VICE News has published a feature-length documentary on Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings movies, including new interviews with cast and crew of the epic film series. Rare new interviews with LOTR Executive Producer Barrie Osborne, Peter “Swords” King, the Tolkien Professor Corey Olsen, Variety’s Tim Gray, and fan favorite actors like Jed Brophy, all tell the story of the history of Rings adaptations from Bakshi to Jackson.

Watch the full documentary here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvymWfqmVuE

VICE has earned a reputation for unblemished deep dives in interesting cultural moments such as the series Dark Side of the Ring about professional wrestling. The parent company VICE Media has been in the news lately shutting down its operations, and the quality of this documentary implies this was originally meant for the VICE channel on cable TV. Possibly because of changes in the marketplace, fans can also access to the full doc for free on YouTube.

Shout out to staffer Thorongil for first spotting this doc, and our friend Varking for sharing the viewing link. Be the first to know what’s going on in Tolkien by joining our Discord.

CHESTERTOWN, MD. – Corey Olsen had a lot to say about J.R.R. Tolkien. But it seemed a pity to consign his thoughts to a scholarly journal, to be read by a few hundred fellow academics who already knew more than enough about the author of “The Lord of the Rings.”

So in spring 2007, the Washington College professor took his scholarship public, with a podcast called “How to Read Tolkien and Why” and a Web site called The Tolkien Professor.

A million downloads later, Olsen is one of the most popular medievalists in America. His unusual path to success – a smartly branded Web site and a legion of iTunes listeners – marks an alternative to the publish-or-perish tradition of scholarship on the tenure track. More..