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The Lord of the Rings (film series)

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This article is about the Peter Jackson films. For other uses, see The Lord of the Rings (disambiguation).
The Lord of the Rings trilogy
File:Ringstrilogyposter.jpg
The poster for the whole trilogy is a montage that features a whole range of characters and scenes from all three movies.
Directed byPeter Jackson
Written byScreenplay:
Peter Jackson
Fran Walsh
Philippa Boyens
Novel:
J. R. R. Tolkien
Produced byPeter Jackson
Distributed byNew Line Cinema
Release date
2001–2003
Running time
560 minutes (Theatrical)
683 minutes (Extended Edition)
Countries New Zealand
 United States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$280 million
Box office$2.91 billion

The Lord of the Rings film trilogy comprises 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). For simplicity, the titles are often abbreviated to 'LotR', with 'FotR', 'TTT' and 'RotK' for each of the respective films.[1]

Set in the fictional universe 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 the Dark Lord Sauron. However, the Fellowship breaks 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 in several battles cumulating in the War of the Ring. The Wizard Saruman is defeated, The Ring is destroyed, and Sauron and his forces are vanquished.

The films were written, produced and directed by Peter Jackson, co-written by Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens and distributed by New Line Cinema. The trilogy is based on the book The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien and follows its general storyline, despite some deviations. 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 large financial success, with the films being the 14th, 7th and 2nd most successful of all time, respectively, unadjusted for inflation. The films were critically acclaimed, winning 17 Academy Awards in total, as well as wide praise for the cast and 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.

Development

File:LOTRFOTRmovie.jpg
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring movie poster (2001)

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, and 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 his 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 Weta Workshop's work 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 a lot more creative freedom, although Jackson, Walsh and Boyens had to restructure their script accordingly. Each film is not exactly based on each volume of the book, but rather they represent a three part adaptation, as Jackson takes a more chronological approach to the story, whilst Tolkien retold chunks of his fictional history. Frodo's quest is the main focus, and Aragorn is the main subplot,[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 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, are given actions from minor characters such as Glorfindel and Erkenbrand, and generally lines of dialogue are somewhat preserved or switched around between locations or characters depending on suitability of the scenes. New scenes were also added to expand on characterization. In the meantime during shooting, the screenplays would undergo many daily transformations, 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]

Production design

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 longtime 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 1800 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]

Filming

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

Principal photography for all three films was conducted concurrently in New Zealand from October 11, 1999 through to December 22, 2000 for 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 New Zealand's untamed landscapes, the crew would also bring survival kits in case helicopters couldn't reach the location to bring them home in time.[10]

Cast

Template:LotR casts navbox*Elijah Wood as Frodo Baggins

Special effects

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

The first film has around 540 effects shots, the second 799, and the third 1488 (2730 in total). The total increases to 3420 with the extended editions. 260 visual effects 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 and hard hours, often overnight, to produce special effects within a short space of time. Jackson's overactive 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.

Post-production

Post-production would have the benefit for a full year on each film before their respective December releases, often finishing in October-November, with the crew immediately going to work on the next film. Later on, Jackson would move to London to advise the score and continued 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.

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 collaborators 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 1,800 km)[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.[20] 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.

Deleted scenes

Many filmed scenes still remain unused, not included even in the Extended Editions. The main reason they weren't included was because they tended to change the plot from Tolkien's original storyline, therefore being unfaithful to the books.

  • 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 Moria Orcs on Lothlórien after the Fellowship leave 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 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]
  • Famous 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]
  • Éowyn defending the refugees in the Glittering Caves from Uruk-hai intruders.[21]
  • 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.
  • 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." [22]
  • The death of Gamling.
  • Aragorn having his armor 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.[23]

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.[24]

Music

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

Template:Sound sample box align right Template:Sample box end Howard Shore composed the trilogy's music. He was hired in August 2000[25] and visited the set, and watched the assembly cuts of Films 1 and 3. Although the first film had some of its score done in Wellington,[10] the trilogy's score was mostly recorded in Watford Town Hall and mixed at Abbey Road Studios. Jackson planned to advise the score for six weeks each year in London, although for The Two Towers he stayed 12. As a Beatles fan, Jackson had a photo tribute done there on the zebra crossing.[13]

The soundtrack 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]

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: a donkey screech is the Fell Beast, 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. Annoyingly, the building wasn't fully completed as they started mixing for The Return of the King.[16]

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.[26] 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.[27] The showing also included an area designed to look like Middle-earth.[19] A full description of the footage can be found here: [1]

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.[28]

A promotional trailer was later released. The trailer contained some music re-scored from the film Requiem for a Dream.[29] 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.[30] 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. With the films and special features spread over two discs apiece, they 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 44 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 50 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 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 6 Disc set on November 14th, 2006.

