A Casual Stroll to Mordor

Outside of LOTRO: Bringing New Life to The Movies

Posted on 12. Oct, 2009 by Merric in Outside LOTRO

I think we’re all aware of the movies that have been released by New Line Cinema that follow The Lord of The Rings trilogy.  And I’m going to assume that most of us have watched the movies several times; at least seeing both the theatrical and extended editions once at the very least.  (If you haven’t seen the extended edition, I honestly suggest that you purchase them, or rent them if you’re waiting for the Blu-ray versions.)  And although I honestly enjoy watching the films once or twice a year, they are still the same film every time I see them.  They’re the same actors, the same scenes and the same lines.

Under the Party Tree

Now a couple of people have had some ideas on how to breathe new life into watching the films.  First off I’m going to talk about something that Jaxom92 of The Middle Earth Adventurer made me aware of, which is having a party to watch the movies.  Not a big deal?  Well, he’s taking it a step further and really diving into the spirit of the party and not only dressing up in costume, but also having Lord of the Rings themed games and having a day dedicated to eating like a hobbit!  This last one greatly interests me mostly because I’m a foodie, but also because it’s something new to me. 

I had never thought to actually have a day dedicated having a hobbit-like menu, but it does go well with watching the movies, especially the extended editions which have a total running time of 681 minutes (11 hours and 21 minutes).  I think having a party and a full day’s menu will go well in Jaxom’s endeavor as I know from experience that watching these movies back-to-back takes quite a bit of effort.  By the last hour I had become so tired of sitting that I was cleaning up around the house instead of watching the movie!  Having activities such as cooking and games will do well to keep everyone from becoming stir-crazy; that’s for sure!  I look forward to seeing a future post from Jaxom after his party.  He’s promised to do a write-up afterwards that I’m sure is going to be great!

Having a Laugh

Now this is one that I discovered after a co-worker pointed me the Rifftrax site.  If you’ve ever heard of the TV show Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K) you’ll find yourself familiar with the concept of the following site, although hopefully you’ve heard of it before.  If you haven’t heard of MST3K, basically the idea is that three guys (one human and two as puppets) watch a movie and while it’s going they make fun if it through mostly audible and a few visual jokes (you can see their shadows at the bottom of the screen on the TV show as if they’re in a theater).  It may sound a bit corny, but believe me it’s quite funny and often clever. 

After the TV show was cancelled three of the cast decided to continue on making fun of movies, but this time through recording themselves to MP3’s and this time to both to unheard films (which was their mainstay on the TV show due to distribution rights) and to movie blockbusters.  After purchasing the MP3’s all the user has to do is follow the audio directions and then play the MP3 while watching the movie.  It is very easy to do and is even enjoyable by a group of people.  I personally prefer to create a digital version of the movie and merge the mp3 file in with the audio track so I can watch them through our XBOX 360 or through our media PC.  Another great thing is that there are even some tracks that have special guests such as Neil Patrick Harris, “Weird Al” Yankovic, Joel McHale, and Fred Willard.  If you still have any questions, I’m sure they can be answered quickly by their FAQ.

But most importantly they have Rifftrax of The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers.  Nothing yet for Return of the King, but it takes them a while to finish up series sometimes (They just finished Matrix Revolutions, and still have several other trilogies to finish yet as well).  But seeing as they’re all huge Tolkien fans you’ll find that most of the jokes are clever, as well as having some “inside” jokes aimed at those who know the novels as well.  In the end, although fun is poked at everyone and anything in and out of the movies, these tracks add quite a bit of replay value.  However, make sure that you have the right edition to watch with them (the theatrical versions only).  I myself had to rent the theatrical from Netflix; but you can probably pick up the DVD versions very cheaply these days, or it might be a great reason to pick up the Blu-ray editions!

Conclusion

Whether you’re throwing a party or just sitting down to watch the movies again on your own, there are always ways to make things interesting.  Looking for ideas on the Internet should yield some (interesting) results as these movies have made such a strong impact.  Also, with the Hobbit movies starting up their production, nothing will help pass the time until their release like watching the trilogy one… or several more times.

Tags: blu-ray, dvd, hobbit, movies, Outside LOTRO, party