Posted on 12/21/2001 9:13:47 AM PST by maquiladora
Peter Jackson, thank you for creating one of the greatest motion pictures I've ever seen.
Hang on a minute, that's a bit of a strong statement isn't it? Yes, but Fellowship of the Ring is a strong film. Stronger than I ever imagined....
It's 3:29pm on Wednesday 19th, 2001. I'm sitting in a large, comfortable seat, slap bang in the middle of the rows of Screen Room 1. I've been waiting 3 years to sit here. It's been 3 long years since I first heard the news that Peter Jackson would be making a film adaptation of all 3 parts of Tolkien's Lord Of The Rings. Having read and loved the book, to say I was looking forward to this day is an understatement. At times, it felt so distant, so remote, that it would never come. But it has.
I am not Tolkien-geek. I know the story, yes, but I'm no expert, nor do I intend to be. I do not live my life by Tolkien nor do I think it a healthy habit. I'm a fan, but not a freak.
However, over the past month or so I had become somewhat more obsessed with Fellowship of The Ring, as the days ticked by to the release date. In fact, it wasn't until the 18th that I really became excited about seeing this movie. The lights go down, it's 3:30pm...
I had read numerous reviews of the film from critics and fans alike, the level of praise and the liberal use of words such as 'masterpiece' and 'historic' in the reviews was both encouraging and surprising. So you see, I knew this was going to be a good movie. I had read the reviews, it was going to be good. But I had no idea how good...
The film begins and somewhere in my mind I can feel something change. I sit back...I watch...I listen, and I hardly move an inch for 3 hours. I gasp in awe at the battle of the Last Alliance, I expected epic, but this was so much more than just epic...this was Biblical in scope. My eyes unscrewed in disbelief as I watched the prologue...I couldn't begin to tell what was real and what was generated by other means. Nor did I care. It was too vast, too fluid, too vivid to even question. I gripped the armrests and just watched....and watched...
Then we move on, the prologue brings us up to speed. Brief glimpses of scenes from The Hobbit...Bilbo...Gollum........and The Ring.
60 years later and I see it's 3:39pm. From this point on, I dare not even take the liberty of taking a glimpse at my watch. It's The Shire. Frodo, an older Bilbo and a very old Gandalf make their appearence. You know the story, if you don't, then you should. I'm not going to recount it here.
Things that ware only touched upon or recalled by character's in the book are here blown into life by Jackson. These creative additions are just one of the many ingenious parts of the film. Although the whole picture is a masterpiece, special mention must be made of a number of things.
The Black Riders
From an early stage we see the Black Riders, the Nazgul. In fact, we see them in the prologue as human kings yet to be turned to wraiths....they stare at the camera, almost through the camera as Cate Blanchett tells of how the Nine Rings were comsumed by the greed and lust of power exhibitied by mankind. For those who have not read the book, this quick scene means little, to those who have there is something disturbing about seeing these 9 men as mortals. We know their fate only too well, we know what they well become...
It is not long into the film proper when we see the 9 again. This time as wraiths, comsumed and rained by the ring, now servants of Sauron. Clad in black and riding horses they gallop out from Barad-Dur shrouded in mist and accompanied by the 200 voice choir chanting Shore's composition. It's a dramatic moment. The Black Riders dominate the first half of the film. Jackson is masterful in visualising their terror. From Hobbiton to Bree, from Weathertop to the Frods, everytime they enter the scene the effect they have on the the music, the sound, the characters and even nature itself is stunning.
The Ring world
Of the myriad of visual computer wizardry used by Weta Digital, the most consistently amazing is the 'ring effect'. When Frodo wears the One Ring, we see the world from his perspective. A surreal world dragged and pulled at the edges, flushed with blue and white hues and accompanied by a rushing, whispering wind like cacophany of voices. The creative mind behind this style of computer wizardry deserves much praise. It's a flawless and breathtaking effect. On Weathertop the Nazgul take on their true form and appear to Frodo disrobed and terrible. Their sunken faces, ghostly cloaks and cold swords sear our imagination. The sence of terror and awe is palpable. Stunning.
The Eye of Sauron
I always wondered how the Eye would be portrayed in the film. Once again, an amazing job has been done to create this effect. Sauron's eye is huge, beast-like in form but massive in size and most importantly of all both terrible and luring. Flames and lava straddled by a black slit. It seems windswept at the edges, but always reaching and tempting. Perfect.
I could go on about other parts of FOTR which I was specially impressed with: Moria, Cave Troll, Gollum's face, Isengard....but I'd be typing all night.
But this film isn't just about arresting visuals or breathtaking camera work. A lot of the time all this takes a back seat to acting. And superb acting at that.
