The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers 4K Blu-ray Review & Comments

Simon Crust

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Bass is astonishing

Not as astonishing as the Blu-Ray used to be ;)

WbAZyEJ.jpg
 
I have on one occasion watched all 3 extended editions and I agree that this is the film that benefits the most from the extended edition over the theatrical. Two Towers theatrical just feels wrong, like the editing took out a bit too much.
 
Im thinking of getting the xbox one x to play the 4k ultra discs, has anyone got any thoughts on quality of the player.. thanks
 
Same response to this review as I've given here:
Thanks for the review.

While I'm sure that the picture and sound are exemplary, the fact is that the extras are missing. It isn't as though they couldn't be included and there was nothing preventing the pre-existing extras being included. They were omitted to give reason for potentially having to yet again buy these titles towards the end of next year when there will be a 20th anniversary package released that will include the extras.

Yeah, give it 9, but I'd suggest giving it 10 doesn't account for the absence of the extras, extras that are in existence and could have been included within this release. I'm assuming the review relates to this particular release and the associated package and not simply the film? How will the 20th anniversary release be rated relative to this if it does include the extras? Why has this release been awarded a 10? Even the packaging you get is questionable. The info on the rear (pasted onto the box) is already strarting to peel away from the box on the copy I received.

Looks as though I'll have to retain the Blu-ray definitive boxset within my collection if I want to access the extras without having to buy the same titles yet again. Why was there a 4K UHD release this year when the anniversary isn't until next year?
 
Do we really need a separate thread for each film?
 
Nice review. All set to watch this one today. Can’t wait
 
yes. Because they are .... different films ?
Are they being sold individually or in the same box? - as you can see above, people are having to repeat exactly what they have said in another thread and link to it
 
Thanks for the Review. Can rent these on Disc from Dec 17th, and REALLY looking forward to Helms Deep! :D
 
i think i've just seen these too many times..........maybe when 8k comes out
 
Watched this today 10/10 Was a pleasure. Looked amazing all that dark detail showing through perfectly.
the sound too was amazing. Loved it. What a treat
 
Are they being sold individually or in the same box? - as you can see above, people are having to repeat exactly what they have said in another thread and link to it

They don't have to, they just decided to copy the same thing about the extras. Expect to see it in the ROTK review as well

Also, see the recent Back To The Future reviews - that was a boxset, but each film improved in image quality.

I would suspect it's easier and quicker to publish each film individually - a review of the entire boxset would require opinion on each film and would be lengthy
 
Im thinking of getting the xbox one x to play the 4k ultra discs, has anyone got any thoughts on quality of the player.. thanks

I used to use my Xbox one x, and it’s a decent player but I upgraded to a Panasonic UB820 and find it so much better on many levels . For instance it’s quieter and has better visual quality. It’s powered by Panasonic’s clever, second-generation HCX (Hollywood Cinema Experience) picture processing engine. This means it can call upon the chip’s HDR Optimiser, which Panasonic claims will improve tone-mapping in an HDR picture with static metadata. It takes into account the brightness limitations of your display and tweaks the image to extract the most detail, particularly in whites and bright scenes. I’ve never looked back and love the player.
I’d say the Xbox is fine as entry level but can be noisy and does not have as many options .
 
I used to use my Xbox one x, and it’s a decent player but I upgraded to a Panasonic UB820 and find it so much better on many levels . For instance it’s quieter and has better visual quality. It’s powered by Panasonic’s clever, second-generation HCX (Hollywood Cinema Experience) picture processing engine. This means it can call upon the chip’s HDR Optimiser, which Panasonic claims will improve tone-mapping in an HDR picture with static metadata. It takes into account the brightness limitations of your display and tweaks the image to extract the most detail, particularly in whites and bright scenes. I’ve never looked back and love the player.
I’d say the Xbox is fine as entry level but can be noisy and does not have as many options .
Yeah I compared it to my X800 a while back and I swear the X800 was slightly better. The Xbox X is good as a backup though.
 
This is unacceptable


your trolling. I mean enough is enough. I’m watching these on a decent screen and player and sound system and they are night and day in my eyes and ears. You seem intent and on some sort of sad mission here to look for any reported problems. Your watching on a 43” aged screen and on a games console for gods sake and sitting what 2 feet away ?
Just leave it. You don’t like them ? Fair enough. Just join Blu-ray.com and you will be able to compare screengrabs and moan all you want with the rest of them.
Your having a mare here. I really don’t know what your end game is ? Trying to put folk off ? It’s an outstanding transfer. Tell you what . Buy a decent screen and player and sound system and maybe try again ?
Or maybe just enjoy the movies ?
Just like others greeting about quality when they are streaming the movies which is nowhere near the quality on disc. Come on.

I imagine your next post will be on return of the king thread next 🤣🤣🤣

And I have to say the screen grab you posted looks nothing like what I’m seeing on my system. Nothing near it
 
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your trolling. I mean enough is enough. I’m watching these on a decent screen and player and sound system and they are night and day in my eyes and ears. You seem intent and on some sort of sad mission here to look for any reported problems. Your watching on a 43” aged screen and on a games console for gods sake and sitting what 2 feet away ?
Just leave it. You don’t like them ? Fair enough. Just join Blu-ray.com and you will be able to compare screengrabs and moan all you want with the rest of them.
Your having a mare here. I really don’t know what your end game is ? Trying to put folk off ? It’s an outstanding transfer. Tell you what . Buy a decent screen and player and sound system and maybe try again ?
Or maybe just enjoy the movies ?
Just like others greeting about quality when they are streaming the movies which is nowhere near the quality on disc. Come on.

I imagine your next post will be on return of the king thread next 🤣🤣🤣

And I have to say the screen grab you posted looks nothing like what I’m seeing on my system. Nothing near it
That screen grab is directly from the UHD and has been verified by other people in Blu-ray.com and by myself

In the other thread, one user with a 12000€ equipment also told you that the fine detail is not good with this editions due to strong DNR, sometimes it's even worse than the Blu-rays


I have a 4K TV, screen size doesn't matter if you can get close enough, as you can see individual pixels.

A TV from 2018 is an aged screen? Come on

You are the one that is trolling.

I post proofs. You just post words.
 
I enjoyed the first but I lose the will to live with this film. I did in the cinema near 20 years ago and it’s the same today.
 
This is unacceptable


I JUST watched up to this part and then stopped to look up some reviews online. This is some Terminator 2 UHD Bluray-level DNR right here. It's very inconsistent as some scenes look great, but some look like this here, also a few moments earlier when the 3 of them are riding towards Edoras and talking. If you look at grass during movement or any surface with fine detail there is just...nothing there. I see ghosting and blurry smidges like the details were blasted off with a shotgun to the face. It's insane that it wasn't mentioned in any of the reviews I've seen so far...
 
I've seen some screenshots like this where detail is lost and others where detail is increased. But overall it might have been better if they left a little more film grain on rather than try to make it look digital. Then to get around the increased softness they use edge sharpening. It is bright, and colourful so for most of us this is definitely an upgrade. But if you have a large screen this might be a problematic transfer. Apparently even Blade has some DNR, so Warner are not going to stop doing this.
 
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Not as astonishing as the Blu-Ray used to be ;)

WbAZyEJ.jpg

Depends how you look at it. The new Atmos track has much more output between 30-50hz and less below 30hz

Personally I think the 30-50hz range is more important for tactile bass, I’d also imagine that there is also a lot more action in this area than below it.

So overall, I’d say the new track has a better bass response for the areas where you’d notice it.
 

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