Rating: 
Summary: Loved this Doc
Review: I thought this was a wonderful Doc. Full of great insight into the world of a great man. The look at his world of fantasy from the eyes of fans was incredible. It really allowed the viewer to see all sides of Tolkiens imagination. Well done.
John Thorton.
Rating: 
Summary: Some Hits, Some Misses ...
Review: Sean Buckley's ORIGIN OF THE RINGS is not entirely a waste of time, as some reviews might have one believe: while it contains some interesting biographical data -- presented through "The History Channel-like" visual re-enactments -- about Tolkien's birth, youth, and upbringing, it also contains some arguably off-center suppositions on the novels "obvious allegories," premises Tolkien himself long denounced.Of course, this "unauthorized tribute" essential appears unnecessary. Given the fact the THE LORD OF THE RINGS was voted (as referenced in the short film) as "The Book of the Millenium" via Internet respondents to Amazon.com, a "tribute" would hardly seem of any merit. Certainly, the Peter Jackson films -- wonderful interpretations of Tolkien's novels -- are a far more fitting tribute to the man whose tales have inspired people of all races, colors, and creeds. The title -- ORIGIN OF THE RINGS -- is more than a bit misleading, as this hour-long documentary only dedicates about 15 good minutes (and perhaps another useless 10 minutes) exploring Tolkien's life and how events might've led him to make certain creative choices. The latter half of the documentary, however, is dedicated to a very low-budget attempt by a small studio to capture moments from the Tolkien books by meshing real actors with digital backgrounds. While their work is interesting, there is seemingly no direct translation of scenes depicted from THE LORD OF THE RINGS ... at least, none that even a casual fan could find. Minor differences aside, what I found most disconcerting was the fact that -- as a documentary -- there appear to have been only a handful of interviews completed, and, again, the latter half of the 60 minute film really don't relate back to Tolkien so much as they showcase what fans of his works are doing. While the interviews are certainly with credible guests (a biographer, a Tolkien scholar, and -- a psychotherapist), I would rather have spent more time exploring their opinions and reflections on Tolkien's work as opposed to seeing the fan segments. As this documentary was produced before Peter Jackson's films, there is only a passing mention of 'what's to come' with almost laughable hopes that "the films will be worth seeing." Certainly, that isn't the fault of the producers; it only underscores, perhaps, that this "unauthorized tribute" was intended as little more than a "jump on the bandwagon" attempt by some savor entrepreneurs. P.S. on the extras: utterly disappointing and almost force me to change my three-star rating. The disc includes a B-reel of unused footage (most of which is clearly useless footage, including shots of a man sweeping a digital soundstage), a trailer-of-sorts for the documentary (which features some very nice CGI animation), and excised interview moments from the Tolkien biographer who clearly appeared far more interested in talking about what Tolkien didn't want associated with his works than actually talking about the merits of THE LORD OF THE RINGS. As the video policeman says, "Move along, nothing to see here." Ultimately, ORIGINS is another example of "you get what you pay for" -- not an awesomely stellar production for the ages but one worth a single viewing.
Rating:
Summary: Loved this Doc
Review: The Amazon review is, unfortunately, very accurate on this title. I was very intersted in the first half of the DVD, even though it felt like an ad for Coren's book, but I was truly disgusted with the "making of" nonsense that followed. We are guided through the process of design and creation of Tolkien-esque characters for the production of....THIS VIDEO. That's all it was. It would have been nice if they had even portrayed the FAKE characters correctly, but thier lawyers were too wise for that. The only reference to the real movie was by a comic-store-guy expecting a jump in bussiness. About 40% of the info is watchable, don't bother with the rest.
Rating: 
Summary: I got what I expected, but not what I'd hoped for...
Review: The Amazon review is, unfortunately, very accurate on this title. I was very intersted in the first half of the DVD, even though it felt like an ad for Coren's book, but I was truly disgusted with the "making of" nonsense that followed. We are guided through the process of design and creation of Tolkien-esque characters for the production of....THIS VIDEO. That's all it was. It would have been nice if they had even portrayed the FAKE characters correctly, but thier lawyers were too wise for that. The only reference to the real movie was by a comic-store-guy expecting a jump in bussiness. About 40% of the info is watchable, don't bother with the rest.
Rating: 
Summary: Inferior product
Review: This is a pretty amateur production. It appears to have been made in Toronto, using only local sources. One academic is credited as "Professor of English, U of T," and a couple of film reviewers (speculating uselessly about the then-unreleased Peter Jackson films) are described as being from "The Star." Presumably Toronto natives will know who these people are. The other interviewees seem to be scraped together from whoever happened to be available for cheap. The biographer interviewed is not Humphrey Carpenter, but some unknown. In addition, the filmmakers act as if THE SILMARILLION never existed, and seem to feel that the Brothers Hildebrandt were the first artists to depict Tolkien scenes and characters, completely ignoring Tim Kirk and other early Tolkien artists. And the extensive section showing amateur filmmakers trying to put together their own film of Lord of the Rings is irrelevant and self-serving. The biographical material on Tolkien is valid, but nothing appears here that's not in any standard Tolkien documentary or in Carpenter's book. They supplement a few historical photos with some footage of actors pretending to be Tolkien and not doing a very good job of it. On the whole, this video could only be of interest to someone who has only made initial contact with the world of Tolkien; but anyone who has read or seen more should avoid this one.
