Ringers: Lord of the Fans (2005)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

Carlene Cordova

Writers:

Cliff Broadway (writer)
Carlene Cordova (writer)

Genre:

Documentary | Comedy

Tagline:

One book. One ring. One world.

Plot:

'Ringers: Lord of the Fans' is a feature-length documentary that explores how "The Lord of the Rings" has influenced Western popular culture over the past 50 years. |

Plot Keywords:

Lord Of The Rings | Pop Culture | Fandom

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Dominic Monaghan	...	Narrator, Himself
Elijah Wood	...	Himself
Peter Jackson	...	Himself
Viggo Mortensen	...	Himself
Orlando Bloom	...	Himself
David Carradine	...	Himself
Ian McKellen	...	Himself
Sean Astin	...	Himself
John Rhys-Davies	...	Himself
Billy Boyd	...	Himself
Clive Barker	...	Himself
Cliff Broadway	...	Interviewer, Himself
Andy Serkis	...	Himself
John Noble	...	Himself
Philippa Boyens	...	Herself

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some sex and drug references.

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Certification:

UK:12 | Finland:K-3 | Australia:M | Singapore:NC-16 | USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Company:

Planet BB Entertainment

Quotes:

Narrator, Himself: We are servants of the secret fire. One generation of readers followed by another, and another.

Movie Connections:

References The Hobbit (1977) (TV)

Not very revealing

Documentaries about fans are always mishmashes, and never worth seeing through, but I found this one, made by some of the fans themselves, more than usually unenlightening. As a veteran of the original Tolkien craze, forty years ago, I'd hoped for more than the obvious--which doesn't always equate to the true. If there's anyone living who doesn't already know the nature of a fandom, any fandom, from having been or known a fan, he won't discover it here. Between irrelevancies, platitudes (to which the actors from the films are particularly prone), and acting out (by fans making the most--if not the best--of their one shot at fame), I could glean little of the special appeal of LOTR, the special emotional responses it evokes, and the range of the special creative forms those responses can take. In addition, the film is rather lazy: it slights some facts that could have been got across with little effort, e.g. what the exact legal loophole was (the wording of a copyright notice) that permitted the books' unauthorized publication in the U.S. (Speaking of which: I take strong exception to the film's dismissal of the covers on that edition as "irrelevant" and "psychedelic," which they were not. They were the work of Jack Gaughan, a very able sf illustrator of the period, and some fans, including me, found them more apt, and more attractive, than the covers on the rival set.)