Disappointing DVD

RangerLady23

RangerLady23

Lorien
So I saw on the main menu of our little forum, the headline story of everyone's disappointment over the EE of AUJ. I can feel their pain.
I bought mine at Wal-Mart, the only place I could find it and get it home and guess what? No features, none of the stuff promised on the box, and certainly no nine hours of footage behind the scenes.
Very disappointed in Warner Brothers for their lackluster release also.
No displays in store, no commercial spots on Tv or web, nothing.
Come on guys, you're supposed to be living up to big memories of LotR. So far you aren't even looking in the trilogy's direction, much less rising to it's level.
 
Why is everyone having such a hard time with this?
If you want the normal EE with all of the special features why not just buy it on Amazon? It's not only the cheapest place but they ship incredibly fast...at least for people in the US...

I had the AUJ EE on the day it was released, ordered from Amazon...and the quality is AT LEAST that of the LOTR EEs, with the only major difference being that there are nearly 3 more hours of documentaries than the LOTR EEs had.

I don't know what ridiculous edition Wal-mart has but I sure wouldn't get it from there.
 
I bought the blu-ray EE. It was obvious on the packaging that the DVDs were a 2 disc set, but the blu-ray was the one stating 9 hours of extras. Hoping when I get home that I am not deceived. I am not expecting to, I think the DVD version in the one missing all the stuff
 
I long ago pre-ordered the 5-DVD set from Amazon, and not only did it arrive on time, it actually arrived on Monday evening, a day early. And I have been loving it ever since. I do feel bad, however, for those who have had problems, either with the digital downloads or the physical versions.
 
some of us (me) is not making The Hobbit a big part of their lives and wasn't overly concerned with planning ahead

some of us (me) are not willing to pay shipping and handling and will have to (without Amazon Prime) unless we buy even *more* from Amazon

some of us (me) remember what it was like to be able to walk into a store and buy something like this with no problem and often at highly discounted prices

so... some of us (me) just tried to do the same this week


some of us (you?) can say we took a chance and paid a price and I won't disagree with you. I am so completely ambivalent about The Hobbit AUJ as a movie (that surprises even me but it's true) I wasn't sure I wanted to buy it. Impulsively I said, 'do it'. But if WB wants to make it so hard to buy that I can't make it an impulse buy then I got lots of other media to occupy myself with.

I will likely get the DVD at some point. I'm doing okay till that moment arrives. WB (et. al.) seems to be the loser on this proposition... not me.

I am really glad I didn't buy the 2-disc version. I had it in my hands till my brain screamed... something about this price feels wrong... and I looked further at the package. If I had bought that and discovered my mistake *after* I opened up, thus making it impossible to return, I would have been royally pissed.
 
Same day delivery and sometimes a day early. The real EE does have over 9 hours of extras, I'm still watching on it all.
 
unfortunately we don't live in the same world that we did ten years ago...video stores are on their way out.
But honestly you will probably still save more with Amazon (including shipping) because store prices are almost always higher.

I guess I am a little tired of hearing people complain about WB on here...it seems that no matter what they do, literally, people still find things to be unhappy about. Are expectations that high?

Not only did they give us these movies (even if you don't like them), but they gave PJ totally creative freedom, that becomes more and more obvious every day.
Plus, they are doing remarkably well with consistency to LOTR in the home entertainment dept...did they have to give us the appendices part 7-12? did they have to do it in the same style and look that New Line did LOTR in a decade ago? did they have to give us extended editions? If we get complete recordings of the score down the road then there will be literally nothing that we had on LOTR that we don't have the option to have now.

What more do people want?
 
Gotta agree there, too many articles out re the movie industry clamping down - PJ, IMO, seems to have been given a wide latitude, and with the MGM mess and delays and logistics can only be grateful that WB seems to have kept a relatively hands-off approach, as much as is possible when they are paying the bills.

And WB had to be involved with the recent fan event, which I think was a huge, wonderful success - and the technology WORKED around the world, which was great.
 
but compared to New Line when the Lord of the Rings came out, WB whole marketing strategy particularly with the release of the EE onto DVDs in unacceptable. They've had plenty of time to get it out onto market and advertise it in good time for a November 5th release date. I'm not going to order from Amazon because it is out of stock and I just want the convenience of walking into a high street store and purchasing it myself with it in hand. Why is that so difficult for WB to do?

