Some years ago I saw the documentary Trekkies. It showcased the sometime scary extremes that Star Trek fans will go to in pursuit of their hobby. Ringers is similar in its celebration of Tolkien's fans but with a far more loving approach to the people it discusses.

Beginning with a very quick summary of the publishing history of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings it moves through decade by decade following the rise, fall, and resurgence of Tolkien fandom.

Peppered throughout the documentary are snippets from the "Tolkien confessional" booth that was set up at the 2002 ComiCon. There are also interviews with Motorhead's Lemmy Kilmister on Tolkien's influence on rock and metal music (including Leonard Nimoy's infamous "Ballad of Bilbo Baggins"), David Carradine on various filmic attempts including his own brief involvement with Ralph Bakshi's animated film, as well as interviews with professional authors like Terry Pratchet and Terry Brooks, and with Tolkien scholars like David and Brian Sibley. There are also interviews with fans both young and old, and interviews with many of those involved with Peter Jackson's most recent adaptation.

There were some wonderful stories in here that I hadn't heard before. While I like to consider myself a reasonably big Tolkien fan, I'm glad there was material in here that was new even to me.

I also noted that the Rankin Bass animated version of The Hobbit has now been released on DVD. I've never actually seen it (being put off by the animation stills that I've seen), however I may get it just so I can finally say I've seen it.

This also brings to mind the music for the documentary. There's some great stuff in here including three cover versions of songs from the Rankin Bass version. I want myself a copy of the cover of "Where There's a Whip there's a Way"!