Edit: The journey continues with my video about the Russian Hobbit, which is just as bizarre: th-cam.com/video/ACcsqU3sjn0/w-d-xo.html Original comment: This one was fun. Seriously, stick around for Part 3. This movie is out of this world.
You should watch another one, which is way trippier. A group of Russian veterans of field role-playing shot their version of LOTR. Zero budget, shooting in crappy cafés and country homes, - hilarity ensues. Just like the Soviet TV version, it is close to the loose translation of Muravyov / Kistyakovsky. th-cam.com/video/Av5U3JpQHik/w-d-xo.html
@ShutEyeCinema Yeah, Puchkov(Goblin) is the most famous parody voiceover actor in Russia. He was creating "abridged" movies before TeamFourstar ever got their hands on Dragon Ball Z.
Whutz iz thiz ztory aboutz everybodyz wanting to have OWNERZHIP over zha ring? western propaganda, off to gulag!!! We only read zad suicidal proud russian authors to keed everybody zad!!
It is not a film, but a "телеспектакль" or a tv-play, if you will. The thing is that 90s were an absolute hell in Russia and they could not afford a reall movie. To survive, they made a tv-play of very popular book among kids. Tv-play means: shoot everything with minimal or cheepest effects, without doubles, with natural sound (like a play in a theater) and do it as fast as you can to decrease the cost of production (and payments to actors). Actually the genre of tv-play can be really great and there are great films and tv-shows in that genre, but 90s did not left even a chance for that. You did a great research, thank you for your work!)
The fog effect (as well as weird effect on the Ring in the first shots) is in fact some sort of pre-digital special fx widely done in soviet and early russian tv dramas and series. It was supposed to mask out the rest of picture so what really matters stayed in 'focus'. I never truly understood the real reason to do this. But it adds that soviet vibe to anything. Well recognizable for a kid, who grew up watching soviet television.
eyep, other studios employed similar "techniques" to mask the lack of... everything really. Ukrainian Studio Shewtchenko used copious amounts of smoke, like seriously their productions look like the most depressing disco dance floors in existence.
Watched it as a kid in Russia. And honestly thought it was an interesting movie. A bit weird by modern western standards. But 1990's Russia was another planet in comparison to 1990's US.
Nonsense. In the 70's and 80's, here in Slovakia (then in Czechoslovakia), they showed us quality Russian films on TV. Either fairy tales (Sadko, Morozok, Korolevstvo krivykh zerkal, Finist - Jasnyj sokol), or serious films (Priključenija žjoltogo čemodančika, Čelovek-amfibija).
@@dacsus That's true, but the movies you've mentioned are full-budget movies released in theaters. Of course, they have higher production value than a TV only series such as "Хранители". It would
I remember watching Soviet "multiki" (short for 'animation") in Bulgaria when I was little and it was the only thing on televsion for kids that I can remember. Soviet "Jungle book" is da sh-t. It was on another planet in the sence that back then it was meant to create superior people, to educate the children to be moral, enlightened, to read much, to care for the elderly and their friends, and yes, to salute the red star. I am from this planet... nowadays I feel like everything in mainstream hollywood is broken families and deep problems that are solved by punching Loki through a skyscraper. And below the belt nasty humour in Rick and Morty and family guy.
I'm assuming their FX budget ran out. That might also explain why Gandalf was killed before they made it to the bridge, but still appeared on the bridge. They planned to include the Barlog, but couldn't, so they added the shot of him getting over ran. (All of this is just an assumption, but it makes sense.)
As a russian, i'm surprised that Channel 5 would put effort into restoring it. Glad they did. Also, knowing Aquarium did music for this is just wonderful.
@@Catanonimus777 Денег скорее всего много не ушло, если вообще. Ну и как ни крути, это часть истории нашего кинематографа. А истории всё равно, что плохо, что хорошо. На то она и история. Ну а ещё прост по приколу.
@@feddcraft Do you know where I can find the soundtrack? Aquarium, together with Kino, is great music, but I'm lost finding the soundtrack because of the Cyrillic.
Seriously, I admire the thought and effort they put into making this a faithful adaptation, even if they had no budget to work with. Only true fans would try to do something like this.
Never saw any soviet movie with Matt Damon. Saw a soviet movie with Christian Bale tho (I sh*t you not - just google "Mio in the Land of Faraway"!). And guess what? It's awesome!
I seriously don't know what to say. I feel like I just had an out of body experience or something. I have serious doubts that this movie is actually from this universe.
You may also try out the western equivalent, the Ralph Bakshi adaptation of LOTR from 1978. This one has even a Balrog and its arguably more terrifying than the Peter Jackson one.
"The yellow book" translation was not actually published in 1966, the manuscript is from 1966, but it was published in the 80-s. And it was less of a "censorship" then adaptation when the author was trying to make it more fairy-tailish like "The Hobbit", trying to make it shorter by removing long descriptions, while also adding her own story in there and wrapping it all in the story about a group of modern scientists studying the ring as some extra-terrestrial artifact and getting the story from it. It's pretty crazy. Also "furry feet" are translated to Russian as "furry legs" because of how words "feet" and "legs" used differently in Russian and English (like in Russian you don't say "footsteps", but "legtraces"). So the furry legs make sense in this context.
It is honestly shocking to realize just what kind of shit translators were able to get away with up until just a few decades ago, simply because they knew almost none of the readers would ever get their hands on the original to do a comparison (nowadays, at least when it comes to English, that's no longer an option). Whoever came up with the concept of an "abridged" version deserves to be shot-there are many people out there who think they know a book even though all they were ever exposed to was a mere 2/3 of it.
@@kanaler5924 there is. It's just not used as often as in English. It's sounds anatomical and weird in those contexts. Like if someone would use soles instead of feet in English, or palms instead of hands.
@@daniilfedotov8922 so you don't have words for soles or palms either or you just don't use them? I mean every part has a name. It sounds strange that you wouldn't speak of feet when you are talking about feet. Like if someone says can you touch your feet. Does your feet hurt. He has pretty small feet. She has cute feet etc. What do you just say legs instead? Lol
I’ll bite. Totally justified to remove Bombadil from the Jackson films BUT the business of getting the barrow blades is important for Merry to be able to stab the Witch-king.
Agree. When reading I would after the first few times skip from The Old Forest to the Barrow-Downs because Bombadil was so boring. Aragorn handing out the knives were kind of a ”hey, take these 5 silver piece blades I got from the blacksmith while I was waiting for you guys” (okay they looked nicer than that but they had no special significance compared to the barrow blades that even got a few lines of back story from Bombadil)
Yeah I agree. The Bombadil part is my least favorite of the books. I even remember when I read it the first time wondering where the hell it was going and it just, didn't. Completely inconsequential to the story.
Also, removing this because it isn't important is one thing and justified if you really have to keep total length in check. However, if you do that, then please don't add other equally unimportant scenes to the movie that weren't in the book. Like Arwen. Or that cave troll for that matter - in the book they only assumed there was a cave troll but it was mostly likely the balrog all along. And they certainly didn't fight a cave troll in the books. Now, we got a cool fight scene that way. But the Barrow Downs would also have been cool scenes and quite frankly, if I have to pick between two equally watchable scenes, why not stick to the one that is in the book instead of making one up?
Hey dol! merry dol! ring a dong dillo! Ring a dong! hop along! Fal lal the willow! Tom Bom, jolly Tom, Tom Bombadillo! Hey! Come merry dol! derry dol! My darling! Light goes the weather-wind and the feathered starling. Down along under Hill, shining in the sunlight, Waiting on the doorstep for the cold starlight, There my pretty lady is, River-woman's daughter, Slender as the willow-wand, clearer than the water. Old Tom Bombadil water-lilies bringing Comes hopping home again. Can you hear him singing? Hey! Come merry dol! derry dol! and merry-o! Goldberry, Goldberry, merry yellow berry-o! Poor old Willow-man, you tuck your roots away! Tom's in a hurry now. Evening will follow day. Tom's going home again water-lilies bringing. Hey! Come derry dol! Can you hear me singing?
