The Lord of the Rings: Popular Culture in a Global Context, Ernest Mathijs (ed), (2006)

London: Wallflower Press, 341 pp., ISBN 1-904764-82-7 (pbk), $25.00

The anthology of critical writings put together by Ernest Mathijs on the subject of The Lord of the Rings seeks to understand the international importance that this most successful franchise has had on the film industry and culture. The Lord of the Rings: Popular Culture in a Global Context is split up into three parts, exploring the commercial reaction, public reception, and the ancillary context of this film franchise.

Mathijs begins the book with his introduction. Like most people who study film, watch films, or make them, Mathijs is awestruck by the magnitude of worldwide public presence that these films have enjoyed since the announcement that they were under production several years ago (p. 1). Even now it is hard to escape talk of these valuable literary properties as talks between New Line Cinema founder and President Bob Shaye and Peter Jackson wax and wan over the prequel, The Hobbit. And while many critics and fans are beginning to loathe the current Hollywood franchise and remake trend, nearly everyone hungers for another piece of J.R.R Tolkein’s Middle-earth saga. An academic exploration of these films is a timely and important endeavor as Mathijs and his contributors seek to record an important period in film and cultural history.

The first section of “Popular Culture in a Global Context” deals with the commercial reaction to these films. These films were deemed valuable as soon as New Line Cinema gave the green light to begin production as the large international built-in audience began eagerly awaiting the release of The Fellowship of the Ring (2001). Even with a virtually unknown director, Peter Jackson, helming the project New Line Cinema and the film’s other backers, including the Weinsteins, had to have known they had made a solid investment if not a surefire blockbuster one. Daniel Biltereyest and Philippe Meers’ essay entitled “Blockbusters and/as Events: Distributing and Launching the Lord of the Rings” gives an in-depth analysis of the distribution strategy put into place by New Line Cinema. They use Return of the King as their case study to show how the film’s premiere in New Zealand led to the publicity that pushed it over the edge as the most successful entry in the franchise. Biltereyest and Meers also demonstrate how media coverage strategically increased when most advantageous to keep a steady stream of public awareness of the film flowing, both pre- and post-release.

The second section of the book deals with the public reception for the film around the world. There are essays providing detailed case studies for how the public received the film in New Zealand, Germany, as well as the United Kingdom. Strangely there is not an article specifically detailing the reception in the United States. This is especially odd considering the franchise was financed by American backers, received an astonishing amount of Academy Awards, and made around half of its total box office in North America. Besides this omission, Mathijs’ book does an excellent job at providing an international perspective on how the general public and press received these films. It is especially of interest to read about the public reception in New Zealand, where all of the films were shot, and which is also the native country of Peter Jackson. Even though it made for a very small percentage of the total box office, the fact that the films were very successful in his home country would be very important to him. Davinia Thornley’s essay shows how the press favorably viewed Jackson from the beginning, considering the huge amount of money Jackson was single-handedly bringing into the local economy.

In the third section one will find analysis of the ancillary contexts of Peter Jackson’s franchise. There are case studies on DVD bonus features, video games, and pornographic spin-offs. These essays show the lasting financial effect these films will have thanks to clever DVD merchandising and video games that cross-promote the film in a different medium. There is also the lasting cultural impact to consider as in I. Q. Hunter’s essay “Tolkien Dirty.” He discusses the pornographic adaptation, The Lord of the G-Strings, which became the highest grossing film ever made by Seduction Cinema. This low-budget remake became an epic endeavor in its own right for the producers who have seen a large return on their investment due to the continued interest and pop-cultural importance of The Lord of the Rings franchise.

The collection of essays that Mathijs has assembled in this book gives its readers a wide range of analysis for a greatly adored and wildly successful franchise. Beginning with a detailed box office analysis and ending with an interesting diversion into the ancillary importance of this franchise, Mathijs has assembled a book for any fan of Tolkein’s books and/or Jackson’s films. But he has also amassed a great deal of critical academic writing that will be of great use to scholars and students of film around the world.

Terry Hobgood is a former intern for Film International, and a graduate of the University of North Carolina Wilmington.