Ringers: Lord of the Fans

This is a documentary about JRR Tolkien, his Lord of the Rings and the fans who love it.

Its an informative little film that tells you a great deal about its subjects, but for me, a fan but not a FAN, its way too much material for a 100 minute movie. Its not bad, not by a long shot, but the only ones I think who are going to be hanging on to the bitter end of this film are the ones who are its subject, the fans. Its just over kill in a big way. Of course those who want a Cliff Notes version of the world of Tolkien and how its affected the world, and the fans, since its publication will find the perfected starting point. The rest of us will be ready to turn it off after twenty minutes.

As someone who has read Lord of the Rings once a year over the past 35 years, saw each of the films at the theater an average of 55 times (3 of them marathon viewings), attended many of the conventions, and has been a devoted fan of Tolkien's work since 1971… I have to say this documentary captures the passion, dedication and FUN of being a Ringer. This is a thorough examination of Tolkien's journey in writing Lord of the Rings and the influence it's had on generations of fans of all kinds.

There are scholars who have dedicated years to the study Tolkien's world. There are people young and old who enjoy getting lost in the fantasy story that launched the genre with style and intelligence. And there are people who just have fun as they escape into the realm of dwarfs, elves, hobbits, wizards, and a collection of villains. This documentary looks at all of that! This is, hopefully, the first of more documentaries by this team of devoted Tolkien followers who have done an amazing job introducing us to the spectrum of fans. I discovered Lord of the Rings as a hippie living out of an old green van traveling the country, and I find their approach to MY generation to be great fun as I revisit that age.

As with any work, there will be those who relate to the films, books, or documentaries… and there will be those who miss the point. As an avid fan of Tolkien both in films and in books… I embrace this documentary as one of the best historical and most entertaining examinations EVER of Middle-earth and those who love it. Well done!

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.)

I throughly enjoyed watching the movie. I liked to hear what other people who are major fans loved about the movie. I also liked listening to the actors who were in the movie and getting their perspective. I appreciate all the time and effort that went into the interviews and the history behind Lord of the Rings and Professor Tolkien. Hearing the history of the books and the way the books have impacted culture was very interesting. Getting past the Monty Pythonesque cartoons at the beginning was amusing but it didn't detract from the overall presentation of the film Thank you to all those who took time and invested in making Ringers. I am a minor Ringer. I don't go to the premiers or dress up for the conventions, but I love the stories and the films. I think this one was up to the Lord of the Rings standard set by Peter Jackson and his crew for the Lord of the Rings films.

'Ringers' is a documentary by & for fans that examines the impact that J.R.R. Tolkien and 'The Lord of the Rings' has had on popular culture. It's narrated by Dominic Monaghan ('Merry'), and takes the audience through the last 50 years, from the initial publication of the books, up through the release of the films. My favorite moments are when the filmmakers talk to ordinary, everyday fans about how Tolkien has changed their lives, but it's also cool to hear from people like David Carradine, Terry Pratchett, Cameron Crowe, and Geddy Lee of Rush. And rather than mock the fans, as 'Trekkies' did, the film celebrates them. Highly recommended!