Public and critical response

The Lord of the Rings film trilogy [31] is verified to be the currently 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.

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".[32] In particular, performances from Ian McKellen,[33] Sean Astin,[34] 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, regarding it as "silly to carry the emotional weight" [35], and as such none of the films appeared in his "Top 10" lists for their respective years[36]. 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.[37] 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,[38] and The Screen Directory's "Top Ten Films of All Time" (considering the trilogy as "one epic film split into three parts").[39]. In 2007, USA Today named the trilogy as the most important films of the past 25 years.[40]

Comparison of worldwide box office figures

The following movies were all released with but a few years of each other:

Academy Awards

File:Rotk poster.jpg
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King movie poster (2003)

The three films together were nominated for a total of 30 Academy Awards, of which they won 17, a record for any movie trilogy. On its own, The Return of the King tied the previous record of eleven academy awards and won in every category it was nominated in, an extremely rare feat. Return of the King also tied a record for the total number of Academy Awards won, 11, with Ben-Hur and Titanic. Although the three films failed to win any acting awards from the Academy, Ian McKellen earned the series its sole Academy acting nomination for the 2001 release of The Fellowship of the Ring.

  • The Fellowship of the Ring — Nominations: 13, Wins: 4
  • The Two Towers — Nominations: 6, 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 scored 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. It must also be noted that the soundtrack for the Two Towers did not receive a nomination because of the 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.

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 decried certain changes made in the adaptation, including changes in tone and themes;[42][43] various changes made to characters such as Aragorn, Arwen, Denethor, Faramir and Gimli, as well as to the main protagonist Frodo himself;[44] changes made to events (such as the Elves participating at the Battle of Helm's Deep, and Faramir taking the hobbits to Osgiliath);[45] and the deletion of the penultimate chapter of Tolkien's work, "The Scouring of the Shire",[46] a part he felt thematically necessary. For example, 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..."[42][47]

Some fans of the book who disagreed with such changes have released their fan edits of the films, which removed many of the changes to bring them closer to the original. The theatrical version of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers has received this treatment, and a combined 8-hour version of the trilogy exists, called "The Lord of the Rings: The Purist Edition".Template:ME-fact

Supporters of the film trilogy assert that it is a worthy interpretation of the book, most changes stemming from the filmmakers putting the book into a modern context; connected to this is their perceived need for developing characters further.[48] It is important to note that 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,[49] 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."[50][51] Other fans also claim that despite any changes, they do not matter within the context of stand-alone films, and nonetheless they serve as a tribute to the book and yet appeal to those who have not read it, and even lead some to. The Encyclopedia of Arda's Movie Guide 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."[52]

Three films or one?

Because the films were shot together and then edited into three separate films released theatrically over a span of three successive years, a significant number of fans and critics have come to regard the trilogy as a single film.Template:ME-fact They argue that as with the book, which was meant to be a single novel but was first released in three parts for marketing and budget reasons (leading to the common but erroneous label of "trilogy"), Jackson's trilogy is one long 10-hour film.Template:ME-fact When Time magazine placed the trilogy in its top 100 list it was done under a single heading. While this grouping into a single entity is debated it is not unusual as Krzysztof Kieślowski's The Decalogue was originally released as ten separate short films with intersecting themes and characters but now is regarded by the majority of critics as a single work. Satyajit Ray's The Apu Trilogy is also grouped together quite often. Recently, when coming top of an Australian film poll, the trilogy was regarded as one.[53]

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.[54] 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.[55] 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.[56] 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, vent 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".[57] 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.

