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The Ring Cycle

by | 16th, December 2003

‘LORD Of The Rings was to no-one’s surprise named the country’s most popular book in BBC’s The Big Read, despite the fact that we would wager a lot of money than many of its supporters had never read a page of JRR Tolkein’s prose.

”Right. Now for those bloody hobbits”

The real reason for its sudden ubiquity is, of course, the film, the final part of which premieres in London tonight.

Now, you don’t have to be one of those whose cultural tastes have never developed much further than Harry Potter or Frodo Baggins to appreciate what a magnificent achievement this film trilogy represents.

It is, one suspects, a cinematic achievement that will stand the test of time, like some of the magnificent epics of yesteryear.

Liv Tyler’s dad might not have been able to stay awake throughout the film’s 200 minutes (and it will certainly test younger children’s attention span), but unlike so many films today it is not long for the sake of being long.

It is long because it takes time and space to conjure up the vastness of Peter Jackson’s vision of Middle Earth and the breadth of Tolkein’s imagination.

Join Jonathan Ross on BBC1 at 11.35pm as he reports from the post-premiere party.’



Posted: 16th, December 2003 | In: Celebrities Comment | TrackBack | Permalink