The actor playing Tom Bombadil is Sergey Parshin. In those days, he was the host of "Tale after Tale", a children's nightly show before going to bed, and longer episodes on the weekends. Technically, this "Lord of the Rings" is a few episodes of this show.
Never seen this movie but I can confirm that Russian translations of Hobbit and LOTR feature carefully and faithfully matched ideological translations of names and places, as opposed to phonetic. There is an enormous Tolkien fan base in Russia.
Alternative opinion: there are no good LotR translation in Russian. All the name changes sound super silly and cringe to russian ears. Movie translations are good though.
@@JoinMeInDeathBaby it's weird how a lot of russians have this sence of despising therr own language this way. I wonder if it has something to do with soviets denigrating the language of countryside people, the ones who were more creative with the language. I mean, if you say "галоши", it's perfectly fine, but if you say "мокроступы", suddenly you sound like a village idiot
@@darkdwarf007 i don't think that there is a connection. I do not despise russian language, just point out the fact that there are no good LoTR translations into Russian.
@@darkdwarf007 про принижение русского языка я вот что думаю проблема в том, что буквальный перевод названий с английского на русский тупо не работает, английский - это уникальный язык, он вобрал в себя просто гигантские пласты иноязычной лексики, к тому же на нем говорит полмира, что послужило образованию сумасшедшего количества акцентов. Это сильно смазало ощущение идентификации английского, как языка исключительно англичан или американцев, или как языка на котором говорят только в определенном месте. Это даёт возможность писателю поместить героев почти в любой сеттинг, дать говорящее имя, понятное носителю, и не вызвать у читателя когнитивного диссонанса. С русским дело обстоит иначе, какие-то имена можно перевести, типо гаечки из мультфильма Чип и Дейл, это смотрится нормально, потому что это даже не имя, а скорее кличка. Но русскоязычный читатель не может поверить, что в Средиземье живёт герой по имени Бильбо Сумкин. Русский не обладает тем налетом мультикультурности, поэтому в нашем сознании Сумкины живут на территории СНГ, а Бэггинс нормальный обитатель, пусть и вымешленного, но, очевидно, европйского Средиземья. Да кстати, немаловажную роль сыграло то, что все новое к нам поступает из Америки, в России нихера не производистся, поэтому вместо изобретения своего слова, мы просто заимствуем название от страны производителя, просто транскрипцией, безо всякого перевода. Русский слух отвык от неологизмов, для нас новое слово часто звучит глупо, ну и пробуй после этого переводить силами исключительно русского языка без заимствований, поэтому все переводы считаются не очень хорошими
@@Catanonimus777 Не так уж английский и уникален, не стоит так преклоняться. На нем как на родном даже сейчас говорит лишь ок. 5 % населения мира. А в Средневековие на нем и вовсе говорили только в некоторой части Британских о-вов. Бэггинс - очевидно английское имя и его носитель может жить только в UK или в каком-то вымышленном его соответствии. Уже другой вопрос - это желательно в данном случае или нет. Можно начинать с русского корня, а потом добавлять английское окончание - Сумкинс. Но ожидать от читателей владеть английским и понимать "говорящие имена" и так - смешно, ведь зачем тогда вообще переводить?
"It is what it is and it occupies a world where the stars don't shine." I don't care what your opinion is of Ebert or The Human Centipede, the man knew how to dish out a burn.
It is not only about censorship. The publishers simply didn't know what to make of this book. There was the science fiction department and there was the children's fairy tails department. Lord of the Rings obviously didn't fit either of these categories. Fantasy was simply unknown and since every publisher was state-owned they couldn't break the rules. The first "translation" was actually an attempt to remake Lord of the Rings into a science fiction novel so it could be published by the relevant department. If my memory serves, it starts with scientists discovering the ring. P.S. In fact, I doubt there was any censorship involved. Hobbit was pretty well received, although it wasn't particularly well known. The government publishers simply didn't know what to do with the book.
It's amazing that they managed to net Vaush as the narrator, to think he flew all the way over to Soviet Russia just to sit in a chair for three minutes.
i'm from Russia. And I can swear I've never even heard of this version of LOTR. But maybe because i'm a little younger than the movie itself. Peter Jackson's films and their humorous translations by Dmitry Puchkov were popular in Russia when i was a child and they still are popular today.
I love this review! I'd like to offer one correction: Akvarium did not compose the soundtrack, as that group had already broken up by the time this film was produced. Andrei "Dyusha" Romanov, a founding member of Akvarium, composed the soundtrack, which he produced with his group Trilistnik ("Shamrock") - he's that weird narrator mentioned in this film. Trilistnik was, essentially, Dyusha and a number of other musicians formerly in Akvarium, but minus the original group's leader, songwriter, and voice, Boris Grebenschikov. Grebenschikov had been trying to make a go as a crossover artist in the West since the late 1980's (some may remember his album "Radio Silence") but eventually returned to Russia to reform Akvarium with a new set of musicians. Dyusha and Trilistnik had a modest amount of success - I remember seeing them in concert in 1993 and really enjoying them - and released the soundtrack to this movie as an album called "Music of Middle Earth." Dyusha, a legendary and beloved figure in Soviet/post-Soviet Russia's underground music scene, died of a heart attack in 2000.
@@PentexProductions Akvarium was a big influence on Kino, arguably the most famous Soviet rock band of all time, and Grebenshchikov is still touring ex-Soviet countries with his newfound "guru" image.
@@Jedzelex I know, but consider the context and the perspective of everyone involved. If you were a kid in the late 80's in Soviet Union, you didn't have exposure to western bclockbuster movies (teen might have, but a VHS player was a luxury barely anyone could afford). You didn't know anything about Tolkien or his books - yes, technically there was a translation circulating, but good luck trying to get your hands on it as a kid. You would have, like, 2 channels on TV to watch. So if on Saturday morning they show you this, it's not too dissimilar from other TV plays made of shoestring budget for the purpose of entertaining kids under 12 years old or so with a sort of fairy tale told by the theatrical means. And you would find it entertaining. Yes, I know, it sucks, but it sucks for us, because we have that stellar example of Jackson's movies, with epic tone and scale and old that. To the creators of this fairy tale, it was just another book for children, literally a fairly tale, hence the amount of effort. Would you consider upon reading something like Hanzel and Gretel that only big epic action-packed movie will do it justice? Oh, wait, someone it Hollywood actually did consider that.
@@KasumiRINA Not sure what kind of Soviet movies you watched, or how broad is your definition of a TV play. If something like Soviet Sherlock Holmes series is a TV play in your perception, then yes, Soviet movies are more like TV plays. I didn't grow up in Soviet times (thank God) so I didn't experience an average Soviet TV programming, but something tells me that Hobbit would feel like a TV play even by Soviet standards.
3:07 Damn, I still got this LotR edition (along with The Hobbit from the same book series with identical cover design), bought both of them in 2002 after watching first Jackson's movie. There were so many Russian LotR translations, it became a joke: - How many hobbits does it take to change a light bulb? - One. And a whole bunch of Russian LotR translations to climb on them.
You shouldn't try to look at it as 20th century western cinema. This is a television adaptation in an environment where the majority of kids programs were some combination of puppets or small stage. Plus, you had to follow strict cultural rules, that were much more lax at the time of the production of this, but still very strict with a western eye. Bonus joke from the era: Engineers develop a haircutting machine and want to present it to the Party. The leader of the committee says, "But, Tovarish! The heads! They all have different shapes and sizes!" And the engineer answers, "Da! .... Initially..."
We watched this quality of show every Saturday when I was a kid. They were produced by Sid and Marty Krofft. First thing that sprang to my mind watching the scene of the Bridge of Khazad dum was "Land of the Lost!"
I think it would be awesome if someone edited TFTR only with this films soundtrack, that scene with Frodo running from the Nazgûl was sheer perfection.
Next you should do a review of the somehow official Finnish TV-version from the 90s called “Hobitit” (The Hobbits). It’s available on TH-cam with English subtitles.
