The Lord of the Rings film trilogy

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This article is about the Peter Jackson film trilogy. For other films, see The Lord of the Rings (film).
The Lord of the Rings trilogy

The poster for the whole trilogy is a montage that features a whole range of characters and scenes from all three movies.
Directed by Peter Jackson
Produced by Peter Jackson
Barrie M. Osborne
Fran Walsh
Tim Sanders (1st film)
Written by Novel:
J. R. R. Tolkien
Screenplay:
Fran Walsh
Philippa Boyens
Peter Jackson
Stephen Sinclair (2nd film only)
Distributed by New Line Cinema
Release date(s) 2001–2003
Running time 557 minutes (Theatrical)
683 minutes (Extended Edition)
Country Flag of New Zealand New Zealand
Flag of the United States United States
Language English
Budget $280 million
Gross revenue $2.91 billion

The Lord of the Rings film trilogy consists of three live-action fantasy epic films: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) (often abbreviated to LotR, FotR, TTT, and RotK).[1] The trilogy is based on the three-volume book The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien, and while it follows the book's general storyline, it also features some additions to and deviations from the source material.

Set in the fictional world of Middle-earth, the three films follow the young hobbit Frodo Baggins as he and a Fellowship embark on a quest to destroy the One Ring, and thus ensure the destruction of its maker, the Dark Lord Sauron. The Fellowship becomes divided and Frodo continues the quest together with his loyal companion Sam and the treacherous Gollum. Meanwhile, the wizard Gandalf and Aragorn, heir in exile to the throne of Gondor, unite and rally the Free Peoples of Middle-earth, who are ultimately victorious in the War of the Ring.

The films were co-written, co-produced and directed by Peter Jackson. It was distributed by New Line Cinema. Considered to be one of the biggest movie projects ever undertaken, with an overall budget of $280 million, the entire project took eight years, with the filming for all three films done simultaneously and entirely in Jackson's native New Zealand.

The trilogy was a great financial success, with the films being the 14th, 7th, and 2nd highest-grossing film of all time, respectively, unadjusted for inflation. The films were critically acclaimed, winning 17 out of 30 Academy Awards nominated in total, as well as wide praise for the cast and for the innovative practical and digital special effects.[2][3][4] Each film in the trilogy also had Special Extended Editions (SEE), released a year after the theatrical release on DVD. Two prequels, one based on The Hobbit, are in development for 2011 and 2012 releases.

Contents

[edit] Development

Director Peter Jackson first came into contact with The Lord of the Rings when he saw Ralph Bakshi's 1978 film, which he found confusing. Afterwards, he read a tie-in edition of the book[5] during a twelve-hour train journey from Wellington to Auckland when he was seventeen. Jackson's reaction was, "I can't wait until somebody makes a movie of this book because I'd like to see it!"[6]

In 1995, Jackson was finishing The Frighteners and considered The Lord of the Rings as a new project, wondering "why nobody else seemed to be doing anything about it".[6] With the new developments in computer generated imagery following Jurassic Park, Jackson set about planning a fantasy film that would be relatively serious and feel "real". By October, he and his partner Fran Walsh teamed up with Miramax boss Harvey Weinstein to negotiate with Saul Zaentz who had held the rights to the book since the early 1970s, pitching an adaptation of The Hobbit and two films based on The Lord of the Rings. Negotiations then stalled when Universal Studios offered Jackson a remake of King Kong.[7] Weinstein was furious, and further problems arose when it turned out Zaentz did not have distribution rights to The Hobbit; United Artists, which was in the market, did. By April 1996 the rights question was still not resolved.[7] Jackson decided to move ahead with King Kong before filming The Lord of the Rings, prompting Universal to enter a deal with Miramax to receive foreign earnings from The Lord of the Rings whilst Miramax received foreign earnings from King Kong.[7]

When Universal cancelled King Kong in 1997,[8] Jackson and Walsh immediately received support from Weinstein and began a six-week process of sorting out the rights. Jackson and Walsh asked Costa Botes to write a synopsis of the book and they began to re-read the book. Two to three months later, they had written their treatment.[9] The first film would have dealt with what would become The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and the beginning of The Return of the King, ending with the death of Saruman, and Gandalf and Pippin going to Minas Tirith. In this treatment, Gwaihir and Gandalf visit Edoras after escaping Saruman, Gollum attacks Frodo when the Fellowship is still united, and Farmer Maggot, Glorfindel, Radagast, Elladan and Elrohir are present. Bilbo attends the Council of Elrond, Sam looks into Galadriel's mirror, Saruman is redeemed before he dies and the Nazgûl just make it into Mount Doom before they fall.[9] They presented their treatment to Harvey and Bob Weinstein, the latter of whom they focused on impressing with their screenwriting as he had not read the book. They agreed upon two films and a total budget of $75 million.[9]

During mid-1997,[10] Jackson and Walsh began writing with Stephen Sinclair.[9] Sinclair's partner, Philippa Boyens, was a major fan of the book and joined the writing team after reading their treatment.[10] It took 13–14 months to write the two film scripts,[10] which were 147 and 144 pages respectively. Sinclair left the project due to theatrical obligations. Amongst their revisions, Sam, Merry, and Pippin are caught eavesdropping and forced to go along with Frodo. Gandalf's account of his time at Orthanc was pulled out of flashback and Lothlórien was cut, with Galadriel attending the Council of Elrond. Denethor, Boromir's father, also attends the Council. Other changes included having Arwen rescue Frodo, and the action sequence involving the cave troll. Arwen was even going to kill the Witch-king. Most significantly, there was an all-new sequence. A Ringwraith kills Saruman and attacks Gandalf at Orthanc. Seeing this from the Seeing Seat, now at Emyn Muil rather than Amon Hen, Frodo puts on the Ring and draws him all the way to the Seat on his Fell beast. Frodo manages to save Sam and stabs the wraith in its heart.[9]

