Hark! the Herald Quickbeam Sings! I bring you the first comprehensive Movie Review from a TORN Staffer who…
Continue ReadingHark! the Herald Quickbeam Sings!
I bring you the first comprehensive Movie Review from a TORN Staffer who has seen The Two Towers in all its glory. This review is from the heart of a serious Tolkien fan, written for fans! There are a spoilers indeed; but all necessary for an honest analysis of such a remarkable film! [Click here]
The time for discussing chapters from The Two Towers is over. The time for analysing the latest trailer frame-by-frame and marvelling over our first glimpse of the CGI Gollum has come to an end. The many hours spent speculating over whether PJ’s changes to the storyline will work or not are now in vain. Next Wednesday, The Two Towers will be released worldwide and the lives of many Tolkien fans, for better or for worse, will change dramatically. This weekend, the Hall of Fire staff invite you to join us for the final pre-‘Two Towers discussion to be held by TheOneRing.net: The Two Towers Movie Preview. [More]
The time for discussing chapters from The Two Towers is over. The time for analysing the latest trailer frame-by-frame and marvelling over our first glimpse of the CGI Gollum has come to an end. The many hours spent speculating over whether PJ’s changes to the storyline will work or not are now in vain. Next Wednesday, The Two Towers will be released worldwide and the lives of many Tolkien fans, for better or for worse, will change dramatically. This weekend, the Hall of Fire staff invite you to join us for the final pre-‘Two Towers discussion to be held by TheOneRing.net:
The Two Towers Movie Preview
When The Lord of the Rings went into pre-production in the latter part of the last century, the name ‘The Fellowship of the Ring‘ was on the lips and mind of every Tolkien fan for countless months…until December 18th 2001. Once The Fellowship of the Ring was released to the masses, their appetite for more was whet; a desire to see more of this beautiful Middle-earth that Peter Jackson had created from real locations and computer graphics; a desire to see more of Ian McKellen as Gandalf, Elijah Wood as Frodo, Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn; and the name on every pair of lips and every mind soon changed to The Two Towers.
Parallels were quickly drawn up between the second installment of Tolkien’s trilogy and George Lucas’ Star Wars trilogy: The Empire Strikes Back is a superior film to A New Hope because the situation that the characters find themselves ensnared in is incredibly bleak and hopeless, something which could also be argued of the subject matter in The Two Towers. Many people prophesized before the first trailer was even released that this would be the finest part in Jackson’s version of The Lord of the Rings – we shall see soon enough.
This weekend, join us as we take a detailed look at The Two Towers in a spoiler-filled discussion detailing what we know about the movie’s storyline based on the last year’s worth of news. From Oliphaunts to Fell Beasts, from Faramir to Wormtongue, we will discuss every aspect of The Two Towers in hope of maintaining our patience between now and December 18th 2002; the day The Two Towers is upon us, and the anticipation for The Return of the King begins.
Upcoming Discussions:
Dec 21 & 22 – The Two Towers: The Movie
Dec 28 & 29 – The Two Towers Mystery Discussion
Place:
#thehalloffire on theonering.net server; come to theonering.net’s chat room Barliman’s and then type /join #thehalloffire .
Saturday Chat: 5:30 pm ET (17:30) [also 11:30 pm (23:30) CET and 7:30 am Sunday (07:30) AET]
Sunday Chat: 7:00 pm (19:00) CET [also 1:00 pm (13:00) ET and 4:00 am (04:00) Monday morning AET]
ET = Eastern Time, USA’s East Coast
CET = Central European Time, Central Europe
Questions? Topics? Send ‘em here.
Ian Brodie’s LOTR Locations Guidebook has topped the bestseller list in New Zealand and gone into its third reprint in two weeks, and now I’ve got a copy in front of me it’s not hard to see why. [My review] It can be ordered from LOTR Locations.com
SCRYE MAGAZINE: SPECIAL ISSUE – ON SALE NOW!
