The Lord of the Rings trilogy of films are about as close as you can get to classical fantasy-themed cinematic perfection, in my opinion. I’ve seen all three countless times and now I’ve experienced one of the most iconic scenes from Fellowship of the Ring for myself, thanks to Virtual Tolkien in VR.
Virtual Tolkien is a free fan-made VR recreation created by Blissgig (aka James Rose) of the iconic scene in the first LOTR film when the fellowship is sailing down a river through a gap between two enormous white statues. It was awe-inspiring on the big screen, and now you can relive it in VR.
This experience is only about five minutes long, but it’s still neck-craning worthy. And it’s free, so you can’t really go wrong. Watch the whole thing right here:
I’m not a Tolkien-aficionado by any means, but I do enjoy the films quite a lot. Other scenes I’d love to see in VR would be near the end of Return of the King when Aragorn gives his rallying speech to the army before storming the Black Gates of Mordor; a recreation of what it would feel like to put on the One Ring, similar to what Frodo experiences; and of course a battlefield moment, perhaps during the Battle of Helms Deep, surrounded by all the iconic characters as they fight.
Naturally, I’d prefer a full-blown VR RPG, Asgard’s Wrath style, set in Middle-Earth even more, but I’m willing to compromise here.
There haven’t been any real Lord of the Rings adaptions for VR yet and it’s a damn shame. Maybe with the upcoming new Amazon series there is a chance of some sort of tie-in that will let us visit Middle-Earth from the comfort of our favorite VR devices.
Have you tried out Virtual Tolkien? Let us know what you think down in the comments below!