Ever since these Hobbit movies got up and running, their whole strategy in trying to appease fans and non-fans alike to the movies has been really bizarre. New Line made these guys look like a bunch of amateurs in comparison
 
So the EE DVDs are a little bit harder to find than the Blu-rays...
I'm sure that ten years ago the VHS versions of LOTR EE were a bit harder to find than the DVDs.
 
about the technology, perhaps I should bite the bullet and start getting a blu-ray player BUT I feel I'm not ready to switch over to blu rays yet. I want that 5 DVD box set, it would go perfect alongside my LotR EE DVDs
 
...their interest is simply to get as much out of the consumers as possible - which in itself is both understandable and totally fine.

Problem is, that the only thing that gets more and more obvious is that they really don't think that pleasing the ringers is profitable. They are happy to invest in and market the movie, as long as they don't have to spend any extra time or money on quality geek products. Which is really sad, because it probably would pay off, in the long run. Tolkien geeks will keep on being born, even if these movies don't become classics in their own right.

And of course they (mostly) let PJ keep doing his thing. The 'Hobbit' movies will bring in dragon hoards of money for them, even if all three films would get a cool reception from critics and fans. Even if Jar Jar Binks would be in it. On a bunny sled,

I don't think people have high expectations on WB, but we still have to make the fair comparison of these products, to the ones released by New Line ten years ago. Our disappointment shouldn't come as a surprise to WB. They just don't care. So there's really no need to defend them.
 
This is exactly what I am talking about. The Ringers are never satisfied but give me one reason why they shouldn't be?
We still have Weta and all of the wonderful 'geeky' collectibles...we still have the Noble Collection...We have EEs that are carbon copies of the format LOTR had ten years ago...we have the Chronicle books which are beautiful...What more do you want? Am I missing something?
 
to buy the DVD version for that very same reason, even though I switched to Blu-ray about 8 years ago...Those DVD versions sure are beautiful.
 
I guess I am a little tired of hearing people complain about WB on here...it seems that no matter what they do, literally, people still find things to be unhappy about. Are expectations that high?
Click to expand...

I don't think that's me. Perhaps it's hard to keep track of people and what they say and think but I am not impossible to please and I have not made numerous posts about what I'm unhappy about. So, if you got an issue with that, I don't feel like I'm the person you should be scolding.

I'm not even unhappy about the DVD. If that wasn't clear in my post, I'll clarify it now. I'm just saying I can't buy it on impulse and that's because of how this is being marketed/handled. I'm not bothered. WB is out money. How is stating that "finding something to be unhappy about"? And why are people who explain what their situation is being judged at all?

I will admit to being an old fart and old farts have a tendency to think things back in the day were better. But dang, back in the day when you could buy what you want when you wanted it without paying an extra $10 for 'Shipping and Handling" and waiting a week (or more to get it) *was* better. (and store prices, on the week of release, were always very competitive to online prices.) If people today are happy with the current situation, great. I don't think it's better, though.

As far as WB, though... it is my experience they have badly bungled quite a few things once become tied up in the Middle-earth franchise going back to "Something is Coming" fiasco of December 2009. (Searching my post history will reveal a few posts during that time where I took WB to task quite severely.)

It's just because I don't think I'm impossible to please, because I've pleaded for a more balanced approach to criticism (from either end of the parameter of 'like this' vs 'don't like this'), because I often advocate for understanding the give and take of filmmaking decisions, and because I think I'm fairly temperate in when and how I express displeasure that I feel like - every once in a while - I get to say something critical about something.

I honestly don't care - at this moment - whether I have the EE in my hands or not. It's going on my Christmas wish list and I bet I'll get it from someone and I can wait. Waiting doesn't make me unhappy. Being scolded for not being like you kind of makes me unhappy.

But WB is not a good marketer. I say that from the perspective of being a savvy consumer and being in the profession of working in marketing.
 
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