New Packaging of LotR with Costa Botes Documentaries!

Post by **Primula Baggins** » Mon Jun 26, 2006 4:34 pm

I always thought of that as a backhanded way to get some of his detractors to appreciate how hard it is to edit a film. . . .

Post by **eborr** » Mon Jun 26, 2006 4:45 pm

I wonder to what extend PJ had a hand in this, it would seem to me that this is entirely a New Line venture, not that I have any side one way or anther.

Post by **halplm** » Mon Jun 26, 2006 5:08 pm

seems about right that it woudl come out at the same time as teh original star wars "bonus discs"... two sets I won't be buying...

(I could go on and on and on...)

Post by **Alatar** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 2:15 pm

Here's the official page:

http://lordoftherings.net/index_400_hv_limiteddvd.html

Disc One

Includes both the Theatrical version and the Extended version of the film.

You can choose which version to watch!

Disc Two

Features a new feature-length documentary with never-before-seen "making of" footage.

Filmmaker Costa Botes, who was personally selected by Peter Jackson, took a unique approach to telling the story of the cast and crew experience on The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

By letting the raw footage speak for itself, the result is a fascinating telling of the challenges, training, and camaraderie that resulted in the greatest adventure on film.

Post by **Old_Tom_Bombadil** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 3:17 pm

I'm waiting for the version that allows you to listen to the film dubbed in different languages: Sindarin, Khuzdul, and Rohirric.

No one but the Fëanorians would want to hear it in Quenyan, and we all know that Fëanorians don't watch videos!

Post by **Alatar** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 3:40 pm

What the hell do you think the Palantíri were?

Post by **Primula Baggins** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 4:06 pm

You have discerned their true evil, Alatar. . . .

Post by **Lidless** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 4:21 pm

Old_Tom_Bombadil wrote:...we all know that Fëanorians don't watch videos!

Alatar wrote:What the hell do you think the Palantíri were?

Alatar is closer than he knows.

"Palantíri" - "far sight"

"Television" is derived from mixed Greek and Latin roots, (Greek "tele," meaning far, and Latin "visus," meaning seeing).

They probably fell into relative disuse because the number of commercials per hour kept increasing.

I think Prim is right.

Post by **halplm** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 7:47 pm

well, that, and the flaming pyres and such...

Post by **Alatar** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 9:31 am

Just saw this on TORN

Director angry over Lord of the Rings cuts

The director of three new "warts-and-all" documentaries set to be released with the new editions of Lord of the Rings on DVD this autumn says he was not consulted over cuts made by studio New Line.

Wellington film-maker Costa Botes was given full access to the set of Peter Jackson's fantasy triptych and his work is said to take a more critical approach in comparison to the original documentaries that appeared with the films the first time they were released on DVD.

He shot about 800 hours of footage, starting work a year before the cameras rolled with Jackson's full blessing.

Botes told New Zealand website Stuff that he is pleased the films are coming out, even though his deal with the studio means he will see no royalties from DVD sales, but is disappointed that he has not been consulted about cuts.

He said: "I had no opportunity to take part in this at all. They just shut me out completely.

"Once they figured out what they wanted to do, there was no opportunity to argue for any of the cuts and no opportunity to correct some really silly things that were done. It would have been nice to have been consulted because I could have actually finessed those things."

Scenes which have been removed include those of extras dressed as orcs singing Stand By Me, apparently because New Line did not wish to pay for the rights to the song. Scenes in which radios are blaring at the HQ of special effects company Weta have also been cut, as well as images of the tops of New Zealand's Mt Ruapehu and Mt Ngauruhoe.

"I can understand the Maori attitude to avoiding depiction of the peaks in the film ... but what have we come to," said Botes.

One of Botes' documentaries will appear on each of the new editions of the DVD versions of the three Lord of the Rings films out on DVD in August. The Lord of the Rings made $4.7bn (£2.5bn) at the box office between 2001 and 2003.

Post by **Primula Baggins** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 3:57 pm

Well, that decreases my interest even further.

I hope there will be a chance for a director's cut of the documentary in future, as a separate release.

Post by **Lidless** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 4:17 pm

...followed by an extended edition, which includes a documentary about Costa Bote-loads-of-money...

Post by **Old_Tom_Bombadil** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 5:11 pm

Alatar wrote:What the hell do you think the Palantíri were?

Actually, the palantíri were more like webcams, which is something completely different than the packaged programming you'll find on your typical DVD. Heck, it takes 20 minutes just to get through those stupid "previews"!

(Fëanorians aren't the only ones who hate sitting through commercials.

)

Post by **MithLuin** » Fri Aug 25, 2006 7:15 am

Ah, but Old Tom doesn't rip your arms off when you make him sit through long commercials.

Fëanoreans have been known to do that

Post by **Alatar** » Fri Aug 25, 2006 3:14 pm

First clips starting to appear!

http://progressive.stream.aol.com/newli ... 12k_dl.mov

Post by **kams** » Fri Aug 25, 2006 7:26 pm

There is a clip called "Snow" at the comingsoon.net site.
It took a loong while to download.

contents: technical discussion of how the snow at Caradhras was made and used. Shots of the Fellowship wading through it. Then a bit of Viggo dressed as Aragorn going fishing.

After watching it, it seems to me that a real, real fan of how movies are made and lovers of actor's antics would like to see an "organic" documentary. It isn't as polished as the ones with the TE & EE releases, which in and of itself isn't bad. I can definitely image a market for this.

I wonder how it compares to Ringers: Lord of the Fans.
Anyone who saw that documentary willing to look at the "Snow" clip and give a comparison?

BTW Ringers: Lord of the Fans is $5.99 at Netflix. Still not sure I want to see it. Maybe I'm just a tepid fan.

Post by **Alatar** » Fri Aug 25, 2006 9:18 pm

Here's the link Kams is refering to.

http://downloads.comingsoon.net/snowlarge.mov

This is far more interesting to me than Ringers, which was really poor to be honest. I certainly intend buying these, but I may wait for someone to pick them up as a Cristmas pressie

Post by **superwizard** » Fri Aug 25, 2006 9:52 pm

Thanks Al. Wow that's the first time I've seen such sonwy fake snow! They really did put so much effort into producing these films its inspiring!

Post by **Erunáme** » Wed Aug 30, 2006 9:58 pm

So did anyone buy these today?

I really want to watch all the extra stuff, but I really can't justify buying all three movies again. They really need to release these documentaries separately.

Post by **JewelSong** » Wed Aug 30, 2006 10:09 pm

Just watched the clip on www.lordoftherings.net.

Damn.

I think I'm gonna have to buy these...I do think so.