The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring: Difference between revisions

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| Augie Davis, Ross Duncan, Jason Fitch, Micha Kemp, Sandro Kopp, Andrea Russell, Pete Smith, Piripi Waretini, Tim Wong, Andrew Van Klei || Extras
| Augie Davis, Ross Duncan, Jason Fitch, Micha Kemp, Sandro Kopp, Andrea Russell, Pete Smith, Piripi Waretini, Tim Wong, Andrew Van Klei || Extras
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== Trivia ==
Below is a list of trivia from Amazon's "X-Ray" feature that accompanied the film upon streaming it on Prime Video.
* '''Scene 1''' - "Sir Christopher Lee ([[Saruman]]) read ''"The Lord of the Rings"'' once a year until his death in [[2015]], and had done so since the year it was published. He also was the only member of the cast and crew ever to have met [[J.R.R. Tolkien]]."
* '''Scene 2''' - "Originally, the narration at the prologue was to be spoken by [[Elijah Wood]], but it was felt that the information imparted had little bearing on the character of [[Frodo Baggins|Frodo]]. Sir Ian McKellen also recorded a narration, but once again, it was felt that [[Gandalf]] wasn't the right character to speak it; neither he nor Frodo were present at the events described in the prologue. They eventually settled on [[Cate Blanchett]] as [[Galadriel]], as it emphasizes the timelessness of the [[Elves|elves]]."
* '''Scene 2''' - "(Cameo) [[Alan Lee]]: In the prologue, one most famous [[Middle-earth]] artist can be seen as one of the [[Nazgûl|nine]] [[Men|human Kings]]."
* '''Scene 2''' - "[[John Howe]], brought in to work on the production because of his longstanding reputation as being one of the great artists of J.R.R. Tolkien's work, was given the task of designing the [[Moria]] [[Orcs]] himself."
* '''Scene 2''' - "The two most renowned Tolkien artists are Alan Lee and John Howe, and so it was important to Sir Peter Jackson to have those two on-board. Lee was tracked down to a tiny little village in Dartmoor, England, and was FedExed a package of Jackson's ''Heavenly Creatures'' (1994) and a letter outlining his intentions. They monitored the progress of the FedEx package every step of the way, but were somewhat surprised when Lee rang them only three hours after delivery to say he'd love to work them. Howe, meanwhile, was living in Switzerland, and because someone hadn't worked out the time differences between Switzerland and New Zealand correctly, he was called at about 2 a.m. He says that the biggest frustration with that phone call was waiting for Jackson to finish his pitch before he could say yes."
* '''Scene 4''' - "[[New Line Cinema]] insisted on a prologue of two minutes. What they revealed was one that lasts for seven and a half minutes."
* '''Scene 5''' - "The original cut ran four hours and thirty minutes."
* '''Scene 5''' - "Sir Ian McKellen based Gandalf's accent on that of J.R.R. Tolkien."
* '''Scene 5''' - "Hinuera Valley, Matamata, Waikato, New Zealand."
* '''Scene 5''' - "The large tree that stands above [[Bag End]] was built especially by the production department. Every leaf had to be manually attached."
* '''Scene 6''' - "John Howe designed Bag End to resemble a perfect English house, even though he had never actually been to England."
* '''Scene 6''' - "There are forty-seven chimneys in the [[Hobbiton]] location."
* '''Scene 6''' - "Although [[Bilbo Baggins|Bilbo Baggins's]] opening scenes are in Hobbiton. Sir Ian Holm never actually worked on the location. His scenes were all done against a greenscreen."
* '''Scene 6''' - "Gandalf's painful encounter with a ceiling beam in Bilbo's hobbit-hole was not in the script. Sir Ian McKellen" banged his forehead against the beam accidentally. Sir Peter Jackson thought McKellen did a great job ''"acting through"'' the mistake, and kept it in."
* '''Scene 6''' - "The portrait hanging above the fireplace in Bag End are based on the likeness of Sir Peter Jackson and Dame Fran Walsh."
* '''Scene 6''' - "When he makes tea for Gandalf, Bilbo mentions "cold chicken and pickles." A line from ''"[[The Hobbit]]"'' has Gandalf telling Bilbo to bring out the cold chicken and pickles.
* '''Scene 6''' - "The map Gandalf picks up in Bilbo's study is a reproduction of the map J.R.R. Tolkien drew for the book ''"The Hobbit"''. The map is of [[Lonely Mountain|Erebor]], the Lonely Mountain, which was the site of the quest in ''The Hobbit''. The map plays a significant role in director Peter Jackson's trilogy based on that book."
* '''Scene 6''' - "Bilbo says the words, ''"I'm not at home"'', when some relatives bang on his door. "Not At Home" is also a chapter title from ''The Hobbit".
* '''Scene 6''' - "In one of the most obscure references to the book, Bilbo states proudly to Gandalf that Frodo is ''"a Baggins, not some blockheaded Bracegirdle from Hardbottle"''. Lobelia Sackville-Baggins, the relative who knocks on the door during this scene, was mentioned in the book as being born a Bracegirdle from Hardbottle."