It's based on the summer theatre play of LotR by group Ryhmäteatteri, which ran 1988 and 1989 in Suomenlinna, the 18th century sea fotress in front of Helsinki. I was 11 when I saw the play, 6 hours long, and was mesmerized. The play was such a popular phenomenon that few years later came the TV adaptation Hobitit.
If you are curious, these names (Tom Bombadil, Aragorn and Gandalf) are actually pronounced this way in Russian, it's not another insanity of the play(?).
This is incredible, how have I gone all these years without having seen this? I know how I'm spending my Friday night. Thank you for introducing me to a new level of LOTR fandom.
No angry comment. The importance of Bombadil is not to the story but to the story BEHIND the story. To what's going on BEHIND the story, as it were. Fact one: Bombadil is the oldest creature walking Middle-Earth. Older than the first of the elves. "Oldest and Fatherless" he is called by the Dwarves. "Eldest, that's what I am...Tom remembers the first raindrop and the first acorn...he knew the dark under the stars when it was fearless - before the Dark Lord came from Outside.."---Tom Bombadil in THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING. Fact two: If you put on the Ring of Power he can still see you. Not even Gandalf can do that. Fact three: If Bombadil puts the ring on he stays visible. AND He treats the Ring like a prop in a magic show---it has no power over his mind. His powers over Barrow-Wights, Ill-Mannered Huorns (Old Man Willow) and other malevolent creatures is apparently unlimited. He belongs to the Mythos BEHIND this story and is worth a few minutes of screen time is all I'm saying.
Very well put, and I actually agree with you on his importance to the story are lore of Middle Earth, but I don't think it is important enough to warrant inclusion in a film adaptation. Because of the limited format of film, it would complicate the narrative being built about how evil the Ring is. If the first character the hobbits met was completely impervious to it, then rightly so audiences would be confused about it's threat. You'd also then open the stupid 'why didn't they fly the eagles to Mordor' can of worms of why Bombadil doesn't take the Ring (I know they address this in the books, but it would further slow down the Council of Elrond scene). This is why they completely changed Faramir's storyline in the movies - in the books, he's not really tempted by the Ring, and that undermined the threat it posed. Personally, I enjoy Philippa Boyens' comment that the hobbits in the films don't necessary NOT encounter Bombadil, it's just left "untold." Anyway, agree to disagree, but thanks for watching and sharing your thoughts. Always a pleasure to talk to another Tolkien fan. If you haven't seen my other LOTR video, I'd be interested in your thoughts on it: th-cam.com/video/9_UCGzhJcGg/w-d-xo.html
)@@PentexProductions So why wasn't Galadriel changed to make her susceptible to the Ring? Because Philippa was writing it and she has a down on Faramir (and men generally, maybe?) Just askin'. 😜
@@CassandrashadowcassMorrison Galadriel is susceptible to it, and makes a point of saying so. She, like Gandalf, just has the presence of mind/experience to keep it just far enough away to focus on their mission and avoid the fate of someone more young and impulsive like Boromir.
@@PentexProductions I agree with you on it not being necessarily "important" to the story but the movies aren't exactly full of only essential story elements, especially the extended versions. Why did the movies need to include so much added stuff to get the feeling across? Why did Tolkien spend so much time creating languages and things that don't really matter to the story? Why does the Silmarillion exist? Because it's not just the story at hand that matters when it comes to universes like Middle Earth. One of the main attractions (if not THE main attraction) of LotR is the lore, the grander world, the mystery, the mythology. Many mysterious things are never explained, parts of the world never explored, and that helps give the universe its iconic fantasy feel where you question everything and understand nothing. Maybe the Tom scene would've been unnecessary on the surface level but, to me, the fact that characters like Tom Bombadil exist enriches the entire universe. It's like the "force" in Star Wars before midichlorians existed- it's important to have things that you or the characters don't fully understand because it means almost anything can happen. - I don't mean to come off as preachy. I do think Jackson did a great job with the movies, I just wanted to defend ma boy T Bombadil.
This is like an *acid trip* and a *fever-dream* had a glorious *soviet baby* together....in Pripyat...in 1991... It’s an incredibly unique, entertainment time capsule, from a bygone era.💖
In the 90s people have begun starving in Russia, I have tremendous respect to actors and project team for making the TV play so entertaining with little to no budget. It's not your typical theater movie, it is its own genre with its own tradition.
@@user-ub6mu2te4q it depends on regions. Once countries became independent from Kremlin, most of russia outside of moscow and St. Petersburg that received humanitarian aid from USA and Ukraine, WAS starving. I had a relative in Rybinsk and they had breadlines and food stamps that would give like 10 eggs a month. Not enough for a grown man.
Were do you see this people? In comments discuss this particular movie. And by the way, soviet movies in general are not the best of the best. Я русске. И мне лень спорить
Well it is. The Soviet Union had no money and looked desperately for cheap entertainment. Nobody can make a great film with such a low bugdet but the poverty was a real thing and still is. Now the goverment can spend money from oil on what they want to show on TV.
@@paulgoogol2652 Budget of the first Brat (Брат) movie was like 10k $ and that was certainly the biggest hit of the 90s in Russia. (Not all former USSR though) I doubt Khraniteli was cheaper than that. No matter how shitty the result is, you still need premises, equipment and probably all involved got paid too.
It is! Even best Soviet movies had theatrical decorations and acting, very cheap leftover costumes and props. Kindzadza is a dystopian sci-fi satire that surprisingly works against modern russian government that everyone should watch, but it looks cheap as F, which kinda adds to the charm. Compare to Mad Max films or Lynch's version of Dune. Then you got Mark Zaharov's films that might as well have been children's theater plays, the special effects in to Kill a Dragon are some of the worst ones in cinematic history period, but the play written during Stalin era, satirizing what the director would later become, it's brilliant in hindsight of creators having zero self-awareness. And the popular Soviet comedies were all slice-of-life stuff, filmed in extremely poor Soviet apartments and empty streets. I think reviewers of trashy films should dig deeper into the rabbit hole of russian movies to just see how horrible they were, still are, and will be as long as they publish neoNazi propaganda trash like Brother and Crimea.
@@KasumiRINA I think you mean Soviet Russian, not Soviet movies. You can't compare Russian mainstream with like Georgian or Baltic production. Sure there was cheap mass production too, but not all of it.
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Damn! I was DYING to see the russian version of the Balrog :-D
Looks like everyone involved had fun! Tele-plays were quite common in Europe during the 70ies-80ies. And yes, they had a lot of weird effects that kids were quite used to. We knew what was coming, just like kids today are used to the cartoons of today....n sometimes it was just weird tv :)
10:54 "I'M OLD GREGGDALF!" I did not expect to laugh this hard watching this video. I fucking loved the terrified hobbits running from the ring wraiths with that happy-go-lucky shire music. Beautiful editing. I'm subbing.
This actually reminds me a lot of tv stuff I used to watch in the early 80’s. Maybe they were 10 years behind technically. Those green screens take me back!
Ну как мечи стаканы на стол! Ну как мечи стаканы на стол! Ну как мечи стаканы на стол! И прочую посуду! Все говорят что пить нельзя, Все говорят что пить нельзя А я говорю что буду!
I've had to think hard about who's Noel Fielding because it ringed a bell, and only then I realized how much in fact this weird Soviet show has in common with The Mighty Boosh.
Fun fact: the actor, that played Gandalf here also played Dr. Livsey in soviet animation Treasure Island! Да-да, Виктор Костецкий, сыгравший здесь Гендальфа так же озвучивал доктора Ливси в Острове Сокровищ!
7:30 No, that's just a Soviet thing. It's how they make things feel ethereal. Did the same thing in Mary Poppins. I love the Goblin Russian dub of the Jackson film BTW.
I'm Russian and I have never heard of this. Seriously, you've dugged out the ancient artifact. I've also cringed quite a few times. Also, Legolas being played by a woman is not a strange thing. It's a common practice of woman voicing/playing male characters (disguised woman or not) if they want to give male character a young look. So for example, first three Harry Potter movies Ron was voiced by a woman (despite the fact that in the third movie Ron already hit puberty). Also, about acting. During Soiet times, acting was more theatrical than cinematic, since playing in the theatre was more prestigious than in film industry up until the end of Soviet Union, so actors just don't have other experience.
