Ringers: Lord of the Fans (2005) Reviews

• Excellent Film

  LindsayLu2005-01-24

  I am one of the lucky ones to have seen the film at the Slamdance film festival. I've seen it 2 times now and will be seeing in once more. I'm not great at writing reviews, but I just wanted to let everyone know that this documentary is fantastic. It's great to see both fans and actors come together to celebrate Tolkiens work. Cliff and Carlene have put together a funny but uplifting film. They've also chosen awesome music for the film. I can't wait till I can get a copy of World Without Sundays 'Where there's a whip there's a way'. It's awesome! Carlene, Cliff, and the rest of the crew have done an excellent job. I hope the rest of the world gets to see it soon.

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• Ringers - informative and fun

  PastaYes2005-02-02

  I attended the premiere of "Ringers" in Park City and have now seen the film three times. Somehow, it got even more enjoyable with each viewing. "Ringers" is a film that will obviously appeal to fans of the books and movies but you do not have to be a Tolkien or "The Lord of the Rings" devotee to enjoy it. The film is smart, interesting, and entertaining and even those few poor souls who have never read the books or seen the films might find Ringers to be a fascinating social study. The filmmakers are obviously very knowledgeable and passionate about Tolkien and this shows from the first frame till the last. "Ringers" covers Tolkien's influence on pop culture from the original publication of the book in the 50's, through the 60's hippy counter-culture, 70's rock and roll music, and the current internet craze grounded in the website, theonering.net. It contains many satisfying interviews with movie and music celebrities and others known to be Tolkien enthusiasts. The movie celebs include those from the "The Lord of the Rings" films themselves. It has a good share of comments from luminaries in the field of literature as well, each without a hint of literary snobbery. I was pleasantly surprised by the addition of fun graphics and audio that were reminiscent of Monty Python. The somewhat contrived footage of groovy hippies getting way into Tolkien just adds to the wonderful campy feel of the segments. Being a hopeless music freak, I feel that the music is one of the highlights of the film. I often found myself focusing on it, sometimes distracting me from the visuals (but that's just me), which made my multiple viewings even more valuable. Even though there were plenty of Celtic-type tunes included in appropriate spots, the film is mostly driven by pounding rock music, including the miraculous offering of Led Zeppelin's "Ramble On". For those who do not know, several classic rock bands wrote music based on the books and this fact is discussed in the film in satisfying depth. I should also mention that there is some gorgeous footage of New Zealand, the movies' Middle-earth. The filmmakers traveled around the world in their quest to make this film representative of the fans, who come from every part of the planet. Of course, as expected, there are plenty of fan interviews and anecdotal blurbs. They range from the serious and poignant to the fun and silly. Although the focus appears to be more on the hard-core costumed fans instead of the more mainstream ones, there is a good representation of both. A couple interviews with fans who might be described as being on the outer fringe of fandom caused major chuckles from the audience, but these fans are treated with genuine affection by the interviewer. They are never made to look foolish - only fun-loving and passionate. And passion is what this film is about. Passion for a book...a trio of movies...and the people who created them. Passion for a story that will, no doubt, live on forever because its themes are timeless.

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• Fun, Clever Documentary on Lord of the Rings Fandom

  LaurieMann2005-11-22

  If you've enjoyed Lord of the Rings, you'll enjoy this look at the history of LOTR and the development of LOTR fandom. Yeah, there's a bit much focus on the folks in costume and the people who'd spend days in line to be "first" in the theater to see a movie. But there were good interviews with both random people and unexpected fans (like David Carradine and Cameron Crowe). The photography is very nicely done. There are also clever reenactments throughout. The documentary suffers a bit in the editing; some of the transitions are quite abrupt. There was also an odd contention that public appreciation of Lord of the Rings pretty much died after the infamous cartoons of the late '70s. Still, it's a fine documentary on one of the more enjoyable pop culture phenomenons of recent times.

