TORN staff loved this story about a small boy who was SO determined to see the films that he made a deal. “In January of 2003 my son came home from school upset about something. “Dad, can I see the LOTR movie?”, he asked. Immediately images of Orcs and cave Trolls came to mind coupled with images and sounds of a 7 year old waking up at 2 in the morning screaming from nightmares. “Maybe when you’re older buddy”, I replied. [More]
Month: September 2003
In January of 2003 my son came home from school upset about something. “Dad, can I see the Lord of the Rings movie?”, he asked. Immediately images of Orcs and cave Trolls came to mind coupled with images and sounds of a 7 year old waking up at 2 in the morning screaming from nightmares. “Maybe when your older buddy”, I replied. Of course my son being the great debater came back with the response” but all the other kids in my class have seen it” whether this was true or not I did not know. But I did know one thing was for sure 7 was just to young, but how oh how could I escape the “all the other kids get to do it” and “your not fair” complaining for months to come. A light bulb appeared above my head.” I tell you what, if you read the book you can watch the movie.” Satisfied with my response I began completing what I was working on thinking to myself well that will take care of him for a while. He won’t finish that book until he is 13 or 14 an appropriate age to see the movie. If I had not turned I would have probably noticed a 7 year old with a face of determination, a 7 year old with a dream, a goal, something to shoot for, I would have seen the face of a child accepting my challenge with full charge. One week later my son came home from school as excited as could be. In his right hand he held one of those book order forms. Ahhh the scholastic book fair, I remember those with fondness. What a special day when the box arrives and the teacher begins handing out the books you had ordered. It is almost like Christmas at school. I still remember the book I ordered in 2nd grade “the celery stalks at midnight” Possibly 80 pages and maybe 1500 words. What a novel! What book would he want I wondered we could pour over it together. What fun! Immediately he opened up his order form “Look Dad, Look” He was pointing at a circled picture of the Lord of the rings box set including the hobbit. In my mind I remembered my deal, not being a rich man and not wanting to throw away 30$ along with possibly a discouraging memory for my son I tried to think of a way out of the deal, with only nano seconds at hand and hoping for the best, I grabbed my checkbook and wrote out the check.
Book day
My son 4-6 weeks later depending on shipping and handling came home as though he had won the grand prix. Holding his books proud he displayed them to his excited parents and brothers and sisters. He then ran upstairs to his room to begin reading. Within a couple of days it became apparent that it may be harder then expected. So I decided to do what any good dad would do, I helped him. I bought the platinum DVD with the 3 hours of special features and told him every chapter he finished he could watch a special feature. This fueled him to finish the book in 3months we watched and viewed every special feature put on those discs. The day he finished the book was the same day I had planned a hike with him up Mt. Si. There was a look out halfway up the mountain. The plan was to make it to the look out. He being seven drug me being 30 up to the top of the mountain, far past the look out. Quite a kid. Of course I was in reality hiking a real mountain while more then likely he was hiking Mt. Doom. This was driven home by him calling be Aragon my bearded friend Gandalf and reminded us to call him Frodo. We went home and watched the movie twice. The next day I presented him with a very expensive hard cover version of the book with a letter written on parchment paper and glued to the inside cover. I hope it becomes one of his life’s treasures. Last week he completed the Two towers book, since it is not yet out on DVD I decided to take him to the website and show him some teasers to get him by until August 26th. While at the yahoo movies website I noticed that there was a link for show times and tickets. I clicked on the link and found that the next night would be the last night in our state that the movie would be playing at a theatre in Puyallup. The next day we gathered our snacks and gear and traveled 130 miles. Quite a long trip for a movie but the perfect adventure and reward for him. We watched the Two towers on the last night at the last theatre it was playing at in my state. He has now begun work on Return of the king. The plan now is to buy him a bow and arrow set along with archery lessons when he finishes the book. He has loved every moment of the books and the movies and overall this will stick out in his mind as a very fond memory.
I thought this might be an encouraging fan letter for you to read. I don’t know if he would have been inspired to read the books if it wasn’t for the movies and now that he has read the books and watched the movies, he cant decide which is better. He loves the movies but enjoys the books as much. Thanks to Tolkien, Peter Jackson and the Cast for being a huge part of my child’s early academic and imaginative life. Oh by the way the only two things that scared him immensely were Gollums eyes in the fellowship and the shortcut to mushrooms scene with the black rider hanging over the tree with the hobbits right underneath. 4 months ago we brought home two male kittens. The grey one he named Frodo the White one Gandalf.
OK, so I got this news from Shell 2 weeks ago and lost it…here goes: “I’ve been told that due to that lateness of the main film group (weather problems and the like), the wrap up for the main filming/minatures will now continue until the end of Sept obviously the will be heaps of CGI stuff to do between now so it will be pretty full on for them. The main battle groups are now in Paraparaumu filming, mainly because of awful weather, they should be returning back to Miramar next week so I hear.”