Trouble struck when Marty Katz was sent to New Zealand. Spending four months there, he told Miramax that the films were more likely to cost $150 million, and with Miramax unable to finance this, and with $15 million already spent, they decided to merge the two films into one. On June 17, 1998, Bob Weinstein presented a treatment of a single two-hour film version of the book. He suggested cutting Bree and the Battle of Helm's Deep, "losing or using" Saruman, merging Rohan and Gondor with Éowyn as Boromir's sister, shortening Rivendell and Moria as well as having Ents prevent the Uruk-hai kidnapping Merry and Pippin.[9] Upset by the idea of "cutting out half the good stuff"[10] Jackson balked, and Miramax declared that any script or work completed by Weta Workshop was theirs.[9] Jackson went around Hollywood for four weeks,[10] showing a thirty-five minute video of their work, before meeting with Mark Ordesky of New Line Cinema.[11] At New Line Cinema, Robert Shaye viewed the video, and then asked why they were making two films when the book was published as three volumes; he wanted to make a film trilogy. Now Jackson, Walsh, and Boyens had to write three new scripts.[10]

The expansion to three films allowed much more creative freedom, although Jackson, Walsh, and Boyens had to restructure their script accordingly. The three films do not correspond exactly to the three volumes of the trilogy, but rather represent a three-part adaptation. Jackson takes a more chronological approach to the story than did Tolkien. Frodo's quest is the main focus, and Aragorn is the main sub-plot,[12] and many sequences (such as Tom Bombadil and the Scouring of the Shire) that do not contribute directly to those two plots were left out. Much effort was put into creating satisfactory conclusions and making sure exposition did not bog down the pacing. Amongst new sequences, there are also expansions on elements Tolkien kept ambiguous, such as the battles and the creatures.

Above all, most characters have been altered for extra drama: Aragorn, Théoden, and Treebeard have added or modified elements of self-doubt, whilst the personalities of Galadriel, Elrond, and Faramir have been darkened. Boromir and Gollum are (arguably) relatively more sympathetic, whilst some characters such as Legolas, Gimli, Saruman, and Denethor have been simplified. Some characters, such as Arwen and Éomer, have been combined with lesser book characters such as Glorfindel and Erkenbrand, and as a general matter lines of dialog have sometimes been switched around between locations or characters depending on suitability of the scenes. New scenes were also added to expand on characterization. During shooting, the screenplays continued to evolve, in part due to contributions from cast looking to further explore their characters.[10] Most notable amongst these rewrites was the character Arwen, who was originally planned as a warrior princess, but reverted back to her book counterpart, who remains physically inactive in the story (though she sends moral and military support).[13]

[edit] Production design

Alan Lee at Worldcon 2005 in Glasgow, August 2005.
Alan Lee at Worldcon 2005 in Glasgow, August 2005.
Main article: Production design of The Lord of the Rings film trilogy

Jackson began storyboarding the trilogy with Christian Rivers in August 1997 and assigned his crew to begin designing Middle-earth at the same time.[14] Jackson hired long-time collaborator Richard Taylor to lead Weta Workshop on five major design elements: armour, weapons, prosthetics/make-up, creatures, and miniatures. In November 1997,[10] famed Tolkien illustrators Alan Lee and John Howe joined the project. Most of the imagery in the films is based on their various illustrations.[15] Grant Major was charged with the task of converting Lee and Howe's designs into architecture, creating models of the sets, whilst Dan Hennah worked as art director, scouting locations and organizing the building of sets.

Jackson's vision of Middle-earth was described as being "Ray Harryhausen meets David Lean" by Randy Cook.[16] Jackson wanted a gritty realism and historical regard for the fantasy, and attempted to make the world rational and believable. For example, the New Zealand army helped build Hobbiton months before filming began so the plants could really grow.[17] Creatures were designed to be biologically believable, such as the enormous wings of the Fell beast to help it fly.[18] In total, 48,000 pieces of armour, 500 bows, and 10,000 arrows were created by Weta Workshop.[19] They also created many prosthetics, such as 1,800 pairs of Hobbit feet for the lead actors,[10] as well as many ears, noses, and heads for the cast, and around 19,000 costumes were woven and aged.[10] Every prop was specially designed by the Art Department, taking the different scales into account.[10]

[edit] Filming

Main article: Principal photography of The Lord of the Rings film trilogy

Principal photography for all three films was conducted concurrently in many locations within New Zealand's conservation areas and national parks between October 11, 1999, and December 22, 2000, a period of 274 days. Pick-up shoots were conducted annually from 2001 to 2004. The trilogy was shot at over 150 different locations[19], with seven different units shooting, as well as soundstages around Wellington and Queenstown. As well as Jackson directing the whole production, other unit directors included John Mahaffie, Geoff Murphy, Fran Walsh, Barrie Osbourne, Rick Porras, and any other assistant director, producer, or writer available. Jackson monitored these units with live satellite feeds, and with the added pressure of constant script re-writes and the multiple units interpreting his envisioned result, he only got around four hours of sleep a night.[13] Due to the remoteness of some of the locations, the crew would also bring survival kits in case helicopters could not reach the location to bring them home in time.[10] The Department of Conservation was criticised for approving the filming within national parks without adequate consideration of the adverse environmental effects and without public notification.[20] The adverse effects of filming battle scenes in Tongariro National Park later required restoration work.[21]

[edit] Cast

Cast lists for adaptations of The Lord of the Rings
Cast of The Lord of the Rings (1978 film)
Cast of The Lord of the Rings (1981 radio)
Cast of The Lord of the Rings (2001-3 films)

[edit] Special effects

Main article: Special effects of The Lord of the Rings film trilogy

The first film has around 540 effect shots, the second 799, and the third 1,488 (2,730 in total). The total increases to 3,420 with the extended editions. 260 visual effect artists began work on the trilogy, and the number doubled by The Two Towers. The crew, led by Jim Rygiel and Randy Cook, worked long hours, often overnight, to produce special effects within a short space of time. Jackson's active imagination was a driving force. For example, several major shots of Helm's Deep were produced within the last six weeks of post-production of The Two Towers, and the same happened again within the last six weeks on The Return of the King.

[edit] Post-production

Each film had the benefit of a full year of post-production time before its respective December release, often finishing in October–November, with the crew immediately going to work on the next film. In the later part of this period, Jackson would move to London to supervise the scoring and continue editing, whilst having a computer feed for discussions to The Dorchester Hotel, and a "fat pipe" of Internet connections from Pinewood Studios to look at the special effects. He had a Polycom video link and 5.1 surround sound to organise meetings, and listen to new music and sound effects generally wherever he was. The extended editions also had a tight schedule at the start of each year to complete special effects and music.

[edit] Editing

To avoid pressure, Jackson hired a different editor for each film. John Gilbert worked on the first film, Mike Horton and Jabez Olssen on the second and longtime Jackson collaborator Jamie Selkirk and Annie Collins on the third. Daily rushes would often last up to four hours, with scenes being done throughout 1999–2002 for the rough (4 1/2 hours) assemblies of the films.[10] In total, six million feet of film (over 1,100 miles)[19] was edited down to the 11 hours and 23 minutes (683 minutes) of Extended DVD running time. This was the final area of shaping of the films, when Jackson realised that sometimes the best scripting could be redundant on screen, as he picked apart scenes every day from multiple takes.

Editing on the first film was relatively easygoing, with Jackson coming up with the concept of an Extended Edition later on, although after a screening to New Line they had to re-edit the beginning for a prologue. The Two Towers was always acknowledged by the crew as the most difficult film to make, as "it had no beginning or end", and had the additional problem of inter-cutting storylines appropriately. Jackson even continued editing the film when that part of the schedule officially ended, resulting in some scenes, including the reforging of Andúril, Gollum's back-story, and Saruman's demise, being moved to The Return of the King. Later, Saruman's demise was controversially cut from the cinema edition (but included in the extended edition) when Jackson felt it was not starting the third film effectively enough.[22] As with all parts of the third film's post-production, editing was very chaotic. The first time Jackson actually saw the completed film was at the Wellington premiere.

[edit] Deleted scenes

Many filmed scenes remain unused, even in the Extended Editions. These scenes remain omitted largely because many of them significantly change or add to the plot of Tolkien's original storyline. These include:

  • Additional footage from the Battle of the Last Alliance in the FotR Prologue.
  • An obscure shot from the trailers of two Elven girls playing about in Rivendell.
  • Dialogue from the Council of Elrond, such as Gandalf explaining how Sauron forged the One Ring.[10]
  • An attack by Orcs from Moria on Lothlórien after the Fellowship leaves Moria. Jackson replaced this with a more suspenseful entrance for the Fellowship. Much of the lost footage can be seen as promotional material on the FotR theatrical DVD and tie-in books, documentary footage on the Extended Editions, and Trading Cards.
  • More Arwen footage, including a flashback scene of her first meeting with a beardless Aragorn (seen in the Two Towers teaser).
  • Faramir having a vision of Frodo becoming like Gollum.[13]
  • Footage of Arwen at Helm's Deep, cut by Jackson during a revision to the film's plot. Foreshadowing this sequence were scenes where Arwen and Elrond visit Galadriel at Lothlórien (seen in The Two Towers teaser trailer). The scene was edited down to a telepathic communication between Elrond and Galadriel.[13]
  • Théoden speaking to the troops in the armoury, prior to the Battle of Helm's Deep.
  • Éowyn defending the refugees in the Glittering Caves from Uruk-hai intruders.[23]
  • An unknown scene displayed in The Two Towers preview of Éomer lowering a spear while riding his horse.
  • A line of dialogue during the death of Saruman, in which he reveals that Wormtongue poisoned Théodred, giving further context as to why Wormtongue kills Saruman and Legolas in turn kills Wormtongue.[citation needed]
  • A conversation between Elrond and Arwen in a library in Rivendell, after Arwen decides to wait for Aragorn. Elrond leaves saying "I cannot protect you anymore."[24]
  • Aragorn having his armour fitted during the preparations for the Battle of the Black Gate. This was the final scene filmed during principal photography.[16]
  • Sauron fighting Aragorn at the Black Gate. A computer-generated Troll was placed over Sauron due to Jackson feeling the scene was inappropriate. Sauron is also seen in a beautiful form as Annatar, giver of gifts.[16]
  • Also at the Black Gate sequence, Pippin was seen in the trailer holding a wounded Merry, a scene which takes place after the Battle of the Pelennor Fields upon Pippin discovering Merry under the mûmak.
  • Further epilogue footage, including that of Legolas and Gimli, as well as Éowyn and Faramir's wedding and Aragorn's death and funeral.[25]

Peter Jackson has stated that he would like to include some of these unused scenes in a future "Ultimate Edition" home video release (probably high-definition) of the film trilogy. They will not be re-inserted into the movies but available for viewing separately. This edition will also include outtakes.[26]

[edit] Music

Main article: Music of The Lord of the Rings film trilogy

The Ring Goes South

The theme of The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, composed by Howard Shore.
Problems listening to the file? See media help.

Howard Shore composed the trilogy's music. He was hired in August 2000[27] and visited the set, and watched the assembly cuts of films 1 and 3. Although the first film had some of its score recorded in Wellington,[10] virtually all of the trilogy's score was recorded in Watford Town Hall and mixed at Abbey Road Studios. Jackson planned to advise the score for six weeks each year in London, though for The Two Towers he stayed for twelve. As a Beatles fan, Jackson had a photo tribute done there on the zebra crossing.[13]

The score is primarily played by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and many artists such as Ben Del Maestro, Enya, Renee Fleming, Sir James Galway, and Annie Lennox contributed. Even actors Billy Boyd, Viggo Mortensen, Liv Tyler, Miranda Otto (extended cuts only for the latter two), and Peter Jackson (for a single gong sound in the second film) contributed to the score. Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens also wrote the lyrics to various music and songs, which David Salo translated into Tolkien's languages. The third film's end song, Into the West, was a tribute to a young filmmaker Jackson and Walsh befriended named Cameron Duncan, who died of cancer in 2003.[16]

Shore composed a main theme for The Fellowship rather than many different character themes, and its strength and weaknesses in volume are depicted at different points in the trilogy. On top of that, individual themes were composed to represent different cultures. Infamously, the amount of music Shore had to write every day for the third film increased dramatically to around seven minutes.[16]

[edit] Sound

Sound technicians spent the early part of the year trying to find the right sounds: animal sounds like tigers and walruses were bought. Sometimes human voices were used, such as Fran Walsh as the Nazgûl scream and David Farmer as some Warg howls. Some sounds were unexpected: the Fell Beast's screech is taken from that of a donkey, and the mûmakil roar comes from the beginning and end of a lion. In addition, there was ADR for most of the dialogue.

The technicians worked with New Zealand locals to get many of the sounds. They re-recorded sounds in abandoned tunnels for an echo-like effect in the Moria sequence. 10,000 New Zealand cricket fans provided the sound of the Uruk-hai army in The Two Towers, with Jackson acting as conductor during a single cricket break.[13] They spent time recording sounds in a graveyard at night, and also had construction workers drop stone blocks for the sounds of boulders firing and landing in The Return of the King. Mixing generally took place between August and November at "The Film Mix", before Jackson commissioned building a new studio in 2003. The building wasn't fully completed as they started mixing for The Return of the King.[16]

[edit] Releases

The online promotional trailer for the trilogy was first released on April 27, 2000, and shattered records for download hits, registering 1.7 million hits in the first 24 hours of its release.[28] The trailer used a selection from the soundtrack for Braveheart, and The Shawshank Redemption among other cuts. In 2001, 24 minutes of footage from the trilogy, primarily the Moria sequence, was shown at the Cannes Film Festival, and was very well received.[29] The showing also included an area designed to look like Middle-earth.[19] A full description of the footage can be found here: [2]

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring was released December 19, 2001. It grossed $47 million in its U.S. opening weekend and made around $871 million worldwide. A preview of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers was attached at the end of the cinema release for the film.[30]

A promotional trailer was later released. The trailer contained some music re-scored from the film Requiem for a Dream.[31] The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers was released December 18, 2002. It grossed $62 million in its first U.S. weekend and out-grossed its predecessor, grossing $926 million worldwide.

The promotional trailer for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King was debuted exclusively before the New Line Cinema film Secondhand Lions on September 23, 2003.[32] Released December 17, 2003, its first U.S. weekend gross was $72 million, and became the second film (after Titanic) to gross over $1 billion worldwide.

Each film was released on standard two-disc edition DVDs containing previews of the next film. The success of the theatrical cuts brought about four-disc Extended Editions, with new editing, added special effects and music. These are not Director's Cuts, however, as Jackson has said he prefers the theatrical versions.[33]

With the extended cuts of the films and their respective special features spread over two discs apiece, the Special Extended Edition DVD sets were issued as follows:

  • The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, November 12, 2002. Containing 30 minutes more footage, in a green sleeve. It contains an Alan Lee painting of the Fellowship entering Moria, and the Moria Gate on the back of the sleeve. An Argonath styled bookend was issued within a Collector's Edition.
  • The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, November 18, 2003. It contains 42 minutes more footage. A Rohirrim sun symbol decorates the back of its red sleeve and a Lee painting of Gandalf the White's entrance. The Collector's Edition contained a Sméagol statue, with a crueler-looking statue of his Gollum persona available for order during a limited time.
  • The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King December 14, 2004. It has 48 minutes more footage, and a blue sleeve with the White Tree of Gondor. The Lee painting is of the Grey Havens. The Collector's Edition included a model of Minas Tirith, with Minas Morgul available for order during a limited time.

The Special Extended DVD Editions also had in-sleeve maps of the Fellowship's travels. They have also played at movie theaters, most notably for a December 16, 2003, marathon screening (dubbed "Trilogy Tuesday") culminating in a midnight screening of the third film.

On August 28, 2006, both versions were put together in a Limited Edition "branching" version plus a new feature-length documentary by Costa Botes. The complete trilogy was released in a six Disc set on November 14, 2006.

[edit] Public and critical response

The Lord of the Rings film trilogy is the highest grossing motion picture trilogy worldwide of all time, besting such other film franchises as the Star Wars original trilogy and The Godfather. The film trilogy also tied a record for the total number of Academy Awards won.[34]

The majority of critics have also praised the trilogy, with Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times writing that "the trilogy will not soon, if ever, find its equal".[35] In particular, performances from Ian McKellen,[36] Sean Astin,[37] Sean Bean, Andy Serkis, and Bernard Hill stood out for many in audience polls, and special effects for the battles and Gollum were praised. A few critics such as Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times did not rank the trilogy so highly, and while praising the special effects, Ebert was critical of the story,[38] and none of the films appeared in his "Top 10" lists for their respective years.[39] Some were also critical of the films' pacing and length: "It's a collection of spectacular set pieces without any sense of momentum driving them into one another" according to the Philadelphia Weekly.[40] Overall however, the films received a positive 93% critics rating on rottentomatoes.com, (93% for FotR and RotK, 97% for TTT) a consensus amongst film critics.

The trilogy appears in many "Top 10" film lists, such as the Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association's Top 10 Films, Time Magazine's All-Time 100 Movies, James Berardinelli's Top 100,[41] and The Screen Directory's "Top Ten Films of All Time" (considering the trilogy as "one epic film split into three parts").[42]. In 2007, USA Today named the trilogy as the most important films of the past 25 years.[43]

The Lord of the Rings trilogy has outsold other contemporary trilogies such as the Pirates of the Caribbean films, the first three Harry Potter films, the Spider-Man film series and the Star Wars prequels.[44]

[edit] Academy Awards

The three films together were nominated for a total of 30 Academy Awards, of which they won 17, a record for any movie trilogy. The Return of the King won in every category in which it was nominated, an extremely rare feat; its Oscar for Best Picture was widely perceived as an award by proxy for the entire trilogy. The Return of the King also tied a record for the total number of Academy Awards won, 11, with Ben-Hur and Titanic. No actors in any of the three films won Oscars, although Ian McKellen was nominated for his work in The Fellowship of the Ring.

  • The Fellowship of the Ring — Nominations: 9, Wins: 4
  • The Two Towers — Nominations: 4, Wins: 2
  • The Return of the King — Nominations: 11,Wins: 11
Award Awards Won
The Fellowship of the Ring The Two Towers The Return of the King
Art Direction Nomination Nomination Win
Cinematography Win
Costume Design Nomination Win
Directing Nomination Win
Film Editing Nomination Nomination Win
Makeup Win Win
Music (Original Score) Win Win
Music (Original Song) Nomination
("May It Be")		 Win
("Into the West")
Best Picture Nomination Nomination Win
Sound Editing Win
Sound Mixing Nomination Nomination Win
Supporting Actor Nomination
(Ian McKellen)
Visual Effects Win Win Win
Writing (Previously Produced or Published) Nomination Win

As well as Academy Awards, each film of the trilogy won MTV Movie Awards' Best Film, and the Hugo Awards for Best Dramatic Presentation categories. The first and third films also won the Best Film BAFTAs. The soundtrack for The Two Towers did not receive a nomination because of a rule prohibiting a soundtrack including music from a previous soundtrack to be eligible for nomination. This rule was overturned in time for The Return of the King to receive the Oscar for Best Music Score.

[edit] Reactions to changes in the movies from the book

See also: List of original characters in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy

While the films were generally well received, some readers of the book have decried certain changes[45][46] made in the movie adaptation. Various changes made to characters such as Gandalf, Aragorn, Arwen, Denethor, Faramir, and Gimli, as well as to the main protagonist Frodo himself;[47] and changes made to events (such as the Elves participating at the Battle of Helm's Deep, and Faramir taking the hobbits to Osgiliath);[48], taken together, are seen to alter the tone and themes from those found in the book.

Many have also decried the wholesale deletion of the penultimate chapter of the novel, "The Scouring of the Shire",[49] a part Tolkien felt thematically necessary.

Wayne G. Hammond, a noted Tolkien scholar, has said of the first two films:

“ "I find both of the Jackson films to be travesties as adaptations... faithful only on a basic level of plot... Cut and compress as necessary, yes, but don't change or add new material without very good reason... In the moments in which the films succeed, they do so by staying close to what Tolkien so carefully wrote; where they fail, it tends to be where they diverge from him, most seriously in the area of characterization. Most of the characters in the films are mere shadows of those in the book, weak and diminished (notably Frodo) or insulting caricatures (Pippin, Merry, and Gimli)... [T]he filmmakers sacrifice the richness of Tolkien's story and characters, not to mention common sense, for violence, cheap humor, and cheaper thrills... [S]o many of its reviewers have praised it as faithful to the book, or even superior to it, all of which adds insult to injury and is demonstrably wrong..."[45][50] ”

Some fans of the book who disagreed with such changes have released fan edits of the films, which removed many of the changes to bring them closer to the original. A combined 8-hour version of the trilogy exists, called The Lord of the Rings: The Purist Edition.[51][52]

Supporters of the trilogy assert that it is a worthy interpretation of the book and that most of the changes were necessary.[53] Many who worked on the trilogy are fans of the book, including Christopher Lee, who (alone among the cast) had actually met Tolkien in person,[54] and Boyens once noted that no matter what, it is simply their interpretation of the book. Jackson once said that to simply summarise the story on screen would be a mess, and in his own words, "Sure, it's not really The Lord of the Rings ... but it could still be a pretty damn cool movie."[55][56] Other fans also claim that, despite any changes, the films serve as a tribute to the book, appealing to those who have not yet read it, and even leading some to do so. The Movie Guide for The Encyclopedia of Arda (an online Tolkien encyclopedia) states:

“ "It seems appropriate to end with a word of acknowledgement of Peter Jackson and everyone else associated with the movie version of The Lord of the Rings. Though of course they haven't come close to the scope and intricacy of the original story — that would be quite impossible — what they have produced is still nothing less than a masterpiece. The film-makers, and of course Peter Jackson in particular, have to be admired merely for having the courage to take on such an immense challenge, let alone to produce such an exceptional result. The complete story of The Lord of the Rings is probably unfilmable, but Peter Jackson has come closer than anyone could have imagined possible."[57] ”

[edit] Three films or one?

The films were shot together and then edited into three separate films released theatrically over a span of three successive years. Hence a significant number of fans and critics have come to regard the trilogy as a single film.[citation needed] The book, which was meant to be a single novel, was first released in three parts for marketing and budget reasons. This fostered the assumption that it is a trilogy.[citation needed] Similarly, Jackson's trilogy is essentially one long 10-hour film. Time magazine placed the trilogy in its top 100 list under a single heading. While this grouping into a single entity is debated, it is not unusual as Krzysztof Kieślowski's The Decalogue which was originally released as ten separate short films with intersecting themes and characters. It now is regarded by the majority of critics as a single work. Satyajit Ray's The Apu Trilogy is also often grouped together.

[edit] Legacy

The release of the films saw a surge of interest in The Lord of the Rings and Tolkien's other works, vastly increasing his impact on popular culture.[58] For example, in 2003, the BBC conducted a poll to find the U.K.'s favourite book, and The Lord of the Rings won, at the height of anticipation for the third film.[59] Despite higher sales, it was rumoured that the Tolkien family became split on the trilogy, with Christopher Tolkien and Simon Tolkien feuding over whether or not it was a good idea to adapt.[60] Christopher Tolkien has since denied these claims saying, "My own position is that The Lord Of The Rings is peculiarly unsuitable to transformation into visual dramatic form. The suggestions that have been made that I 'disapprove' of the films, to the extent of thinking ill of those with whom I may differ, are wholly without foundation." He added that he had never "expressed any such feeling".[61] Capitalizing on the trilogy's success, a musical adaptation of the book was launched in Toronto, Canada, in 2006, but it closed after mostly poor reviews. A shortened version opened in London, UK, in the summer of 2007. The success of the films has also spawned the production of video games and many other kinds of merchandise.

As a result of the success of the trilogy, Peter Jackson has become a player in the movie business (sometimes called a mogul) in the mold of Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, in the process befriending some industry heavyweights like Bryan Singer, Frank Darabont and James Cameron. Jackson has since founded his own film production company Wingnut Films, and Wingnut Interactive and a video-game company. He was also finally given a chance to remake King Kong in 2005; although it was not as successful, it nevertheless still received critical acclaim. Jackson has been called a "favourite son" of New Zealand.[62] In 2004, Howard Shore toured with The Lord of the Rings Symphony, consisting of two hours of the score. Along with the Harry Potter films, the trilogy has renewed interest in the fantasy film genre. Around the same time, fellow New Zealand director Andrew Adamson began The Chronicles of Narnia film series, credited by many to be stylistically influenced by The Lord of the Rings,[citation needed] being also shot in New Zealand and having art direction from Weta Workshop, as well as its own extended edition.

Motion capture was used for characters in King Kong, I, Robot and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. Kingdom of Heaven is one of many epics to use the MASSIVE technology. Tourism for New Zealand is up, possibly due to its exposure in the trilogy,[63] with the tourism industry in the country waking up to an audience's familiarity.[64]

In December 2002, The Lord of the Rings Motion Picture Trilogy: The Exhibition opened at the Te Papa museum in Wellington, New Zealand. As of 2007, the exhibition has travelled to seven other cities around the world.

[edit] Prequels

Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh expressed interest in 1995 in filming The Hobbit, which would be part one of a trilogy (the other two would have been films based on The Lord of the Rings).[65] Frustration arose when Jackson's producer, Harvey Weinstein, discovered Saul Zaentz had production rights to The Hobbit, but distribution rights still belonged to United Artists. The studio was on the market, so Weinstein's attempts to buy those rights were unsuccessful. Weinstein asked Jackson to press on with adapting The Lord of the Rings.[66] MGM bought UA, while New Line earned the rights to produce The Lord of the Rings. New Line has a limited-time option on The Hobbit, with their hold on the rights set to expire in 2010.[67] In September 2006, MGM expressed interest in teaming up with New Line and Jackson to make the film.[68]

In March 2005, Jackson launched a lawsuit against New Line, claiming he had lost revenue from merchandising, video, and computer games releases associated with The Fellowship of The Ring.[69] Jackson felt the lawsuit was minor, and that New Line would still let him make the film.[70] New Line co-founder Robert Shaye was annoyed with the lawsuit and said in January 2007 that Jackson would never again direct a film for New Line, accusing him of being greedy.[67] But in August 2007, after a string of flops, Shaye was trying to repair his relationship with the director. He said, "I really respect and admire Peter and would love for him to be creatively involved in some way in The Hobbit."[71] In September, New Line was fined $125,000 for failing to provide requested accounting documents.[67]

On December 18, 2007, it was announced that Jackson would be executive producer of The Hobbit and its sequel. Back-to-back shooting on these films was to begin in 2009, and each film would be released in December 2010 and December 2011 respectively. NL and MGM will co-finance the film, and the latter studio will distribute the films outside North America — NL's first ever such deal with another major studio. Shooting will again take place in New Zealand, and Weta Workshop and Weta Digital are expected to offer their services once more.[72] Each film will cost US$150 million.[73] The Tolkien Estate filed a lawsuit against New Line on February 11, 2008, for violating Tolkien's original deal with Saul Zaentz that they would earn 7.5% of the gross from a film adaptation. The Estate is seeking compensation of $150 million, because they were only paid $62,500 before production of the trilogy began. A court order was also filed that would allow the Tolkien Trust to terminate any rights to future films.[74] Later that month, Time Warner announced it would fold NL into Warner Bros. The films are now delayed by a year, but the NL-MGM distribution agreement remains in place.[75]

Guillermo del Toro is in negotiations to direct the films;[73] he has met Jackson and had said "it would be a privilege" to direct.[76] MGM CEO Harry Sloan said, "Neither us nor New Line would want to hire a director that Peter was not completely comfortable with." He also mentioned Jackson and Fran Walsh would co-operate on the scripts, and that Jackson may direct the second prequel as he would have completed Tintin.[77] Producer Mark Ordesky will return to supervise the prequel.[78] Sam Raimi had also expressed interest in directing The Hobbit under Jackson.[67] Ian McKellen was keen to reprise the part of Gandalf: Jackson had told him, "You must play Gandalf whether I direct or not."[79] Andy Serkis also admitted, "I'd find it very hard to turn down [playing] Gollum again, as he's very much become a part of me."[80] Orlando Bloom, Viggo Mortensen, Cate Blanchett, Elijah Wood, and Christopher Lee have said they would reprise their roles as Legolas, Aragorn, Galadriel, Frodo Baggins, and Saruman if they were required for either prequel.[81][82][83][84][85] Composer Howard Shore had also said he has thought of some themes for the film.[86]