Thanks for these insights, it's been fascinating to hear these little tidbits about similar productions at the time from people who grew up in Russia. It's really helped contextualise the film. Thanks again!
Can you back that claim up? I couldn't find a single source for your claim. In what language would it have that meaning? Seems to be fake news. If this was supposed to be a joke, I apologize.
"it might be from another universe" bro, this is just russian movies in general. They have a very unique style to them, especially the old ones from the 80s to 90s.
You're right. You WILL die on that hill. Tom Bombadil was the symbolic opposite of Sauron. The closest the movie ever gets is the extended version Witchking vs Gandalf.
Akvarium (also know as Aquarium) is great. I just watched a documentary on the TH-cam channel Bandsplaining about Soviet rock music in the '70s and '80s and they popped up a lot. Now that I know they're part of this, I'm even more intrigued.
I have to say, the best adaptation of the Hobbit was a theateical puppet play, done by two guys alone and a woman doing all the music. it was 2 hours of total awe without anything missing from the book. i watched it twice, some years apart and was astonished both times.
I know it's just coincidental, but I see a lot of similarities between this and Brazilian Star Wars (yes, it's weirder than Turkish Star Wars). Lots of green screen and strange things happening all the time.
And Turkish Star Wars (Dünyayı Kurtaran Adam) was made seriously according to the lead actor (a couple of years ago, he was mad that people made fun of it). It's not even a joke, they legit did it. There's Turkish Star Trek as well, I suggest checking that out.
@@MericErdemBal Yes! I have Turkish Star Trek, took me forever to find a subtitle track so I could watch it too! But yea, I know about how they believe they're making wholesome movies, even if they are ripping off famous IP's, but it's not just them, the Italians were notorious for this same thing, it just didn't get as much reputation because their movies weren't nearly as 'over the top' :D
During the party scenes in Shire, it wasn't vaseline or pro mist filters that made the iconic soft look. The lenses fogged up due to the vodka being breathed out in the air.
That's not a movie, that's a TV play. It's basically a no-budget stage performance, but filmed on camera. And it's not 'lost', it just wasn't ever intended for any wider release than your local channel's weather broadcast. The only weird thing about it is lemmings sensationlizing it. I imagine someone one day will pick up some parents filming their kids as they 'fight' on plastic lightsabers in the sand and go, in all seriousness "The long lost bootleg Revenge of the Sith remake. It's horific and weird, lets analyze it!".
Edit: The journey continues with my video about the Russian Hobbit, which is just as bizarre: th-cam.com/video/ACcsqU3sjn0/w-d-xo.html
Original comment: This one was fun. Seriously, stick around for Part 3. This movie is out of this world.
*can hardly wait* what a trip!🤩
You should watch another one, which is way trippier. A group of Russian veterans of field role-playing shot their version of LOTR. Zero budget, shooting in crappy cafés and country homes, - hilarity ensues.
Just like the Soviet TV version, it is close to the loose translation of Muravyov / Kistyakovsky.
th-cam.com/video/Av5U3JpQHik/w-d-xo.html
Third weirdest, I'd say. The little-known 1966 official "animated" adaptation of the Hobbit was monumentally weird.
Thanks, Друг.
Yeah, it is a product of it's times. Trully weird and chaotic times.
@ShutEyeCinema Yeah, Puchkov(Goblin) is the most famous parody voiceover actor in Russia.
He was creating "abridged" movies before TeamFourstar ever got their hands on Dragon Ball Z.
Thats not just any narrator, that's U.S.S.R. Tolkien!
I fuckking loooled at this
He looks like a fat Alan Moore.
oh, yeah, of course
You just won the internet. Because you are hilarious!
Bra-fucking-vo, mate. I bow to you.
Smeagov: "My Precious!"
Gollumin: "You mean OUR Precious"
Underrated.
😂😂😂
This made me laugh
Whutz iz thiz ztory aboutz everybodyz wanting to have OWNERZHIP over zha ring?
western propaganda, off to gulag!!!
We only read zad suicidal proud russian authors to keed everybody zad!!
lmao
It is not a film, but a "телеспектакль" or a tv-play, if you will. The thing is that 90s were an absolute hell in Russia and they could not afford a reall movie. To survive, they made a tv-play of very popular book among kids. Tv-play means: shoot everything with minimal or cheepest effects, without doubles, with natural sound (like a play in a theater) and do it as fast as you can to decrease the cost of production (and payments to actors). Actually the genre of tv-play can be really great and there are great films and tv-shows in that genre, but 90s did not left even a chance for that.
You did a great research, thank you for your work!)
Спасибо за комментарий! Хотел написать то же, но слишком плохо пишу на английском.
Great response. Now, everything is clear! Thank you!
He says that it is a tv-play in the video at 4:49
It would be very unfair to compare a minimal budget TV play-film like this to the modern CGI sci-fi/action films coming out of Russia today.
Only now I realized what a tv play means.
There is old Finnish Hobbit movie that was a tv play, its called Hobbitit
Its so bad its good :D
All bets are off when Soviet Saruman enters the stage
I like that they still call him Saruman the White in the dialogue but he wears a yellow robe.
@@PentexProductions - It's the Russian Lord of the Rings and also the Russian 'The Room' at the same time. Impressive.
*laughs in Russian*
@@PentexProductions accurate to the books, his robe was colour shifting
@@PentexProductions Well he did refer to himself as Saruman of many colors in the book, and his cloak was prismatic.
So the Soviet LotR had the balls to show Tom Bombadil?
The Soviets were the only ones that could contain Tom Bombadil
@@lukasvoorhis6964 No, Soviets tried by using Chernobyl Reactor 4 but on 26 April 1986 he escaped containment
You need to be the on something string to think he would be necessary for a good movie. We know the Soviets had Vodka at least :)
@@Seb1l I would pay so much goddamn money to read, play or watch this story...xD
Yeah and that's why it sucked monkeyballs.
The fog effect (as well as weird effect on the Ring in the first shots) is in fact some sort of pre-digital special fx widely done in soviet and early russian tv dramas and series. It was supposed to mask out the rest of picture so what really matters stayed in 'focus'.
I never truly understood the real reason to do this. But it adds that soviet vibe to anything.
Well recognizable for a kid, who grew up watching soviet television.
Thanks - that's good to know, and makes sense!
eyep, other studios employed similar "techniques" to mask the lack of... everything really. Ukrainian Studio Shewtchenko used copious amounts of smoke, like seriously their productions look like the most depressing disco dance floors in existence.
Watched it as a kid in Russia. And honestly thought it was an interesting movie. A bit weird by modern western standards. But 1990's Russia was another planet in comparison to 1990's US.
I can see that. And it's still a good story.
Nonsense. In the 70's and 80's, here in Slovakia (then in Czechoslovakia), they showed us quality Russian films on TV. Either fairy tales (Sadko, Morozok, Korolevstvo krivykh zerkal, Finist - Jasnyj sokol), or serious films (Priključenija žjoltogo čemodančika, Čelovek-amfibija).
@@dacsus True
@@dacsus That's true, but the movies you've mentioned are full-budget movies released in theaters. Of course, they have higher production value than a TV only series such as "Хранители". It would
I remember watching Soviet "multiki" (short for 'animation") in Bulgaria when I was little and it was the only thing on televsion for kids that I can remember. Soviet "Jungle book" is da sh-t. It was on another planet in the sence that back then it was meant to create superior people, to educate the children to be moral, enlightened, to read much, to care for the elderly and their friends, and yes, to salute the red star. I am from this planet... nowadays I feel like everything in mainstream hollywood is broken families and deep problems that are solved by punching Loki through a skyscraper. And below the belt nasty humour in Rick and Morty and family guy.
Are you kidding me?! They included all of the Tom Bombadil and Barrow-Wight stuff but left out the Balrog?!
