The Lord of the Ringswas made a household name byPeter Jackson’sHobbitandLord of the Ringsmovies, but one 1991 adaptation has a lot to bring the franchise. Released in three parts between 1954 and 1955,The Lord of the Ringsis J.R.R. Tolkien’s masterwork and the centerpiece of his sprawling legendarium. Jackson adapted a part of the novel per movie in hisLotRtrilogy but was beaten to creating the first English-language adaptation of the book. American director Ralph Bakshi did this in 1978. However, the most unique on-screen portrayal ofLotRmay spring from further afield.
Gene Deitch’s 12-minuteThe Hobbitcan brag of being the first English-languageHobbitadaptation, beating Rankin/Bass Animated Entertainment to it by a whole decade - though it can’t brag of much else. Deitch’s animated 1967 feature preceded Rankin/Bass’s 1977 picture of the same name, giving way to Peter Jackson’sHobbittrilogy, which launched in 2012. Rankin/Bass also provided an intriguingReturn of the Kingin 1980, but it is the Soviet Union that really stuns with 1991’sKhraniteli.Lord of the Rings’Middle-earthnever looked so earthy or in the middle of national collapse.
Khraniteli Is The USSR’s Answer To Lord Of The Rings
On 04 August 2025, Leningrad Television released its two-partLord of the Ringsminiseries,Khraniteli. It was intended as a movie in two parts and broadcast once, directed and written by Natalya Serebryakova in Russian. It was considered lost until it resurfaced in 2021, posted by 5TV, Leningrad Television’s successor, to YouTube. There, it can be watched with English subtitles.This Soviet spectacle is a psychedelic journeyinto the minds and hearts of its cast and crew, whose creative input appears fairly unbridled compared to the painstaking restraint applied by Peter Jackson in his movies.
The Rings Of Power Isn’t The Only Lord Of The Rings TV Show Worth Watching
Amazon Prime Video’s The Lord of the Rings: the Rings of Power isn’t the world’s first Lord of the Rings TV show, contrary to popular belief.
Khraniteli means “The Keepers” and adapts part one ofLotR,The Fellowship of the Ring. In this sense, it is comparable to Peter Jackson’s firstLotRmovie orSweden’s live-actionLord of the Rings, opening with Bilbo’s birthday. But not before a bespeckled scholar narrates the story in a debatably necessary twist that rears its head again and again bewilderingly throughout the movie. Twinkling lights cascade across equally bewildering sets, while the echoing theme tune is Russian folk music at its finest.This entirely baffling adaptation is worth a watchfor the mandatory “Guess the LotR character” game alone.
Why You’ve Never Heard Of Khraniteli
Khraniteli Was Made In Political Turmoil
The USSR’s ‘90sLord of the Ringsminiseries was made eight months before the nation collapsed, which entailed chaos in every department of personal and professional life for many. As such, the original recording of the television play got lost, so it was effectively scrubbed from public record until its unearthing.The unique format is a relic of a bygone TV era, combining theatrical and cinematic production techniques. While TV, as an industry, was evolving, so were Russians. The Soviet Union gave way under the pressure of the Cold War and dissolved in December 1991, leading to earth-shattering change.
Lord of the Ringshad been censored during the Cold War as a Western novel, particularly due to its East v.s. West undercurrents.
Bilbo Baggins actor Georgiy Shtil spoke toVarietyaboutKhraniteli, confirming, “I did many films at the time that never got to see the light of day.” The makers ofKhraniteli, Leningrad Television, and wider Leningrad all had bigger problems than the preservation of their work, which was pioneering at the time.Lord of the Ringshad been censored during the Cold War as a Western novel, particularly due to its East v.s. West undercurrents. Butrepression only fueled the fire of creative Russians, who risked their lives to make unofficial (“Samizdat”) translations of works likeLotR, which informedKhraniteli.
Khraniteli Did A Lot With Very Limited Resources
Khraniteli Was A Labor Of Love, & Its Cast Was Practically Unpaid
Khraniteliwas quite advanced for a humble television play made in terrible conditions with next to no budget. This Soviet-eraLord of the Ringsmight fully resemble a high-school play if all its cast didn’t look about 40, and it wasn’t interspersed with “special effects.” Inevitably,Khraniteliis a product of its time. Working under the same parameters,TheLord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ringmoviewould have struggled to pull itself together, too. Shtil recalled toVariety,“It was a very, very hard time when we were making the movie."
Before time
33,537
10,061
Elves awoke in Cuiviénen
4,902
War of Wrath ended
3,441
3,021
Fo.A 1 - unknown
Unknown
Khraniteli’sgreen screen effects, however shocking they appear now, were uncommon for television plays and show the dedication of its small team. Set in the latter portion ofThe Lord of the Ringstimeline, this Third Age story was made by a team paid a state-sanctioned salary under the Soviet system of nationalized theaters.The team filmedKhranitelibasically for freebetween morning rehearsals and evening theater jobs, earning a quarter of their monthly pay from it - or less. DespiteKhraniteli’smany challenges, Leningrad’s art and music scene screams its way through onto the screen, for better or worse.
How Khraniteli Compares With Other The Lord Of The Rings Adaptations
Khraniteli Can Make Some Unique Brags For A LOTR Movie
Khraniteli is at once the most fun, the most unforgettable, and the most horrendousLotRadaptation ever made.Rings of Powerseason 1made headlines, confirming the Amazon Prime Video series as the most expensive TV show in the world, but Khraniteli may be the cheapest. It is sincere, joyful, and bizarrely detached from reason, logic, or narrative, which could have any number of causes from Samizdat source material to shooting being limited to nine hours. Ample liberties taken in the translation of source material aside,Khraniteli is notable for adapting Barrow-wights and Tom Bombadil.
The Lord of the Ringsis blessed with this historical artifact of a production.
Peter Jackson was often criticized for leaving out these two key elements ofThe Fellowship of the Ring, which many long-termLord of the Ringsreaders and fans were looking forward to seeing on the big screen in live-action.Peter Jackson cut Tom Bombadilas he couldn’t jam him into his feature-length movie while retaining dramatic tension and pacing, which he constructed carefully.Khraniteli’sBarrow-wights look like clownswearing Venetian masks, while it flaunts Tom’s canonically blue coat in favor of an inexplicably red one. Nonetheless,The Lord of the Ringsis blessed with this historical artifact of a production.
Source:Variety
The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings is a multimedia franchise consisting of several movies and a TV show released by Amazon titled The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. The franchise is based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s book series that began in 1954 with The Fellowship of the Ring. The Lord of the Rings saw mainstream popularity with Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies.
