Ringers: Lord of the Fans
Posted by martinteller on December 16, 2006
Admirable for its breadth of coverage of Tolkien fandom, but otherwise a dud. It’s not merely about fans, it’s obviously made by fans, as it treats the work of Tolkien with total reverence. I like LOTR plenty, but the way this film mockingly dismisses those who would question its literary merits is more than a little embarrassing. There are far too many loving testimonials to the books, the films, and the fan culture… which makes the movie much longer than it needs to be. Unlike Trekkies, there is no sense that perhaps some of these fans are a bit pathetic in their obsession. Also, while I appreciate the attempts to spice up the proceedings with some wackiness, very little of it is funny. It mostly comes off like a bad ripoff of Monty Python. Rating: 4
