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.

On Sunday, March 24, 2013, Peter Jackson hosted an exclusive live online event to premiere new footage from The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug – the second film in his trilogy inspired by the classic J.R.R. Tolkien fantasy novel – and answer questions from viewers and a selection of special surprise guests. This event was open only to those who had purchased The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey on Blu-ray and received a unique passcode to access the live feed.

Today, Jackson has released a 6-minute edited excerpt of the event on his YouTube channel. You can watch the video here below.

The Hobbit: There and Back Again, the final chapter in Peter Jackson‘s three-part adaptation of the classic J.R.R. Tolkien novel that would one day lead to the creation of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, was originally supposed to open in theaters on July 18, 2014. But in a move that surprised very little, There and Back Again had its release date pushed back five months and will now open on December 17, 2014.

This date shift makes a lot more sense, as each movie in Jackson’s Rings trilogy and last year’s The Hobbit: An Expected Journey all had December openings and were immense box office successes around the world. Plus it gives the director and his gifted production team some much-needed time to work on the voluminous 3D visual effects work required and fine tune the movie, and a holiday slot protects There and Back Again from contending with the blockbuster onslaught that comes with a summer release.

Happy Birthday to the late J.R.R. Tolkien, who remains the most well-known father of modern fantasy, whose imagination ran to untold areas and galaxies and lands which have created an empire with many of his books, filmed adaptations of those books, and a subculture of rabid fans through generations starting in the early parts of the 20th Century to the current day, especially with his Lord of the Rings series and The Hobbit.

Although he died 40 years ago this year (September 2nd to be exact) the Tolkien universe and all he created in it remains almost like a public utility in terms of its success and adoration. All ages, from children to septuagenarian kids at heart, have delighted and dabbled, read, re-read, and re-re-read all from the world that Tolkien has to offer. His works transcend just high fantasy literature; they stretch into many cores of pop culture, an unexpectedly key example being when progressive rock and roll found its full flower and fruition. Many bands, especially Led Zeppelin, used some of its imagery and visual styles in its music and its lyrics.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Directed by Peter Jackson
Written by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson, Guillermo del Toro
Starring: Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Cate Blanchett, Christopher Lee, Hugo Weaving, Andy Serkis, Ian Holm
Warner Bros. Pictures
Rated PG-13 | 170 minutes
Release Date: December 14th, 2012

Director Peter Jackson returns to J.R.R. Tokien‘s Middle-Earth with The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, the first entry in a new series of films that serve as a prequel to The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Set 60 years before The Fellowship of the Ring, An Unexpected Journey concerns Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman), a young Hobbit who goes on a grand adventure with the wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen) and a company of thirteen Dwarves, led by Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage).

Their goal is simple: reach the Lonely Mountain and reclaim the kingdom of Ererbor (and its golden treasure) from the dragon Smaug (Benedict Cumberbatch), the ‘Chiefest and Greatest of Calamities.’

The journey leads them from Bilbo’s home in Bag End in the Shire to the Elven stronghold of Rivendell and through the Goblin-infested Misty Mountains, where Bilbo encounters Gollum (Andy Serkis), a tragic creature who possesses a golden ring that will change the hobbit’s life forever.

That is, of course, the basic plot of Tolkien’s 1937 novel. Jackson’s film adaptation, however, makes extensive use of appendices and other supplementary materials to expand the 300-page children’s book into a trilogy of films that will eclipse nine hours of screen time.