The Lord of the Rings – The Fellowship of the Ring: Extended Edition
Blu-ray
Directed by Peter Jackson
Written by Peter Jackson, Phillipa Boyens, and Fran Walsh; based on the novel by J.R.R. Tolkien
Starring Elijah Wood, Viggo Mortensen, Ian McKellen, and Sean Astin
New Line Home Video
Release Date: August 28, 2012

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring accomplished a feat that few films have ever been able to do: it made a believer out of me. When the movie was first released in December 2001 it proved that epic fantasy features that were not set in a galaxy far, far away could still break box office records. I didn’t see the movie during its blockbuster theatrical run because….I really thought it was going to be terrible. There, I confess. It took me until Fellowship‘s first DVD release in August 2002 to realize that my harsh pre-judging of the movie, mostly based on the simmering anger I felt towards the past few years of bloated Hollywood FX spectacles that offered fantastic visuals but little in the way of memorable stories and characters, was in haste and a huge mistake.

I remember the sweltering summer evening when I rented a copy of Fellowship from my local now-defunct Hollywood Video on the way home from work. Knowing in advance that it was a three-hour flick my initial plan was to watch the first half at the least before hitting the sack so I could get up the next morning for an early shift at the Tower Records I had been working at back then for more than three years. Twenty minutes following the start of my first viewing of Fellowship of the Ring and I was hooked; there would be no “To Be Continued” that night. Even though I risked getting barely enough sleep to pass for a member of the living the next day I watched the movie until its very end, and by the time Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee walked off into the sunset to more adventures I was a full-fledged Rings fan.

Raiders Of The Lost Ark
Directed by Steven Spielberg
Screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan
Story by George Lucas and Philip Kaufman
Starring Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, John Rhys-Davies, Ronald Lacey
Score by John Williams
Released June 12, 1981 (U.S.)

The 1970s announced the finest era of the summer movie blockbuster. Two of the biggest movies of that decade, Star Wars and Jaws, defined the summer movie season. These movies, directed by George Lucas and Steven Spielberg respectively, are still heralded by us – the geeks. Most of us would not be here writing and reading this very website if it were not for these movies (my name is Obi-Dan for crying out loud!). This movie-making dream team came together to create one of the greatest action adventure movies ever made: Raiders Of The Lost Ark.

From a story by George Lucas and Phillip Kaufman, who had recently co-written the screenplay for the outstanding Clint Eastwood-starring Western, The Outlaw Josey Wales, Indiana Jones began to take real shape in the late ’70s. The screenplay was then written by Lawrence Kasdan with Raiders only his second screenplay to get made (his first?: Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back just a year earlier. Talk about hitting the ground running).

Krod Mandoon & The Flaming Sword of Fire
DVD
Created by Peter A. Knight
Sean Maguire, Matt Lucas, John Rhys-Davies, Kevin Hart
Comedy Central
Release date: March 23, 2010

In a time when all you had to go on were your brains and your brawn, and warlocks and mythical creatures were around, we find the hero of our story Krod Mandoon. This somewhat insecure but courageous hero is thrown into many situations that would normally take great skill to escape. Fortunately for him and his band of somewhat bumbling misfits, pure dumb luck is on their side as well. Krod Mandoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire is a six-episode miniseries created by Peter A. Knight for BBC Two and Comedy Central.

I was not sure what to make of this show when I first saw the advertisement playing on Comedy Central last summer, but I knew one thing for sure, that it looked hilarious. To my surprise it did not disappoint. While having a bit of a slow start (which is to be expected of new shows sometimes) it gradually gets better as it goes. If you love corny and raunchy humor, then you will love this series.

The Lord Of The Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy was released this week on iTunes as a digital download. In conjunction with this event, we here at Geeks of Doom have a Lord Of The Rings prize pack with some real cool goodies to give away to one (1) lucky reader!

One (1) winner will receive:

• One (1) The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Original Theatrical Poster
• One (1) LOTR Playing Cards
• One (1) LOTR Bookmarks
• One (1) LOTR Necklace
• One (1) LOTR Jade necklace from New Zealand

The digital version is available now for only $19.99 at iTunes [note, link opens up iTunes application].

TO ENTER: There’s just two simple steps:

(1) Make sure you’re subscribed to the Geeks of Doom email digest. If you’re not then click here and sign up. (If you’re already a subscriber, then go right to the next step.)

(2) Fill out the entry form here below and submit. (Form is here after the jump.)

Good luck!