:54 – SD) is shot like a home movie but it also includes interviews with the entire cast and crew that worked on the film. The Maps in LOTR of Middle Earth never looked so sharp, and neither have the shots of the ‘One Ring’ with carved inscriptions that are incredibly detailed, beautifully luminous, and perfectly legible (if you could read Elvish tengwar – if not, Galadriel provides the translation). The Two Towers: Behind the Scenes” (1:46:17 – SD) is shot like a home movie but it also includes interviews with the entire cast and crew that worked on the film. The thing with 4K is not to just go for pristine sharpness, it is to preserve the cinematic look at the same time of everything becoming a little bit more crisp.”

release tests the waters as a nine-disc "movies only" edition, with each theatrical cut getting a triple-layer 100GB disc to itself and the extended cuts But here’s the thing: I’ve been reviewing Blu-ray and DVD quality professionally now for twenty-three years on The Digital Bits, and 4K Ultra HD quality for the last four of those years. And I don’t think I’ve ever seen a 4K remaster that made quite this much of a difference over a previous Blu-ray release before. Due to the extensive nature of the Trilogy we’ll be updating this review with further moments from the two sequels.) The MovieAnother audio moment is when the Fellowship attempts to take the Pass of Caradhras over the Misty Mountains but are ambushed by Saruman. The sounds of lightning, winds, and snow avalanches provide a good Atmos experience, especially in the subwoofer range.

Hairy Hobbit feet! We always knew the Hobbits had hairy feet, but perhaps we forgot how hairy they were. Along comes this new 4k upgrade and although there are not many closeups of their feet you can almost count the Hobbity hairs when pausing the video. The surviving members of the Fellowship, with the help of the Elves, have defended the kingdom of Rohan at Helm’s Deep, as Gollum leads Frodo and Sam ever closer to Mordor. But Sauron is marching an even larger orc army, led by the vile Witch King, to the defenseless city of Minas Tirith. If it falls, so too will Gondor, and all hope for the world of men will be lost. Gandalf races to the city with Pippin to sound the alarm, while Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, and Merry attempt to convince King Theoden of Rohan to ride to its defense. With the fate of Middle-earth about to be decided in a last, massive battle on the fields of Pelennor, Aragorn must finally accept his destiny. And Frodo and Sam will face the ultimate test of friendship, and their very lives, in their quest to destroy the One Ring.Editor’s Note: This review is now complete. A similar review of The Hobbit Trilogy in 4K Ultra HD is also now available here on The Digital Bits.] Once again, don’t forget that in addition to the films, you also get a Movies Anywhere Digital Copy code, which should be good for all three films in both versions in 4K. But don’t get rid of your previous Blu-ray and/or DVD editions if you wish to retain all of the extras, The Appendices, and other bonus features (because you won’t find any of that content here). On the audio side of things, Warner’s new 4K UHD release also includes a brand new English Dolby Atmos mix (that’s 7.1 Dolby TrueHD compatible). And the most important thing you need to know is that, is that it’s—hands down—a reference quality cinema surround sound experience. For one thing, the soundstage is absolutely huge, and not just across the front—this is a truly complete and hemispheric sonic environment. Every channel is active at once, including the overheads, uniformly engaged in creating a sense of whatever space is being depicted on screen at that moment. Dialogue is crystal clear and naturally-positioned. Panning is so smooth as to seem effortless. And the dynamics! There are moments so soft and subtle they’ll take your breath away with tiny little environmental sound effects filtering in around you—burbling water, bird calls, insects at night. And then, in the middle of the action, the full sturm und drang of battle assaults you from all sides, as if to shake the very foundation of your house. Swords scrape, clash, and ring sharply, their sounds lingering in the air. The orc drums in the depths of Moria, the roar of the Balrog, Boromir’s horn of Gondor—you can practically feel the low end in your chest. One of the scenes that surprised me most with this mix was Gandalf and Saruman’s first confrontation in Orthanc—just listen to the surround panning and bass as Gandalf is being thrown around the room! It’s marvelous. And topping it all off, Howard Shore’s score has simply never sounded better, presented here in lossless fidelity. Additional audio options on the 4K EXTENDED EDITION discs include French 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio and German, Italian, and Castilian Spanish in 6.1 DTS-HD MA, with optional subtitles in English for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, French, German for the Hearing Impaired, Italian for the Deaf, Castilian Spanish, Dutch, Simplified Chinese, Cantonese, Korean, Latin Spanish, Czech, Danish, Finnish, Greek, Norwegian, Polish, Swedish, and Thai. Additional audio options on the 4K THEATRICAL CUT disc include French 5.1 DTS-HD MA, German and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital, Italian 6.1 DTS-HD MA, and Spanish 2.0 Dolby Digital, with optional subtitles in English for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, French, German for the Hearing Impaired, Italian for the Deaf, Dutch, Simplified Chinese, Korean, Latin Spanish, Czech, Danish, Finnish, Greek, Norwegian, Polish, Swedish, and Thai. Audio Format(s): English Dolby Atmos (with a Dolby TrueHD 7.1 core), Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround, DTS 5.1, Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo