J.R.R. Tolkien - The Origin of the Rings
Editorial Review:
Amazon.com
Despite its obvious attempt to capitalize on Peter Jackson's The Fellowship of the Ring, this "unauthorized tribute" to Lord of the Rings author J.R.R. Tolkien offers an adequate primer on the life and works of history's most beloved fantasy author. Tolkien biographer Michael Coren lends academic credibility, along with fantasy artists, lesser-known film critics, and other nominal "experts" who comment on Tolkien's vast influence. The majority of this material is well-documented and informative, and Tolkien neophytes will find it interesting. Then, as fast as you can say "snake oil," this video betrays its greedy motivations, showing bogus "behind the scenes" video of an anonymous production (i.e., not the Jackson film), and jumping on the Fellowship bandwagon with cheesy reenactments, parallels to Star Trek fandom, and innocuous speculation about the Jackson film's then-unseen merits. Interviews with Tolkien family members are not included as promised, so viewers are advised to ignore everything but the legitimate factual material. --Jeff Shannon
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J.R.R. Tolkien - The Origin of the Rings
Starring: J.R.R. Tolkien Director: Sean Buckley Manufacturer: Trinity Home Ent ProductGroup: DVD Binding: DVD  General
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ASIN: B00005RG6D Release Date: 2001-10-30 |
Amazon.com
Despite its obvious attempt to capitalize on Peter Jackson's The Fellowship of the Ring, this "unauthorized tribute" to Lord of the Rings author J.R.R. Tolkien offers an adequate primer on the life and works of history's most beloved fantasy author. Tolkien biographer Michael Coren lends academic credibility, along with fantasy artists, lesser-known film critics, and other nominal "experts" who comment on Tolkien's vast influence. The majority of this material is well-documented and informative, and Tolkien neophytes will find it interesting. Then, as fast as you can say "snake oil," this video betrays its greedy motivations, showing bogus "behind the scenes" video of an anonymous production (i.e., not the Jackson film), and jumping on the Fellowship bandwagon with cheesy reenactments, parallels to Star Trek fandom, and innocuous speculation about the Jackson film's then-unseen merits. Interviews with Tolkien family members are not included as promised, so viewers are advised to ignore everything but the legitimate factual material. --Jeff ShannonCustomer Reviews:
Don't waste your money.......2004-04-28
What a piece of garbage........2004-02-27
The back cover is totally misleading. "This exciting documentary features ... interviews with members of Tolkien's family and a host of other experts!" WRONG!!! I didn't see any members of Tolkien's family being interviewed, and the "host of other experts" consists of the following - a nobody who wrote a Tolkien biography I've never heard of, a very boring University professor, a stereotypical comic-collector-nerdy-boy, and some wannabe fantasy artist who nobody has heard of. Oh, and a writer who writes bad fantasy-for-kids, who claims that Tolkien influenced her in the way she develops characters and plot. Duh ... don't you mean influenced you in every aspect of everything you have ever written?
The way these 'experts' gush over their claim that if it weren't for the book's acceptance in the USA Tolkien wouldn't be popular at all, and would have disappeared into obscurity is quite sickening. Don't these 'experts' know how popular Lord Of The Rings was in the late 1950's & early 1960's all over the English-speaking world, long before it ever went on sale in the US?
The 'experts' describe how the Brother's Hildebrandt made Tolkien popular, all the while paintings that are not by Greg and Tim Hildebrandt are shown behind the voice-over. I assume our intrepid teenage dweebs making rubbish couldn't afford to pay Greg and Tim anything to show their paintings. So we get gushings about Hildebrandt art while watching generic fantasy art by who-knows-who!
The worst part is the last 20 mins or so, in which we watch a pack of self-indulgent kids let loose in a special effects facility making really idiotic, amateur, Tolkien-esque video shots - not even a video, just a few shots of them walking around, firing arrows etc. This was so annoying and horrible that I eventually skipped through it.
If you really want to know about Tolkien and how he wrote his books, read Humphrey Carpenter's brilliant biography. Give this piece of rubbish a very wide berth.
The final sentence on the back cover blurb ... "This is unlike anything you've seen on Earth!" How true that is, and its the like of which I never want to see again.
Inferior product.......2003-05-31
The other interviewees seem to be scraped together from whoever happened to be available for cheap. The biographer interviewed is not Humphrey Carpenter, but some unknown. In addition, the filmmakers act as if THE SILMARILLION never existed, and seem to feel that the Brothers Hildebrandt were the first artists to depict Tolkien scenes and characters, completely ignoring Tim Kirk and other early Tolkien artists. And the extensive section showing amateur filmmakers trying to put together their own film of Lord of the Rings is irrelevant and self-serving.
The biographical material on Tolkien is valid, but nothing appears here that's not in any standard Tolkien documentary or in Carpenter's book. They supplement a few historical photos with some footage of actors pretending to be Tolkien and not doing a very good job of it.
On the whole, this video could only be of interest to someone who has only made initial contact with the world of Tolkien; but anyone who has read or seen more should avoid this one.
one ring to rule, the web!.......2002-12-20
I liked it, what can I say?.......2002-10-11
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