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Summary: A classic presentation of a classic tale
Review: I first heard the BBC adaptation of Tolkiens trilogy on NPR while I was painting the house 15 years ago. In the cool of the summer evening it would come on with its distinctive theme music and the story would begin. It made the tedious job of painting seem a joy as night after night the drama would unfold towards its dramatic conclusion. I decided then I would have to get a copy. I found one in the library and did the illegal tape thing but am pleased now I have the original. And everytime I listen it brings back the pleasant memory of painting and listening...
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Summary: throw away your TV
Review: This is a wonderful audio version of the book (I am talking about the BBC cassette version). It is virtually unabridged, all important scenes are there (the only notable casualty being the scenes with Tom Bombadil) and all the characters get a great treatment. The performances are excellent, without exception.The voices are all well chosen and represent the characters the way I imagined them while reading the book. Gandalf sounds witty and irascible, Gollum is both creepy and pityable, and Aragorn hath a very thekthy lithp. The whole thing is stirring and exciting all the way and has the epic feel of the book. I haven't had so much fun listening to anything since my Grandma read to me when I was a kid.
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Summary: Wonderful for children and adults
Review: National Pulic Radio aired this version of the Lord of the Rings when I was about 6 years old and we (shame, shame on us) taped it. I listened to those tapes until they wore out! As a gift, my parents gave me this boxed set a few years ago. I know practically every line and I still cry at the end. It is, in my opinion, the best story ever translated into an audio version. This version is true to the book moreso than the movie or any other audio recording. The characters draw you into the story and you become a part of it by creating your own vision of "Middle Earth" around their voices. Every time I listen to it, I think of home and my family because, for us, it was (and still is) a family activity. This is a book and audio recording every family should own!
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Summary: Applicability and allegory in LOTR
Review: The most attractive characteristic of Tolkien Lord of the rings, is the applicability of many of its situations, characters and topics to everyone daily life, but without use of allegory which would force this applicability to the will of the author
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Summary: Brilliant Radio Play!!
Review: This tape series is a BBC production and is expertly crafted. The characters all come to life in a remarkably realistic and vivid way. My family has listened to the series at least 5 times and always asks for it again and again. This is the definitive way to listen to Tolkien!
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Summary: If you like Elves, Dwaves, Orc and the such, then read this.
Review: This may well be one of the best books ever written. Some people may like to think that Gone with the Wind(GwtW) is on par with this, but I would have to differ, GwtW may be an increible love story but in my mind it doesn't compare. Medival fantasy is not drivel as some people would like you to believe. It is the more opened mind people out there. You don't have to like Dungeons & Dragons to like this book. Just have the freedom of imgaination to let Tolkien take you to some place you have never been.
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Summary: Making the book come alive
Review: There's a major difference between a radio play and a movie or TV show. Radio forces you to concentrate more on your imagination, and it brings you closer to the actual book. This play, Lord of the Rings, is exceptionally well cast and has wonderful acting. It draws the listener in and makes Tolkien's masterpiece come alive! Excellent and exciting. Make sure you have the time to listen to as much as you can at once; you won't be able to stop!
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Summary: Marvelous adaptation of the book
Review: This is a marvelous dramatization of the Lord of the Rings. Overall, a much, much better adaptation of the book than the visually gorgeous but otherwise very disappointing movie trilogy. The acting here is mostly superb, and dialogues are almost always straight from Tolkien's pages. The renditions of Frodo, Gandalf, and above all Sam are truly great. Aragorn would also be very convincing, if it weren't for the actor's voice, who has a funny way to pronounce the letter "s"! Anyway, this is a trifle, and the overall rendition is great. Here you will not find any of the silly and gratuitous adaptations that somehow spoiled the three movies. In particular, Merry and Pippin are not presented as two half-witted comical characters, but they are presented in all their complexity. And you won't have Liv Tyler played the stupid and intolerably ethereal role created for her by Hollywood. And you won't have to endure the unbelievably stupid scene were Gollum convince Frodo to "abandon" Sam, or the (sadly) legendary sequence where Frodo, after losing the ring (and his finger inside it...) FIGHTS WITH GOLLUM ON THE BRINK OF THE PRECIPICE, AND OF COURSE IT LOOKS LIKE THEY BOTH FALL, AND OF COURSE ONLY GOLLUM FALLS, AND OF COURSE SAM RESCUES FRODO GRABBING FRODO'S HAND JUST ONE SECOND BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE. The BBC is production does necessarily cuts much (no Bombadil, no Ghan-Buri-Ghan, for example), but what is left is 95% pure Tolkien, and 5% transition between narratives. Peter Jackson and his pals should have looked here for the book's adaptation.
I have already listened to the full box twice, and I will surely do it again. If you enjoyed the book, and you would like to "hear it" come alive, especially if you have been disappointed by the gratuitous concessions to Hollywood misery imposed by Peter Jackson and his pals, you should definitely purchase this box. Especially because another alternative, the UNABRIDGED version of the book, is not so good, as the reader's voice is very ill-suited to the epic tone of the trilogy. I know there are also partial renditions of the book read by Tolkien himself, but I do not know those.
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Summary: Very well done
Review: I have probably listened to this over 30 times since I was a teenager, it is that good. The voice acting is second to none. It is interesting especially now after viewing all three movies to be able to come back and experience the story in a different way, although Ian Holm as Frodo throws me off now since I'm used to him being Bilbo. Some of the songs are a bit annoying, but they are few and far between, and the end goes on for quite a bit. Overall though, I would reccomend to any fan of the book.
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Summary: Compliments the Films, Books Wonderfully!!!
Review: If you've seen the magnificent film trilogy by Peter Jackson and enjoyed it, then try this 13 hour radio dramatization on for size. While the film draws much of it's beauty from visuals and epic battle scenes, this dramatization draws ALL of it's beauty from Tolkien's prose. The acting in this version is even better than the outstanding acting of the films. Regardless of whether you loved or hated the films, this radio play IS NOT TO BE MISSED!! It's a very different(and in some ways, better) vision of Tolkien's masterwork than what was seen onscreen.
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