Sharky
December 1st,2002, 01:21 AM
I first heard this here in Oz in 1982, 13 hours of LotR over 26 half hour episodes broadcast every Sunday morning. I started taping the series but it wasn't always possible to be near a tape recorder at the time, so I stopped after 10 episodes vowing one day to buy the collection, and last week I finally did.
Presentation
This is a beautiful boxed set now remixed to 13 one hour episodes, one episode per CD, presented in a black leaved binder like those old photo albums. Each CD in its own page with 2 extra pages , one for a map of MIddle Earth, and one for the 24 page booklet. The booklet contains a track listing, the making of..., the recording of..., J.R.R. Tolkien, and the music for the series.
The Cast
I won't list the whole cast, there are 54 people used for the voice characterisations alone, but the main players are:
Frodo Ian Holm
Gandalf Michael Horden
Aragorn Robert Stephens
Gollum Peter Woodthorpe
Bilbo John le Mesurier
Sam WIlliam Nighy
Merry Richard O'Callaghan
Pippin John McAndrew
Legolas David Collings
Gimli Douglas Livingstone
Boromir Michael Graham Cox
Ian Holm standing out as he plays Bilbo in PJ's version, some may recognise John le Mesurier as Sergeant Wilson from the BBC comedy Dad's Army. Michael Horden as Gandalf is very similar to Ian McKellan which is certainly a good thing, and the other worth a special mention is Peter Woodthorpe as Gollum, very good my precioussss !
The Story
Obvously a different media means different issues for the production. The pacing is a lot slower in parts, it takes 3 hours to make it to Rivendell, but battle scenes don't really work on Radio so parts like Helms Deep don't last all that long. I'll just list some points:
*** Potential Spoilers ***
* The Long Expected Party is almost exactly the same as the movie, there's even a scene in a pub with the Gaffer & Ted Sandyman, although its the Bywater Inn, not the Greendragon.
* The power of the Ring is portrayed as the sound a good wine glass makes when you run your finger around the rim, quite effective and not oppresive, the sound can be quite subtle at times.
* The story of Gandalf & Saruman in Isengard is told in real-time, not in Rivendell by Gandalf. It even has Radagast the Brown near Bree advising Gandalf to go to Orthanc to seek Saruman's council.
* No Tom Bombadil. The writers thought it would take too much time with no plot development.
* No Arwen. She's seen in Rivendell, but says nothing.
* Interesting little bits inserted from Unfinished Tales, but I won't say what they are.
The Music and Songs
Excellent ! The theme music is dramatic and powerful, designed to represent Sauron and the power of the Ring. Other incidental music also fits in well, somtimes used to show a change in scene, or tp portray a mood as in Lothlorien. What I most love though is that they use the original songs from LotR, there are favourites like The Road Goes Ever On, and the song Frodo sings in Bree when he falls off the table and accidently puts on the Ring.
So there's my brief review, for Tolkien fans I highly reccomend this production even though it is a bit expensive at $200 AUD. I fell in love with it as a teenager and it stands the test of time very well.
Happy Listening. :thumbs:
Presentation
This is a beautiful boxed set now remixed to 13 one hour episodes, one episode per CD, presented in a black leaved binder like those old photo albums. Each CD in its own page with 2 extra pages , one for a map of MIddle Earth, and one for the 24 page booklet. The booklet contains a track listing, the making of..., the recording of..., J.R.R. Tolkien, and the music for the series.
The Cast
I won't list the whole cast, there are 54 people used for the voice characterisations alone, but the main players are:
Frodo Ian Holm
Gandalf Michael Horden
Aragorn Robert Stephens
Gollum Peter Woodthorpe
Bilbo John le Mesurier
Sam WIlliam Nighy
Merry Richard O'Callaghan
Pippin John McAndrew
Legolas David Collings
Gimli Douglas Livingstone
Boromir Michael Graham Cox
Ian Holm standing out as he plays Bilbo in PJ's version, some may recognise John le Mesurier as Sergeant Wilson from the BBC comedy Dad's Army. Michael Horden as Gandalf is very similar to Ian McKellan which is certainly a good thing, and the other worth a special mention is Peter Woodthorpe as Gollum, very good my precioussss !
The Story
Obvously a different media means different issues for the production. The pacing is a lot slower in parts, it takes 3 hours to make it to Rivendell, but battle scenes don't really work on Radio so parts like Helms Deep don't last all that long. I'll just list some points:
*** Potential Spoilers ***
* The Long Expected Party is almost exactly the same as the movie, there's even a scene in a pub with the Gaffer & Ted Sandyman, although its the Bywater Inn, not the Greendragon.
* The power of the Ring is portrayed as the sound a good wine glass makes when you run your finger around the rim, quite effective and not oppresive, the sound can be quite subtle at times.
* The story of Gandalf & Saruman in Isengard is told in real-time, not in Rivendell by Gandalf. It even has Radagast the Brown near Bree advising Gandalf to go to Orthanc to seek Saruman's council.
* No Tom Bombadil. The writers thought it would take too much time with no plot development.
* No Arwen. She's seen in Rivendell, but says nothing.
* Interesting little bits inserted from Unfinished Tales, but I won't say what they are.
The Music and Songs
Excellent ! The theme music is dramatic and powerful, designed to represent Sauron and the power of the Ring. Other incidental music also fits in well, somtimes used to show a change in scene, or tp portray a mood as in Lothlorien. What I most love though is that they use the original songs from LotR, there are favourites like The Road Goes Ever On, and the song Frodo sings in Bree when he falls off the table and accidently puts on the Ring.
So there's my brief review, for Tolkien fans I highly reccomend this production even though it is a bit expensive at $200 AUD. I fell in love with it as a teenager and it stands the test of time very well.
Happy Listening. :thumbs: