Straight through about four or five times, maybe more, but I pick up the book every now and then and read bits from them…
How recently have your read the books?
Straight through, probably last winter but I picked it up again last night so Im re reading it at the moment.
How many times have you seen the films?
OMG far too many times to count, I saw FOTR in the cinema twice, but have watched the DVD and the Extended DVD many many times. As for Two Towers again I saw this twice in the cinema and I got it the thursday before it was due out, basically i have it about 11 days, Ive watched it about six times. So yea, far too much… Ive also watched the cartoon a few times too…
How old are you?
21
But dispite all this Im still pretty much a novice when compared to many others, I dont speak elvish, although whenever I see the word eleven my mind reads elven, weird huh?
And Ive never attempted to speak elven, although I would love to try, but where do you learn???
probably about three times, although a reread would be nice, when i get through my huge ‘to do’ booklist.
my first readthrough was when i was 11 or 12, most recent was this past spring.
oh wow. ummm saw both fotr and ttt twice in theaters, and i probably saw the ee dvd for fotr about four million times. i watched every feature and watched the actual film at least once with each commentary as well as all alone mounds of times. i couldn’t tell you. but ttt i have seen one more time on the new dvd, but i’m holding out for november. and i cannot wait for rotk…i’ll probably see it five times in theaters.
i’m 18.
i can read and write with the dwarfish runes in the hobbit quite easily and decoded the fire letters on the ring itself, and i’d like to attempt elvish one day, but that requires a time and effort i am lacking currently. some day…
Hey aaaaaarrgg, how were the commentaries? I listened to the writer/director one all the way through, but the others just didn’t grab me. Could you say a little about each one?
How many times have you read the trilogy? Um, alot? I’ll guess and say 30 times, though I often skip TTT. I read it for the first time when I was in the 5th grade (I was 10 but a very advanced reader)
How recently have you read the books? In the spring I re-read TTT for a friend to mark the place where he should stop if he didn’t want any ROTK movie spoilers.
How many times have you seen the films? Saw each one three times in the theater. FOTR, I watched the theatrical release DVD about 4 times, and the Extended relase too many times to mention (at least 10?). I just got the theatrical release TTT and have watched it twice so far.
How old are you?
28 (also female, in case you care)
NoCoolUserName I really enjoyed the actor’s commentary because they have fun with it. They point out a few things you wouldn’t notice otherwise, and tell funny stories about the filming.
The other two (design and Production) I found very interesting because they talk about the film on such a fine level of detail. I’d suggest watching the special features first, then, knowing some of the techniques that are used, watch those two commentaries. They point out the use of certain techniques in various scenes. Just as an example, in the opening scene w/ Gandalf and Frodo, they tell you where forced perspective is used, where body doubles are used, where cgi is used, etc, all within a few minutes of film. The downside is, this can color your ability to immerse in the film – once you’ve “seen” the body double, it’s quite hard to unsee it.
How many times have you read the trilogy? About 8 times. 3 of those times I actually finished ROTK and picked up The Hobbit in the same night. The fisrt time I read them through, I finished and picked up The Hobbit in the same sitting.
How recently have your read the books? What time is it? I have the day off.
How many times have you seen the films? FOTR, 5 times in the theater, can’t count on DVD. TTT, 4 times in the theater, twice on DVD. When I got the extended version of FOTR, I wouldn’t watch theatrical release again.
How old are you? 32
MikeG - watched the preview of the EE of TTT on the DVD. You will like it. Shows a lot more of the Ents (the Ent-draught scene with Merry and Pip!) and gives a whole flashback-story with Faramir, Boromir and Denethor so you get to see their relationship. It also shows… or should I shut up? It’s going to be the movie I expected to see and not the one I saw - if that makes sense.
In my studio, I have a FOTR cardboard display stand from when it came out on DVD along with Alan Lee prints, the read-along Rankin-Bass 45 of The Hobbit and a bunch of other stuff. The coolest thing is I have a friend that just moved to New Zealand and she’s going to visit Hobbitton and take some pics for me. They’re also minting coins for the release of the next movie and I’m getting some of those, too!
Oh, and Hello Again - how you doin’ I like to watch the special features afterwards. It was neat to know how they did all that cool stuff. The thing I’m still amazed by is that each piece of armor was hand made by smiths at least once. That bowled me over.
30 or 40 times. Been reading the books since I was about 10. I admit I have only read the Hobbit a handful of times compared to LOTR…but every now and then I get the urge to go through Mirkwood again. I’ve read the Silmarillion only about 10 times.
