The Lord of the Rings Complete Visual Companion

The Lord of the Rings: Visual Companion

by Jane Johnson, Jude Fisher (Pseudonym)

At last in paperback, this large-format illustrated book combines the contents of all three hardbacks, together with exclusive new pictures and text, to provide the perfect companion to the complete trilogy.

The Lord of the Rings Visual Companion takes the reader on their own journey into the world of Peter Jackson’s epic movie trilogy.

This large-format full-colour photographic encyclopedic guide to the characters, places, landscapes, creatures, battles, and costumes as seen in the film trilogy.

The only authorised visual companion, it will feature many stunning images exclusive to this edition together with detailed informative text and specially commissioned extras not available anywhere else, such as maps and battle plans.

Fully revised with new pictures from all three movies, plus additional sections which could not be included in the individual hardbacks, this book is a complete guide to the movies and a perfect accompaniment to the books, DVDs and videos.

Genres: Fantasy, Film, Reference, Media Tie In, Picture Books

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Jane Johnson is an English writer of books for adults and children and fiction book editor. As a writer she has used the pseudonyms Gabriel King, jointly with M. John Harrison, and Jude Fisher, as well as her real name.

Reviews

[Dannii Elle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fully-illustrated and fascinating exploration of Tolkien's well-known fantasy trilogy and its just as well-known movie adaptations. Provided is a breakdown of the movie plots, with some behind-the-scenes information included, alongside stills featuring the actors at work.

I was pleasantly surprised to find some facts I did not previously know and just love any LOTR content in any format, so knew this was going to be a winner for me, regardless.

[Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Lord of the Rings Complete Visual Companion includes all of the information from The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King visual companions, but with updated photos from the extended versions of the films. There are several new sections in this complete omnibus edition, including the Corsairs of Umbar, the crowning of King Elessar, and the Grey Havens. This is definitely a fun and enjoyable read for any fan of Middle Earth, whether young or old!

[Austin J Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this was like going back to a place where magic and all sorts or creatures and different races live and thrive: Middle-Earth. I loved how the author captured most of the scenes throughout the LoTR trilogy and how there was some background about the characters in certain scenes and what they were thinking in some scenes: like Boromir's reaction to Aragorn's identity as Isildur's heir. Recommended for any Lord of the Rings fans here and abroad!

[Jesse Booth · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fun, beautiful read! The book is full of still photos of the happenings in the movie, but is combined with information from the books. I thought it was put together in the best organized way. I even sketched one of the pictures of Gandalf. I'm sure I'll be drawing more from the pictures in the book.

[Alycia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a movie trilogy full of hotties, and this book showcases all the amazingly beautiful people in the cast.

[Marko Jevtić · Rating 2 out of 5]

This companion has a few well-written descriptions of characters, events, and locations seen in the movie, but overall lacks both the structure and depth.

Structure-wise, one might have a hard time using this book as a visual companion while watching the movies. Personally, I would prefer if the chapters followed the movie runtime, but I wouldn't mind any other form of structure, e.g. using the alphabet to sort the chapters. This way, it seems like the chapters are placed in a random order, which is very distracting.

Most topics are no more than a paragraph accompanied by a blurry photo from the movie.

[Aljohn Laid · Rating 3 out of 5]

Initial thoughts:

1. Very comprehensive and reader-friendly.
2. Some pictures are (a) blurry, (b), have so much noise, and (c) in low-res.
3. Too brief for such an epic.
4. Some parts of the individual visual companion for each part of the trilogy are omitted in this bind-up edition.
5. Overall, it's not bad, but not great either. Still worthy as a collection for an LOTR fan.

[Sydney Norman · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought this was going to be concept art or design insights It is primarily shots from the movies, common knowledge behind the scenes snippets, and very general Middle Earth facts. Would not recommend.