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• Ringers is awesome! All LOTR fans must see this film!

  stop2pretend2005-02-03

  My friend and I were lucky enough to see Ringers (me twice and her three times) up a Slamdance. It portrays LOTR fans in such a flattering light and a funny one too. We're not just geeks! There are just too many good things to be said. From the obsessed fans (how many times have they seen LOTR, why they choose a costume to wear, how long have they been in line, etc.) to the older generation and their love for the books. They go into great detail telling about how the books came to be so popular with younger generations and basically how it regenerates itself. There is not one boring second in this film and even if you aren't THIS OBSESSED you can enjoy it. If anything it will make you want to go home and read the books (again for most of us) through and through! Carlene and Cliff have a great deal of respect, love and admiration for Tolkien and it definitely shows. They were kind enough to do a Q and A session after the film and I just have to say that if there were 2 chosen people to make a film about LOTR and it's fans this is them. If any of them happen to see this I just want to say that I can't wait for the DVD and all the deleted interviews and so on to come out! I hope you get everything back that you put into this because you deserve it!!!

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• RINGERS rocks!! I see why Dominic came on board!

  Goldshire2005-11-29

  Finally! A high-spirited and really fun movie about us! My friends and I have waited so long for such a fun and totally respectful film to tell the whole story of how Tolkien has touched the world! And RINGERS delivers on every count. You've got everything here that Tolkien purists would want and plenty of what the newer generation movie-fans want (i.e., very thoughtful hobbity actors Elijah, Sean, Dom, and Billy waxing poetic about the phenomenon they themselves took part in -- and Viggo is singularly intelligent here too). This is a movie about the POWER OF BOOKS to change the landscape of world culture, especially the power of Tolkien's achievement. But there's so much rock music too -- so yeah I'll go ahead and say it: "RINGERS Rocks!" Many revealing bits of this RINGERS movie surprised me. Who knew that John Lennon was so driven to play Gollum that he and the Beatles were calling up Stanley Kubrick asking him to direct??? And who knew that there was once a Gandalf dial-up modem? Or that so many children with reading/literacy problems have picked up a book like Lord Of The Rings trying to get closer to understanding the world of Middle-earth? Thank God for Hobbits and Harry Potter -- at least kids are reading again! There are some sly, witty animated bits as an homage to Terry Gilliam where Tolkien's worst critics are given a wacky send-up in their East Coast Ivory Tower ("A Place of Great Snobbery") **grin** and the funniest thing I think is the razor sharp Mariachi "Sing Along" that makes fun of bad LOTR merchandising! What an inspired goofy idea --- my family and many close friends watched RINGERS over here Thanksgiving weekend and had to pause the DVD several times with gales of laughter at the sing-along! I watched this docu and kept thinking: "so that's how long we've been fans!" Ah, nostalgia for the American counterculture! :) I understand why Dominic Monaghan wanted to narrate this film, and work with these filmmakers here. His dad loved LOTR more than anything, and had his children reading it early on..... and so Dom now shows his gratitude to the generation before him. He honors his father greatly. And RUSH lead singer Geddy Lee loves this project so much he gave the filmmakers one of RUSH's greatest songs "The Spirit of Radio" for free, just to support RINGERS. This film has generated so much good faith among all Tolkien fans, and deserves their support (dare I say they will love it). And any movie that can have both extremes of the spectrum of "fandom" --- between an erudite, cigar chewing Clive Barker speaking with a twinkle in his eyes about the "mythological weight" that modern audiences are starving for, right on down to the awe struck honeymooners who enjoy a remarkable pilgrimage to discover the "real Middle-earth" down in New Zealand --- well, this kind of comprehensive reach makes RINGERS very cool. You get a wide perspective of world fandom from RINGERS -- and it's so playful, with these cheesy college dorm rooms that keep changing each decade (low rent, tongue-in-cheek funny!) -- it's like a big TIME CAPSULE of pop culture over the years. This is not a serious-minded exploration of Fans' psychological obsession. Thank God RINGERS does not exploit the fan-base in any way (that's treason you know ---- to profile your interviewees as basket cases, and then cash in by making them look like laughable freaks as Trekkies once did). For fifty years' worth of Ringer fans, this documentary is a godsend that does nothing but celebrate the best aspects of Tolkien's masterwork. I thoroughly believe the words from the Amazon.com Editorial critic Jeff Shannon who said: "Unfailingly noble in spirit and delightfully comprehensive, RINGERS is a collector's gift that can proudly stand alongside Tolkien's books and Jackson's timeless movie trilogy." Well said! GO RINGERS!

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