* '''Scene 7''' - "Bilbo Baggins's birthday cake has one hundred eleven candles on it, and they eventually set fire to the polystyrene cake anything."
* '''Scene 7''' - "Director Trademark: [children] Jackson's children Billy Jackson and Katie Jackson are listed in the end credits as ''Cute Hobbit Children"''."
* '''Scene 7''' - "When the [[Dragons|dragon]] firework goes off at the party, the shriek heard is [[Billy Boyd]] actually screaming, as he was unaware at the time that the firework was really going to explode on-set (he thought that it would be in a separate shot). It was not scripted, but the take ended up in the final cut."
* '''Scene 7''' - "When Bilbo makes his farewell speech at the party, [[[Dominic Monaghan]] read the speech for the reaction shots of the [[Hobbits|hobbits]]."
* '''Scene 7''' - "Every actor and actress in this movie wore a wig, apart from Billy Jackson, Sir Peter Jackson's toddler son, seen listening wide-eyed to a tale told by Bilbo Baggins at his birthday party. He had the perfect Hobbit hair."
* '''Scene 7''' - "At the birthday party, when Bilbo is naming various hobbit families, he says ''Proudfoots'' and a hobbit calls back ''Proudfeet'', with his large feet in the foreground. The shot was deliberately framed to imitate the shot used in ''[[The Lord of the Rings (1978 film)|The Lord of the Rings (1978)]]'', as an homage to the movie that introduced director Sir Peter Jackson to J.R.R. Tolkien's works."
* '''Scene 8''' - "Enya's lyricist Roma Ryan learned Elvish for the two songs she contributed to this movie."
* '''Scene 8''' - "Sir Ian Holm was always Sir Peter Jackson's first choice to play Bilbo Baggins."
* '''Scene 8''' - "According to Sean Astin in the Extended DVD commentary, when Bilbo drops the Ring before leaving Hobbiton, the floor was magnetic to prevent the Ring from bouncing. This was done to demonstrate the importance and weight of the Ring."
* '''Scene 8''' - "About twenty-eight separate Hobbit holes had to be built for the Shire. Each one had to be different."
* '''Scene 8''' - "The chapter titles "A Long-expected Party", "A Short Cut to Mushrooms", "The Bridge of Khazad-dûm", "Lothlorien", and "The Breaking of the Fellowship" from the book are spoken lines at their respective points in the storyline, with the exception of "The Breaking of The Fellowship", which is foreshadowed during the scene at "The Mirror of Galadriel". "Riddles In The Dark" is also mentioned, the name of a chapter from "The Hobbit". In the Extended Edition DVD, the prologue title "Concerning Hobbits" was mentioned by Sir Ian Holm (Bilbo) in the opening scenes at Bag End, before the first chapter is named."
* '''Scene 8''' - "During production, writer Brian Sibley visited the set. Sibley had previously written the BBC radio adaptation (with Sir Ian Holm), as well as the text to two maps of Middle-earth. In this case, he was researching for two books about the production of the movie version. He met co-writer Dame Fran Walsh and discovered that they both had an interest in genealogy. They discovered that they had common ancestors buried in New Zealand, and were, therefore, distant cousins."
* '''Scene 9''' - "Sir Ian Holm (Bilbo Baggins) was the voice of Frodo Baggins in the 1981 BBC Radio adaptation of "The Lord of The Rings"."
* '''Scene 9''' - "Co-producer Rick Porras's wedding ring was the template for the One Ring."
* '''Scene 10''' - "Ranked number two on the American Film Institute's list of the ten greatest movies in the genre "Fantasy" in June 2008."
* '''Scene 11''' - "The city visited by Gandalf when he's looking for information about Bilbo's ring after his birthday party is Minas Tirith, shown extensively in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)."
* '''Scene 13''' - "Galadriel's house at Lothlorien was the largest miniature set built for the trilogy."
* '''Scene 13''' - "Two sets of Bag End, Bilbo Baggins's house, were built: one to accommodate the Hobbits, the other thirty-three percent smaller for the full size Ian McKellen, right down to smaller versions of the books on the bookshelves."
* '''Scene 14''' - "Stuntwoman Lani Jackson doubled for Arwen for some fight scenes that were cut from this movie. Jackson appeared in the trilogy as various stunt orcs."
* '''Scene 14''' - "The hobbits needed to appear about three to four feet tall, tiny compared with the seven-foot Gandalf. This was often accomplished using forced perspective, placing Sir Ian McKellen (Gandalf) consistently closer to the camera than Elijah Wood, in order to trick the eye into thinking McKellen is towering. In some cases, the camera would be moving, something that would normally break the effect, so special props and sets were designed to maintain the illusion in-camera."
* '''Scene 14''' - "The voices of the Black Riders (heard when they reach the Shire, before Gandalf returns, and when Arwen carries Frodo across the river) were provided by Andy Serkis, the voice of Gollum."
* '''Scene 14''' - "1,460 eggs were served to the cast and crew for breakfast for every day of shooting."
