# LotR Limited vs. Extended



## nova

Can anyone fill me in on the difference between Lord of the Rings Extended Editions, and the fairly new release Limited Edition that say it contains both versions of the films (theatrical release and extended cuts)?

I guess what I'm wondering is; if the extended edition is on 4 discs, how does the limited include both versions on two discs? I was going to buy the extended edition, but I'm still curious. Is the limited edition more compressed? Picture quality? Audio quality? ??? ???


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## Josuah

According to the web site, the first disc of each of the limited edition sets is a two-sided disc. So they can fit the theatrical on one side, and the extended on the other. But I'm pretty sure the extended one is already dual-layer on two discs, so the bitrate on the limited edition might be lower. Which would be bad.


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## Ayreonaut

No DTS-ES. Lame.


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## Bob_99

Just for clarification, while the original extended edition has four disks in the package, the movie is only on the first two disks. In the original extended edition, there is an option to play comments from the actors plus some extras which I would imagine takes up a lot of space. I don't have any solid numbers but I assume that if most of that stuff was eliminated, the amount of data for the movie would be greatly reduced.

Also, I was not aware that they took out the DTS-ES but I guess that would also squeeze the data down quite a bit. The LotR series is my personal favorite and I'm dissapointed that it's looking more and more like Peter Jackson will not be doing the Hobbit.

Bob


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## nova

So,... for an extra $3 the extended version is the way to go? And it has DTS?


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## Ayreonaut

The Platinum Series Special Extended Edition audio tracks include:


English (DTS 6.1 ES),
English (Dolby Digital 5.1 EX)
English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo)
Commentary by Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, and Philippa Boyens
Commentary by the design team
Commentary by the production/post-production team
Commentary by 10 actors, including Elijah Wood and Ian McKellen
Bill Hunt (Digital Bits) gave the theatrical version (FotR) DD audio a B+, and the extended edition DTS audio an A.


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## brandonnash

Sound is much better on the extenended version DTS. Also the additional footage on each really helps explain the movies further, unlike most movies with "additional scenes" that don't help do anything but extend the length of the movie. Well worth the additional price. And that's just the movies. The special features really do show how the movies were made. Peter Jackson is very well on his way to being the next really huge director.


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## nova

Well, I finally picked up all three in the platinum series edition, now all I gotta do is find time to listen,..... err. watch them :bigsmile:


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## Bob_99

Mark,

I hope that you enjoy them half as much as I did. It was the Fellowship of the Ring that really inspired me to get into the whole home theater scene. There was no way I could watch the extended version on a regular TV.

Enjoy.

Bob


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## Guest

Why would they bother rereleasing the movie without DTS? Seems like such a waste of time. And I never understood why they sell the theatrical version and the extended version in the same set. Who wants to watch both and compare what was added in the extended version?


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