I'm assuming their FX budget ran out. That might also explain why Gandalf was killed before they made it to the bridge, but still appeared on the bridge. They planned to include the Barlog, but couldn't, so they added the shot of him getting over ran. (All of this is just an assumption, but it makes sense.)
They blew all their money on eagle special effects.
Considering that the Balrog in a movie of this caliber would most likely be a sock puppet that somebody lit on fire, perhaps that was for the best. :P
@@michaelmyer1057 and hiring Matt Damon
@@thegreattotemaster I'd almost pay money to see that :)
As a russian, i'm surprised that Channel 5 would put effort into restoring it. Glad they did. Also, knowing Aquarium did music for this is just wonderful.
Деньги на ветер, какая культурная ценность у этого "шедевра" киноискусства?
@@Catanonimus777 Денег скорее всего много не ушло, если вообще. Ну и как ни крути, это часть истории нашего кинематографа. А истории всё равно, что плохо, что хорошо. На то она и история.
Ну а ещё прост по приколу.
@@commenter_HIMIK-MAN ну так-то да)
those foreigners ridiculed БГ, our everything. such a blow for Aquarium fans
@@feddcraft Do you know where I can find the soundtrack? Aquarium, together with Kino, is great music, but I'm lost finding the soundtrack because of the Cyrillic.
Seriously, I admire the thought and effort they put into making this a faithful adaptation, even if they had no budget to work with. Only true fans would try to do something like this.
Like a schoolplay. So bad that its almost good.
Oh shit they got Matt Damon? That’s where the budget went.
Never saw any soviet movie with Matt Damon. Saw a soviet movie with Christian Bale tho (I sh*t you not - just google "Mio in the Land of Faraway"!). And guess what? It's awesome!
@@garorobe hahha yeah, and Christopher Lee plays the evil guy!!
in soviet russia the ring finds you!
They got Rowan Atkinson to play Frodo !
Should have gone the whole hog and had Sam continually announcing 'I have a cunning plan my Lord'
The ultimate crossover. But then you'd need to have Lord Flashheart as Aragorn...
nah, thats Jimmy Fallon
YES!!!
I seriously don't know what to say. I feel like I just had an out of body experience or something. I have serious doubts that this movie is actually from this universe.
@BattleAngelFan You know...yeah...you got me there. Taken in that context, I guess this movie fits right in. LOL
It's like surreal art
@@anoNEMOs Surreal, definitely. Art? Umm...maybe???
I still love how such a version of LOTR exists, regardless of its quality.
You may also try out the western equivalent, the Ralph Bakshi adaptation of LOTR from 1978. This one has even a Balrog and its arguably more terrifying than the Peter Jackson one.
@@tomitiustritus6672 And I love the orcs on that movie, especially in the scenes where they fight the Rohans. Ring wraiths are also pretty dank.
"We are not qualified to be your judges. We have no law to fit your crime."
Picard?
@@scottfitzpatrick1939 Yep, talking to Kevin Uxbridge after he admitted genocide.
"The yellow book" translation was not actually published in 1966, the manuscript is from 1966, but it was published in the 80-s.
And it was less of a "censorship" then adaptation when the author was trying to make it more fairy-tailish like "The Hobbit", trying to make it shorter by removing long descriptions, while also adding her own story in there and wrapping it all in the story about a group of modern scientists studying the ring as some extra-terrestrial artifact and getting the story from it. It's pretty crazy.
Also "furry feet" are translated to Russian as "furry legs" because of how words "feet" and "legs" used differently in Russian and English (like in Russian you don't say "footsteps", but "legtraces"). So the furry legs make sense in this context.
Thanks heaps for these insights, they help explain a few things I couldn't clarify in my research.
It is honestly shocking to realize just what kind of shit translators were able to get away with up until just a few decades ago, simply because they knew almost none of the readers would ever get their hands on the original to do a comparison (nowadays, at least when it comes to English, that's no longer an option). Whoever came up with the concept of an "abridged" version deserves to be shot-there are many people out there who think they know a book even though all they were ever exposed to was a mere 2/3 of it.
So in Russian the is no word for feet at all?
@@kanaler5924 there is. It's just not used as often as in English. It's sounds anatomical and weird in those contexts. Like if someone would use soles instead of feet in English, or palms instead of hands.
@@daniilfedotov8922 so you don't have words for soles or palms either or you just don't use them? I mean every part has a name. It sounds strange that you wouldn't speak of feet when you are talking about feet. Like if someone says can you touch your feet. Does your feet hurt. He has pretty small feet. She has cute feet etc. What do you just say legs instead? Lol
I’ll bite. Totally justified to remove Bombadil from the Jackson films BUT the business of getting the barrow blades is important for Merry to be able to stab the Witch-king.
Agree. When reading I would after the first few times skip from The Old Forest to the Barrow-Downs because Bombadil was so boring.
Aragorn handing out the knives were kind of a ”hey, take these 5 silver piece blades I got from the blacksmith while I was waiting for you guys” (okay they looked nicer than that but they had no special significance compared to the barrow blades that even got a few lines of back story from Bombadil)
Yeah I agree. The Bombadil part is my least favorite of the books. I even remember when I read it the first time wondering where the hell it was going and it just, didn't. Completely inconsequential to the story.
Also, removing this because it isn't important is one thing and justified if you really have to keep total length in check. However, if you do that, then please don't add other equally unimportant scenes to the movie that weren't in the book. Like Arwen. Or that cave troll for that matter - in the book they only assumed there was a cave troll but it was mostly likely the balrog all along. And they certainly didn't fight a cave troll in the books. Now, we got a cool fight scene that way. But the Barrow Downs would also have been cool scenes and quite frankly, if I have to pick between two equally watchable scenes, why not stick to the one that is in the book instead of making one up?
Hey dol! merry dol! ring a dong dillo!
Ring a dong! hop along! Fal lal the willow!
Tom Bom, jolly Tom, Tom Bombadillo!
Hey! Come merry dol! derry dol! My darling!
Light goes the weather-wind and the feathered starling.
Down along under Hill, shining in the sunlight,
Waiting on the doorstep for the cold starlight,
There my pretty lady is, River-woman's daughter,
Slender as the willow-wand, clearer than the water.
Old Tom Bombadil water-lilies bringing
Comes hopping home again. Can you hear him singing?
Hey! Come merry dol! derry dol! and merry-o!
Goldberry, Goldberry, merry yellow berry-o!
Poor old Willow-man, you tuck your roots away!
Tom's in a hurry now. Evening will follow day.
Tom's going home again water-lilies bringing.
Hey! Come derry dol! Can you hear me singing?
@@Puschit1 Extra Arwen scenes, cave troll, and the ENTIRE final fight in last movie are great action parts that look good on big screen
The actor playing Tom Bombadil is Sergey Parshin. In those days, he was the host of "Tale after Tale", a children's nightly show before going to bed, and longer episodes on the weekends. Technically, this "Lord of the Rings" is a few episodes of this show.
Thanks for sharing that, I had no idea. I can definitely see that actor being the host of a kids TV show.
Never seen this movie but I can confirm that Russian translations of Hobbit and LOTR feature carefully and faithfully matched ideological translations of names and places, as opposed to phonetic. There is an enormous Tolkien fan base in Russia.
Alternative opinion: there are no good LotR translation in Russian. All the name changes sound super silly and cringe to russian ears. Movie translations are good though.
@@JoinMeInDeathBaby it's weird how a lot of russians have this sence of despising therr own language this way. I wonder if it has something to do with soviets denigrating the language of countryside people, the ones who were more creative with the language. I mean, if you say "галоши", it's perfectly fine, but if you say "мокроступы", suddenly you sound like a village idiot
@@darkdwarf007 i don't think that there is a connection. I do not despise russian language, just point out the fact that there are no good LoTR translations into Russian.
