from Amazon:

LOTR 4-Disc - $25.99
LOTR 5-Disc - $59.94

What's the difference between the 4-disc and the 5-disc? The only info I have is on the 4-disc version. And would anyone know if the more than $30 just for a single disc worth it?

Thanks, you just helped me make the decision. I can forego the bookends, trading cards, and magazines. Will just settle for the 4-disc.

FYI lang... I got this from DigitalBits.

Below are the final specs for the 4-disc LOTR set from New Line, that'll be coming in November:

Discs One and Two - The Extended Version of the Film

208 minutes (split over both discs), anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) and Dolby Digital 5.1 EX and DTS 6.1 ES, isolated 5.1 sound effects mix, isolated 5.1 music track, Commentary Track One with the director and writers (Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens), Commentary Track Two with members of the design team (Grant Major, Ngila Dickson, Richard Taylor, Alan Lee, John Howe, Dan Hennah, Chris Hennah and Tania Rodger), Commentary Track Three with members of the production and post-production team (Barrie Osborne, Mark Ordesky, Andrew Lesnie, John Gilbert, Rick Porras, Howard Shore, Jim Rygiel, Ethan Van der Ryn, Mike Hopkins, Randy Cook, Christian Rivers, Brian Van't Hull, Alex Funke), Commentary Track Four with members of the cast (Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Liv Tyler, Sean Astin, John Rhys-Davies, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Orlando Bloom, Christopher Lee and Sean Bean).

Note: Discs Two and Three can be viewed in "explore" mode with traditional menus or "tour" mode via a Play All feature.

Disc Three - The Appendices Part I: From Book to Vision

2 and 1/2 hours of documentary content, including J.R.R. Tolkien-Creator of Middle-earth featurette, From Book to Script featurette, Visualizing the Story section featuring Storyboards and Pre-viz featurette, Designing and Building Middle-earth section featuring Designing Middle-earth featurette, Costume Design featurette and Weta Workshop featurette, design galleries including The Enemy, The Last Alliance, Isengard, The Fellowship, Rivendell and Lothlorien, interactive Middle-earth Atlas with timeline, New Zealand as Middle-earth intertactive map with video, disc introduction with director Peter Jackson.

Disc Four - The Appendices Part II: From Vision to Reality

3 and 1/2 hours of documentary content, including Filming section featuring a production photo gallery and the The Fellowship of the Cast featurette, A Day in the Life of a Hobbit featurette, Cameras in Middle-earth featuette, Visual Effects section and featuette, Post-Production section featuring Editorial featuette and a multi-angle presentation, Digital Grading featuette, Sound and Music featuette and Sound Design Demo, The Soundscapes of Middle-earth featurette, Music for Middle-earth featurette, The Road Goes Ever On featuette, disc introduction with director Peter Jackson.

All told, the 4-disc set is expected to include over 30 hours of unique content created just for this release (including the film and the commentaries). The discs will also feature additional DVD-ROM content and over 2,000 photos and conceptual sketches. And let me tell you... we've seen a few of those featuettes. These aren't 5-minute EPK pieces. They're much more substantial - 20 to 30+ minutes in many cases. Good stuff.
 
... so there we have it... I'm very, very excited about this awesome set.  

This probably rivals even the massive 4-disc Pearl Harbor: Vista series.  

Hello! I'm new here and a newbie sa DVD world.

Question lang po:  Diba R1 ang LOTR na binibenta sa Astrovision?  Gagana ba yun sa R3 restricted na DVD player?  Diba hindi?  E, bakit gumana yun sa player namin na may tatak na R3 sa likod?  Please sana po may sumagot. Thanks!

Hi dude!! Welcome to PinoyDVD.

Yup, ang LOTR ng Astrovision is an R1 copy.  

Since nagwork ang LOTR sa player mo, then most probably ang player mo ay multi-region na.  

Here's some info on what additional scenes were added, from www.scifi.com:

DVD Enhances First Rings

The upcoming special extended version DVD of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings features a completely new edit of the hit movie that now clocks in at more than three and a half hours, according to a preview offered to SCI FI Wire. Director Peter Jackson significantly altered the theatrical-release version of the movie, which itself ran nearly three hours in length, extending most of the film's scenes and adding important new scenes, new visual effects and a new soundtrack with nearly 50 minutes of new score music by Oscar-winning composer Howard Shore. All told, Jackson inserted about 30 minutes of new footage into the movie.

The new version of the movie occupies two discs of the upcoming four-disc special-edition DVD, which will be available Nov. 12 with a suggested retail price of $39.99. A limited collector's edition of the special version will also come out with a price of $79.92.

Among the added scenes:
•The film opens with a new sequence of Bilbo Baggins (Ian Holm) writing a journal entry entitled "Concerning Hobbits" and features extended scenes of life in Hobbiton.
•Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin) witness the exodus of the elves from Middle-earth to the Grey Havens.
•Aragorn talks more with Boromir (Sean Bean) about the fate of men.
•Gandalf (Ian McKellen) intones the Black Speech inscription from the One Ring during an extended Council of Elrond scene.
•Galadriel (Cate Blanchett) bestows gifts upon the Fellowship before they depart Lothlorien (and the new version restores Gimli's [John Rhys-Davies] crush on Galadriel).
•Extended scenes of the Fellowship with the elves in Lothlorien.