It was MGM who expressed interest in another prequel film, set between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.[87] Jackson concurred, stating "one of the drawbacks of The Hobbit is [that] it's relatively lightweight compared to LOTR... There...[are] a lot of sections in which a character like Gandalf disappears for a while. From memory — I mean, I haven't read it for a while now — but I think he references going off to meet with the White Council, who are actually characters like Galadriel and Saruman and people that we see in Lord of the Rings. He mysteriously vanishes for a while and then comes back, but we don't really know what goes on."[70]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Abbreviations. elvish.org. Retrieved on 2006-10-12.
  2. ^ The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved on 2006-10-12.
  3. ^ The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved on 2006-10-12.
  4. ^ The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved on 2006-10-12.
  5. ^ Ian Nathan. "Peter Jackson", Empire, 2003-11-28, pp. 90. 
  6. ^ a b Sibley (2001), p.11-12
  7. ^ a b c Brian Sibley (2006). "Cheats, Spooks, Hobbits and Apes", Peter Jackson: A Film-maker's Journey. London: Harper Collins, 310-328. ISBN 0-00-717558-2. 
  8. ^ Watkin, Tim (2001-08-12). The 'Rings' movies, a potted history. New Zealand Herald. Retrieved on 2006-12-21.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g Brian Sibley (2006). "Quest for the Ring", Peter Jackson: A Film-maker's Journey. London: Harper Collins, 329-87. ISBN 0-00-717558-2. 
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Appendices [DVD]. New Line Cinema.
  11. ^ Sibley (2006), p.388–92
  12. ^ Head, Steve (2002-12-13). An interview with Peter Jackson. IGN. Retrieved on 2006-10-24.
  13. ^ a b c d e f The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers "Appendices" [DVD]. New Line Cinema.
  14. ^ Russell, Gary (2003). The Art of the Two Towers. Harper Collins. 
  15. ^ The Art of Film. JW's LOTR fansite. Retrieved on 2006-10-15.
  16. ^ a b c d e f The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King "Appendices" [DVD]. New Line Cinema.
  17. ^ "Hobbiton is being built", The One Ring.net, 2006-04-12. Retrieved on 2006-10-15. 
  18. ^ French, Lawrence (2005). Peter Jackson From Gore to Mordor - Ray Harryhausen visits Middle-earth. Nexus, 149–150. ISBN 0-85965-356-0. 
  19. ^ a b c d Sibley, Brian (2002). The Making of the Movie Trilogy. Harper Collins. 
  20. ^ Johnson, S. 2002. 'The Lord of the Rings and Vertical Limits Film Concessions and the Conservation Act 1987', 4 Butterworths Resource Management Bulletin Vol. 11:125-129, Butterworths of NZ, Wellington, New Zealand.
  21. ^ Tongariro/Taupo Conservation Awards 2005, Department Of Conservation Regional Awards, retrieved 1 February 2008.
  22. ^ "Hey, what happened to Saruman?", CNN.com, 2003-12-17. Retrieved on 2006-10-15. 
  23. ^ The Fellowship of the Ring DVD preview of The Two Towers (2002)
  24. ^ The Return of the King trailer
  25. ^ Knowles, Harry (2000-12-17). There and Back Again: A Geek's Adventures in Middle-earth, CHAPTER FOUR!. Ain't It Cool News. Retrieved on 2006-10-15.
  26. ^ Peter Jackson talks of Lord of the Rings Ultimate Box Set. The Movie Blog.com. Retrieved on 2005-01-14.
  27. ^ Davidson, Paul. "Lord of the Rings Composer Confirmed", IGN, 2000-08-15. Retrieved on 2006-11-14. 
  28. ^ http://www.xenite.org/faqs/lotr_movie/download-press-release.html
  29. ^ IGN: LOTR Footage Wows Journalists
  30. ^ A Longer Fellowship Ending? by Paul Davidson, last retrieved on 5 August 2006
  31. ^ Movie Answer Man. rogerebert.com.
  32. ^ [http://www.movieweb.com/news/14/1714.php MovieWeb.com's News for 23 September 2003, last retrieved on 5 August 2006
  33. ^ [1] IGN DVD's extended Return of the King review by Andy Patrizio. December 8, 2004, last retrieved on 23 November 2007
  34. ^ Remaking King Kong an honor for Jackson by John Horn, last retrieved on 5 August 2006[dead link]
  35. ^ Return of the King review at CalendarLive.com by Kenneth Turan, last retrieved on 5 August 2006
  36. ^ Daily Poll Results
  37. ^ Daily Poll Results
  38. ^ Review of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King from http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/
  39. ^ Ebert's 10 Best Lists: 1967-present
  40. ^ Ringing Hollow by Sean Burns, last retrieved on 28 January 2007
  41. ^ James Berardinelli. Berardinelli's All-Time Top 100. Reelviews. Retrieved on 2007-03-16.
  42. ^ Top Ten Films of All Time accessed February 10, 2007
  43. ^ Susan Wloszczyna. "Hollywood highlights: 25 movies with real impact", USA Today, 2007-07-02. Retrieved on 2007-07-03. 
  44. ^ boxofficemojo.com – Worldwide Box Office Figures
  45. ^ a b Croft, Janet B. The Mines of Moria: "Anticipation" and "Flattening" in Peter Jackson's The Fellowship of the Ring. From http://faculty-staff.ou.edu, last retrieved on 21 August 2006
  46. ^ Chance, Jane. Is there a text in this Hobbit? Peter Jackson's The Fellowship of the Ring. Originally for Literature Film Quarterly, 2002. Last retrieved on 25 August 2006
  47. ^ Filming Issues With The Two Towers Movie at oddlots.digitalspace.net, last retrieved on 5 August 2006
  48. ^ "Broken Promises: the failure of the Jackson-Boyens-Walsh films, focusing on The Two Towers at oddlots.digitalspace.net, last retrieved on 4 September 2006
  49. ^ Irrelevant and Anticlimactic? The "Scouring" Considered, for Readers and Others at oddlots.digitalspace.net, last retrieved on 4 September 2006
  50. ^ Kirst, Sean. "Tolkien Scholar Stings "Rings" Films." Review of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring and The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. First published in the Syracuse Post-Standard, 4 February 2003. May be accessed here in full, last retrieved 15 September 2006
  51. ^ Leo Grin. Tolkien Purists Strike Back!. Retrieved on 2007-12-28.
  52. ^ The Lord of the Rings: the purist edition. Retrieved on 2007-12-28.
  53. ^ J.W's LOTR Fansite
  54. ^ "Biography for Christopher Lee." http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000489/bio
  55. ^ 20 Questions with Peter Jackson. Last retrieved 16 September 2006
  56. ^ Lord of the Rings Movies - Complete List of Film Changes - Overview - The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and Tolkien - The One Ring - The Home of Tolkien Online
  57. ^ The Encyclopedia of Arda
  58. ^ Gilsdorf, Ethan (November 16, 2003). Lord of the Gold Ring. The Boston Globe. Retrieved on 2006-06-16.
  59. ^ "Rings triumphs in Big Read vote", BBC News, 14 December 2003. 
  60. ^ "Feud over 'Rings' movie splits Tolkien family", The New Zealand Herald, 3 December 2001. 
  61. ^ "Tolkien's son denies rift", BBC News, 7 December 2001. 
  62. ^ "NZer of the year: Peter Jackson", The New Zealand Herald, December 29, 2001. 
  63. ^ Movie Tourism in New Zealand.
  64. ^ New Zealand, Home of Middle-earth. The New Zealand Herald.
  65. ^ Brian Sibley (2006). Peter Jackson: A Film-maker's Journey. London: HarperCollins, 313-16. ISBN 0-00-717558-2. 
  66. ^ Brian Sibley (2006). Peter Jackson: A Film-maker's Journey. London: HarperCollins, 323-25. ISBN 0-00-717558-2. 
  67. ^ a b c d Benjamin Svetkey. "'The Hobbit': Peace in Middle-Earth?", Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved on 2007-10-05. 
  68. ^ Stax. "MGM Eyes Hobbit, T4", IGN, 2006-09-11. Retrieved on 2007-08-17. 
  69. ^ "Director sues over Rings profits", BBC News, 2005-03-02. Retrieved on 2007-08-17. 
  70. ^ a b Steve Daly. "Action Jackson", Entertainment Weekly, 2006-09-22. Retrieved on 2007-10-05. 
  71. ^ Patrick Goldstein. "THE BIG PICTURE: New Line's midlife crisis", Los Angeles Times, 2007-08-10. Retrieved on 2007-08-17. 
  72. ^ Michael Fleming. "'Hobbit' back on track as twin bill", Variety, 2007-12-18. Retrieved on 2007-12-18. 
  73. ^ a b Borys Kit. "Del Toro doubles up for 'Hobbit'", The Hollywood Reporter, 2008-01-27. Retrieved on 2008-01-28. 
  74. ^ Alex Viega. "Tolkien Estate Sues New Line Cinema", Associated Press, 2008-02-11. Retrieved on 2008-02-12. 
  75. ^ Dade Hayes, Dave McNary. "New Line in Warner's corner", Variety, 2008-02-28. Retrieved on 2008-02-29. 
  76. ^ Missy Schwartz. "Guillermo del Toro addresses rumors about his directing 'The Hobbit'", Entertainment Weekly, 2007-12-19. Retrieved on 2007-12-20. 
  77. ^ Vanessa Juarez. "MGM CEO Harry Sloan talks 'Hobbit'", Entertainment Weekly, 2007-12-18. Retrieved on 2007-12-20. 
  78. ^ Anne Thompson. "Shaye kept New Line afloat", Variety, 2008-03-06. Retrieved on 2008-03-07. 
  79. ^ "McKellen keen to be Gandalf again", BBC News Online, 2007-10-15. Retrieved on 2007-12-20. 
  80. ^ "There and Back Again", Empire, March 2008, pp. 20. 
  81. ^ Shawn Adler. "Orlando Bloom Iffy On ‘Hobbit’ Role Unless Peter Jackson Returns", MTV, 2007-05-17. Retrieved on 2007-12-20. 
  82. ^ Shawn Adler. "Will Aragorn Return In ‘The Hobbit’? Mortensen Leaves Open The Possibility", MTV, 2007-09-13. Retrieved on 2007-12-20. 
  83. ^ Shawn Adler. "Blanchett Game For ‘Hobbit,’ But Only With Jackson", MTV, 2007-09-19. Retrieved on 2007-12-20. 
  84. ^ Shawn Adler. "Elijah Wood Wants To Go Back Again To ‘The Hobbit’", MTV, 2008-01-11. Retrieved on 2008-01-12. 
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  86. ^ "ScoreKeeper Talks To Howard Shore About THE TWO TOWERS Complete Recordings, THE HOBBIT, And More!!", Ain't It Cool News, 2007-11-15. Retrieved on 2007-12-22. 
  87. ^ "Hobbit, Crown, Panther News", IGN, 2006-11-14. Retrieved on 2007-08-17. 