@@darkdwarf007 про принижение русского языка я вот что думаю проблема в том, что буквальный перевод названий с английского на русский тупо не работает, английский - это уникальный язык, он вобрал в себя просто гигантские пласты иноязычной лексики, к тому же на нем говорит полмира, что послужило образованию сумасшедшего количества акцентов. Это сильно смазало ощущение идентификации английского, как языка исключительно англичан или американцев, или как языка на котором говорят только в определенном месте. Это даёт возможность писателю поместить героев почти в любой сеттинг, дать говорящее имя, понятное носителю, и не вызвать у читателя когнитивного диссонанса.
С русским дело обстоит иначе, какие-то имена можно перевести, типо гаечки из мультфильма Чип и Дейл, это смотрится нормально, потому что это даже не имя, а скорее кличка. Но русскоязычный читатель не может поверить, что в Средиземье живёт герой по имени Бильбо Сумкин. Русский не обладает тем налетом мультикультурности, поэтому в нашем сознании Сумкины живут на территории СНГ, а Бэггинс нормальный обитатель, пусть и вымешленного, но, очевидно, европйского Средиземья.
Да кстати, немаловажную роль сыграло то, что все новое к нам поступает из Америки, в России нихера не производистся, поэтому вместо изобретения своего слова, мы просто заимствуем название от страны производителя, просто транскрипцией, безо всякого перевода. Русский слух отвык от неологизмов, для нас новое слово часто звучит глупо, ну и пробуй после этого переводить силами исключительно русского языка без заимствований, поэтому все переводы считаются не очень хорошими
@@Catanonimus777 Не так уж английский и уникален, не стоит так преклоняться. На нем как на родном даже сейчас говорит лишь ок. 5 % населения мира. А в Средневековие на нем и вовсе говорили только в некоторой части Британских о-вов. Бэггинс - очевидно английское имя и его носитель может жить только в UK или в каком-то вымышленном его соответствии. Уже другой вопрос - это желательно в данном случае или нет. Можно начинать с русского корня, а потом добавлять английское окончание - Сумкинс. Но ожидать от читателей владеть английским и понимать "говорящие имена" и так - смешно, ведь зачем тогда вообще переводить?
"It is what it is and it occupies a world where the stars don't shine."
I don't care what your opinion is of Ebert or The Human Centipede, the man knew how to dish out a burn.
Even funnier. The movie was about a guy stitching peoples mouths to where "the stars dont shine"
"Mom can we buy Lord of the Rings on Blu Ray?"
"No we have Lord of the Rings at home."
The Lord of the Rings at home.
AT HOMELAND! GULAG FOR YOU!
LOL, no doubt!
“That’s Soviet Saruman”
I’m dying 😂😂😂
It is not only about censorship. The publishers simply didn't know what to make of this book. There was the science fiction department and there was the children's fairy tails department. Lord of the Rings obviously didn't fit either of these categories. Fantasy was simply unknown and since every publisher was state-owned they couldn't break the rules. The first "translation" was actually an attempt to remake Lord of the Rings into a science fiction novel so it could be published by the relevant department. If my memory serves, it starts with scientists discovering the ring.
P.S. In fact, I doubt there was any censorship involved. Hobbit was pretty well received, although it wasn't particularly well known. The government publishers simply didn't know what to do with the book.
Alright, now we have to find the Soviet sci-fi LOTR
@@IronRAVENxvxThat is easy to find. The only catch being that it is in Russian and I doubt anyone ever bothered to translate it back.
@@iamcleaver6854
OMG that's hilarious, I can't wait for my Russian to become good enough to be able to read it. Thanks for mentioning it.
Anyone notice that the black speech on the one ring was written using our Latin alphabet instead of Russian ?
I did, & it seemed weird. Thanks for reminding me Russia has a different alphabet.
The language of evil capitalism!
:-O
@@Nico-pg7qr That makes too much sense!
As Russian viewer, I do appreciate the deep research of the subject and respectful manner of the review.
Enjoyed the video - great job!
It's amazing that they managed to net Vaush as the narrator, to think he flew all the way over to Soviet Russia just to sit in a chair for three minutes.
He looks so happy to be there too!
😂😂😂👍Does look alot like him
"smeared vaseline over the lens" And this is exactly what it is. It is a classic softening technique in photography...
i'm from Russia. And I can swear I've never even heard of this version of LOTR. But maybe because i'm a little younger than the movie itself. Peter Jackson's films and their humorous translations by Dmitry Puchkov were popular in Russia when i was a child and they still are popular today.
It was released very recently and before that it was considered lost
I was about to say the same thing lol. Like wtf, a Russian LOTR movie? It's so bizzare
@@tiwilydarling not exactly the movie, more like tv-play. Its a dead genre now.
I love this review! I'd like to offer one correction: Akvarium did not compose the soundtrack, as that group had already broken up by the time this film was produced. Andrei "Dyusha" Romanov, a founding member of Akvarium, composed the soundtrack, which he produced with his group Trilistnik ("Shamrock") - he's that weird narrator mentioned in this film. Trilistnik was, essentially, Dyusha and a number of other musicians formerly in Akvarium, but minus the original group's leader, songwriter, and voice, Boris Grebenschikov. Grebenschikov had been trying to make a go as a crossover artist in the West since the late 1980's (some may remember his album "Radio Silence") but eventually returned to Russia to reform Akvarium with a new set of musicians. Dyusha and Trilistnik had a modest amount of success - I remember seeing them in concert in 1993 and really enjoying them - and released the soundtrack to this movie as an album called "Music of Middle Earth." Dyusha, a legendary and beloved figure in Soviet/post-Soviet Russia's underground music scene, died of a heart attack in 2000.
Thanks for this detail - I knew the band were popular but had no idea they had such a rich history.
@@PentexProductions Akvarium was a big influence on Kino, arguably the most famous Soviet rock band of all time, and Grebenshchikov is still touring ex-Soviet countries with his newfound "guru" image.
I don't think it's fair to call it a movie. It's a TV play, and it never hid the fact that it is.
It still sucks all kinds of arse no matter what you call it!
@@Jedzelex
I know, but consider the context and the perspective of everyone involved. If you were a kid in the late 80's in Soviet Union, you didn't have exposure to western bclockbuster movies (teen might have, but a VHS player was a luxury barely anyone could afford). You didn't know anything about Tolkien or his books - yes, technically there was a translation circulating, but good luck trying to get your hands on it as a kid. You would have, like, 2 channels on TV to watch. So if on Saturday morning they show you this, it's not too dissimilar from other TV plays made of shoestring budget for the purpose of entertaining kids under 12 years old or so with a sort of fairy tale told by the theatrical means. And you would find it entertaining.
Yes, I know, it sucks, but it sucks for us, because we have that stellar example of Jackson's movies, with epic tone and scale and old that. To the creators of this fairy tale, it was just another book for children, literally a fairly tale, hence the amount of effort. Would you consider upon reading something like Hanzel and Gretel that only big epic action-packed movie will do it justice? Oh, wait, someone it Hollywood actually did consider that.
Have you... seen any Soviet movies? Most are just TV plays
@@KasumiRINA Not sure what kind of Soviet movies you watched, or how broad is your definition of a TV play. If something like Soviet Sherlock Holmes series is a TV play in your perception, then yes, Soviet movies are more like TV plays. I didn't grow up in Soviet times (thank God) so I didn't experience an average Soviet TV programming, but something tells me that Hobbit would feel like a TV play even by Soviet standards.
3:07 Damn, I still got this LotR edition (along with The Hobbit from the same book series with identical cover design), bought both of them in 2002 after watching first Jackson's movie. There were so many Russian LotR translations, it became a joke:
- How many hobbits does it take to change a light bulb?
- One. And a whole bunch of Russian LotR translations to climb on them.
Was that a cabbage leaf on Gollum's head?
We may never know for sure
"I don't need sleep, I need answers."
I'm still not 100% convinced that this is actually real.
Neither am I!
Have no doubts - it's totally documental!
Ooohhh it’s real…I watched all of it… 😵💫😵💫😵💫
@@PentexProductions What I mean is, is that if it all turned out to be an elaborate hoax, I wouldn't be surprised.
90’s russian TV was a loopyland.
I bet this is just a tip of an iceberg
You killed me when you rescored the hobbits escaping from the Ringwraiths, I’m actually crying of laughter
I'm tempted to rescore the whole film with this soundtrack, but that'd probably be a crime to Jackson's LOTR!
