This week is quite light on DVD releases, and no wonder they are holding off on tempting your pocket. Lord of the Rings is certainly dominating the retail shelves today, offering up the remastered 1978 animated classic, as well as the Peter Jackson epic trilogy all being released on one day in stunning BluRay.
Oh my precious…
But there are a few others hitting shelves today, just to add a spash of colour.
 | Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans Terence McDonagh (Nicolas Cage), a homicide detective with the New Orleans Police Department, is promoted to Lieutenant after he saves a prisoner from drowning in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. However, during his heroic act, he severely injures his back and is put on prescription pain medication. A year later, Terence—struggling with his addictions to sex, Vicodin and cocaine—finds himself in the battle to bring down drug dealer Big Fate, who is suspected of massacring an entire family of African immigrants. This kind of came and went with a whisper, but Cage looks deleriously dangerous in this, and I am always willing to give him a shot even though he has let me down before. Its more Eva mendez and Xibit that worry me here. I will rent it. |
 | Lord of the Rings The original Ralph Bakshi 1978 animated classic feature that introduced me into the wonderful world of Tolkien has been remastered and is available today on BluRay and DVD. The film is notable for its extensive use of rotoscoping, a technique in which scenes are first shot in live-action, then traced onto animation cels. Although the film was a financial success, it received a mixed reaction from critics, and the original distributors refused to fund a sequel to cover the remainder of the story. How can I not buy this one? They didn’t release a trailer for this one, but here is a clip from the film. |
 | Lord of the Rings Trilogy Then of course we have the long awaited Lord of the Rings Trilogy released on BluRay this week. Containing all three chapters of Peter Jackson’s epic portrayal of the Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and The Return of the King, this box set is sure to find its home on my shelf. This 9 disc set is PACKED with special features and bonus material, some of which was not released on the DVD editions. I will resist my precious however, as this version out today is the Theatrical Release presented on Blu, and I would prefer the Extended Cut myself – which they are Lucas-ing for around November to double dip the fanbase. |
So will you be bowing down to the very affordable Lord of the Rings on Blu? Or are you a die hard like me who won’t settle for anything less than the full Extended Cut?
Is anything else getting your money this week instead?
I’m waiting for the extended version of the LOTR films to come to Blu. I can’t even watch the theatrical versions anymore.
Btw rodney, don’t be turned off by none of the actors in this film. Herzog gets performances out of everyone in this film that shine to oscar status. Even Michael Shannon who has a few pages of lines (at most) does a fantastic job! Cage is brilliant in this. I agree he has his stinkers, but his great films blow you away. He truly is a great actor when you see roles like Bringing Out the Dead, Lord of War, Adaptation, Bad Lieutenant, Leaving Las Vegas. Give it a chance…I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.
Bought Bad Lieutenant first thing this morning on blu ray! So excited to watch it tonight. Absolutely great and in my top 5 of 2009.
I don’t own the original Lord of the Rings trilogy on DVD so I will be picking up a set of these blu Ray discs. (my theatrical set was stolen) I do however still own the extended versions of all of the films and at times prefer the theatrical versons to the extended. It’s is a shame that they don’t release both versions in the same package. I can complain like everyone else is doing but there isn’t much that can be done about it so why bother.