Nuannaiel writes, “Hi, just wanted to let you know about the art competition Harper Collins is running for 11 – 19 year old New Zealanders. Entrants must draw a scene from ROTK. I hope to enter and good luck to anyone else – the prizes look fantastic!” [More]
Get An Advance Look Into the World of Middle-earth on November 5th
When The Lord of the Rings Trading Card Game Begins
A New Chapter with The Return of the King
Newest Base Set to Hit Stores Worldwide Weeks Before the Stunning Final Installment of the Epic Lord of the Rings Film Trilogy Unfolds on December 17th
(Norfolk, VA-September 16, 2003)-It all began with The Fellowship of the Ring as Frodo Baggins and his Hobbit friends embarked on a journey unlike anything they could have ever imagined. The journey then continued with The Two Towers as the Fellowship of Nine disbanded in various forms, each encountering adventures that would bring them closer to the evil lurking within Middle-earth. Now, J.R.R. Tolkien fans around the world anxiously await New Line Cinema’s theatrical release of The Return of the King, the final chapter that is sure to be the most highly anticipated film of Peter Jackson’s epic dramatic trilogy.
Decipher is proud to bring this electrifying chapter of the trilogy to life with the latest base set for The Lord of the Rings Trading Card Game: The Return of the King. Available worldwide on November 5th, The Return of the King will tell the tale of Aragorn – revealed as the hidden heir to the Kings of the West – as he joins with the forces of Gondor to take down the armies of Sauron, while Frodo races to destroy the One Ring at Mount Doom. With breathtaking new images from the film featured on 365 new cards for new characters, sites, and themes, this set is sure to be a must-have for fans of J.R.R. Tolkien, Peter Jackson’s trilogy, and TCG players alike.
The Return of the King also introduces exciting, new gameplay mechanics that represent the increasing threat of the shadow of Sauron. “Threats” are a new mechanic that presents players with an activated effect using wounds that threaten every Fellowship companion when just one dies. “Initiative” is an innovative new mechanic that activates powerful cards that key off of the cards a player has in hand. This will discourage the Fellowship player from playing every card possible to survive and will also add new discarding strategies for the Shadow player in order to win initiative.
“The Lord of the Rings trilogy has given us an opportunity to take an exceptional storyline and bring it to life in a format that can convey all of the dramatic twists and turns that are inherent to the plot,” said Decipher Senior Game Designer Tom Lischke. “Although The Return of the King is the final chapter in the film trilogy, this base set is the beginning of yet another enlivening block for the trading card game – which introduces even more new characters and mechanics. And, unlike the film, it won’t end here. We have plans for new expansions for The Lord of the Rings TCG for years to come.”
Players will be able to participate in release day events on November 5th. Retail locations worldwide will participate in these tournaments where prizes will be awarded to the top finishers. In addition, a special Release Day card will be presented to all competitors.
This 365-card base set contains: 121 rare cards; 121 uncommon cards; 121 common cards; and two starter-only premium cards.
The Return of the King will be available in the following product configurations:
*63-card Starter Decks: Starter decks will be available in two versions, Éomer and Aragorn. Each deck has three random rare cards, 2 premium cards, and a rulebook. MSRP: US $10.99
*Booster Packs: 11-card packs will include 1 rare plus a mixture of common and uncommon cards. Foil cards will be found in approximately one out of six booster packs. MSRP: US $3.29
As with previous The Lord of the Rings TCG cards, all cards in The Return of the King will receive a foil treatment in a parallel set.
The Lord of the Rings TCG: The Return of the King set continues the mission introduced with The Fellowship of the Ring, which introduced the top award-winning trading card game of 2001 and 2002. Players try to win the game by advancing their Ring-bearer to the end of the adventure path; killing the opponent’s Ring-bearer; or corrupting the opponent’s Ring-bearer.
Just in time for New Line Cinema’s December 17, 2003 theatrical release of the third and final
installment, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, look for the new base set of The Lord of the Rings TCG in November when The Return of the King releases in stores worldwide!
Release Dates:
Siege of Gondor – March 2004
Mount Doom – July 2004
Shadows – November 2004
Black Rider – March 2005
Bloodlines – July 2005
The Hunters – November 2005
Rise of Saruman – March 2006
Treachery and Deceit – July 2006
The Great Eye – November 2006
Shelob’s Lair – March 2007
Age’s End – July 2007
Vincent Smalls writes: Thought I’d give you an update on the ROTK ADR (additional dialog recording) mixing going on down here at Anvil Studios. They are still hard at work with the sound mixing. Elijah Wood (Frodo) was in yesterday, presumably doing some sound looping. I’m going to try and get over there sometime soon. As soon as we know Peter Jackson is over there, I will try to “accidentally” bump into him, perhaps ask him a few questions. It’s not over yet!