12311238_917803408297195_3994508015189794456_nOur friend, artist Jerry Vanderstelt, has released the final print in his The Hobbit Trilogy series. This beautiful print covers all the fantastic points of the third Hobbit film and, like the previous prints from Jerry, comes in two sizes of Paper Giclee’s. The 18 x 24 version is priced at $65 while the epic 28 x 36 version comes in at $120. Both are in-stock and ready to ship, so you can acquire some amazing Hobbit art for Christmas. If you order before December 14th you can use this coupon code: VS-XMAS2015, to save 15% off of your purchase. Check out the Vadnerstelt Stuido Facebook page for a full list of prints that you can use this discount on. If you are awaiting the canvas edition of this print, it will be available after the new year and we will let you know when that goes up.

Hobbit_BOTFA_Intl_posterThe day has finally come and gone when many of you were lucky enough to view The Hobbit: The Battle of The Five Armies in theaters. TORn’s facebook page, the discussion boards and Barli’s chat are all buzzing with excited observations! Many of our staffers saw it too and, as it TORn tradition, we’ll be featuring their comments and insights here, as well as a spoilery picture or two. Speaking of spoilers, they abound in the rest of this article, so read no further if you haven’t seen the EE yet and don’t want to be spoiled until you do!

 

 

SPOILER ALERT!!

Continue reading “TORn Staff Reviews the BoTFA EE”

The extended edition of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies DVDs are now available for pre-order in the U.S. from Amazon. Formats include DVD, Blu-ray, and 3-D/Blu-ray and range in price from $34.99 for the DVD to $54.98 for the 3-D/Blu-ray version. The extras appear to be the same with all three, described as “hours of fascinating, in-depth looks at the production,” including:

– Commentary with Peter Jackson, Director/Producer/Screenwriter and Philippa Boyens, Co-Producer/Screenwriter

– The Appendices – The Appendices Parts XI and XII showcase a chronological history of the filming of The Battle of the Five Armies, documenting the work done on set chronologically through the three shooting blocks and in the world of its digital effects

– New Zealand: Home of Middle-earth – Part 3

Digital HD UltraViolet is also available which must be redeemed by November 17, 2018.

The cover art on Amazon’s site differs for each version. Following is a discussion of each, and links at which you can pre-order your copy.

DVD (price: $34.99. Pre-order here)

BotFA DVD CoverThe DVD version cover features Bilbo (Martin Freeman) with Sting drawn, overlooking the evil armies amassing, and the battle raging below him.  The border, which is the same for all three formats, is a steel-gray color with a design reminiscent of dwarf-runes seemingly carved into it which adds a nice touch to these last extended  editions of the series. One of the carved dwarven sentinels of Erebor watches over all on the right while the ramparts of Erebor and the burning remnants of Lake-town are visible in the background on the left.

 

 

 

 

Blu-ray (price: $35.99. Pre-order here)

BotFA Blu-ray CoverThe Blu-ray cover is more character-centric than the DVD cover. Our hero Bilbo is front and center, again with Sting drawn. A thoughtful, but stern, Gandalf (Sir Ian McKellen) is on Bilbo’s right, while a very stubborn, impatient and disturbed-looking Thorin (Richard Armitage) is on his left. The Elves are well-represented on this cover with three of the four smaller figures in front of Bilbo being comprised of Thranduil (Lee Pace), Tauriel (Evangeline Lily) and Legolas (Orlando Bloom). Last, but not least, stands Bard the Bowman (Luke Evans) with the glow of the fire of Smaug and the burning Lake-town behind him.

 

 

 

 

 

3-D/Blu-ray (price: $54.98. Pre-order here)

BotFA 3-D CoverThe 3-D/Blu-ray cover is striking, with just the characters of Bilbo (Martin Freeman) and Gandalf (Sir Ian McKellen) standing behind him protectively. As with the DVD cover, the sentinel of Dale is just off to the right, only this time with a great battle-troll below, and the ramparts of Erebor and vestiges of a burning Lake-town are off the the left, with the battle raging behind all. As if to emphasize that this is *the* battle, Bilbo again has Sting drawn and ready to do battle with the enemies. A nice touch with this cover is that Bilbo’s mithril shirt is clearly visible underneath his plainer clothes.

 

 

 

 

Definitely stay tuned, as we will bring  you more BotFA analysis as details become available (e.g., releases in other countries, releases in other retail outlets, special incentives). Note that we did check Amazon’s sites for other countries but didn’t find the EE available yet. If you don’t live in the U.S., definitely let us know if and when it becomes available in your corner of the world and whether the amenities are the same, and we’ll add it to future updates.

While fans of basketball were enjoying a Duke victory in the NCAA men’s college basketball tournament, Middle-earth fans were preparing for the epic final of Middle-earth March Madness: Gandalf vs. Bilbo Baggins! This year we decided to keep the poll results hidden to heighten the suspense. I must admit, I took full advantage of my special access to watch the results intently. When we first opened the battle, Bilbo took an early (hobbit-sized) lead of only 1%. Over the next 48 hours, the combatants exchanged that lead nearly every hour. It was a neck and neck competition that only revealed a clear winner in the last 12 hours.

We closely watched for voter fraud and we are pleased to report that no over-voting was recorded. Each vote had a unique IP.  So without further delay, we are pleased to announce that the 2015 Middle-earth March Madness Champion is…. 

Continue reading “And the Winner of 2015 Middle-earth March Madness is…”

Hobbit-The-Battle-Of-The-Five-Armies1-e1406558769186We’ve come to the end of road for new releases of Middle-earth based movies, and I find myself happy to see the movie while also being sad that it’s the end. We of course do have the Extended Edition that will come out next year so we have that to look forward to. I’ve had a chance to see this twice already and I’ve walked away loving it each time. I’m going to copy the format my fellow staffer Garfeimao used to give my thoughts on various moments.
Continue reading “Elessar Reviews The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies”

9780062265715Now that the last of The Hobbit Trilogy has been released with early showings tonight the many tie-in products are starting to hit the shelves. One of these is the next in the amazing set of production books on these movies by our friends at Weta Workshop, which have all been published by our friends at HarperCollins.

The next book in this series is The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies Chronicles: Art & Design, which covers just a portion of the amazing insider details that it took to bring this movie to the big screen. You can order this fantastic book right now from HarperCollins for a special price right now of $33.75 to give to your favorite Tolkien fan for the holidays.

 

 

 

 

 

Join us in Los Angeles in February at The One Last Party

one last party logo We’re hosting a Party of Special Magnificence next February — a final toast to all SIX movies, both The Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit trilogy.

We’re inviting you to join us and make it happen through our Indiegogo campaign — so we can all celebrate Peter Jackson’s Middle-earth movies together!

Visit our campaign page and find out how you can help!