This adorable video makes an excellent addition to Air New Zealand’s more lighthearted and fun approach to safety videos shown at the beginning of every flight.
Kiwi filmmaker Taika Waititi has taken two Middle-earth fans and placed them in the middle of an Epic Journey, surrounded by Hobbits, Dwarves, Orcs and Elves, and some of them are the actual actors from the films. All the bases are covered, seat belts, electronic devices, life vests, etc, but there is a very definite Middle-earth vibe going on. Continue reading “Air New Zealand unveils the Most Epic Safety Video ever made”
Posted in:
Share:
We finally know Billy Boyd (Pippin from The Lord of the Rings trilogy) will be performing the end credits song for the final film set in Peter Jackson’s cinematic Middle-earth. Warner Bros. have posted their ‘For Your Consideration’ list for “The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies” listing all the people and categories they want Hollywood to pay attention to come Awards Season. On that list for ‘Best Original Song’ is “The Last Goodbye” written by Billy Boyd, Philippa Boyens and Fran Walsh, and performed by Billy Boyd. It now seems that the use of Pippin’s song “The Edge of Night” in the recently released teaser for the film was a bit of foreshadowing. That song, with the lyrics coming from the last stanza of Tolkien’s ‘A Walking Song’ and the melody written by Billy Boyd himself, demonstrates a great level of empathy on the part of Billy for the melancholic feeling at that point of “The Return of the King”. It seems almost too perfect that Billy should be called upon again to deliver what promises to be a very emotional and fitting ending to all things Middle-earth. And because it’s fun to speculate, you will notice 15 other categories listed ‘For Your Consideration’ on that list, many names familiar to us all. Who do you think might get a nomination this Awards Season?
Posted in:
Share:
This will be your last chance to see TORn live at a con this year before “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies” is released in December. In fact, this will be the weekend before the Extended Edition of “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” drops, so you can expect a lot of discussion of what will be seen in both releases. We will also be talking about the entire Middle-earth saga on film from the past 15 years, as well as things to come for Tolkien fans. So join us on Saturday, November 1 at 4pm in room 304ABC for one last ‘Unofficial’ look at The Hobbit. After the convention ends at 7pm the fun continues as we head over to the Glance Lobby Bar at the JW Marriott at LA Live (other side of Staples Center) to hang out and chill. RSVP for the mini-moot. This is not a formal gathering, no fee required and no space is being reserved, but with all 3 home sports teams on the road, we will have less competition than usual. You can pick up tickets and see details for the con at Stan Lee’s Comikaze Expo.
Posted in:
Share:
You asked for it. We listened.
When TORn’s new book, Middle-earth Madness, came out last month for Kindle and Nook, some fans were delighted, like Elizabeth Trogden who gives the books five stars at Amazon saying, “Just as the movies led me to the books, TheOneRing.net informed me of the many fans and their activities. This book wonderfully complements all of them.”
But there were others lit up Facebook and message boards with a clear request: “We want a printed version!” As Ithilwen commented, “I hope for printed version as well, it just seems way more fitting to read about Middle-earth from a paper book. Or maybe I’m just a bit old fashioned.”
Well, here it is. Real pages packed with hobbity goodness for you to hold in your hand and set on the shelf with The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings movies the book is all about. It’s a little piece of TORn you can keep as a collector’s item and look back on as the years go by.
Get yours today to find out…
– Which creature design in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey the filmmakers weren’t satisfied with and secretly changed for the extended edition DVD
– Which Hobbit movie includes an item with J.R.R. Tolkien’s name written on it
– Which item Bilbo takes from Beorn’s house and takes home
– How Peter Jackson could make an adaptation of The Silmarillion without obtaining the rights from the Tolkien Estate
– and lots more, including interviews with Richard Armitage (Thorin), Sylvester McCoy (Radagast), Richard Taylor (Weta Workshop), Mark Ordesky (LOTR Exec) and many more of your favorites.
Want to read a sample chapter and see what all the fuss is about? Here you go!
Update: thanks to DanielLB on our discussion boards for pointing out that the book is also available on some Amazon sites for countries other than the U.S. (amazon.uk, amazon.fr). So check out your country’s site in case you can save on some shipping.
Posted in:
Share:
In 1982, Beam Software and publisher Melbourne House brought Tolkien’s world to computers with a text adventure based on The Hobbit. (An emulator of the ZX Spectrum version is available to play online.)
Back then, the original licensor — in this case the Tolkien Estate itself, or Tolkien Enterprises (now Middle-earth Enterprises) — would allow licensees to sometimes resell the license. It appears that at this time the animated films shared a license with the first round of video games.
Enthusiasm for Tolkien adaptations ramped up in the wake of the 1980 animated film The Return of the King, based on the final book in Tolkien’s trilogy. Following Beam’s text adventure, developer Interplay Productions turned over an in-production fantasy role-playing game, changing the theme to a Lord of the Rings adaptation. Writer Jennell Jaquays, now the owner of Dragongirl Studios, said she was hired by Interplay to write background and some “adventuring” for the RPG.
All of this is according to author Alexa Ray Corriea for Polygon.com. You can read the entire article right here. Continue reading “A complete history of Tolkien and video games”
Posted in:
Share:
New York ComicCon is almost upon us, and as you know, TheOneRing.net will be there, at booth 3040, at our panel Saturday at 9pm, and at our party with Weta Workshop on Thursday evening. (More details here – two more tickets just became available for the party, so snap ’em up before they’re gone!)
One of our generous sponsors for New York ComicCon is Houghton Mifflin Harcourt – publishers of Tolkien in the United States. They have given us some wonderful items for the party goody bags, as well as some lovely prizes for giveaways. One such item is a SNEAK PREVIEW – this beautiful ‘pocket boxed set’ of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings will not be available to buy until October 21st, but we have two sets to give away to some lucky folks at ComicCon!
Here’s what Houghton Mifflin Harcourt say about this new set:
‘This four-volume, deluxe pocket boxed set contains J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic masterworks The Hobbit and the three volumes of The Lord of the Rings (The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King). Each book features a leatherette cover with stamped title and all four books are held in a leatherette bound box with gold foil stamping.’
The books are roughly 7 inches tall, and are therefore an ideal size to take with you whenever you want to have the Professor’s words to hand! If you aren’t lucky enough to win a set from us at New York ComicCon, you can order from HMH here. Our thanks to them for their continued support of TheOneRing.net!
Posted in:
Share:
