Quantcast

Middle Earth Shuttle

The Middle Earth Shuttle

Yesterday, was a typical morning commute for Gothamist - except for the shuttle train to Grand Central decorated in Lord of the Rings lite decor. Greenish lighting, burlapped ceiling (for texture), Shire-inspired seat wraps, stone stickers on the floor, vines on the columns at the Grand Central platform, security guard in the shuttle...it was a journey into a New Line marketing executive's wet dream nightmare – (updated via neil) it seems that the promotion went off horribly in the eyes of fans.

This was all to herald the release of the special extended version of Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers on DVD. We missed out on being able to ride with Gollum and see the 12-foot Ents, but this here's some of what the so-called Middle Earth Shuttle looked like.

DVD DVD DVD DVD

Shire seats, stone floors

Vines at Platform 4

Burlappy ceiling

Buy the Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Special Edition) on Amazon. Or check out the super gay posters for The Return of the King.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

Comments [rss]

  • I was wondering what the ones that do not like “Lord of the Rings” (is there anybody out there?) have to say about it. I agree with Margui. That is no gay relation and it does not matter. The fact is that they achieve a great thing together and as far as I know from both sources (book and movies) Sam got married and had two kids.

  • Margui

    There no gay relationship between Frodo and Sam. Yes, they loved each other but in a different way. It's a brotherly love, not sexual love.

    Why people like that Jen could not see the different between a gay romance and a pure friendship like these two little hobbits had?

  • bellbeast

    Okay...does it really matter if Frodo and Sam are gay or not? If two people - of any gender - are incredibly close to eachother, it wouldn't be surprising if they develop stronger feelings for eachother. Though love and attraction may involve sex, it seems pointless to focus on the sexual part of "gay" in this context... The movie isn't about sex, but about love. Why is it so important that people distinguish between male/female and frienship/romanctic love...? I personally thought they might be "gay," but not just b/c of my biases...Frodo and Sam loved eachother...what else matters?

  • bellbeast

    Okay...does it really matter if Frodo and Sam are gay or not? If two people - of any gender - are incredibly close to eachother, it wouldn't be surprising if they develop stronger feelings for eachother. Though love and attraction may involve sex, it seems pointless to focus on the sexual part of "gay" in this context... The movie isn't about sex, but about love. Why is it so important that people distinguish between male/female and frienship/romanctic love...? I personally thought they might be "gay," but not just b/c of my biases...Frodo and Sam loved eachother...what else matters?

  • Pauline

    did we forget that Frodo and Sam kiss in the book?

  • Pauline

    did we forget that Frodo and Sam kiss in the book?

  • Pauline

    Frodo is gay, Sam is not but becomes involved in homoerotic activity with Frodo due to lonliness and devotion to his friend.

  • phil

    On rereading LOTR two years ago, not having read it in over a decade, what struck me the most was the incredible homoeroticism that just permeated the whole story.

    Forget the all-but-overt Frodo-Sam relationship -- everyone in the damn fellowship is in a same-sex couple. Merry and Pippin? Legolas and Gimli?

    As the kicker, if you actually read the appendices at the end of Return of the King, you discover that when Aragorn was a strapping young lad, he had a student-mentor relationship with a wise and worldly wizard named Gandalf.

    This is probably where I should post a link to

    http://home.nyu.edu/~amw243/diaries/

  • Medicine

    frodo, sam and gollum have their sexy little love triangle. sam is so, so jealous of gollum. gollum is trying to seduce that beautifull cock off of frodo. frodo is trying to play his men cool. can't we all just get along, frodo thinks as he messages the ring. the cock ring. frodo is, the lord of the cock rings.

  • listen- if you are uncomfortable acknowledging a homosexual undercurrent to LOTR, that's cool- but to say that one doesn't exist is to blatantly misread the movie. even the most cursory inspection reveals numerous homoerotic or homosexual-themed situations, for instance, the scene in which frodo and samwise go to that gay club in drag, and have sex with each other. or wait- was that lord of the cock rings?

  • West Coaster

    Sorry Jen, I have to disagree. No gay in Sam Gamgee. Just loyalty.

  • apparently tenderness equals eroticism?

    can there be any movie poster (or photo/painting/film/what-have-you) with two people (i don't think gender or orientation necessarily factors into it) in any sort of embrace that does not play as sexuality?

    intimacy and sex are not the same thing, and our confusion in that regard is our loss.

  • Jen

    Maybe I've taken one "Narrative cinema and the homosexual fantasy" class too many, but the posters remain gay to me. Everything is gay gay gay!

  • larry dvm

    How much is a "subscription" to the gay lifestyle? 'Cause I never got a bill . . .

  • doshin

    Re: The Gay Question.

    The root of the whole argument is whether or not 'super gay' is meant as a homosexual lifestyle or something two gay guys would do.

    For instance, if a Jewish man were to put up Christmas lights, his friend might call that act 'super goy'. Does that mean he's a Gentile???

    In the same way, while Professor Tolkien didn't intend for Sam and Frodo to be homosexual lovers, the situations Peter Jackson puts them in are unmistakably 'gay'.

    And besides, Patrick from the movie poster link is right. All men are capable of performing homosexual acts in certain environments, prison, war (or in my case, Boy Scout camp), it doesn't necessarily mean that you subscribe to a gay lifestyle.

  • Oh boy. Warner Bros. should turn the shuttle into the Hogwarts Express for the Prisoner of Azkaban release.

  • Medicine

    c'mon, everyone wants the cock ring, bob the angry flower.

  • doshin

    Doh!!!

    Gothamist needs a late breaking news service (via email/sms/im) for events were we can avoid work and meet at various points in NYC for free DVDs, food and such.

    (Flashmobs: Don't call it a comeback!)

  • damnit...free dvds? aw well, ive had mine for almost 2 weeks now, so i cant complain. i think the ceiling of the trains wouldve looked nicer with a forest canopy instead.

    and i think our societys a little too gay-sensitive these days. two guys even in remote contact with each other becomes homoerotic?

  • uh, i don't kow. i mean, it was sort of dumb (and i surely would have thought it dumber had i not gotten a DVD (which i didn't expect to get in the first place)) but what were people really expecting?

    the stuff went quickly, sure, but they just gave it to whoever was there. my four friends and i (none of us are press) got dvd's, another friend got a medallion. i think maybe folks from the press got some stuff because they were actually there the whole time, and then were spotted with their loot because they were *still* there. i suspect most normal fans who got stuff got bored and left.

    heck, 5 minutes after i got the DVD i was at juniors eating a half pound hot dog.

blog comments powered by Disqus

send a tip

tips@gothamist.com