Color, PG-13 (mature themes, drug use), 99 min., DVD only $24.96
DVD: director's commentary, deleted scenes, extended scenes, featurettes
Street: Nov. 22, Prebook: Oct. 20
First Run: DVD premiere
Director: Carlene Cordova
SONY
The entire universe of Middle (Upper and Lower) Earth is the focus of this crafty, enthusiastic and often fascinating overview of The Lord of the Rings phenomena. Although hardcore fans of J.R.R. Tolkien's trilogy and Peter Jackson's films will get the most out of this documentary, casual followers will glean cool info and be amused enough to get something entertaining out of the proceedings as well. The filmmakers looks at all of the familiar bases here, some of which have been covered in depth on other programs, whether it is the life of Tolkien or the symbolism and spirituality of the stories. But this program offers interesting facts on the movie's checkered history (John Boorman was once slated to direct a version), looks at the Rankin-Bass animated TV specials and serves up a plethora of guests to pontificate on the subject, including key cast members, helmer Jackson and such notable followers as the incomprehensible Lemmy from the band Motorhead, author/director Clive Barker and David Carradine, who tells about how he tried to talk Ralph Bakshi out of making his 1978 animated version of the story. The freakier fans—who dress as the characters, wait in line for days to see the movies, reenact key sequences with marshmallows and take pilgrimages to New Zealand where the films were shot—also are abundant here, adding color, kookiness and even kinkiness to the circus.
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