Rating: 
Summary: A comprehensive and entertaining companion to the films!
Review: What an incredible book! At 192 pages, this fantastic work by Gary Russell is chock-full of pictures, sketches, drawings and paintings from the wonderful film 'The Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Rings.' I have purchased all of the movie tie-in books available and this is by far my favorite. If you are into visuals (and I am), I couldn't recommend this book enough. The back of the book says 'contains 500 exclusive paintings and drawings from the spectacular film" and they weren't kidding!The book is divided into 4 chapters - Locations, Costumes, Armory and Creatures. The LOCATIONS chapter is by far the largest - with extensive coverage of Bag End and Hobbiton, Bree, Weathertop, Ford of Bruinen, Rivendell, Moria, Isengard, Lothlorien, the River Anduin, Mordor and Amon Hen. One of my favorites is the sketch of the Bag End floor plan (with its pantries and cellars that we don't get to see in the film). There are also sketches of the interior of the Green Dragon Inn (which we never saw on the film but which will hopefully make an appearance on the Special Extended Edition VHS/DVD to be released in November). The COSTUMES chapter shows the various design sketches by Ngila Dickson and Sylvana Sacco. All the main characters (from Frodo to Galadriel to Sauron - as well Gandalf's pipes!) are featured. Costume designer Ngila Dickson also gives snippets on the influences of the costumes as well as the reasons why certain design themes were chosen (e.g. Boromir's Gondorian costume is drawn from Byzantine influences and how Legolas' costume was the most difficult to design). The ARMORY section shows all the various swords, daggers, insignias, shields, etc. carried by the characters. Included are Frodo's mithril shirt and the various armor as worn by Elendil, Elrond and GilGalad in the Prologue. The final chapter, and not the least interesting, is the CREATURES section with its sketches, maquettes, paintings and screenshots of Orcs, Urukhai, the Cave Troll, the Ringwraiths, the Watcher of the Water and the spectacular Balrog. One of the most interesting are the various versions of the Balrog (from more human-like to reptilian to the final version with wings). What's wonderful about this book is that it really gives you the essence of the monumental task of bringing the films to life. So many talented individuals collaborated to breath life into Professor Tolkien's Middle Earth. Mind you, this book isn't all visuals: each picture is accompanied by the description of the picture, the artist and background information on the picture (e.g. how it was used in the film, why it was rejected, Peter Jackson's ideas). For instance, on his sketch of the Balrog, John Howe describes why he chose to give the Balrog wings (and Peter Jackson's response to it). Alan Lee's beautiful paintings and drawings are also showcased in this book. If you are a fan of the books and/or the film, are interested in art, or enjoy books with lots (and I mean loads) of wonderful visuals, then I couldn't recommend this book highly enough. I'm already looking forward to The Art of The Two Towers and can't wait to see what Gary Russell has in store for us in the next couple of years!
Rating:
Summary: Finally....THE ART OF LORD OF THE RINGS!
Review: When the highly anticipated film came out in theatres, I was immidiatley looking around to see what new interesting books that would accompany it. I was actually a bit disappointed - there were just simple books like "LOTR: Visual Companion" & stuff like that. They are fun (I own them too), but I was looking for something like "The Art of Star Wars". And finally, this summer, it came - The Art of Lord of The Rings!
And just in time for birthday - I was so happy I had tears in my eyes when I received it as a gift.
Well, let me get you to the point. "The Art of LOTR" is filled with hundreds of wonderfull pictures.
The book is divided into four chapters. I'll give you a quick summary of them one by one, to give you an idea of what`s inside the book. 1. Locations
This is by far the largest chapter, and one of my favourites. The digitalized landscape paintings of Rivendell and the great watchtower of Amon Sul, as well as the amazing interior sketches of Moria and Isengard are highly impressive and awe-inspiring.
The idyllic pictures of Shire and the mysterious paintings of Lothlorien also gives you a magical feeling.
This chapter is also the most varied ; it has everything, from the simplest interior sketches of Bag End to the impressive landscape views of The Misty Mountains and the frightening, burned-out shadow land of Mordor - especially a huge painting of Sauron and his army of orcs. 2.Costumes
If there is any chapter that disappointed me, it is this one.
For the first, the characters aren`t very well drawn. For the second, the images only shows the finished concepts - not a lot of unused stuff, like "The Art of Star Wars" does, for example. 3. Armoury
This chapter shows a wide array of interesting concepts for armour. There are multiple designs for axes, swords, and other weaponry. And the sketches of Sauron are absolutely marvellous ; he`s just so evil-looking and cool at the same time.
The pencil sketches of this chapter are perfect when you shall begin drawing swords, for example. They`re simple, yet complex. 4. Creatures
This is also a rather large chapter and what makes it very interesting to me is that there is a huge amount of unused concepts - like the orcs, for example. There are dozens of sketches which are very unlike the ones seen in the film, and there seem to be an endless array of concepts for them. They look like goblins, rats and god knows what!
"The Watcher in the water" is also given multiple desings, although it has less than a minute of screentime. Nearly all possible sea monster concepts seems to be mixed here - and I find it just awe-inspiring. But the real treat of the chapter is 14 pictures of the Balrog, both pencil sketches, paintings and maquettes, showing different sides of it - from reptilian to human-like, before finally evolving into the fire creature we see in the movie. The book ends with a few credits, and a pair of preview pictures for "The Art of LOTR: The Two Towers" (coming 2003), which I can barely wait to have in my hands!
Over all, this book is a wonderfull blend of fantasy art and sketches, and definitley what all LOTR fans that want more than just the film have been waiting for. It`s like a dream coming true. So, there is just one more thing for me to say: GO BUY IT!
Rating:
Summary: A lavish, well detailed production
Review: Where did the design influences of the movie come from, and how did the film interpret Tolkien's classic? Gary Russell reveals the techniques, innovations, and art of the movie, with interviews from its director and designers accompanied by over 500 images from pencil sketches to paintings. A lavish, well detailed production which will prove a 'must' for both Tolkien movie fans and fantasy collectors.
Rating:
Summary: OOooh YYyahh!!!!!
Review: Whoa!Really, I love LOTR and it's now getting cooler and cooler, man hold on!I couldn't find LOTR stuff and desperatly needed to get some. In Merier Square in a auwsome bookstore when I was digging into some EverWorld series I caught a actual glimspe of the title" Lord of the Rings!!!"(Ah,...Heaven)I quickly, ferociously grabbed it(lovingly)and disappeared into the pages what was called "The Art of the Fellowship of the Ring". When I was done I had a wide,toothy grin smothered all over my face. I just read some sample pg.'s and it still looked auwsome! I came back to that bookstore with some money in my pocket and wearing a great big sinister smile.Right away I ran like the wind wondering what happened to my beloved book. Thank GOD!It was safe in it's spot!Just to see if it was not a failure, I peaked in a bit longer this time.OOooh YYyahh!!! It was even better when I looked in it! I can't tell everything but I will tell you 1 thing. The Balrog, was tight and SSSWWWEEETTT!!!And Sauron himself!He's so evil looking yet so cool! Like I said, OOooh YYyahh!!!!!
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