Rating: 
Summary: The best radio dramatization ever.
Review: I have the cassette version of this BBC masterpiece featuring Ian Holm as Frodo. I've listened to it and uncountable number of times while working, driving, and doing stuff on my computer...and I have to say that this is the best piece of radio drama I've ever listened too. Weighing in at 12 hours it covers nearly all the detail of the trilogy with great detail. The acting, effects, and music are excellent, and everytime I listen to it I feel that I'm transported to Middle-earth. With the first movie now out, I suspect that this work may now be ignored in favor of a more visual (and also excellent) presentation. Don't make the mistake!! If you are a Tolkien lover you MUST own this set.
Rating: 
Summary: Lord of the Rings a Dramatizaation
Review: I found these tapes to be a complete waste of money. The different actor voices were confusing and I didn't care for the abridgement. However, there is an UNABRIDGED reading of the "Lord of the Rings" books (sold as three separate cassettes or CDs) that is worth the price. Instead of paying for a watered down mumbled version, I'd suggest going for the real thing.
Rating:
Summary: You will love it!!
Review: I have listened to it twice, and it's next best thing to reading the Lord of the Ring series. And some fairly good actors also dramatize it. I highly recommend it. It's abridged but all of the good parts are in it. Unless you have just read the series or memorized the books you will be hard pressed to figure out what parts are missing. It's like listening to the old radio shows. A great cast character actors whoes acting and voices bring the story to life. And it has sound effects too. Just close your eyes and let the story unfold in your mind. It does have few areas that are hard to hear at times, but you will hardly notice it. I think this is do to the acting going on i.e. voice inflections and distance of characters from each other etc.
Rating:
Summary: Buy THIS dramatization!!
Review: There have been two dramatizations of The Lord of the Rings available for over 20 years now. One is the Mind's Eye which is essentially the American version and the other is a BBC production made in England. In short, the Mind's Eye production is very poor in both performance and sound quality. Listening to Gandalf and Sauruman speak to each other in one episode was like listening to two demented elderly people exchange pointless barbs in a nursing home. It was stunningly bad. In comparison, the BBC production is marvelous. With at least two Shakepearean actors who have been knighted for their acting virtuousity, Ian Holm and Michael Hordern, the BBC version is awash in fine acting. Peter Woodthorpe portrayal of Gollum is inimitable. Brian Sibley also does a superb job of writing the play. He did such a good job, he was asked to consult on the film version that Peter Jackson just directed. Did you like the film? Then buy the BBC dramatization. It took me years to find the BBC version to buy. Only the Mind's Eye version was available in the United States for years, nay, decades. In the end, I was forced to buy the BBC version in London itself. How times have changed. Now Amazon offers both productions -- Mind's Eye and BBC. Do yourself and your family a favor. If you are going to buy any Tolkein dramatization at all, but the BBC version written by Brian Sibley. It is marvelous.
Rating:
Summary: The best
Review: Ignore those who give less than 5 stars - they need help. This is an excellent production that plumbs the depths of emotion in the same way that the book does, stiring in your imagination the story that is often thought of as the No. 1 of the last century. A hard task to ask of a radio production, but one that is completed with inspired performances. This is what I felt at 16 when I first heard the production in the early 80s. Nothing has changed. The new film is said to be excellent and long at 3 hours, and this audio production is also long at 13 hours, but necessarily so to illustrate the depth of the story. The best.
Rating:
Summary: Sumptious Dramatization of Classic
Review: This forceful dramatization of the Lord of the Rings will leave you waiting for one CD to end so that you can put the next CD in. Averse to the book's length when I was younger, I only got as far as the Hobbit in Tolkien's fantasy world. The BBC dramatization of "The Lord of the Rings" has music, character voices, noises--everything you need to create Middle Earth in the theater of your mind. Ian Holm plays a wonderful and vulnerable Frodo, confronting his lust for power and the dangers of the ring as the journey draws on. My favorite was the character of Samwise with all his attendant humor. __Gollum__ was an absolute treat!!! Gandalf was majestic, and Stryder has a raspiness that makes you believe his has a two-day old beard. The artwork on the box is very beautiful and the CD holders are each different, one has a large enough map on it for you to figure out some of the story's journey through Middle Earth. This would make a wonderful gift to yourself, a friend, or a junior-high aged child.
Rating:
Summary: Praise it with great praise
Review: The BBC keeps radio drama alive. This adaptation of British classic "The Lord of the Rings" is perfect. The actors are all spot-on, and each of them is a skilled voice actor. Peter Woodthorpe, who plays Gollum, also does the voice of Gollum for the Ralph Bakshi animated version. If you have never listened to a radio drama before, you are in for a treat. The story is treated with respect and reverence. Minor changes are made in the adaptation, but nothing that disturbs the overall story. The entire production rings in at 13 hours. For a fantasy story, this is probably the best way to experience a story after the original books. The imagery and adventure still take place in your mind. The characters will look like "your" characters. Give it a try!
Rating:
Summary: BBC rules!!!
Review: I have heard just about every different audio version of Tolkien's masterpiece and this one is by far above and beyond the rest. It has an excellent cast of voice actors who really embrace their characters (my fav being Sam...it's just how I thought he would sound while reading) There's even orchestration and effects throughout. The whole recording by itself is a masterpiece and it does great justice to The Lord of the Rings series. (The BBC of The Hobbit is just as great!)
Rating:
Summary: Dramatization of LOTR
Review: We have, over the years collected the dramatizations of many books, especially the classics, in unabridged form. Pride & Prejuidice, Jane Eyre, and 30 or so others. For the most part we avoid abridged books on cassette. In the case of LOTR we had to make an exception. Firstly, it was re-run on Radio4 in England when we first moved there in 1987. Our son was only 5 at the time but was riveted to his seat every Sunday at 2pm for one hour. It made a lasting impression on him then and still does some 15 years later. For myself, once we bought the complete set (13 one-hour tapes) it was just a question of finding an excuse to listen to them again. It is by far the most captivating story every written for drama. And the characterizations are phenomenal, as were the choice of actors. My biggest question about the tapes is from where did they get the actor who played Gollum and under what rock is he hiding now? If he wasnt' mad when he started he must have been when the work was finished. One gets the impression that each participant in the dramatization lived the character, almost to the same extent that the actors in the LOTR movie must have felt, due to their isolation and long commitment to the production. A real bonus in my mind was also the music and singing, as they form an important part of all Tolkien works. Once you have received the radio version of the music, re-reading the books spices them up a bit when you get to the songs which had previously been dry. What amazed me about the set of 13 tapes was that it is now available on CD (13 disks) although I have only seen it at [a mass merchandiser] and not at any bookstore. If you love the book, I suggest that the abridged radio play will grab your attention. I am an avid Tolkien fan and fully intend to see the movie(s), but my yardstick for dramatization is the radio play and not the book. The book is just too dense and overwhelming and as always a liberty must be taken here or there (Black Riders on brown horses) to capture in manageable form such a long tome.
Rating:
Summary: The Greatest!
Review: I have to admit I've heard this version many times before. A friend recorded it off of NPR many years ago. It is Great. Not just good...great. If you're a Tolkein fanatic (why else would you be reading this?) you will not be sorry you bought the CDs. I bought them for my daughter for Christmas.
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