{"id":93896,"date":"2014-11-05T10:48:37","date_gmt":"2014-11-05T15:48:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/?p=93896"},"modified":"2014-11-05T10:48:37","modified_gmt":"2014-11-05T15:48:37","slug":"hands-on-a-review-of-the-desolation-of-smaug-extended-edition-digipak","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/2014\/11\/05\/93896-hands-on-a-review-of-the-desolation-of-smaug-extended-edition-digipak\/","title":{"rendered":"Hands-on: a review of the Desolation of Smaug Extended Edition digipak"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"DoSEEDVD\" TheHutt, chief editor at Henneth-Annun.ru<\/a> provides us a hands-on look at the digipak for the Special Extended Edition of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. We have to say, with a couple of quibbles that will make hardcore collectors twitch in frustration, it looks pretty awesome.<\/p>\n

In fact, as a visual presentation, it’s nearly<\/i> perfect.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

A review of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug: Special Extended Edition DVD Digipak<\/h3>\n

by Ringer TheHutt<\/b><\/p>\n

The UK DVD design<\/a> of the Hobbit Extended Editions is somehow unique. In case one wonders, who would have a use for DVD in the age of Full HD, 3D and iTunes downloads, here’s the answer: collectors. <\/p>\n

That’s because the UK DVD foldout digipak actually fits in style with the Lord of the Rings Special Extended Edition DVDs which are probably unsurpassed in stylishness and consistency. <\/p>\n

Note: the US DVD has a different design for the outer slipcase, and in case of The Desolation of Smaug, is exclusively sold at WalMart<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The inner digipak is the same though. So let’s unpack of the UK DVD and check out what it has to offer. No fear: the inscription “Extended Edition” and “9 hours of bonus materials” is not printed on the box; neither are the BBFC logos. They are on a separate sheet bent around the back of the box, which can easily be removed. <\/p>\n

\"DOSSEEDVD_001\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The back of this removable sheet contains the technical information and a brief list of the bonus materials. <\/p>\n

\"DOSSEEDVD_002\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The UK DVD contains English, German, French and Italian languages. Note that it’s Region 2, so it cannot be played on unmodified US DVD players. <\/p>\n

\"DOSSEEDVD_003\"<\/a><\/p>\n

When the tech sheet is removed, the box gains in stylishness immediately. The color hue is the green stone of Erebor, and the film title is gold-plated and embossed. <\/p>\n

The symbol under the logo is the Arkenstone which we have seen in the film. This is really a nice minimalistic design. <\/p>\n

\"DOSSEEDVD_004\"<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The outer slipcase is made of sturdy cardboard with embossing effects. It is more glossy than the “Unexpected Journey” one (which was rather flat). The title is embossed. <\/p>\n

[Editor’s note:<\/i> I love embossing as a design element; I think this looks great]<\/p>\n

\"DOSSEEDVD_005\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The back of the outer slipcase, with a Dwarvish ornament in the middle. <\/p>\n

\"DOSSEEDVD_006\"<\/a><\/p>\n

And the spine. Looks nice, on first glance. Unfortunately, we are in for a rather unpleasant surprise… <\/p>\n

\"DOSSEEDVD_007\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Still, everything looks good and the unpacking continues. The inside digipak (foldout cardboard thingie). The digipak has the same design as the US DVD, with a picture (again, if you don’t know where to find this one — head to Walmart). <\/p>\n

\"DOSSEEDVD_008\"<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The back side of the digipak contains the billing block, and the Arkenstone once again. <\/p>\n

\"DOSSEEDVD_009\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Opening the digipak. There is once again a map (this time, Thorin’s map) and an illustration inside: Smaug, Bilbo, and the Arkenstone lying in the pile of treasure. <\/p>\n

\"DOSSEEDVD_010\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Opening the digipak further. Now for the good stuff: the background of the trays is decorated by splendid sketches by Alan Lee and John Howe. There is no booklet (and no holder for one), but I am going to change that once again. <\/p>\n

[Editor’s note:<\/i> last year, TheHutt made his own special booklet for the SEE of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey — none of the SEEs for The Hobbit have them. You can read about his customisation here<\/a>.]<\/p>\n

There are three trays holding five discs. The UK discs contain BBFC age rating logos, unfortunately — they violate the nice designs somehow. <\/p>\n

\"DOSSEEDVD_013\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A close-up look: <\/p>\n

\"DOSSEEDVD_011\"<\/a>
\n\"DOSSEEDVD_012\"<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

So far, so good. Now for the king discipline: how well can Warner handle continuity? We put the boxes of The Hobbit: An unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug together to compare them. After all, in New Line Cinema’s time and age, they managed to maintain a continuous design across three years. <\/p>\n

The first glance from the front looks good, the editions fit each other optically quite well.<\/p>\n

\"DOSSEEDVD_014\"<\/a><\/p>\n

But the second glance from the spine reveals an utter disappointment. Warner UK, who is your designer? Fire him at once. The logos aren’t level with each other! The titles are misaligned, the logos are misaligned, and The Desolation of Smaug box is two millimetres taller than the one for An Unexpected Journey! This is sheer ignorance. <\/p>\n

\"DOSSEEDVD_015\"<\/a><\/p>\n

After all, how will these collector’s boxes stand in the shelf? Somewhat like this. And you can see how disordered the “Hobbit” side is; whereas, the “Lord of the Rings” side looks perfectly consistent.<\/p>\n

\"DOSSEEDVD_016\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Final words. The box looks really really great for itself. However, Warner Bros.’ designers seem not to know who their target audience is: collectors! Such an ignorance is really annoying — although the rest of the work is great. <\/p>\n

Somehow it feels symptomatic to Warner Bros.’ attitude towards the whole “Hobbit” project, as opposed to New Line’s towards The Lord of the Rings. <\/p>\n

TheHutt is chief editor at Henneth-Annun.ru<\/a>, the Russian LOTR\/Hobbit website. He is also known in Tolkien fandom for creating the fonts Ringbearer and Aniron, which are inspired by the original fonts used in The Lord of the Rings movies.<\/p>\n

These views are his own and do not necessarily represent those of TheOnering.net, or its staff.<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

TheHutt, chief editor at Henneth-Annun.ru provides us a hands-on look at the digipak for the Special Extended Edition…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":92353,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[84,82,4,18,148,1911],"tags":[2674],"class_list":["post-93896","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-merchandise-collectibles","category-merchandise-dvds","category-hobbit-movie","category-merchandise","category-hobbit","category-the-hobbit-the-desolation-of-smaug","tag-special-extended-edition"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t