LORD OF THE RINGS: Your Guide to Gaming in Middle-Earth
The latest special issue of SCRYE Magazine is so far, the most complete and comprehensive resource material you will find on The Lord of the Rings Trading Card Game, as well as spotlighting many of the most recent (and not-so-recent) LOTR Gaming franchises.
This special issue entitled “YOUR GUIDE TO GAMING IN MIDDLE EARTH” definitely lives up to its title. By and large, I’m not a very big fan of these “special issues”, mainly because they’re usually a total re-packaging of articles recovered from previously released issues. In this case however, I’m glad I made the exception.
This edition is in fact quite current in terms of information and offers a new variety of articles and reviews for both the LOTR TCG, and for “what was, what is and some things that have not yet come to pass.” There is extensive coverage spanning several gaming decades from the 1977 SPI classic The War of The Ring (Old Schoolers – you guys remember that one?) to the current TWO TOWERS by EA (Electronic Arts). Basically, there’s almost something for every generation of LOTR gamer inside this special issue. Comparing and contrasting the evolution of these games is like trying to compare the evolution of Atari’s PONG to PS2’s METAL GEAR 2: Sons of Liberty. Watching the maturation process of The Lord of the Rings gaming throughout the last 20 years…it’s just mind blowing! However, before I digress any further down memory lane…let’s return to the main focus of the magazine: The LOTR TCG.
The researchers at SCRYE have left no Hobbit-hole unturned as they have provided for us a catalogued and compartmentalized issue of The Lord of the Rings TCG. From the very first article, this magazine offers fans of the LOTR TCG and in-depth and personal understanding of what it takes to create a TCG of this magnitude and how one can take part in this epic gaming phenomenon. After reading this issue, you will be able to understand, if not incorporate, most of the basic–and some of the more advanced–strategies and tactics incorporated in the game.
Yet aside from all of the great strategy articles, interviews, previews and reviews, absolutely the BEST PART of this magazine is the almost 40 page FULL COLOR SPREAD of every single card from the original three sets: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Mines of Moria and The Realms of the Elf-Lords. Not only are there images of every card, including the PROMO cards and certain International cards, but there are colored borders around each card signifying their respective rarities. Believe me when I say that this spread alone is worth the price of the issue!
But wait…there’s more. There are also complete Collector’s Checklists of each and every set that has been released – including The Two Towers. These lists are in alphabetical, and not numerical, order according to their respective expansions. There is also a TWO TOWERS spoiler list. Aside from being a checklist itself–it offers players the opportunity to see which card belongs to which culture and how the card texts apply to the game. It’s basically a mini-strategy guide packaged in a very easy-to-read and convenient format.
There are also very informative and in-depth articles covering Decipher’s upcoming ONLINE format of the LOTR TCG, Decipher’s Role-Playing Game (RPG), The Lord of the Rings Tabletop Battle Game by Games Workshop and The Lord of the Rings Board Game from Fantasy Flight/Reiner Knizia–which is one of the very best Lord of the Rings games out there…hands down (thanks Quickbeam!).
Bottom line…buy this magazine. This is an issue made by the fans for the fans. And, as I mentioned earlier, if you are looking for the most complete resource for the Lord of the Rings TCG–this is it!
By the way, did I mention the fact that is also comes poly-bagged with a TWO TOWERS booster pack and a FIERCE tatoo?
All this LOTR goodness for only $5.99 (US MSRP)!!!!
Later,
Lao of Gondor
This is the TV trailer to end all trailers folks … this is A Number One KILLER! And not only do we have the download for you, now you can wow yourself with our special frame-by-frame analysis! So, do you want to see massive armies at Helms Deep? Do you want Wargs and Trolls? And do you want Ents, Nazgul Steeds, and super-scary shots of Gollum? If so, go here! [More] [Frame by Frame] !!!HEAVY SPOILERS!!!
Special (and belated) thanks go to Ringer Super Spy Peter for doing the fantastic video capture of this ad for us!
