The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies make a stunning debut on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray

With all due respect to the denizens of Westeros, J.R.R. Tolkein’s Lord of the Rings is the most beloved fantasy saga of all time, a claim that was further cemented into popular culture with the arrival of Peter Jackson’s original trilogy and his subsequent Hobbit prequels. One of the last great 4K holdouts (the Indiana Jones series being the other), Jackson’s entire 6-film adaptation has finally been released on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray and digitally, just in time for the holiday season. So are these new sets worth the upgrade from the previous Blu-ray releases or those ubiquitous Extended Edition DVD book collections? Absolutely.

Each collection features the original theatrical cut of each film, along with the extended editions that Jackson put together especially for home video upon each film’s original release. The Lord of the Rings collection comes in at a whopping 9 discs (one for each theatrical cut and two for each extended), while The Hobbit collection features 6 discs (one for each cut of the film). While the original extended edition home video releases featured a wealth of bonus material including behind-the-scenes documentaries and multiple commentary tracks, these 4K releases have omitted all of that material in order to maximize image quality (the original extras are available with the included digital codes for each set).

Jackson and his production crew have produced stunning new transfers of these films in 4K, and Middle-earth has never looked better. While the original Blu-ray Lord of the Rings set was marred with excessive digital noise removal and a strange green tint, this new set boasts a remarkable clarity that blows every previous home video version out of the water. HDR greatly expands the colour palette and black levels, which were often murky on earlier releases. It truly feels like seeing these films for the first time.

Jackson and his team have also gone back and retouched a number of digital shots and effects to bring them up to today’s standards and technical specifications. But this isn’t a case of Lucas-like interference; diehard fans will likely be hard-pressed to detect these changes. If anything, the added work brings less attention to these moments; apart from a few instances where the resolution upgrade makes digital cut lines more prominent, the effects shots look more seamless than they ever have before, a remarkable feat given that the original trilogy is nearly two decades old at this point.

While Jackson’s Hobbit prequels were never as universally beloved as the Lord of the Rings films, they look absolutely spectacular here. That shouldn’t be a surprise given the growth in digital filmmaking techniques between each trilogy, but they clearly outshine the original trilogy in terms of clarity and effects. With all the kerfuffle nearly a decade ago surrounding Jackson’s embrace of showing The Hobbit in 48fps in equipped theatres, it was actually a revelation to rewatch these films in stunning 4K, without the distracting soap opera effect the rapid 48fps showings induced (while the battle scenes did look incredible, I still remember audiences unintentionally laughing at the sped-up Hobbits racing around the Shire). This new set should help The Hobbit naysayers look at these films in a new way; while they may not capture the full magic of Jackson’s initial trilogy, they play a crucial part in building up the trajectory of the full series, and these transfers truly look astounding.

The films also all sound incredible, boasting gripping room-shaking Dolby Atmos mixes that place you in the middle of the action. The soundscape is vast and immersive and does as much justice to the massive battle sequences as it does to Howard Shore’s iconic score. These are definitely the discs you’ll want to whip out to show off your surround system when it’s safe to have people over again.

Fans have waited for years for The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies to make the jump to 4K, and the results were absolutely worth everyone’s patience. While the sets don’t come with the bells and whistles of the earlier Blu-ray and DVD sets, those extras are still available digitally when you redeem the included codes (note that those redeeming in Canada only have access to HD versions of the films instead of 4K for some reason). To their credit, Warner Bros. has confirmed that a massive collection of both trilogies is due next summer, with new bonus material and collector packaging. If you can’t bear the thought of making it through this winter without seeing these films in 4K or if you’ve already made your way through the extensive extras from earlier sets, you’ll want to jump on these now. But if you’re waiting for the “one true” collection to rule them all, you’ll want to start saving up for that precioussss box-set now.

The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray sets are available now.