The LOTR Exhibit in Indianapolis

[Lembas Eater]

Its official! I'm going! This Saturday the 22. Oh man, I can't wait. Hey Wetanut! You still thinking of going? Anyone else?

 

[Yippy]

I'll be there the weekend after Thanksgiving...around Nov. 27 I think. I'd like to catch the Colts vs. Steelers while I'm there.

 

[TheWitchKing]

Your in for a treat Scott. Saw it here in Houston, Texas and had a great time although a bit crowded the day I went. When you see the huge Cave Troll make sure to say " they have a cave troll...". See if anyone around you gets the joke.

 

[Wetanut]

LE -- I don't know how to apologize enough. I know you had planned these particular dates because of my previous post. As it turns out, I'm not able to go after all that weekend as I had hoped. Let's just say that life gets in the way sometimes? I'm so very sorry I couldn't meet you. I was really looking forward to it.

 

[Lembas Eater]

Ah not to worry! I really wanted to see this, so now I will! It IS too bad we can't meet though! Maybe the Gathering of the Fellowship in Toronto next year or even SDCC!

 

[gtb]

Its official! I'm going! This Saturday the 22. Oh man, I can't wait. Hey Wetanut! You still thinking of going? Anyone else?

Hopefully you can still grab some Cave Trolls, Wiki or balrog at only 300uSD..!! hahaha

 

[old entish]

I would really like to go check it out,it looks awesome! Now all I have to do is talk the wife into going.

 

[TolkienCollector]

Scott, Yr really gonna enjoy this matey!!! Have fun

TC

 

[amonhen]

Spend as much time as you can! It's great, I saw it a few times in Sydney.
You will love it.

 

[Nazgurl]

I too saw this in Houston and it was marvelous! Big standout for me was, of course, Sauron's costume, and the line of Rohan and Orc costumes all together. The original artwork is great too. And so is....well, just about everthing, though I wish there were more pieces from TTT and RoTK in it.

 

[old entish]

For those of you who have seen the exhibit,how much time did it take to go thru it.I'm just trying to figure out my time table so I can decide if I should stay the night.Thanks

 

[dayhiker]

For those of you who have seen the exhibit,how much time did it take to go thru it.I'm just trying to figure out my time table so I can decide if I should stay the night.Thanks

hi! it depends on the size of the actual exhibit. it should take at least an hour. however if you plan to watch each vignette then give another hour or so. then you have to take in all the artwork and paintings, then the replicas too. another hour...so i would say 2-3 hours.

in singapore, they had the two towers discs 3 and 4 showing all day in another adjacent theater so that was more time spent.

enjoy! i plan to drive up there to see it for the 5th time. til when is the exhibit?

 

[old entish]

til when is the exhibit?

It runs until Jan. 3rd, 2006.

 

[amonhen]

If you want to read all the signs with info, admire all the displays,watch all the video clips and......spend some time in the shop, allow 4 hrs for sure.

 

[noelleon69]

If you want to read all the signs with info, admire all the displays,watch all the video clips and......spend some time in the shop, allow 4 hrs for sure.

that's provided you can browse through freely. if there's quite a crowd there, prepare to stay there for a longer time as you'll be waiting for your turn to view the exhibits, unless of course you are a very tall person!

it does take quite a no of hours if you really want to look at every piece and view to all the videos there.

 

[old entish]

that's provided you can browse through freely. if there's quite a crowd there, prepare to stay there for a longer time as you'll be waiting for your turn to view the exhibits, unless of course you are a very tall person!

it does take quite a no of hours if you really want to look at every piece and view to all the videos there.

I'm 6'4" Did you guys go during the week or on a weekend? Thanks again!

 

[amonhen]

When the exhibition first opened, on Boxing Day, it was pretty packed out for the first couple of weeks, and there was a time limit imposed on spending time inside the exhibition space. This was due to the enormous popularity of the exhibtion and also it was the major holiday time of the year as well, as it is summer in Australia then.
Once the schoolkids all had returned back to school, in Feb., it was really good going during schoolhours during the week, and sometimes even then, you had to share the space with big groups of school kids on excursion there!
Therefor I was lucky that I lived close to the Museum and could go as often as I liked, which I did.............until the last day. The last day there was a good sale on in the shop, a lot of the Weta Collectables and other items were discounted to half price or even a third of the original asking price!
If I would have known this before hand I would have saved more pennies and would have given myself more time to go through it all.

 

[Goofyjas]

I plan on going either next week or the week after

coming from chicago so not to far!

anyone planningon going one of those 2 weekends?

 

[Lembas Eater]

I'm back and it was amazing. I can't say enough. Treebeard looks down at you as you walk in. As I had heard, Boromir's Funeral Boat was unbelievable and the Boromir prosthetic is so lifelike its scary - I'm pretty sure it was just Sean Bean being paid to just lie there. The details on all the costumes and weapons are just incredible and it was a real treat to see them up close.

Orthanc and Barad-dur. Heres something freaky, when you stand before Sauron with his outstretched hand pointing at you, if you look up at the ceiling, the shadows of the spikes of his armour and his arm make a sort of macabre Statue of Liberty. I also really enjoyed the "Ring Experience", a round room with the Ring encased in glass/silicone/whatever. As you stare at the pivotal object of the entire trilogy, audio clips of the different characters' quotes and their personal views of the Ring fill the room in surround sound.

Oh, what really creeped me out was the actual specimen (fortunately dead) of the spider that Shelob was based on. Although I think they have it labelled wrong, if i recall its actually a FUNNEL Web Spider, not a Tunnel Web. Either way I hate em - although Shelob herself doesn't affect me that way, don't know why.

What really blew me away, though, was the artwork by Alan Lee and John Howe. I didn't realize these were going to be at the Exhibit and I was just in awe. The original watercolour of Orthanc was there next to the tower itself.
John Howe's famous painting of Gandalf and Frodo riding in his cart and the Nazgul on Fell Beast & Barad Dur (the one reproduced in the SS giclee) were there, as was Lee's Rivendell. Most of all though, Lee's pencil sketches were completely amazing. The size of them is surprising and the details are incredible. I learned a lot about drawing from Alan Lee that day and the next book I buy is going to be his LORD OF THE RINGS SKETCHBOOK.

I also met several fans and museum employees. Of course, many employees have simply had LOTR forced on them but I met one, Alex, that was an enthusiastic fan and UC collector.

I had heard that the gift shop was overpriced and had only readily available items from SS, UC and Noble and that turned out to be true. My disappointment is countered by my Wallet, who thanks them for this.

Altogether a fantastic experience. I'm not sure I'll be able to go back before it ends but I am so glad I got to go to this.

 

[Yippy]

Man... LE, why did you have to go and do that?

Now I am even more excited about going.