· J. R. R. Tolkien ·  Hyper-Ad Popular Books and Film Recommendations · Lord of the Rings ·

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     Excellent classic fantasy novel series, appropriate for all ages.  Some parents are a bit dismayed at the themes of magic and sorcery; however, since similar objections can be raised about The Wizard of Oz, Grimm's Fairy Tales, Peter Pan, Walt Disney and so many other children's fantasy stories, I find these objections hard to support. Thanks to J. R.R. Tolkien for having written them.  If you haven't seen the movies, they do justice to the books and are also recommended.

Please note:  I have tried to filter out the poorer products (for example, there are animated versions of some of these stories that are not so good) in the list below.  Please read the product descriptions carefully.   Unless the description on Amazon's website explicitly says "narrated by so-and-so", I would avoid making assumptions about product features.  There are non-extended versions of the motion pictures that I chose not to include (why? because presumeably the extended version has more value).   I have not personally reviewed each of the below products.  Instead, I have read all of the books and seen all of the movies.

Lord of the Rings DVDs: 
Trilogy, Boxed Set (All three Motion Pictures)
The Fellowship of the Ring (First Motion Picture only)
The Two Towers (Second Motion Picture only)
The Return of the King (Third Motion Picture only)
Boxed Set: The Lord of the Rings - The Motion Picture Trilogy (Special Extended DVD Edition) (2004)

This is the set of all three Lord of the Rings Movies:

The Fellowship of the Ring
The Two Towers
The Return of the King

in DVD format. Directed by Peter Jackson.  Follows the books reasonably closely, perhaps not close enough for diehard purists. I thought the movies were very good and an excellent rendering of the trilogy in film.  Note: The entire trilogy will take over nine hours to watch!

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The Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring (Platinum Series Special Extended Edition) (2001)
In which...
Gandalf comes to visit Bilbo ...
... tells him some history about his ring
... a threat from an ancient wizard
... recruits Frodo to join a group on an adventure ...
... the friends in the group gather to learn of the task before them ...
... they set out on their task and find it full of danger ...
... the friends take a dangerous journey through mines in a mountain ...

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The Lord of the Rings - The Two Towers (Platinum Series Special Extended Edition) (2002)
In which...
... the Fellowship is attacked and divided ...
... hobbits turn out to be most resourceful ...
... we meet the former owner of the Ring ...
... we meet someone who very much wants to own the Ring ...
... and see what it means to be the Ringbearer ...

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The Lord of the Rings - The Return of the King (Platinum Series Special Extended Edition) (2004)
In which ...
... a wizard is reborn ...
... the hobbits follow their untrustworthy guide to the worst place in the world ...
... the great battles take place (many gory fight scenes) ...
... Frodo gets tested all the way to the breaking point ...
... Samwise shows his true colors and gets no credit for it ...
... an insane and selfish leader makes the wrong sacrifice ...

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Lord of the Rings VIDEOs (all VHS)
The Fellowship of the Ring
The Two Towers
The Return of the King
The Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring (Special Extended Edition) (2001)

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The Lord of the Rings - The Two Towers (Special Extended Edition) (2002)

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The Lord of the Rings - The Return of the King (Special Extended Edition) (2003)

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Lord of the Rings Books
The Lord of the Rings (50th Anniversary Hardback Edition - Leather Bound)
The Lord of the Rings (Hardback Leatherette Collector's Edition)
J.R.R. Tolkien Boxed Set (The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings) [BOX SET]
The Hobbit (Hardback Leatherette Collector's Edition)
The Hobbit: or There and Back Again - Softcover Edition
The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, Part 1) Hardcover Edition
The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, Part 1) Softcover Edition
The Two Towers (The Lord of the Rings, Part 2) Hardcover Edition
The Two Towers (The Lord of the Rings, Part 2) Softcover Edition
The Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings, Part 3) Hardcover Edition
The Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings, Part 3) Softcover Edition
The Lord of the Rings (50th Anniversary Edition)
Hardback Edition - Leather Bound

Note: This apparently contains only the three LOTR books, not the Hobbit.

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The Lord of the Rings (Hardback Leatherette Collector's Edition)

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J.R.R. Tolkien Boxed Set (The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings) [BOX SET]

Note - this paperback collection includes both The Hobbit and the three Lord of the Rings books.

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The Hobbit (Hardback Leatherette Collector's Edition)

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The Hobbit: or There and Back Again
Softcover Edition

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The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, Part 1)
Hardcover Edition

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The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, Part 1)
Softcover Edition

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The Two Towers (The Lord of the Rings, Part 2)
Hardcover Edition

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The Two Towers (The Lord of the Rings, Part 2)
Softcover Edition

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The Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings, Part 3)
Hardcover Edition

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The Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings, Part 3)
Softcover Edition

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Lord of the Rings Audio CDs
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy Gift Set [UNABRIDGED] Audio CD
The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, Book 1) [UNABRIDGED] Audio CD
The Two Towers (The Lord of the Rings, Book 2) [UNABRIDGED] Audio CD
The Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings, Book 3) [UNABRIDGED] Audio CD
The Hobbit [UNABRIDGED] Audio CD
The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit [BOX SET] [ABRIDGED] Audio CD
The Lord of the Rings (BBC Dramatization) [ABRIDGED] Audio CD
The Hobbit (Lord of the Rings (Audio)) [ABRIDGED] Audio CD
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy Gift Set [UNABRIDGED] Audio CD

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The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, Book 1) [UNABRIDGED] Audio CD

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The Two Towers (The Lord of the Rings, Book 2) [UNABRIDGED] Audio CD

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The Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings, Book 3) [UNABRIDGED] Audio CD

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The Hobbit [UNABRIDGED] Audio CD

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The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit [BOX SET] [ABRIDGED] Audio CD

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The Lord of the Rings (BBC Dramatization) [ABRIDGED] Audio CD

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The Hobbit (Lord of the Rings (Audio)) [ABRIDGED] Audio CD

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Lord of the Rings Audio Cassettes
The Lord of the Rings: Trilogy Gift Set [UNABRIDGED] Audio Cassette
The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, Book 1) [UNABRIDGED] Audio Cassette
The Two Towers (The Lord of the Rings, Book 2) [UNABRIDGED] Audio Cassette
The Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings, Book 3) [UNABRIDGED] Audio Cassette
The Hobbit [UNABRIDGED] Audio Cassette
The Hobbit [ABRIDGED] Audio Cassette
The Lord of the Rings: Trilogy Gift Set [UNABRIDGED] Audio Cassette

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The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, Book 1) [UNABRIDGED] Audio Cassette

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The Two Towers (The Lord of the Rings, Book 2) [UNABRIDGED] Audio Cassette

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The Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings, Book 3) [UNABRIDGED] Audio Cassette

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The Hobbit [UNABRIDGED] Audio Cassette

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The Hobbit [ABRIDGED] Audio Cassette

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- Last Updated: 04/27/05 -