'The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies' Extended Edition Release Date, Spoilers: Will It Improve?
"The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies" came out almost one year ago and will soon be hitting theaters again in a few months as the extended editions of the trilogy are expected to bow in cinemas.
However, fans will be able to get their own look at the movie series via Blu-Ray releases that are coming in November.
According to IGN, the three-disc set for the Blu-Ray will be priced at $36 with a cheaper DVD bundle to appear as well. The new version of the movie is slated to add another 20 minutes to the 144-minute running time. What is more, the new version will be R-rated, emphasizing that there is likely to be some gruesome violence on the way for the new version of the movie.
The extended edition for "An Unexpected Journey" added 13 minutes to its 169-minute running time while the longer version of "The Desolation of Smaug" saw its 161-minute length extended by 25 minutes.
On top of the extended version of the movie, fans will have access to nine hours of extra footage as well as an audio commentary by director Peter Jackson, and even a behind-the-scenes documentary on the film. This is in line with the previous Special Edition releases for the other two Hobbit films and the three "Lord of the Rings" movies as well.
There is also going to a box set of the three Hobbit films in their extended forms that will be available for around $100 in Blu-Ray form or $79 in DVD form. The Blu-Ray set will include nine discs while the DVD will include a whopping 15 discs; for comparison, the DVD box set of "The Lord of the Rings" extended editions was 12 discs.
The movies will also be released for three consecutive nights in October, allowing fans to experience the extended editions in theaters around the country.
These extended editions have always garnered tremendous praise for their packaging and the depth of the extras on offer. However, opinions on the movies themselves in their longer versions have wavered. The extended editions of the original "Lord of the Rings" films were met with high praise, often cited as the best versions of the films.
The same cannot be said for the extended editions of the newer movies, which already entered the arena with greater critical dismissal. IGN noted that while the extras were incredible, that the "extended cut makes an already too-long movie longer."
"Battle of Five Armies" was the most reviled of the films, earning a 61-percent approval on Rotten Tomatoes; "Journey" earned a 64-percent approval while "Smaug" garnered the trilogy-best 74 percent approval. All of the original "Lord of the Rings" films earned over 90 percent approval ratings.
The last film suffered from a lack of character development and the fact that it was one extensive battle sequence. Adding 20 minutes could potentially add to the characters, but the R-rating hints that the additions will likely include greater degrees of violence.
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