You shouldn't try to look at it as 20th century western cinema. This is a television adaptation in an environment where the majority of kids programs were some combination of puppets or small stage. Plus, you had to follow strict cultural rules, that were much more lax at the time of the production of this, but still very strict with a western eye.
Bonus joke from the era: Engineers develop a haircutting machine and want to present it to the Party. The leader of the committee says, "But, Tovarish! The heads! They all have different shapes and sizes!" And the engineer answers, "Da! .... Initially..."
We watched this quality of show every Saturday when I was a kid. They were produced by Sid and Marty Krofft. First thing that sprang to my mind watching the scene of the Bridge of Khazad dum was "Land of the Lost!"
I think it would be awesome if someone edited TFTR only with this films soundtrack, that scene with Frodo running from the Nazgûl was sheer perfection.
Next you should do a review of the somehow official Finnish TV-version from the 90s called “Hobitit” (The Hobbits). It’s available on TH-cam with English subtitles.
It's based on the summer theatre play of LotR by group Ryhmäteatteri, which ran 1988 and 1989 in Suomenlinna, the 18th century sea fotress in front of Helsinki. I was 11 when I saw the play, 6 hours long, and was mesmerized. The play was such a popular phenomenon that few years later came the TV adaptation Hobitit.
GRRM being inspired by Tolkien probably saw this and was mesmerized by "Winter is Coming"
I love how the guy pronounced Tom bombadil.
I love how they pronounce everything!
Same😂
If you are curious, these names (Tom Bombadil, Aragorn and Gandalf) are actually pronounced this way in Russian, it's not another insanity of the play(?).
@@Eldar_Farseer Ahrrrragorrrrn*
@@helgenlane just listen how JRRT pronounce "Mordor".
This is incredible, how have I gone all these years without having seen this? I know how I'm spending my Friday night. Thank you for introducing me to a new level of LOTR fandom.
No angry comment. The importance of Bombadil is not to the story but to the story BEHIND the story. To what's going on BEHIND the story, as it were. Fact one: Bombadil is the oldest creature walking Middle-Earth. Older than the first of the elves. "Oldest and Fatherless" he is called by the Dwarves.
"Eldest, that's what I am...Tom remembers the first raindrop and the first acorn...he knew the dark under the stars when it was fearless - before the Dark Lord came from Outside.."---Tom Bombadil in THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING.
Fact two: If you put on the Ring of Power he can still see you. Not even Gandalf can do that.
Fact three: If Bombadil puts the ring on he stays visible.
AND
He treats the Ring like a prop in a magic show---it has no power over his mind.
His powers over Barrow-Wights, Ill-Mannered Huorns (Old Man Willow) and other malevolent creatures is apparently unlimited.
He belongs to the Mythos BEHIND this story and is worth a few minutes of screen time is all I'm saying.
Very well put, and I actually agree with you on his importance to the story are lore of Middle Earth, but I don't think it is important enough to warrant inclusion in a film adaptation.
Because of the limited format of film, it would complicate the narrative being built about how evil the Ring is. If the first character the hobbits met was completely impervious to it, then rightly so audiences would be confused about it's threat. You'd also then open the stupid 'why didn't they fly the eagles to Mordor' can of worms of why Bombadil doesn't take the Ring (I know they address this in the books, but it would further slow down the Council of Elrond scene). This is why they completely changed Faramir's storyline in the movies - in the books, he's not really tempted by the Ring, and that undermined the threat it posed.
Personally, I enjoy Philippa Boyens' comment that the hobbits in the films don't necessary NOT encounter Bombadil, it's just left "untold."
Anyway, agree to disagree, but thanks for watching and sharing your thoughts. Always a pleasure to talk to another Tolkien fan. If you haven't seen my other LOTR video, I'd be interested in your thoughts on it: th-cam.com/video/9_UCGzhJcGg/w-d-xo.html
)@@PentexProductions So why wasn't Galadriel changed to make her susceptible to the Ring? Because Philippa was writing it and she has a down on Faramir (and men generally, maybe?)
Just askin'. 😜
It's asking a lot of people to appreciate 2-dimensional plots and characters. You want nuanced metaphysics too?!
@@CassandrashadowcassMorrison Galadriel is susceptible to it, and makes a point of saying so. She, like Gandalf, just has the presence of mind/experience to keep it just far enough away to focus on their mission and avoid the fate of someone more young and impulsive like Boromir.
@@PentexProductions I agree with you on it not being necessarily "important" to the story but the movies aren't exactly full of only essential story elements, especially the extended versions. Why did the movies need to include so much added stuff to get the feeling across? Why did Tolkien spend so much time creating languages and things that don't really matter to the story? Why does the Silmarillion exist? Because it's not just the story at hand that matters when it comes to universes like Middle Earth. One of the main attractions (if not THE main attraction) of LotR is the lore, the grander world, the mystery, the mythology. Many mysterious things are never explained, parts of the world never explored, and that helps give the universe its iconic fantasy feel where you question everything and understand nothing. Maybe the Tom scene would've been unnecessary on the surface level but, to me, the fact that characters like Tom Bombadil exist enriches the entire universe. It's like the "force" in Star Wars before midichlorians existed- it's important to have things that you or the characters don't fully understand because it means almost anything can happen.
- I don't mean to come off as preachy. I do think Jackson did a great job with the movies, I just wanted to defend ma boy T Bombadil.
This is like an *acid trip* and a *fever-dream* had a glorious *soviet baby* together....in Pripyat...in 1991...
It’s an incredibly unique, entertainment time capsule, from a bygone era.💖
man, the ring wraith theme is epic
In the 90s people have begun starving in Russia, I have tremendous respect to actors and project team for making the TV play so entertaining with little to no budget. It's not your typical theater movie, it is its own genre with its own tradition.
Starving? Are u crazy?)
Try 1930s
@@user-ub6mu2te4q it depends on regions. Once countries became independent from Kremlin, most of russia outside of moscow and St. Petersburg that received humanitarian aid from USA and Ukraine, WAS starving. I had a relative in Rybinsk and they had breadlines and food stamps that would give like 10 eggs a month. Not enough for a grown man.
I was already laughing out loud to Soviet Sauron before you even showed him because of your anticipation
4:37 You sure that's a Russian Live Action production and not a Japanese Light Novel?
the amount of people in the comments thinking this was in any way representative of Soviet cinematography is mind boggling ngl...
Were do you see this people? In comments discuss this particular movie. And by the way, soviet movies in general are not the best of the best. Я русске. И мне лень спорить
Well it is. The Soviet Union had no money and looked desperately for cheap entertainment. Nobody can make a great film with such a low bugdet but the poverty was a real thing and still is. Now the goverment can spend money from oil on what they want to show on TV.
@@paulgoogol2652 Budget of the first Brat (Брат) movie was like 10k $ and that was certainly the biggest hit of the 90s in Russia. (Not all former USSR though)
I doubt Khraniteli was cheaper than that. No matter how shitty the result is, you still need premises, equipment and probably all involved got paid too.
It is! Even best Soviet movies had theatrical decorations and acting, very cheap leftover costumes and props. Kindzadza is a dystopian sci-fi satire that surprisingly works against modern russian government that everyone should watch, but it looks cheap as F, which kinda adds to the charm. Compare to Mad Max films or Lynch's version of Dune.
Then you got Mark Zaharov's films that might as well have been children's theater plays, the special effects in to Kill a Dragon are some of the worst ones in cinematic history period, but the play written during Stalin era, satirizing what the director would later become, it's brilliant in hindsight of creators having zero self-awareness.
And the popular Soviet comedies were all slice-of-life stuff, filmed in extremely poor Soviet apartments and empty streets. I think reviewers of trashy films should dig deeper into the rabbit hole of russian movies to just see how horrible they were, still are, and will be as long as they publish neoNazi propaganda trash like Brother and Crimea.
