J.R.R. Tolkien - Master of the Rings Gift Set

Very fast shipping the packaging was done very nice. A grest price gor the item.i bought. I am thankful to the.seller.

despite some of the reviews I loved the DVD. I will admit that the re-enactment were a bit hokey (Renn-Faire anyone) but over all I loved the DVD. I had searched nearly 10 years for this set and I was so happy to find it at such a great price.

I have only a few comments to contribute to the discussion.The DVD: Overall, I found the interviews in the tutorial interesting. I was glad for the opportunity to see Tolkien's daughter and his son who is a priest, and to hear their remarks. Likewise glad to be able to watch and listen to Tolkien himself speak. I'd already heard that his manner of speaking was difficult to understand, and that was truly the case. I was able to pick up probably about a third of what he said. (Imagine how anxious his students must have felt whilst trying to comprehend his lectures!) This DVD is something that I think I will need to listen to several times in an effort to pick up on all that it has to offer, and not only with regard to Professor Tolkien.Maps: As for the maps, all maps that I've seen so far in any resource don't really help me get my bearings straight in Middle Earth. Also, I've found them mostly boring. Since I like the idea of maps accompanying epic stories, I hope that someday someone will make a map of Middle Earth that I find really fascinating, whether or not it is helpful.Illustrations by the Brothers Hildebrandt: I'd been wanting to see the illustrations by the Brothers Hildebrandt and I felt satisfied by what I was able to see of them on the DVD and in the accompanying booklet. However, the 50 illustrations so amply provided on the DVD were difficult to see because they were so small. The illustrations in the booklet were easy to see but were few in number. The artwork was vividly colorful. The Hildebrandt illustrations reminded me, in general, of a certain type of children's storybook art. I liked many of the pictures. The one of Eowyn meeting the Nazgul in battle stands out in my memory.From what I could see of the illustrations overall, I was interested to note how much Peter Jackson and his artists honored the precedent set by the Hildebrandt illustrations. But not in every case. I think the Hildebrandt conception of Rivendell gave me the longest, most thoughtful pause, because it was very unlike my first experience of Jackson's Rivendell in the movie trilogy, and it was also unlike what I myself might imagine Rivendell to be.I didn't care personally for the way the Hildebrandt pictures handled the Hobbit race differently from the other Middle Earth peoples, so that the Hobbits looked sometimes like "comic" caricatures of children. I'm glad that Jackson's movie has given a sense of mature human dignity somehow to the Hobbits even though they are small people with simple, down-to-earth tastes and pleasures.Another thing I disliked in the tutorial was the repetition of the same pointless and boring scene within the same uninteresting landscape, depicting the characters in an old LOTR film slowly walking, seemingly vacant-mindedly, and then again walking, and walking some more. This seemed to me to be time-wasting filler material.The CD: The music of Rick Wakeman that is supposed to be a "journey through the landscapes of Middle Earth" was excellent, enjoyable, above my expectations. There were classical elements in it, especially with the piano, and I don't know the term for the other musical elements that seemed to me to be like some of modern "relaxational" music. It's lovely to listen to this CD with headphones at bedtime before going to sleep, or anytime you want to fill your home with elegant, exceptionally good music.

Beautiful goes well with my collection

This disk set tells the story of the author, JRR Tolkien, and how he came to imagine and write the world of Middle Earth....

THIS IS A WONDERFUL GUIDE TO THE WORLD THE RINGS. I WAS VERY MUCH IMPRESSED WITH THE INTERVIEWS WITH TOLKIEN AND THE GREAT 3-D GRAPHICS OF MIDDLE EARTH. ALSO IT GIVES A VERY GOOD OVERVIEW OF THE FOUR BOOKS. THIS IS REALLY A MUST HAVE FOR ANYONE WANTING TO UNDERSTAND THE WRITING OF THE LORD OF THE RINGS AND IT'S MEANINGS.

ok, not what I expected. Still have to spend more time with it. The music is good... I trust it will prove good enough

I purchased this DVD based on Amazon.com reviews and was disappointed before realizing how unfair it is to compare anything to director Peter Jackson's excellent Lord of the Ring movies that are coming out. This DVD's geographic landscapes were not as detailed as I had been led to believe; if you are hoping for realism, you would be better off consulting the maps in Tolkein's books. The use of human little-people as hobbits and dwarfs in dramatic snippets was sadly comical in contrast to the Fellowship of the Ring's unbelievable special effects, which after all won an Academy Award, out of four total. It was somewhat interesting to hear Tolkein's unintelligible speech in a filmed interview, and I suppose the narrative might help someone who had never read the books understand the story. But then who would buy this without having read the books?? Perhaps better to buy the extended version of the movie when it comes out in November, as I have.

Perfect for a Tolkien fan!

I am a big fan of the Hilderbrandt illustrator brothers, which also have some nice books (and calendars) edited on this same theme.And aside, we have a superb presentation with this "digi-pack". All that's missing is the scabbard to be perfect.The documentary is not the most remarkable, but remains drinkable. And the booklet is nicely illustrated by the twin illustrators.So, for completists and fans of images inspired by J.R.R.Tolkien (himself illustrated on the cover of the booklet).As long as the price remains affordable, it's worth it.

Interesting and complementary to the Tolkien based movies