That's exactly right. I didn't mean to imply it existed; it doesn't, but the raw materials are available for Peter Jackson to produce a finished product.
Warner Brothers Insults LOTR and Hobbit Fans With ME: UCE
- Thread starter JWPlatt
- Start date
Peter Jackson released about a dozen "Production Diaries" during the making of the Hobbit; each one 15-30 minutes long. If each PD was edited from even 5 hours of raw footage (unlikely) meant to ultimately (sorry) be used in special features/BTS featurettes, that means at minimum WB/NLC could produce another 6 hours of usable content, with so-far unused material. You could probably double my estimate of the raw footage available for that, mixed up with some post-filming interviews and such.
I would estimate the cost of editing all that material into featurettes and stamping BR's for that shouldn't be more than $1 million.
I would estimate the cost of editing all that material into featurettes and stamping BR's for that shouldn't be more than $1 million.
Bill Hunt of DigitalBits.com said:
I would expect a high-quality production to go beyond your $1m budget, especially if scenes need to be completed with special effects and scoring, with sessions and potentially some work from Howard Shore.
Amazon's listing is now for $600. How low will it go before any units are actually sold? 
Just for a dash of perspective, we are talking about one of, if not the, most lavishly documented film series of all time already here. As I understand it, the DoS extended blu ray has ten hours of featurettes alone. So, you'll excuse me if I don't exactly weep for the prospect of no additional documentary material.
No do I feel "insulted" and I consider myself a fan of Tolkien's and Jackson's work.Amazon's listing is now for $600. How low will it go before any units are actually sold?
Just for a dash of perspective, we are talking about one of, if not the, most lavishly documented film series of all time already here. As I understand it, the DoS extended blu ray has ten hours of featurettes alone. So, you'll excuse me if I don't exactly weep for the prospect of no additional documentary material.
Special features are usually interviews and some raw footage and stuff. You don't need vfx or scoring for an interview
I wasn't so terribly fond of DoS, haven't seen the blurays or Extended Editions of any of the hobbit films. So I guess my estimate of another 6 hours of content is a bit lowballed, eh?Just for a dash of perspective, we are talking about one of, if not the, most lavishly documented film series of all time already here. As I understand it, the DoS extended blu ray has ten hours of featurettes alone. So, you'll excuse me if I don't exactly weep for the prospect of no additional documentary material.
I refer to deleted scenes for possible special effects and scoring work.Special features are usually interviews and some raw footage and stuff. You don't need vfx or scoring for an interview
$800 for this utterly obscene. Has any collected edition cost that much? Buying each set individually of the TNG DVDs or even Blu-Rays would have cost in that range but with that you're getting few hundred hours worth of material for a TV series that ran for 7 years along with loads of bonus material. But for 6 movies that might be 24 hours or so of entertainment and whatever many more hours of bonus material? $800 is a bit steep.
And when collected editions came out they didn't cost as much as the individual sets combined, it was more of a bargain.
$800 for this set is utterly ridiculous unless it comes with a solid-gold brick shaped like an Orc turd.
And when collected editions came out they didn't cost as much as the individual sets combined, it was more of a bargain.
$800 for this set is utterly ridiculous unless it comes with a solid-gold brick shaped like an Orc turd.
"DNR?"There are 189 negative reviews out of 201 total.
I'm basically OK with the theatrical versions of all of these movies. Except for the DNR used in the LOTR trilogy, that is.
Kor
What are we not resuscitating in these films?
Solid gold or not, I would not by Orc turd.
As for the "obscene" part, does offend you on a moral level?
Digital Noise Reduction - not Do Not Resusitate. Anathema to collectors who care about quality. It's a studio trying to make the film look so good and slick that the actors look like living wax museum models instead of humans with real flesh because all subtlety has been removed. It removes all the grain and other analog "noise" such as imperfections on the negative during the transfer. In the process a lot of other "information" is lost as well that would make film look like film and people look real. It's considered heavy-handed and tone-deaf to what people actually want when the DNR dial is inexpertly turned up beyond very subtle levels.
http://www.cinedrome.ch/hometheater/dvd/dnr/
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Well, I had a little fun at Gaith's expense about the cost of this set, which was indeed seriously set at $800 upon prerelease. Then after nearly universally and angry negative opinions from the intended market (collectors), the price was reduced on Amazon to $720. Continuing pressure from 194 critical reviews out of 208 so far, mostly giving it one star (the minimum) out of five, has resulted in the price going still lower, now to $600. So maybe I dug too deep at Gaith, whose predicted price drop has come true, but the reason for the discounts has been about reaction and revised expectations about perceived value from the audience - not about the price being a "placeholder."
Further, here's mention of the continuing saga in Bill Hunt's article yesterday, including comment from Peter Jackon via TheOneRing.Net which appears to indicate deceptive marketing by Warner Brothers, trying to say Peter Jackson was involved in the "Ultimate" Collector's Edition when he really wasn't:
http://www.digitalbits.com/columns/my-two-cents/082416_1645
Expand the following quote to see director Peter Jackson's comment about the set.
Bill Hunt of DigitalBits.com said:
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It seems that it's a general rule that WB never provides any nourishment for its cash cows and then wonders why the milk stops flowing and there are nothing but rotting carcasses in the field.
Consumer pushback resulted in a company making a change? I, for one, am shocked. shocked, I tell you.
Consumer pushback is unsurprising and a smart, responsive company should be unsurprising. I don't think Warner Brothers is often accused of that positive quality. But corporate stupidity itself can be shocking in just how tone deaf and evasive it can become. See Mylan's singular comment about their EpiPen price increases for just how evasive they can be. WB has only acknowledged the price is high with no explanation or admission that Peter Jackson is not actually involved, or put forth a responsive reply that they are listening to their customers and will look into what what they can work out with Jackson for a future release.
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That's not really a price drop, though. Warners hasn't reduced the MSRP. That's Amazon discounting the set by eating into their profit margin. Which is what Amazon does on most new releases; pre-order it, and they'll trade their margin for your business.
I think that's true, though I don't know for a fact whether WB has made a concession to Amazon. But add in that, unlike items that are discounted by a single retailer among hundreds or thousands, this is an Amazon exclusive so the price is the price. And the exclusive nature and size of Amazon gives them a bargaining position with WB.
By the way, I looked a little deeper at the "positive" reviews of the set on Amazon, and, let me know if I'm wrong, but these seem to be a tad sarcastic:
And so forth. I'm not sure there's a single, sincere, positive review.
By the way, I looked a little deeper at the "positive" reviews of the set on Amazon, and, let me know if I'm wrong, but these seem to be a tad sarcastic:
Chris Henley with a Four-Star review said:
Lisa A. McCrohanon with a Five-Star review said:
Nathan with a Five-Star review said:
DL with a Five-Star review said:
And so forth. I'm not sure there's a single, sincere, positive review.
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Where are you getting this this is "an Amazon exclusive" from? As far as I know, based on the materials I've seen from WB, this isn't anything of the sort.
They'll learn or they'll die.