For me, the biggest surprise was Elijah Wood. For a young actor with little/no experience in anything but kids films and shallow Hollywood features, Fellowship of the Ring has been a transformation. Though there were times when I felt his voice wasn't carrying or his acting was simply average, special mention must be made of the times when Wood excelled as Frodo. First, on Weathertop, we empathise and feel his pain, his terror. Next in Rivendell, his emotional ( and sometimes shocking ) exchange with Bilbo is terrific. But for me, it was the moment after Gandalf fell into darkness in Moria that proved Wood's worth. His expressions and screams of mixed rage and dispair were heartbreaking. This is not the same Hobbit laughing and dancing in The Shire.
Sir Ian McKellen fits like a glove in the role of Gandalf. Not only has he the appearence, but also the voice and facial expressions to match the Gandalf of all our imaginations. Top class acting, and no mistake.
Again, I could pour praise on Hugo Weaving, Chrisptor Lee, Sir Ian Holm and the excellent Viggo Mortenson. But then I'd be forgetting Liv Tyler's surprisingly good acting, Sean Astin, Dominic Monaghan and Orlando Bloom. However, I simply must isolate Boromir, played by Sean Bean, for praise.
Bean gives the performance of his career as the troubled, proud, couragious warrior Boromir. He lives and breathes the role so well that it's almost frightening. His temptation and redemption at the end of the film is wonderfully done. Anyone unmoved by his dying words to Aragorn should check their pulse : "I would have followed you, my borther...my King"
At this point, before I forget, I'd like to thank New Line Cinema. After all, it is this studio that made this all happen. Miramax originally planned to fund LOTR for Jackson, but on the condition that LOTR be a 2-film production and with a list of alterations and constraints as long as a Balrog's whip. Though it didn't seem so at the time, it was destiny and luck that caused Miramax to drop LOTR at the last minute in 1998. It was American studio New Line Cinema, that had the foresight, courage and belief in that rotund New Zealander with a passion for Tolkien. New Line took the an epic gamble when they gave the green light to Jackson to make 3 films concurrently with a recently estimated budget of a staggering $NZ 700 million. If Jackson let them down, it would be a blow that New Line would never recover from. He hasn't let them down, and now they will justly get their reward. On it's opening day in the US alone, FOTR took in almost $19 million. Not only that but it has been nominated for Best Picture at the Golden Globes and been hailed as a materpiece by most critics worldwide.
The whole Lord Of The Rings production required a cast and crew of thousands and an estimated 26,000 extras ( most of whom won't be seen until the 2nd and 3rd films are released ). But for me, there are 2 men who stand head and shoulders and above the rest. Andrew Lesnie and Peter Jackson.
Andrew Lesnie, the cinematographer for FOTR, shows he is the master of the lens. No task is too great for him. From stunning helicopter shots of the beautiful New Zealand wilderness to fast moving action in Moria, to the rich and arresting close-ups of the actor's faces; Lesnie proves his worth.
When you take into account the collection of technical insanities that had to be dealt him while filming hobbits beside humans convincingly ( forced perspective, blue-screen, digital resizing and false focusing etc ), you begin to see what an amazing job he has done. Andrew Lesnie has won a multitude of awards in the past, if he's not nominated for an Oscar for FOTR, then there's no justice in the world.
Peter Jackson though is the keystone to all this. Not only has he masterfully directed 3 epics films at once, he's also co-written the script with his wife Fran and freind Phillipa Boyens. He's also co-produced the trilogy. It is Jackson's own untested Weta company that provide all the stunning effects. And of course, it is Jackson's own Wingnut firm that has been the heart of the production.
He's been involved in every level, and it shows. He's been working in pre-production for LOTR for almost a decade, and it shows.
His creation is a triumph, a masterpiece, a wonderfully spellbinding combination of excitement, awe, love, courage, loss and hope. Peter Jackson has given us a very special gift in the form on Fellowship of the Ring. This Christmas time, go and see the film, and you too will emerge from the cinema, like I did, feeling the need to thank Peter for a very special Christmas gift.
This is the only movie I will have gone into a theater this year to see.
I want to bump that. To me one of the most amazing parts of the movies is the general lack of special effects when Gandalf and Sauroman are dueling. Oh sure there's wire work as the two actors (probably their stunt doubles most of the time) are flung hither thither and yon around the room. But no "beams of power" like you see in so many motion picture wizard duels (same thing during the Last Alliance battle when Sauron is kicking butt). Big kudos to Jackson and crew for not resorting to rotscope crap during those times, having the only visible sign being the people getting tossed like nerf balls made it all much more powerful.
All that being said I thought the Balrog looked pretty bad. Though from the discussions I've had I'm alone in that. It happens.
BTT. Can't wait...
This is the first movie I've gone to see in a theater in 17 years.
Probably one of the funniest FR moments I've had so far.
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