Product Description

National Geographic Beyond the Movie: The Lord of the Rings explores throught provoking questions for viewers who want to go beyond the richly fanciful film into the world that started it all.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #64317 in DVD
• Brand: Warner Brothers
• Released on: 2002-02-19
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 60 minutes

Amazon.com
The connection between National Geographic and The Lord of the Rings may seem tentative, but this illuminating TV special proves otherwise. While incorporating cast and crew interviews and film clips from director Peter Jackson's 2001 blockbuster The Fellowship of the Ring, this hourlong documentary transcends timely opportunism to explore the myriad inspirations for J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth fantasy classic, beginning with the influence of Tolkien's idyllic childhood in rural England, which served as the model for Tolkien's threatened Hobbit paradise. Equally fascinating are the influence of Tolkien's experience in World War I, the "evil" of industrial development, and especially the influence of Anglo-Saxon poetry (notably Beowulf) and the mythology of the Finnish Kalevala, which formed the basis of Tolkien's elfish culture. Tolkien's passion for nature conservancy and cultural preservation is what ultimately serves the National Geographic agenda, but eloquent testimonials by archaeologists, anthropologists, and filmmakers make this a most agreeable hour of justified propaganda. --Jeff Shannon

From the Back Cover
The ultimate companion to the Hollywood blockbuster. National Geographic embarks on an extraordinary journey through myth, legend, language, and history to explore how the imaginary world of Middle-earth reflects our own. Who was J.R.R. Tolkien, and how did he create the amazing world of Middle-earth? How does the struggle between good and evil in this epic story parallel challenges in our world? Why are the places, heroes, and villains of Middle-earth eerily familiar? Who are the real-life Frodos of today?

Featuring exclusive footage from The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, insightful interviews with the cast and filmmakers, and provocative perspectives of explorers, anthropologists, and archaeologists. Only National Geographic can present such a unique look into the blockbuster film and the real-life story behind it. 60 minutes.

Customer Reviews

Better rental than a purchase
I purchased it with high hopes that it would really give some good insight about how Tolkien came up with the LOTR. Unfortunately, the insights were rather weak. It was really well researched, but there were no interviews with Tolkien of any kind. One would have thought that some insight from Christopher, his son and editor of the Silmarillion, would have been included in this, but it wasn't.

There was never any mention that the story of Bilbo Baggins was a story he told to his kids, and because they liked it so much, he began to write it down.

I found out more about Tolkien by reading the CD sleeves of the radio dramatization of LOTR (ISBN 0553456539) than I did with this DVD, I feel completely jipped.

If you want to see it, I recommend renting it. It's not worth adding to your collection.

Great behind the scenes look at FOTR
I popped this DVD in last night and was surprised. I guess I shouldn't be, with National Geographic producing this. The DVD does a great job of exploring the events that influenced JRR Tolkien, including Industrialization and World War I .

I was also surprised with the footage and interviews. These are not interviews of some random Tolkien "experts", but with his best friend, war buddy, and also the man Peter Jackson himself. The rest of cast speaks also, some in full costume on the set. There is tons of footage from the movie. This adds a lot to the DVD.

There is also an in-depth study of the origins of the Elfish Language. Very nice. My favorite part of the DVD was seeing how the filmmakers modeled Hobbiton after the childhood village of Tolkien. The bridge is exactly the same! Cool stuff. The houses look just like the village of Bree.

Overall, this DVD is a worthy effort. It gives an in-depth look at the origin of the novels and also the movie.

Anglo-Saxon Buffs, This is the DVD for you!
If you're a fan of Tolkien's works, I mean a fan of the works beyond the movie and beyond the Lord of the Rings trilogy, then you might be interested in watching this DVD. If you're looking for a behind-the-scenes dvd about the blockbuster movies by Peter Jackson, then you might want to turn off this DVD after the first ten minutes and pick up a Fellowship of the Rings boxed set.

This documentary fulfills its claim of going beyond the movie. It certainly does! This dvd goes beyond even the works of Tolkien and centers around the author's life and influences. If you're interested in languages and history, you might find sections of the DVD fascinating as National Geographics takes us to places like Finland and spends what seemed to me to be ages talking to people about language and myths.

I'm not really a linguist, nor am I a historian interested in Norse mythology, but I am quite intersted in Tolkien and the things that influenced his works. For these reasons, I found this DVD to be filled with a wealth of information that goes beyond the shallow tv-style approach to movie backgrounds. This DVD explores several possible influences on the Lord of the Rings trilogy ranging from foxholes in World War II to epic poems such as Beowulf. It was very interesting to see how historians and archeologists can shed light on modern fantasy novels and can influence our interpretations of the events within them.

I do have a few detractions for this DVD. It is true that when I purchased it, I expected more of a behind-the-scenes look at the films by Peter Jackson, and I think the cover and description is somewhat misleading in this way. I was surprised, and not unpleasantly, by the content, but some of the sections discussing language seemed to drag on for a while and leave the audience behind.

If you're a Tolkien addict, check out this DVD. If you're a Peter Jackson addict...buy the boxed set of FoTR.