Customer Reviews

Stone

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Although this is the official movie guide for children to the Two Towers, I found that it was helpful for adults who are not Lord of the Rings fans and/or have not read any of the books by Tolkien. It is lushly illustrated with gorgeous photos of all of the people/creatures in The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers. There are also a few photos of how they developed CGI characters such as the cave troll and Sauron. Underneath each photograph is a sentence or two explaining who the person/creature is and how they fit into the story. The wording and the brevity of the descriptions make it perfect for younger readers or those looking for a quick and dirty introduction to the characters of Middle Earth including Hobbits, Ents, Easterlings, Haradrim, Uruk-Hai, Gollum, the Watcher in the Water, Dwarves, Elves, Wizards/Istari, Balrog, Gwaihir, and many more. The book also comes with a free fold out enlarged picture of Gandalf confronting the Balrog in Moria. I would recommend this book for those who are not very familiar with The Lord of the Rings trilogy and for children ages 8 and up. It is very short at app. 60 pages (most of which is taken up by pictures) and so is a great introduction. However, if you are a Tolkien fan and familiar with the stories or saw the first movie, there is nothing new for you here.

Seems to me that only die-hard Lord of the Rings fans would buy this and other similar books, but if they are indeed die-hard fans, they will learn nothing new from this book at all. It's really meant for children. There are likely many similar ones as well. It does come with a poster of the Balrog, though!

The epic movie trilogy "The Lord of the Rings" was the first exposure to Tolkien's work for a lot of the people who watched it. And the fans who haven't yet read the books should check out this book, to get the tips on who and what and where and why.

Basically, this "Creatures" book lets the readers know: What's a hobbit? What's an Elf? What's an Ent? Readers of the original fantasy trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien will know all of this. On the other hand, newbies will like being able to look these things up -- especially since "Two Towers" has a lot of new material, with the Ents, Haradrim, Rohirrim, and others. The book is pretty short, and seems even shorter because it is composed mostly of photographs. These are clear, brightly colored, and great shots -- not just of stuff in the movies, but also from stuff behind the scenes.

What's especially nice are the quotes. Accompanying many of the smaller photographs are quotes from director Peter Jackson, special-effects wizard Richard Taylor, actors Elijah Wood, Ian Holm, Sean Astin, and pretty much everyone else. These quotes add insights into both the characters ("In their world, it's who you are on the inside that matters") and behind the scenes (complaints about the hobbit feet, from several actors). One of the best quotes is Peter Jackson revealing how the much-maligned Tom Bombadil almost made a cameo -- fans of the books will want to check that out.

Even if you've read the other books, this brief book will offer a few new insights and plenty of good movie and behind-the-scenes pictures.

To the huge LOTR/Tolkien fans out there, this book will be nothing new as far as the descriptions of the 'creatures'. However, I bought the book soley for the quotes by the cast and the behind the scenes photo's from filming which are great! They make the book well worth adding to your collection, especially for the low cost it is!