Currently in the middle of The Two Towers.
FOTR in theater 3 times; maybe 6 or 7 on DVD EE; TTT 3 times in theater, only 2x on DVD so far.
32
I don’t speak elvish. I barely was able to get through learning German!
Maybe 5 or 6 times (trilogy); Sil twice; Unfinished Tales now and then, like a reference book. I’ll have to try HOME–never ready any of it yet.
Read FOTR last summer on a camping trip; TTT last fall on a long plane ride.
FOTR 3 times in theater; TTT twice in theater. FOTR on DVD (and Starz) numerous times; but now I’ll only watch the EE. Can’t wait for TTT EE.
50
For me, I transformed from “Tolkien geek” to “truly immersed fanatic” with the introduction of the Internet. Web FAQs, and especially rec.arts.books.tolkien provided a deluge of stuff I didn’t even pick up on the first 4 or 5 times reading the books.
Still skimming the Silmarillion, read some of that almost every day now. I’ve read that all the way through twice, as well.
3.FOTR: 3 in theater, dozen or so times on DVD. TTT: 3 in theatre, 1 on DVD.
I would normally not consider myself in such prestigious company, except that, sometimes when discussing M.E. I will forget the “normal” word for something and use the more obscure one, such as “wasn’t it cool how in ummmm…Khazad Dum, the balrog fought with…ummmm…Mithrandir?”
Only once all the way through although I re-read the end of Return of the King because I rushed through it the first time.
I re-read the ending a few weeks ago.
Enough to quote the scenes.
34
I also had some custom bumper stickers made saying “I Brake For Hobbits” and gave each “Hobbit” one as well as putting one on my car. I also attended the Oscar Party for TTT and am planning on the ROTK one as well. I spent the last few months writing and recording a song inspired by the LOTR story, I am on many LOTR message boards and have made some good friends as well. My SO made some custom outfits for his 12 inch LOTR Action Figures and some elven cloaks for us. I spend a lot of time chatting in the TORN chatroom on IRC and I can’t help but check www.theonering.net website many times a day.
I’ve lost track of how many times - at least a dozen. 2. How recently have your read the books?
The Lord of the Rings - last fall. The Silmarillion - three months ago (plus, I browse through it regularly). 3. How many times have you seen the films?
Fellowship - 8 time in the theater, twice on DVD. TTT - twice in the theater. 4. How old are you?
I’ve read the triloge at least twice a year since I was 8 or ten… The Hobbit was one of the first books I remember reading, moved on the the Lord of the Rings and never really looked back. Read 'em most recently this March or April. Saw Fellowship 5 times in the Theater… I have the special edition dvds don’t really know how many times I have watched those. Saw Two Towers 4 times in the theater. I am 34 years old.
How many times have you read the trilogy?
Well, I can count that high, but with difficulty… conservative estimate of over a hundred times; Silmarillion a few dozen.
I emerged from a total immersion in utter enchantment to realize I was not after all in Middle Earth, so I immediately re-read the books. And again a couple of months later; and again after another couple, and… at least 4, maybe 6 times a year for five years or so; gradually tapered off to 2 or 3 times per year over the next coupla decades, maybe only once a year for a bit.
How recently have your read the books?
All of them immediately after the release of TTT and once since then; plus selected bits and pieces after that.
How many times have you seen the films?
FotR first at a midnight show–after all, I’d been waiting since 1961; then again with a friend. A couple times at home (bought the extended version version)
TTT once, but don’t know if I can bear to watch it again. Great casting (Gollum’s perfect!), marvelous scenery, sets and costumes: and then Jackson seriously mucks up characters, motives and story even more than the bits that bothered me with FotR! AAAAAUUUghhhhhhh!!! [Perhaps somebody down the line can hack Jackson’s magnum opus into the true vision, like the SW Jar-Jar-less version.]
How old are you?
62; female
While I never learned any of the languages, after my first dozen readings I knew whowhatwhenwherewhy quite well. Read my sons The Hobbit by the time each went off to kindergarten, the trilogy by around 3rd or grade. My younger son and I played trivia and identify the quotation with one another, and were eventually reduced to finding obscure points in the appendix or guessing the page on which the cite was found.
I can hardly wait to pass the enchantment along to the next generation: my grandson’s three now, so there’re just a few dozen months to go!
I like to watch the special features afterwards. It was neat to know how they did all that cool stuff. The thing I’m still amazed by is that each piece of armor was hand made by smiths at least once. That bowled me over.
Seriously, I’m 40.