Jackson has become his own mogul like Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, and has befriended some industry heavyweights like Bryan Singer, Frank Darabont and James Cameron. He founded his own film production company Wingnut Films, and Wingnut Interactive, 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. On a personal level, he found it hard to leave the trilogy and still keeps the Bag End set (as a guest house) and Rivendell miniatures.[58] He has also become a "favourite son" of New Zealand.[59] Howard Shore also found leaving difficult, and in 2004 toured with The Lord of the Rings Symphony, consisting of two hours of the score. Alongside the Harry Potter films, the trilogy has also 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,Template:ME-fact 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. In non-filmic terms, tourism for New Zealand is up, possibly due to its exposure in the trilogy,[60] with the tourism industry in the country waking up to an audience's familiarity.[61]

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.

Prequels

Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh expressed interest in 1995 in filming The Hobbit as well as shooting two The Lord of the Rings films.[62] Frustration arose when Jackson's producer, Harvey Weinstein, learnt 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.[63] 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.[64]

In September 2006, MGM expressed interest in teaming up with New Line and Jackson to make the film in September 2006.[65] MGM also expressed interest in another prequel film, set between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.[66] Jackson concurred, stating "one of the drawbacks of The Hobbit is [that] it's relatively lightweight compared to LOTR... There's 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." Jackson stated he may just produce the film, and that the set for Bag End and the miniatures for Rivendell were kept after production of the trilogy.[67]

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.[68] Jackson felt the lawsuit was minor, and that New Line would still let him make the film.[67] 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 Jackson of being greedy.[64] MGM was disappointed with New Line's decision,[69] whilst Sam Raimi expressed interest in directing the film with Jackson's blessing.[64] In August 2007, after a string of flops, Shaye was trying to repair his working relationship with Jackson. Shaye said, "I really respect and admire Peter and would love for him to be creatively involved in some way in The Hobbit."[70] In September, New Line was fined $125,000 for failing to provide requested accounting documents.[64]

