‘The Lord of the Rings’ Official Movie Guide, by Brian
Sibley. (2001)
Coming out when it did it was, of course, confined to images
from the first movie. Nevertheless, it discussed Tolkien and his work, Peter
Jackson and his vision, and the actors and artists behind the movies. Was there
any follow up by Sibley after the release of all the films? I don’t know, and
I’m almost too tired to find out.
Ranking: Keeper.
File Code: Movie Guide. Hardback.
‘The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring’ Visual
Companion (2001); ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers’ Visual Companion
(Foreword by Viggo Mortensen) (2002); ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the
King’ Visual Companion (2003), by Jude Fisher.
You can’t tell the players (or the playing fields) without a
program. Large, profusely illustrated with stills from the movies, simply told,
I eagerly snapped up these books and everything else to do with the movies,
which were the fulfilment and the ratification of a decades old dream. One
could stare gloatingly upon them until the movies themselves were released on
DVD.
Ranking: Keepers.
File Code: Visual Companions. Film. Hardback.
The Lord of the Rings: The Art of ‘The Fellowship of the
Ring’ (2002); The Lord of the Rings: The Art of ‘The Two Towers’ (2003); The
Lord of the Rings: The Art of ‘The Return of the King’ (2004); The Art of ‘The
Lord of the Rings’ (2004), by Gary Russell.
Presents pre-production art, concept art by Alan Lee and John
Howe, set design, creature workshop, props, and costume concepts from the whole
film-making process. Each book positively oozes with imagery; the text is just
a pretext and explanation for the pictures.
Ranking: Keepers.
File Code: Movie Art. Middle-Earth. Hardbacks.
‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey’ Visual Companion
(Foreword by Martin Freeman) (2012); ‘The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug’
Visual Companion (Introduction by Richard Armitage)(2013); ‘The Hobbit: The
Battle of the Five Armies’ Visual Companion (Introduction by Sir Ian McKellen)(2014),
by Jude Fisher.
“Jude Fisher is the pseudonym for Jane Johnson, who is the
Publisher of HarperCollins' science fiction and fantasy list, Voyager. She has
also been involved in the publishing of JRR Tolkien's works for many years.” –
FantasticFiction.com. Oh, dear. We had hoped so much for the ‘Hobbit’ movies,
especially after the ‘LOTR’ movie trilogy success. But it was plagued with
problems from the start. There is a good film, maybe even two, lurking in
there, under Peter Jackson competing with Peter Jackson, and trying to stretch
The Hobbit into another epic, like a small bit of good butter spread over too
much bread. Anyway, it’s not for lack of good actors and good production
design, as these books go to show.
Ranking: Keepers.
File Code: Visual Companions to Films. Hardbacks.
‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey’ Official Movie Guide
(2012); ‘The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug’ Official Movie Guide (2013); ‘The
Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies’ Official Movie Guide (2014), by Brian
Sibley.
As a superfan of fantasy and film, Brian Sibley certainly has
the credentials to talk up these films. I’m sure he was paid well to cheerlead
them along, and indeed there is much that can be honestly admired. But I’m
afraid his admiration for the people and the processes surrounding the movies
might have lulled his critical responses to sleep, and, after all, he is not
being paid to find fault or point out possible errors of judgement. Beautiful books,
though, full of art and photos.
Ranking: Keepers.
File Code: Movie Guide Tie-Ins, Softcover.
‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey’ Chronicles: Art and
Design, written by Daniel Falconer; ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey’
Chronicles II: Creatures and Characters, written by Daniel Falconer
(Introduction by Andy Serkis); ‘The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug’
Chronicles: Art and Design, by Daniel Falconer (Introduction by Alan Lee).
“Daniel Falconer is a creature, costume, armour, weapon
and prop designer for films and known best for his work with Weta on The Lord
of the Rings film trilogy and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and
the Wardrobe.” – Wikipedia. These beautifully bound books are mainly pretenses
to show off the gorgeous production art from ‘The Hobbit’ movies, and they
don’t disappoint (unlike the movies themselves). They include (in order of
publication): a facsimile of Bilbo’s Contract with Thorin & Company; a fold-out
comparative size chart of creatures and characters; and a fold-out portrait of
the Master of Lake Town. There is one other in the series, from “Desolation’:
“Cloaks and Daggers”, which includes a foldout of the hobbit market from ‘An
Unexpected Journey’.
Ranking: Keepers.
File Code: Art and Design. Film. Hardback.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Photo
Guide, Edited by Alison Sage. (2001)
“Over 70 Fantastic Pictures.” Bought, of course, when the
‘Fellowship’ was just coming out and enthusiasm was at a fever pitch. If there
were any more Guides for the other movies, I didn’t bother to get them.
Ranking: Keeper.
File Code: Movie Photo Album. Softcover.
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