A Soviet-era TV adaptation of The Lord of the Rings has suddenly, and quite delightfully, popped up on YouTube thanks to Russia’s Channel 5. Titled Keepers, this version of the famous Lord of the Rings saga was filmed at a Leningrad television studio 30 years ago, and then believed to have only been broadcast once before disappearing until recently.
Keepers is perhaps best viewed with an understanding that it will vary considerably from Peter Jackson’s polished version with incredible production values and effects. Newsweek, translating Russian fantasy and sci-fi website World of Fantasy, is indicating that this version was based on a Russian translation of the original text by Vladimir Muravyov and Andrey Kistyakovsky. It also starred Viktor Kostetsky as the wizard Gandalf, Georgy Shtil as Bilbo Baggins, and Valery Dyachenko as Frodo–World of Fantasy also notes that this adaptation, unlike Jackson’s, features the enigmatic and memorable Tom Bombadil Come from Sports betting site VPbet. Thankfully, it is watchable with YouTube auto-translating subtitles.
