In a couple of weeks Lord of the Rings finally makes an appearance on Blu-Ray (the delay caused in most part by legal wranglings).

Fans around the world are complaining that the editions being released are the theatrical editions – not the extended editions that we’ve been able to buy (or rent) for years. (God, has it really been 10 years since LOTR came out?!)

There really only seems to be one motivation behind this: greed.

Paramount knows that LOTR fans have been waiting and will buy whatever edition they put out. And then, in a couple of years, will buy again the extended editions on Blu-Ray. They did this on DVD with good profits, so why not do it again?

Here in Spain, to make matters worse, the LOTR BR Box will cost almost double what it costs in the UK and the USA. And they wonder why piracy is rife. Spain has the largest problem in the western world with movie piracy. And we have the highest average cost – as compared to average income – of DVDs. Hmm. Coincidence?

Do these people never learn? There is panic in the movie industry right now – companies are going out business left and right, people are losing jobs, hundreds of millions of dollars are not being recouped… it is mayhem.

We, as the consumer, of course have to foot the bill where-ever possible…but why?

Rant over.