[edit] See also

The animated films:

[edit] External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:
Middle-earth Portal 
v • d • e
Films directed by Peter Jackson
Bad Taste · Meet the Feebles · Braindead · Heavenly Creatures · Forgotten Silver · The Frighteners · The Lord of the Rings trilogy (The Fellowship of the Ring · The Two Towers · The Return of the King) · King Kong · The Lovely Bones · Tintin
v • d • e
The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien
Volumes The Fellowship of the Ring · The Two Towers · The Return of the King
Production / reception Themes  · Influences  · Translations  · Reception  · Fandom  · Study
Related works The Hobbit  · The Adventures of Tom Bombadil  · The Silmarillion  · Unfinished Tales  · The History of Middle-earth  · The History of The Lord of the Rings  · Bilbo's Last Song  · The Children of Húrin  · The History of The Hobbit  · The Road Goes Ever On
Characters Frodo · Sam · Merry · Pippin · Bilbo · Gandalf · Aragorn · Legolas · Gimli · Boromir · Sauron · Saruman · Arwen · Elrond · Glorfindel · Galadriel · Théoden · Éomer · Éowyn · Wormtongue · Faramir · Denethor · Beregond · Gollum · Witch-king · Treebeard · Tom Bombadil
Derivative works Adaptations  · Film trilogy  · Theatre  · Video games
Radio The Lord of the Rings (1955)  · The Lord of the Rings (1979)  · The Lord of the Rings (1981)
Film J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings (1978)  · The Return of the King (1980)  · The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)  · The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)  · The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lord_of_the_Rings_film_trilogy"
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