In addition to deepening the story and offering more insight into the characters, the restored footage also sets the viewer up for events to come in Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, the sequel that comes to movie theaters on Dec. 18.

Guys,

FYI, under the thread "LOTR extended versions" in the R3 releases and reviews section, ASTRO said that both (gift set and extended version) will be available in Astrovision (pending New Line's approval, FIREWIRED said). No word yet on pricing and the "when". It will be R1 definitely.

drool people, drool.

EASTER EGGS for the Extended version

(For those who already purchased or planning to purchase the extended version be sure to print this out already and make it ready for easy reference)

View the MTV Movie Awards LOTR spoof, as well as the four-minute "Fan Preview" of The Two Towers.
 
October 22, 2002 - If having two discs filled with amazing special features wasn't enough, the four-disc Extended Edition of The Fellowship of the Ring features two very cool Easter Eggs that just add to the awesomeness of the set.

These first two eggs are found on discs one and two of the set, and each one is of a video that many LOTR fans would be quite happy to have on DVD.

The first one is actually the MTV Movie Awards spoof on the Council of Elrond scene that is pretty hilarious. I've wanted to see this again since it first aired (and was repeated a thousand times on MTV), and now it's on DVD.

To find this one, go into the Scene Selection menu on disc one, and head to the final page where you'll find the real Council of Elrond scene. Highlight that scene and press "down" to find an image of the Ring. Press enter to view the entire clip from MTV complete with an introduction from Peter Jackson.





The second egg can be found on disc two, and is the awesome four-minute "Fan Preview" of The Two Towers that was shown at the end of The Fellowship of the Ring this past March as it was on the way out of the theaters.

To watch this awesome trailer, go to the Scene Selection menu and navigate your way to the final page where you'll find the chapter with the Fan Club Credits. Move the cursor to the numbers on the far right of the screen, and when it's on "48" press down to make an image of the Two Towers appear. Press enter to view the trailer in full anamorphic widescreen and Dolby Digital 5.1 audio.

Good luck to those who ordered their copy online and had it shipped to Manila.  I heard the item is very attractive to the Customs people because of the appearance and the weight and thus you can expect a higher amount to be paid for taxes.

Though the bookends were said to be well packed to prevent any damage (no need to worry about them moving about in the box and getting cracked or chipped off), the question remains on the protection of the outer box itself.

Just hope that adequate protection is/was provided to ensure that the outer box, especially the corners are not damaged/deformed.  Plus, that the Customs people inspecting them won't damage them with their cutters like what happens sometimes with regular DVDs.

Also, be cautious with some not-known or newly opened online stores that sell it at very low prices.  I read somewhere before in a different site mentioning warnings on this.  Some stores may ship to you the rejects or damaged stocks and will not replace them or refund your payment.

They may also charge you but fail to deliver anything.  Though you can revert the charges with your credit card, you may experience some hassles and frustrations.  

So go with the reliable onlines sources as well as local sellers.

Wow, how much did you get your gift set for? I'm excited for mine already!

Good morning, guys, I'm new here to posting and very much intereseted in putting up my own DVD collection and Lord of the Rings has caught my eye.

Although, the collectors edition is too expensive for me @ 5,300 from Parc.  Might have a set delivered from the US na lang pero accdg to the Amazon website it has RCE coding and they do not guarantee it will play on multi region enabled players.  Does anyone have the skinny on RCE?  

Info on RCE is available at the following thread:

Regional Coding Enhancement


Hope this helps!

I don't think LOTR Gift Set has RCE.

You may want to read this:

DVD Talk - Regional Coding Enhancement

hi i'm a newbie,

  how much would the 5-discs fotr cost in astrovision?

As of now no word from them yet..even the time they would have a copy...

Hey guys! Im quite new here...I know that the extended edition will be available on DVD and VHS format, but will it be appearing on a VCD format? and will it be available for rental purposes on video shops? Your replies will be greatly appreciated...tnx!

Hi Mr. Hankey,

I can't really remember where I read it, maybe the official site or somewhere, but it was really indicated that No The Two Towers stuff will be included in the Extended Version of LOTR:FOTR

dni  

If I remember correctly, I read a thread here somewhere that the extended version has a couple of easter eggs that included the MTV spoof of LOTR:FOTR and another easter egg that was sort of a teaser for LOTR:TTT that was shown in the theaters in US last March when LOTR:FOTR was on its way out of the theaters.

just in case this was already posted some time ago, i'm just reposting this easter egg info...  got it from dvd movie guide:

Discs One and Two also include a couple of Easter eggs. On DVD One, go to the final page of the 'Select a Scene' area and highlight chapter 27. Click down from there and you'll see a ring. Hit 'enter' and you'll get a three-minute, 29-second spoof from the MTV Movie Awards that features Sarah Michelle Gellar and Jack Black.

...head to the egg on DVD Two. Enter its 'Select a Scene' area and click chapter 48 on the right side of the screen. Once you do this, move the icon down to highlight a two towers icon. Click 'enter' and you'll find the original Two Towers preview trailer that appeared toward the end of Fellowship's theatrical run.