Notes

  1. ^ "Abbreviations". elvish.org. Retrieved 2006-10-12.
  2. ^ "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2006-10-12.
  3. ^ "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2006-10-12.
  4. ^ "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2006-10-12.
  5. ^ Ian Nathan (2003-11-28). "Peter Jackson". Empire. p. 90. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  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. pp. 310–328. ISBN 0-00-717558-2.
  8. ^ Watkin, Tim (2001-08-12). "The 'Rings' movies, a potted history". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 2006-12-21. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  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. pp. 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. 2002.
  11. ^ Sibley (2006), p.388-92
  12. ^ Head, Steve (2002-12-13). "An interview with Peter Jackson". IGN. Retrieved 2006-10-24.
  13. ^ a b c d e f The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers "Appendices" (DVD). New Line Cinema. 2003.
  14. ^ Russell, Gary (2003). The Art of the Two Towers. Harper Collins.
  15. ^ "The Art of Film". JW's LOTR fansite. Retrieved 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. 2004.
  17. ^ "Hobbiton is being built". The One Ring.net. 2006-04-12. Retrieved 2006-10-15.
  18. ^ French, Lawrence (2005). Peter Jackson From Gore to Mordor - Ray Harryhausen visits Middle-earth. Nexus. pp. 149–150. ISBN 0-85965-356-0. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthor= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  19. ^ a b c d Sibley, Brian (2002). The Making of the Movie Trilogy. Harper Collins.
  20. ^ "Hey, what happened to Saruman?". CNN.com. 2003-12-17. Retrieved 2006-10-15.
  21. ^ The Fellowship of the Ring DVD preview of The Two Towers (2002)
  22. ^ The Return of the King trailer
  23. ^ Knowles, Harry (2000-12-17). "There and Back Again: A Geek's Adventures in Middle-earth, CHAPTER FOUR!". Ain't It Cool News. Retrieved 2006-10-15.
  24. ^ "Peter Jackson talks of Lord of the Rings Ultimate Box Set". The Movie Blog.com. Retrieved 2005-01-14.
  25. ^ Davidson, Paul (2000-08-15). "Lord of the Rings Composer Confirmed". IGN. Retrieved 2006-11-14.
  26. ^ http://www.xenite.org/faqs/lotr_movie/download-press-release.html
  27. ^ http://uk.movies.ign.com/articles/200/200155p1.html
  28. ^ A Longer Fellowship Ending? by Paul Davidson, last retrieved on 5 August 2006
  29. ^ http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20021117/ANSWERMAN/211170301
  30. ^ [http://www.movieweb.com/news/14/1714.php MovieWeb.com's News for 23 September, 2003, last retrieved on 5 August, 2006
  31. ^ Remaking King Kong an honor for Jackson by John Horn, last retrieved on 5 August 2006
  32. ^ Return of the King review at CalendarLive.com by Kenneth Turan, last retrieved on 5 August 2006
  33. ^ http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2001-12-03
  34. ^ http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2004-02-04
  35. ^ Review of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King from http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/
  36. ^ http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041215/COMMENTARY/41215001/1023
  37. ^ Ringing Hollow by Sean Burns, last retrieved on 28 January 2007
  38. ^ James Berardinelli. "Berardinelli's All-Time Top 100". Reelviews. Retrieved 2007-03-16.
  39. ^ Top Ten Films of All Time accessed February 10 2007
  40. ^ Susan Wloszczyna (2007-07-02). [www.usatoday.com/life/top25-movies.htm?csp=34 "Hollywood highlights: 25 movies with real impact"]. USA Today. Retrieved 2007-07-03. {{cite news}}: Check |url= value (help); Check date values in: |date= (help)
  41. ^ boxofficemojo.com – Worldwide Box Office Figures
  42. ^ 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
  43. ^ 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
  44. ^ Filming Issues With The Two Towers Movie at oddlots.digitalspace.net, last retrieved on 5 August 2006
  45. ^ "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
  46. ^ Irrelevant and Anticlimactic? The "Scouring" Considered, for Readers and Others at oddlots.digitalspace.net, last retrieved on 4 September 2006
  47. ^ 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
  48. ^ http://www.angelfire.com/film/rings/essays/changes.html
  49. ^ "Biography for Christopher Lee." http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000489/bio
  50. ^ 20 Questions with Peter Jackson. Last retrieved 16 September 2006
  51. ^ http://www.theonering.com/landing_pages/25,3.html
  52. ^ http://www.glyphweb.com/ARDA/
  53. ^ http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200512/s1523327.htm
  54. ^ Gilsdorf, Ethan (November 16, 2003). "Lord of the Gold Ring". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 2006-06-16. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)
  55. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/3317081.stm
  56. ^ http://www.nzherald.co.nz/feature/story.cfm?c_id=594&ObjectID=231286
  57. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/1697884.stm
  58. ^ http://www.ew.com/ew/report/0,6115,1538494_1_0_,00.html
  59. ^ http://www.nzherald.co.nz/feature/story.cfm?c_id=594&ObjectID=584301
  60. ^ http://www.theculturedtraveler.com/Archives/AUG2005/Movies_New_Zeland.htm
  61. ^ http://www.newzealand.com/travel/about-nz/culture/lotr/nz-home-of-middle-earth-feature.cfm
  62. ^ Brian Sibley (2006). Peter Jackson: A Film-maker's Journey. London: HarperCollins. pp. 313–16. ISBN 0-00-717558-2.
  63. ^ Brian Sibley (2006). Peter Jackson: A Film-maker's Journey. London: HarperCollins. pp. 323–25. ISBN 0-00-717558-2.
  64. ^ a b c d Benjamin Svetkey. "'The Hobbit': Peace in Middle-Earth?". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2007-10-05.
  65. ^ Stax (2006-09-11). "MGM Eyes Hobbit, T4". IGN. Retrieved 2007-08-17. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  66. ^ "Hobbit, Crown, Panther News". IGN. 2006-11-14. Retrieved 2007-08-17. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  67. ^ a b Steve Daly (2006-09-22). "Action Jackson". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2007-10-05. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  68. ^ "Director sues over Rings profits". BBC News. 2005-03-02. Retrieved 2007-08-17. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  69. ^ Nicole LaPorte. "Inside Move: It's hard to be a 'Hobbit'". Variety. Retrieved 2006-11-30.
  70. ^ Patrick Goldstein (2007-08-10). "THE BIG PICTURE: New Line's midlife crisis". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2007-08-17. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
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