In 1991, a Lord of the Rings TV adaptation entitled Khraniteli broadcast on Soviet television. By all accounts, it is the only Lord of the Rings adaptation made in the Soviet Union – and it was also thought to be lost forever. However, like the One Ring itself, the Soviet Lord of the Rings The TV movie has resurfaced – on YouTube. It’s a charmingly low-budget affair, looking more like a TV game show than an adaptation by JRR Tolkien, and you can watch it in its entirety below.
Soviet Lord of the Rings TV Movie – Part 1
Soviet Lord of the Rings TV Movie – Part 2
Before Peter Jackson made cinematic history with his Lord of the Rings trilogy, there were Khraniteli, the only adaptation of Tolkien’s books produced in the Soviet Union. After airing in 1991 on Leningrad Television, the adaptation was thought to be lost – but it is now on YouTube, as The Guardian points out. Leningrad Television’s successor, 5TV, abruptly posted the movie on YouTube last week – and you can check it out above.
Featuring a soundtrack by Andrei Romanov from the rock band Akvarium and an incredibly inexpensive production design, no one will mistake this Lord of the Rings with the Jackson films. The Guardian also points out that this was not Leningrad Television’s first attempt at adapting Tolkien – they also launched an adaptation of The Hobbit in 1985. The adaptation featured “ballet dancers from what today is the Mariinsky theater and a mustache narrator representing Tolkien. The short production, entitled The fantastic journey of Mr. Bilbo Baggins, the Hobbit, jumps on trolls and elves in an hour-long prank that has long been considered Tolkien’s only completed adaptation produced during the Soviet Union. “
And the Lord of the Rings adaptation Khraniteli it seems so unconventional in its approach. The sets look like, well, sets, and the special effects – if you can call them that – are deliciously mushy. This one seems to have almost no budget, and it just lends charm. There are no English subtitles in the two videos above, but if you’re familiar with the general story, you can kind of follow what’s going on. This version also includes the character Tom Bombadil, who did not appear in Peter Jackson’s films – not even in the extended cuts. And eventually, Gollum also appears here, in the form of a man wearing what appears to be a homemade Yoda costume. It is very magical.
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