Visceral.

It is, perhaps, the best way to summarize the experience of hearing the entire soundtrack to The Fellowship of the Rings performed live to a big screen presentation of the theatrical release of the film as part of the Lord of the Rings at Radio City Music Hall concert series. The evening was filled with music and, yes, magic. You almost have to be there to understand just how powerful the music to The Lord of the Rings can be, when performed live. That isn’t to say you cannot appreciate and be moved by the score on CD or mp3. Rather, it’s a testament to how music takes on a life of its own when performed live. And the union of live music to the classic film was, if nothing else, visceral.

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Being released concurrently with The Music of The Lord of the Rings at Radio City Music Hall event on October 9 & 10 is a book, aptly titled, The Music of The Lord of the Rings, written by Doug Adams.  For those who may not know, Mr. Adams has long been associated with Lord of the Rings music, writing the detailed book inserts for all three Complete Recordings releases.  He’s taken much of what he has learned through that process and compiled it into a book that will also include a nearly 80-minute CD of music called The Rarities.  The book will also include everything that was written for the Complete Recordings.  The book’s cover art has just been released (seen above).  It’s clear that this will be a must-have for avid LOTR music fans.

Mr. Adams has long been active within the internet community, keeping fans updated on Complete Recording releases and you can visit his blog HERE.

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Overview

The Hunt For Gollum is first, and foremost, a fan film. It’s an important detail because the fact is, this is one incredible production – immediately more compelling, entertaining and well-crafted than the early Lord of the Rings films from Rankin-Bass and Ralph Bakshi. Indeed, the film is only surpassed by Peter Jackson’s vision of Middle Earth – and, at that, only because of the budgetary limitations of a fan film as opposed to a major motion picture. The Hunt For Gollum is a full-fledged movie, one that takes an important part of the Middle Earth saga and sets it to film. Impressive is, merely, the beginning of the conversation.

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The following is a video presentation I originally created for my middle school Language Arts students.  It’s a nine-minute compilation of video and audio from The Lord of The Rings Trilogy to accompany an overview of The Hero’s Journey as presented by Joseph Campbell in The Hero With A Thousand Faces.  Before you proceed, I feel compelled to provide a few disclaimers:

First, this was intended for middle school, so some of the definitions and details from Campbell’s original book have been slightly modified and adapted.  Also, because I was aiming for a younger audience, this video is, admittedly, a bit silly (I just don’t want anyone thinking that I believe I’m doing anything close to real art here).  And finally, the piece was compiled using the simplest and easiest tool I have available: Windows Movie Maker.  As such, the quality is, shall we say, a bit suspect.

If you’re still interested (even morbidly) I invite you to continue and, hopefully, enjoy:

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“It’s done.” – Frodo Baggins, on the slopes of Mount Doom

Perhaps my own quest wasn’t nearly so arduous as that of Frodo, Sam and their Fellowship.  But nonetheless, I have finally completed the Lord of the Rings Ultimate Soundtrack.  This soundtrack represents a mix of all 10 CDs of the Complete Recordings from The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and The Return of the King.  In total, there are 18 tracks, focused primarily on a single musical theme, comprising of over 170 separate cues.

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Overview

The Return of the King is Epic. In size and scope, the film far surpasses both of its predecessors. And in terms of quality, only Fellowship of the Ring fares any better thanks to its much more streamlined narrative. But of the three Lord of the Rings films, it’s little wonder that The Return of the King is often listed as a favorite. Just about every aspect of this movie operates at an exceptionally high level. And the final thematic point, driven home by Frodo’s ultimate fate, is both truly profound and a natural evolution of thought from The Two Towers.

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Overview

The Two Towers is a grittier film than its predecessor. But like its main characters it’s also fraught with flaws which, despite the best of intentions, leads it astray. That doesn’t mean that The Two Towers isn’t an incredible film – by all rights it’s far superior to many films. But when compared to The Fellowship of the Ring, and even Return of the King, it is clearly the weakest of the three. While the acting, visuals and music all continue at an exceptionally high level, the writing and, in particular the pacing, weight down the film through its middle sections. The rest of the film, however, is still extraordinarily beautiful, powerful, and profound.

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Overview

It is a rare moment when a film captures not only the imagination, but the spirit and passions within us all. The Fellowship of the Ring is one such film – weaving a timeless tale with such inspiration that there are very few films which, from start to finish, are crafted so impeccably. Every bit of praise this film receives, it has earned. And while some of the visual effects may be slightly showing their age, the impact of this on the film as a whole is very minor. Instead, director Peter Jackson has forged a film that faithfully adapts the spirit and message of the original book by J.R.R. Tolkien.