Rating:
Summary: Inferior product
Review: This is a pretty amateur production. It appears to have been made in Toronto, using only local sources. One academic is credited as "Professor of English, U of T," and a couple of film reviewers (speculating uselessly about the then-unreleased Peter Jackson films) are described as being from "The Star." Presumably Toronto natives will know who these people are. The other interviewees seem to be scraped together from whoever happened to be available for cheap. The biographer interviewed is not Humphrey Carpenter, but some unknown. In addition, the filmmakers act as if THE SILMARILLION never existed, and seem to feel that the Brothers Hildebrandt were the first artists to depict Tolkien scenes and characters, completely ignoring Tim Kirk and other early Tolkien artists. And the extensive section showing amateur filmmakers trying to put together their own film of Lord of the Rings is irrelevant and self-serving. The biographical material on Tolkien is valid, but nothing appears here that's not in any standard Tolkien documentary or in Carpenter's book. They supplement a few historical photos with some footage of actors pretending to be Tolkien and not doing a very good job of it. On the whole, this video could only be of interest to someone who has only made initial contact with the world of Tolkien; but anyone who has read or seen more should avoid this one.
Rating:
Summary: one ring to rule, the web!
Review: This is the best of the greatest movies I've ever seen in my life, exspecially because I think Frodo, Legolas, and Strider are very, very, very, very, very, very hot and VERY, VERY good lookin'! I just can't wait 'till the Two Towers comes to Rushville, so I can see more of Frodo, Legolas, and Strider!!!if I could give this movie more stars I would give it over a ZILLION. PLEASE WRITE ME BACK!
THIS IS DEFFINENTLY THE BEST MOVIE EVER!!!
Im your #1 fan...BYE-BYE
Rating:
Summary: Don't waste your money
Review: This video spends more time showing people designing costumes for an unidentified production of LOTR than time on Tolkien himself. The most ludicrous thing is the portion discussing the paintings of the Brothers Hildebrandt while showing totally unrelated artwork. The people who put this video together should have, at least, identified the artwork while acknowledging that they had no permission to show the actual Hildebrandt paintings. Instead it gives a false impression that the artwork being shown was by the Hildebrandts. Also the dramatic recreations featuring a man who looked nothing like Tolkien were not labeled as recreations and may be misconstrued by people with less knowledge of Tolkien. Almost a total waste.
Rating:
Summary: Don't waste your money
Review: This video spends more time showing people designing costumes for an unidentified production of LOTR than time on Tolkien himself. The most ludicrous thing is the portion discussing the paintings of the Brothers Hildebrandt while showing totally unrelated artwork. The people who put this video together should have, at least, identified the artwork while acknowledging that they had no permission to show the actual Hildebrandt paintings. Instead it gives a false impression that the artwork being shown was by the Hildebrandts. Also the dramatic recreations featuring a man who looked nothing like Tolkien were not labeled as recreations and may be misconstrued by people with less knowledge of Tolkien. Almost a total waste.
Rating:
Summary: What a piece of garbage.
Review: This waste of time pretending to be a documentary is one of the worst things I've ever sat through. It looks like it was made over a weekend by a bunch of teenaged sci-fi dweebs who borrowed their dad's video camera. It was obviously churned out to cash in on the Peter Jackson movie. The back cover is totally misleading. "This exciting documentary features ... interviews with members of Tolkien's family and a host of other experts!" WRONG!!! I didn't see any members of Tolkien's family being interviewed, and the "host of other experts" consists of the following - a nobody who wrote a Tolkien biography I've never heard of, a very boring University professor, a stereotypical comic-collector-nerdy-boy, and some wannabe fantasy artist who nobody has heard of. Oh, and a writer who writes bad fantasy-for-kids, who claims that Tolkien influenced her in the way she develops characters and plot. Duh ... don't you mean influenced you in every aspect of everything you have ever written? The way these 'experts' gush over their claim that if it weren't for the book's acceptance in the USA Tolkien wouldn't be popular at all, and would have disappeared into obscurity is quite sickening. Don't these 'experts' know how popular Lord Of The Rings was in the late 1950's & early 1960's all over the English-speaking world, long before it ever went on sale in the US? The 'experts' describe how the Brother's Hildebrandt made Tolkien popular, all the while paintings that are not by Greg and Tim Hildebrandt are shown behind the voice-over. I assume our intrepid teenage dweebs making rubbish couldn't afford to pay Greg and Tim anything to show their paintings. So we get gushings about Hildebrandt art while watching generic fantasy art by who-knows-who! The worst part is the last 20 mins or so, in which we watch a pack of self-indulgent kids let loose in a special effects facility making really idiotic, amateur, Tolkien-esque video shots - not even a video, just a few shots of them walking around, firing arrows etc. This was so annoying and horrible that I eventually skipped through it. If you really want to know about Tolkien and how he wrote his books, read Humphrey Carpenter's brilliant biography. Give this piece of rubbish a very wide berth. The final sentence on the back cover blurb ... "This is unlike anything you've seen on Earth!" How true that is, and its the like of which I never want to see again.
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