Hobbit Trilogy (BD) [Blu-ray]

I've enjoyed The Hobbit story in all media for some time, so I decided to get the 4K version and was not disappointed.As we all know, there are three films: An Unexpected Journey, The Desolation of Smaug, and The Battle of the Five Armies. All serve as the prequel to the other well-known Tolkien trilogy, The Lord of the Rings.I'm aware of the negative press surrounding the Hobbit trilogy, but to be perfectly honest, I found this series of movies to be more enjoyable than the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I'm not saying they're better movies. I'm saying that they're more enjoyable. The Lord of the Rings is very well made with great story and action. The Hobbit just seems to have more fun going about it. I was really taken in by the Dwarves in the first film. In LOTR, the Dwarves seemed to all look alike (from what we saw) and Gimli was really the only example we had of them. In The Hobbit, the Dwarves had far better character development and a great look to them. They all looked unique and had specific personalities. After that, the rest was just fun. I really enjoyed Martin Freeman's portrayal of Bilbo Baggins. Granted, there was a lot of "filler" put into the story in order to spread out one book into three long films. I'm also aware of the wrath of the purists as there were story elements inserted that didn't appear in the original book. However, even with all of the additives, the basic plot was not lost. We also can't ignore the best Dragon seen on the screen: Smaug. I loved what they did with Smaug and how they really gave him a presence in all three of the films.There's also the Extended Versions of the films and these just made me enjoy the series even more. They fleshed out story elements and scenarios even further and also restored some scenes that were originally in the book but not in the theatrical release.I was very surprised to learn that the Extended Cut of the third movie is R-rated. The Theatrical version is PG-13 as are all of the other films in the series. However, the battle scenes in the final film do get really intense and graphic at times, so I can see the R-rating. This is something to consider if you plan on watching this series with your kids.The package is good. 4K picture and sound is as great as can be expected. There is so much more detail that I didn't catch on the Blu-Ray copies, so I'm really happy with what's on the screen for both Theatrical and Extended cuts. As for the package itself, it would be good to warn you that this package just has the 4K discs. There are no other formats in the package such as Blu-Ray or Digital Copy. There are also no special features on any of the discs. There are just 6 discs with 2 versions of each of the 3 films and that's it. So, if you had copies of these films on Blu-Ray and enjoyed the special features, you may want to consider keeping them alongside of this 4K package.All in all, a great Fantasy series and has quickly become my favorite. Highly recommended!

Very nice steelbook packaging, I really liked that I could remove the region codes so the packaging remains authentic. They Hobbit and Lord of the Rings back great ‘book stops’ for my other Tolkien movies.

Snagged the collection on sale....good set

If there were any films on earth that needed to be 4K it’s the middle earth series. I didn’t have any playback issues whatsoever on these discs. I’ve seen a lot of complaining about the quality of the case, and while yes the case that it comes in, is a bit flimsy, that’s not that huge of a deal. If you’re buying this you’re most likely already in possession of the original dvds, what I did is just put the 4K discs in the original cases, pretty simple. Beyond that they played fine, they looked amazing, and sound just as spectacularly.As far as the visuals are concerned, I use a Panasonic 4K player with a Yamaha 5.1 sound system and a Samsung 4K smart tv. I’ve found the best picture settings for the tv to be to put the picture mode on Natural mode, jack the contrast all the way up on both the tv, (and dvd player if applicable) bring the Sharpness up about halfway, keep the brightness down and put the backlight up, for my set up it looked the best yours may differ, play around with the settings to get the best for your viewing environment and enjoy!

Epic movie! Great quality discs. Everything worked as it should. Very happy with purchase!

Currently (Fall 2024), this is the best home video version of the Hobbit Theatrical/Extended Trilogy Collection.PICTURE: Dolby Vision 2160p Ultra High Definition. Any 4K UHD player will work, as will any 4K UHD disc player. However, to view in Dolby Vision with enhanced color, contrast, and brightness, both your UHD disc player AND your 4K TV must be Dolby Vision compatible, along with proper Dolby Vision compatible HDMI cables. These movies have never looked this good. Both the theatrical and the extended version of the movie are included.SOUND: Dolby Atmos - TrueHD (will require a Dolby Atmos sound system to get the Atmos result however most systems will down grade to standard stereo surround. Also included is DTS-HD.The restoration on this set is finally where it should be. There are no extra features (Middle Earth appendices) that were present on previous Blu Ray releases so for the completist, you'll need to hang on to those or wait (hopefully) for a future release.PACKAGE: Standard multi-disc plastic case slid into a cardboard slipcase.

good

These are excellent transfers to the BluRay format for the theatrical releases of the Hobbit Trilogy. This is a six disc set and within that spread you’ll get one movie per disc and a paired special features disc. The special features are generous and this is probably the most affordable way to purchase the trilogy for those not interested in a lot frills and exclusive collector features.That said, the disc case has a strange flap design that is very prone to breakage. Rather than a long hinge that runs the length of the spine of the case like one might find on other BluRay cases, this one relies on small plastic pins to act a hinge. Mine arrived broken in the package and the discs were flying around freely in the packaging. It’s an unfortunate design choice given that this is an affordable set otherwise for the full trilogy. A trilogy set with quality discs such as this deserved better packaging.