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… but who will the actor be?

According to Empire Online, Hobbit director Guillermo del Toro had this to say about casting the pivotal role of Bilbo for the upcoming films, “We are writing based on [Ian Holm's performance], but other than that, we have ideas [of who could play him]. I can tell you that it’s down to a few names that we all agree upon. And that our first choice…completely, magically, we said the same name. All of us!”

It seems obvious to base the upcoming role on the convincing performance of Ian Holm, who portrayed Bilbo in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings films. But who could this “magical” choice to play Bilbo in the new films be?

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Producer Peter Jackson and Director Guillermo del Toro held a chat today on the upcoming Hobbit movies. Below is a summary outline of their chat (keep in mind that, unless you’ve read The Hobbit, the chat outline will contain spoilers):

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Variety has reported that, in addition to Ian McKellen (Gandalf) and Andy Serkis (Gollum) being approached to reprise their roles for the upcoming Hobbit films, there has also been “preliminary contact” with Viggo Mortensen to reprise his role as Aragorn.

In the same article, Hobbit director Guillermo del Toro is quoted as saying, “I am all for keeping the actors who originated the parts, as much as availability and their willingness will allow.” So where would that leave a potential role for Arwen? IGN has a report on whether or not actress Liv Tyler would be willing to return to Middle Earth. Her response? She said, “Oh, are you kidding? In a heartbeat! I’ll buy my own ticket and be on the plane in a second.”

The question is: would there be a possible role for Arwen in, perhaps, the second Hobbit film — the one that bridges The Hobbit with The Fellowship of the Ring?  That will be up to the script writers as they sit down within the next week to begin writing the script. Keep in mind, her role in the Lord of the Rings films was written based on the Appendices, as well as other materials. So even though Arwen isn’t a part of the Hobbit book, the same approach could be taken for the Hobbit films.

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Ralph Bakshi’s 1978 adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings novels is a daring attempt to present a faithful interpretation of the story. In many respects, Bakshi’s attempt seems to be a direct rebuttal of the Rankin/Bass version of Middle Earth. Whereas Ranking/Bass created a colorful, juvenile style, Bakshi’s is darker, grittier and (usually) more mature. But while Bakshi’s effort is darker and more ambitious, it is also more uneven and more flawed. The end result is that, when compared to The Hobbit (1977), Bakshi’s film pales in comparison. And it’s only slightly better than The Return of the King (1980).

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The Return of the King (1980) is a trainwreck of near catastrophic proportions. Put simply, it’s an exercise in how to take a compelling premise and an excellent and turn it into the worst sort of product imaginable. Truly, in spite of a couple of acceptable moments, the film itself is entirely unwatchable. The film, a made-for-TV adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s culminating book to the Lord of the Rings saga, comes from the same duo (Rankin and Bass) that produced The Hobbit (1977). And if the juvenile presentation was a liability for The Hobbit 1977, it’s an utter disaster for The Return of the King – a story of epic, tragic, and profound proportions. It’s a story that, unlike The Hobbit, does not lend itself to whimsical singsong moments. And it’s a story, unlike the Hobbit, that cannot be told in the broadest of brushstrokes. Even worse, though, is the simple fact even with these choices – mistakes as they may be – the execution of these choices is just as problematic.

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The Hobbit (1977) was a made-for-TV animated film that adapted J.R.R. Tolkien’s literary classic by the same name. The results are mixed. For one, the film does a decent job of telling the main plot points of the novel across all of 78 minutes of screen time. And it stays, more or less, quite true to the story itself. But there are a number of questionable decisions and outright mistakes that make this adaptation, especially more than thirty years later with a live-action film on the way, outdated. (Editor’s note: This review will focus on the craft of the film. For a discussion of the story of the Hobbit, please visit the BOOK REVIEW.)

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The Silmarillion is a difficult book to read. For fans of The Lord of the Rings, and especially the Hobbit, the dense language of The Silmarillion may appear to be rather daunting, especially in its earlier pages. However, if you’re willing to put in the time and effort to get deeper into the book, you will be rewarded with insights into Middle Earth well worth your investment. This is because The Silmarillion is replete with back stories of epic, and often tragic, proportions.

It starts at the beginning of time and brings us right up to the edge of The Hobbit, detailing the creation of the world, the arrival of Elves and Men and evil, and conflict of catastrophic proportions. This is not a book for the faint of heart – but it is a book for any Tolkien fan who wants to know more about the grand history that is presented only in tantalizing asides during the Lord of the Rings books.

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