I'm a huge fan of both the books and movies, and I thought this was the most boring, uninteresting documentary I've seen in a long time. All the little "skits" of hippies, etc. sitting around reading the book felt like padding because they didn't have enough material for a full length feature. I was really disappointed in this.
shareNo, you are not the only one. My husband and I are watching it as I type and it is quite possibly the worst documentary I've seen in a long time. And I think it's very difficult to mess up anything having to do with LOTR. Could've been good, but it sure isn't. What's with all the crappy skits and dancing hippies?
shareI didn't hate it per se, but yes, this would have been much better as a 1-hour TV special and all those silly re-enactments left on the cutting room floor. What kind of documentary stages scenes? Isn't a documentary supposed to be about filming what's already there?
shareI agree. It was boring. :/ I was so disappointed in it.
"It was said later that Alexander was never defeated except by Hephaistion's thighs.."
Off topic but, hehehe where's your quote from? Most amusing thing I've read all day!
shareFrom the Oliver Stone movie, ALEXANDER. :)
<---Prison Break--->
What, really!? I pretty much hated that movie, but that was when I didn't know of that awesome line. I can't believe I missed that! Hee! Oh well, thanks. :)
sharehaha, yeah, it is from that film. I actually liked the movie..and this sentence is part of why I like it so much. :)) You should give it an other chance. :D
<---Prison Break--->
That quote is used in the film, but it came from a contemporary source, not a screen writer.
sharethe movie was embrassing, to say the least. not everyone who loves LOTR's is like THAT. sure, at one point I think everyone was obsessed with LOTR's. but this doc is dated and I did laugh when they showed the merchandice and they showed "the one "belly" ring". LOLLL.
Realism, Remakes and Unnecessary Sequels are ruining movies!
Agreed. This movie was awful, and I am a fan of the Lord of the Rings, and of documentary films. Starting with the title of the film, which is terribly misleading, this was one big mistake.
shareI back everyone up. This was terrible. I gave it a shot, I read these posts before and Im sorry, I should have listened to all of you. I will in the future. The dancing hippies would cause J.R.R. a heart attack.
shareI actually liked it. It reminded me of the documentary Trekkies but with a more loving attitude to the people it was talking about.
shareHow can you not like the way the old paperbacks are criticized for their "irrelevant trippy psychedelic" covers followed by five minutes of irrelevant trippy psychedelic shots of a sillouette of a woman dancing? And the guy who says his favorite character is "Gandorf" was pretty awesome, too. The bit with all the teenyboppers obsessing about the LOTR boys really added something to the film as well, I think.
share[deleted]
Clearly, ROSW you don't watch many documentary films.
The purpose of a documentary is to inform as well as to entertain. The information conveyed by Ringers can be classified into two categories. Stuff I Already Know and Who Cares? although some things fit equally into both categories. This is significant because I am vaguely interested in Tokien and Middle Earth, so I do care about interesting information related to those subjects, but I am not obsessed, so I have a reasonable expectation that a reasonably high-profile documentary like this would contain some information I didn't already know. The people talking were almost all morons, the narration was clumsy and trite, there was little or no intentional humor, and the historical information was bland and did not enrich my understanding or enjoyment of the subject matter even slightly. What was good about it?
Clearly, this was no documentary.
This amateur exercise by Writer/Director/Producer and her fellowship of Producers focused primarily on obtaining access to "celebrities". Yes, they landed interviews with many a-star-studded-person, but alas, they had no cohesive idea on why they were interviewing them. That's why it's important to do your homework ahead of time.
Instead they created this mess of celebrity responses, sprinkled with some fan banter, and topped off with some of the worst 're-enactments' the Earth, let alone Middle Earth, has ever seen.
Shame on you, Writer/Director/Producer. No one will be gunning for your autograph at ComiCon, I can assure you.
"I can do anything I want. I'm the Chief of Police."
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
shareNah! The hippies in the dorm room was the best part! Did you notice it was all the same actors? Man, I remember those days, dancing in my dorm room with a politically correct number of ethnic groups and reading the Lord of the Rings in bad period costumes. Those were the days...
shareThank god I'm not the only one! I'm a big LOTR fan, and TORN is a great site but I didn't get this documentary at all. I mean if it's targeted at the fans then why did they give the entire Tolkien History (again!). Every fan knows that stuff already. Heck if you watched Extended DVD extra's you can skip 80% of Ringers.
And I totally agree with your "skits" remark. The only good thing was the narration.
I'm a big fan of the movies, but not so much of the books, so I think that's why I enjoyed it. I do understand why a hard-core fan would already know everything, but I have to disagree about the lack of humor. I know they weren't laughing at the Ringers, but I still found them very funny, waiting outside a cinema for six weeks is slighty excessive, no? I thought the Monty Pythonish skits were very funny, and the hippie bit was one of the best bits. And whoever commented on 'the actor' hippies, I assumed it was real footage, I mean, it wouldn't be that hard to dig up a bit of archive stuff. Or I could be wrong, and making a prat out of myself. :P
You climb it! What if I don't? You gonna beat me with your Jesus stick?
To DomBiLijah Live On--
You most certainly are NOT a prat for speaking up and asking questions! That's how we learn.
But, yes, if you watch the hippie scene again, and some scenes from other time periods, they are pretty clearly re-creations. Or maybe "re-imaginings" would be better. I'll have to look at it again, but there may even be some anachronisms in what posters or book covers are shown. (Don't feel bad--at first glance, I assumed it was real footage too.)
As to "hating" this film...I fall in the middle...I agree with many of the criticisms, and was very disappointed that the film did not live up to what it might have been. There are historical items and info that I personally know were submitted, but were not used.
And something not mentioned yet--the DVD fell WAY short in the "extra features" department...Peter Jackson sure has nothing to worry about.
However, I can still enjoy the film as a lark, light entertainment. And if nothing else, Thank You, "Ringers", for immortalizing forever the Leonard Nimoy "Ballad of Bilbo Baggins" music video (well, film), that might otherwise have lapsed into obscurity.
PS--That "Jesus stick" line is my favorite quote from "Lost"!