Lord of the Rings, The: Book I - The Return of the Shadow

Hot
Updated
 
9.5 (44)
10210 0 1 0 12

User reviews

44 reviews
 
70%
 
25%
 
5%
3-5 stars
 
0%
1-3 stars
 
0%
Overall rating
 
9.5
Audio/Video Quality
 
9.0(10)
Audio Editing
 
9.7(10)
Visual Editing
 
9.9(10)
Narrative
 
9.6(10)
Enjoyment
 
9.1(44)
Back to Listing
10 results - showing 1 - 5
1 2
Ordering
Overall rating
 
10.0
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
10.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0
Not much to add at this point. The edit is technically flawless. I could not detect video or audio editing anywhere and just enjoyed watching.

This does just what is advertised, gives you a version faithful to the book. All the extras added by Peter Jackson are pretty much gone, and it's just the story as you read. Not that I dislike all the extra stuff, but it is nice to have this "purist" version to watch. I also like that the movies have been broken up into more bite-size pieces so it doesn't feel quite as much of a marathon viewing commitment.

My only minor wish is that of other reviewers: 5.1 audio, and HD video.

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
Report this review Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 0 0
Overall rating
 
10.0
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
10.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0
Couldn't find it in a higher quality but, other than that, this series is a perfect example of an edit as the original product should have been.

Superior.

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
Report this review Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 0 0
(Updated: February 24, 2020)
Overall rating
 
10.0
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
10.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0
As good as the LOTR books are, I was worried going into this edit that such a radical book edit would go too far. As weird and unnecessary as many of PJ's additions are, I liked a lot of them and felt that not only do they help many parts of Tolkein's story to exist in a movie setting, but also just straight up improve many elements of the original work. I won't get into everything here, but nevertheless I was a little skeptical.

While my opinion could change when I watch the subsequent parts, based on this first installment alone this edit is such a massive improvement. It just flows so well and is just a joy to watch. The original, in comparison, just seems to waste your time with countless unnecessary scenes and bits of dialogue, and while the extended editions include lots of good scenes, they just become even more bloated for their trouble. This edit deftly weaves between the best qualities of both theatrical and extended editions to create an edit which is ten times more pleasant to watch and sacrifices very little to achieve it. Like I said, as the movies go on and the edits become more radical my opinion may change, but at least for now this edit is a lovely alternative for both book and movie fans.

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
Report this review Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 1 0
Overall rating
 
10.0
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
10.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0
I can only give this fanedit a perfect review since I just truly loove this version of LOTR so much more than the original cut / edit (both theatrical and EE). To me all of Kerr's 6 books are a masterpeace. Only thing distracting is that, as far as I know, there is no HD-version of it available, so when watching the Hobbit fanedit beforehand, the quality difference is noticable. Let's hope an HD version comes out someday. This will be the version I will watch from now on if I watch the LOTR. Thank you Kerr for the work you put in!

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
DVD
Report this review Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 0 0
Overall rating
 
9.6
Audio/Video Quality
 
9.0
Audio Editing
 
9.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
10.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0
Not much more to add to the previous reviews. The editing is superbly done, and apart from what might be a half-a-second too quick audio cross-fade, I didn't notice any cuts. Thanks for doing these book edits; reading the books along with watching these made me realize what Jackson has done well and not so well.

It takes a minute for the eyes to adjust to the SD quality, but after that it's unnoticeable. If nothing else, it helps focusing on the story and not to be blindsided by the stupendously beautiful CG-trickery.

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
M
Report this review Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 0 0
10 results - showing 1 - 5
1 2