Why You Need The Lord Of The Rings & The Hobbit on 4K UHD

Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit - home entertainment has never looked so good! Over the past decade, we have seen some incredible advancement in televisions with physical media following closely, developing Blu-Ray and 4K Ultra HD (4K UHD). Over the past two years, we have seen some absolute classics re-mastered and re-released on 4K UHD, including but not limited to; ‘The Shining’, ‘The Dark Knight’ and ‘The Matrix’, which all look incredible (you must check those out too).

In December of 2020, fans were treated with the best 4K UHD transfer to date, with the re-release of the ‘Middle Earth’ saga with ‘The Lord of The Rings’ trilogy and ‘The Hobbit’ trilogy. This transfer contained both the theatrical versions of the films as well as the beloved extended editions. Fans have been waiting for this opportunity for years to view these classics in Ultra HD and now they can.

The Lord of The Rings trilogy looks absolutely fantastic on 4K UHD. The films when released were praised for their groundbreaking visual effects, however, the films have never as good as they do on 4K UHD. Golem looks phenomenal, the battle for helms deep also looks incredible, with the remaster bringing to life the amazing visuals created by Industrial Light and Magic almost twenty years ago. The film's practical effects still hold-up as well, with many of the make-up effects on the orcs looking more polished and more detailed than they ever have before. Each film's sound has also been improved. You can hear every grunt, every sword being slung, every sound in Middle Earth is amplified.

The Hobbit films also benefit from this 4K re-master. As the films are not as old, their visual effects lend themselves well to a 4K re-render. Smaug looks amazing, with the fantastic physical performance from Benedict Cumberbatch being bought to life in crisp 4K UHD. The Battle of The Five Armies also appearing more epic than ever before. The visual effects are polished, giving the films a clear and crisp quality that the Blu-Rays did not possess. The standout sequence of the trilogy in 4K is Smaug’s destruction of Esgaroth. It looks simply stunning.

If you are a fellow film collector like me, then these films are a must-have on 4K UHD. Populated with updated effects that look utterly incredible and amazing sound.

Both collections are available for purchase from Sanity in-store and online. Be sure to check out everything Middle Earth here including both trilogies for Lord of the Rings & The Hobbit.

Christopher Pattison wrote this blog post for Sanity. See more from Chris here