@@KasumiRINA I think you mean Soviet Russian, not Soviet movies. You can't compare Russian mainstream with like Georgian or Baltic production. Sure there was cheap mass production too, but not all of it.
Damn! I was DYING to see the russian version of the Balrog :-D
Little accident, you see. Balroga was used for heating between outside scenes.
But I have original horns for sale. Going quickly. Only five left!
Commenting because of the algorithm. You deserve more subs and views.
Always appreciate people feeding the algorithm! Thanks for watching, next video is out in a few hours so I hope you subscribed to catch it.
@@PentexProductions Take my comment and get outta here ♥️
I died laughing at the eagle
My life is fuller and more vibrant for having heard of this.
You have done a good service to your country, sir.
Bombadil being a hybrid with Beorn is an interesting one.
Looks like everyone involved had fun! Tele-plays were quite common in Europe during the 70ies-80ies. And yes, they had a lot of weird effects that kids were quite used to. We knew what was coming, just like kids today are used to the cartoons of today....n sometimes it was just weird tv :)
That was not exactly "winter is coming". Rather "let the winter begin".
Thanks, I was just going off the TH-cam subtitles but figured it was unlikely to be an exact translation.
Now you need to do review about Finland Lord of the Rings
Don't...tempt me, Frodo!
i cannot even express the absolute joy i, as a finn, felt discovering there's a finnish lotr after seeing this russian one
Great Review on "Classic Soviet Film" your sarcasm is the best!!! When talking about the production of the film. Love your movie reviews by the way.
Dude the narrator just staring into the camera kills me every time it cuts to him🤣
10:54 "I'M OLD GREGGDALF!" I did not expect to laugh this hard watching this video. I fucking loved the terrified hobbits running from the ring wraiths with that happy-go-lucky shire music. Beautiful editing. I'm subbing.
Winter is coming for House Baggins
This is the equivalent to Star Wars: The Holiday Special...
BUT BETTER!
hahahaha double feature time.
It remind me Turkish Star Wars more
The beat drops in 9:38 gonna confess really liked that nazgul theme
15:26 I don't think I will ever be ready for Soviet Sauron
This actually reminds me a lot of tv stuff I used to watch in the early 80’s. Maybe they were 10 years behind technically. Those green screens take me back!
Ну как мечи стаканы на стол!
Ну как мечи стаканы на стол!
Ну как мечи стаканы на стол!
И прочую посуду!
Все говорят что пить нельзя,
Все говорят что пить нельзя
А я говорю что буду!
I had no idea this even existed.
So glad i clicked this video XD
"Gandalf wearing an outfit that looks like it once belonged to Noel Fielding" - that got me!
I've had to think hard about who's Noel Fielding because it ringed a bell, and only then I realized how much in fact this weird Soviet show has in common with The Mighty Boosh.
I like it, exactly how I imagined the story. Gollum looking like a giant Brussel Sprout did it for me.
This is my favorite recommended video I never knew I needed. Thank you!
Fun fact: the actor, that played Gandalf here also played Dr. Livsey in soviet animation Treasure Island!
Да-да, Виктор Костецкий, сыгравший здесь Гендальфа так же озвучивал доктора Ливси в Острове Сокровищ!
Objectively the best version. Thank you for the hours and hours and hours of fun I'm going to have with my friends as I force them to watch this.
SUGGEST* I meant suggest.
7:30 No, that's just a Soviet thing. It's how they make things feel ethereal. Did the same thing in Mary Poppins.
I love the Goblin Russian dub of the Jackson film BTW.
I'm Russian and I have never heard of this. Seriously, you've dugged out the ancient artifact. I've also cringed quite a few times.
Also, Legolas being played by a woman is not a strange thing. It's a common practice of woman voicing/playing male characters (disguised woman or not) if they want to give male character a young look. So for example, first three Harry Potter movies Ron was voiced by a woman (despite the fact that in the third movie Ron already hit puberty).
Also, about acting. During Soiet times, acting was more theatrical than cinematic, since playing in the theatre was more prestigious than in film industry up until the end of Soviet Union, so actors just don't have other experience.
Thanks for these insights, it's been fascinating to hear these little tidbits about similar productions at the time from people who grew up in Russia. It's really helped contextualise the film. Thanks again!
Even Ian McKellan is in the movie chatting to Gandalf 5:55
That Soviet Sauron reveal has to be one of the funniest things I’ve seen in a long time. I have not laughed that hard for months.
Let's make "Soviet Saruman" & "Soviet Sauron" famous.
Not kardasians!
Gandalf looks like Liam Neeson. Also Frodo kinda looks like Rowan Atkinson.
Little known fact: the last name Bombadil means "man who carries large balls in his pants".
Can you back that claim up? I couldn't find a single source for your claim. In what language would it have that meaning? Seems to be fake news. If this was supposed to be a joke, I apologize.
"it might be from another universe" bro, this is just russian movies in general. They have a very unique style to them, especially the old ones from the 80s to 90s.
15:34 That's not Sauron. That's clearly the Behelit.
You're right. You WILL die on that hill. Tom Bombadil was the symbolic opposite of Sauron. The closest the movie ever gets is the extended version Witchking vs Gandalf.
Sauron's not really in the movies either, so it evens out :D
In Soviet Russia, the ring wears you.
Akvarium (also know as Aquarium) is great. I just watched a documentary on the TH-cam channel Bandsplaining about Soviet rock music in the '70s and '80s and they popped up a lot. Now that I know they're part of this, I'm even more intrigued.
It's not them. The ending credits cleary say it was made by "Трилистник" (Михаил Борисов, Сергей Щураков, Олег Гончаров, Пётр Трощенков)
I honestly starter crying out of laughter at several times during this video, AMAZING
This is the greatest thing I’ve ever seen.
5:36 I don't know, Classic Doctor Who usually has better special effects than the effects used in this film.
I have to say, the best adaptation of the Hobbit was a theateical puppet play, done by two guys alone and a woman doing all the music. it was 2 hours of total awe without anything missing from the book. i watched it twice, some years apart and was astonished both times.
Aquarium is still huge, btw :)
11:25 - He's not gargling, he's just trying to say "Arrrrragorrrrrn."
I know it's just coincidental, but I see a lot of similarities between this and Brazilian Star Wars (yes, it's weirder than Turkish Star Wars). Lots of green screen and strange things happening all the time.
I'm now fascinated by both Brazilian and Turkish Star Wars...
@@PentexProductions The Brazilian one was meat as a comedy.
And Turkish Star Wars (Dünyayı Kurtaran Adam) was made seriously according to the lead actor (a couple of years ago, he was mad that people made fun of it). It's not even a joke, they legit did it.
There's Turkish Star Trek as well, I suggest checking that out.
@@MericErdemBal Yes! I have Turkish Star Trek, took me forever to find a subtitle track so I could watch it too!
But yea, I know about how they believe they're making wholesome movies, even if they are ripping off famous IP's, but it's not just them, the Italians were notorious for this same thing, it just didn't get as much reputation because their movies weren't nearly as 'over the top' :D
During the party scenes in Shire, it wasn't vaseline or pro mist filters that made the iconic soft look. The lenses fogged up due to the vodka being breathed out in the air.
That's not a movie, that's a TV play. It's basically a no-budget stage performance, but filmed on camera. And it's not 'lost', it just wasn't ever intended for any wider release than your local channel's weather broadcast.
The only weird thing about it is lemmings sensationlizing it.
I imagine someone one day will pick up some parents filming their kids as they 'fight' on plastic lightsabers in the sand and go, in all seriousness "The long lost bootleg Revenge of the Sith remake. It's horific and weird, lets analyze it!".
You know, at least this version included Tom Bombadil
Not gonna lie, that Ringwraith song slaps
"Are you ready for Soviet Sauron" is a sentence I didn't expect to hear in my life.
Holy shit I can't believe Akvarium actually made the music for this, that's both hilarious and confusing.
12:21 In former Soviet Union, film watches you.
I mean cool video and all, but how dare you disrespect Leonard Nimoy's Bilbo song!
The narrator staring at the camera was for intermission. And all of the actors were drunk out of their minds throughout filming.