* '''Scene 14''' - "Gollum looks different in this movie than in later installments, because scheduling forced those scenes to be filmed based on an early design (made before Andy Serkis was cast in the role). He is only seen in brief glimpses, partly due to this discrepancy, and partly to tease audiences before his entrance in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002). Sir Peter Jackson (jokingly) said in the commentary on the Extended DVD that sometime in the future he would enjoy creating a "Special Edition" (à la Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)) where this inconsistency could be fixed."
* '''Scene 14''' - "John Astin, Sean Astin's stepfather, was considered for the role of Gandalf. He had also worked with Sir Peter Jackson and Dame Fran Walsh before in The Frighteners (1996), and came back very excited about their passion for film, which led to Sean Astin to pursue the role of Sam."
* '''Scene 15''' - "The New Zealand government brokered a new tax deal when New Line Cinema threatened to pull the production."
* '''Scene 16''' - "Tom Baker was a candidate for the role of Gandalf after his brief, but praised, cameo as the dying Elven King in Dungeons & Dragons (2000). He turned it down, not willing to spend sixteen months in New Zealand."
* '''Scene 17''' - "Warwick Davis, Timothy Spall, and Robert Trebor auditioned for the role of Gimli."
* '''Scene 18''' - "While Sir Christopher Lee was always Sir Peter Jackson's first choice for the role of Saruman, Jackson did consider Tim Curry, Jeremy Irons, and Malcolm McDowell for the role."
* '''Scene 18''' - "Though this is the first time that three movies have been shot concurrently, it is not the first time that more than one movie in a planned trilogy have been shot simultaneously. In fact, the cast of this movie features actors from the other projects. Sir Christopher Lee appeared in The Three Musketeers (1973) and The Four Musketeers: Milady's Revenge (1974), although those movies were shot as one, then decided later to split in two. Elijah Wood made his movie debut in Back to the Future Part II (1989), which was shot back-to-back with Back to the Future Part III (1990). Hugo Weaving, and later Bruce Spence (who played the Mouth of Sauron in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) Extended Edition) also appeared in The Matrix Reloaded (2003) and The Matrix Revolutions (2003), which were shot at the same time."
* '''Scene 18''' - "Sam Neill was considered for the role of Gandalf."
* '''Scene 18''' - "The total crew amounted to over 3,000 people, of which approximately 300 were in the art department alone."
* '''Scene 19''' - "Dominic Monaghan (Merry) originally auditioned for the role of Frodo."
* '''Scene 19''' - "One of the stuntmen dislocated a shoulder in the scene where the Hobbits tumble down the hill after pilfering vegetables. This was also the first day of shooting."
* '''Scene 19''' - "The jeweler that made the different sized rings that were featured in the movies is in Nelson, New Zealand. Two of the rings (the biggest and the smallest) are there for public viewing."
* '''Scene 19''' - "The scream of the Ringwraiths is actually co-writer and co-producer Fran Walsh."
* '''Scene 20''' - "This movie stayed in the U.S. top ten grossing movies for thirteen weeks."
* '''Scene 20''' - "Sean Astin reckons that there were fifty separate days of the sixteen-month shoot where the Hobbits had their prosthetic feet applied and they were never seen on camera."
* '''Scene 20''' - "In one take of the Bucklebury Ferry scene, Elijah Wood overshot his jump, and ended up in the river instead of on the ferry."
* '''Scene 21''' - "The Tolkien estate was never in favor of director Sir Peter Jackson's movie adaptation, but seeing as J.R.R. Tolkien signed the rights away in 1968 for $15,000 ($99,233 in 2012 dollars), there was nothing they could do about it. Tolkien's grandson Simon Tolkien came out in support of the production, and was, according to some accounts, disowned by his relatives, although Simon's father Christopher Tolkien later denied this."
* '''Scene 21''' - "Sir Peter Jackson shot many scenes directly from the earlier, animated adaptation of The Lord of the Rings (1978) directed by Ralph Bakshi."
* '''Scene 21''' - "Development of a live-action adaptation of the book "The Lord of the Rings" had been in process as far back as 1957, when Hugo Award-winning science fiction magazine editor Forrest J. Ackerman had successfully convinced J.R.R. Tolkien to grant him permission to attempt one. In the forty plus years before Sir Peter Jackson finally managed to film the trilogy, John Boorman, Stanley Kubrick, and The Beatles had all either attempted or expressed interest in filming their own adaptations."
* '''Scene 21''' - "The shots that were too visually complex to be conveyed on a storyboard were rendered digitally on a computer, in a stage known as pre-visualization. Sir Peter Jackson received a lot of pointers on this from George Lucas and his Star Wars producer Rick McCallum at Skywalker Ranch. When he returned to New Zealand, he hired a lot of recent digital artist graduates to help him create his pre-visualization concepts."
* '''Scene 21''' - "Sir Peter Jackson's first two choices for the role of Aragorn were Sir Daniel Day-Lewis and Russell Crowe. Crowe was excited about the prospect of being involved with a major movie in New Zealand, but couldn't commit due to scheduling conflicts in the U.S. Crowe was born and lived in New Zealand until he was four years old, when his family moved to Australia."
* '''Scene 21''' - "Director Sir Peter Jackson gave one of the rings used in the movies to Elijah Wood and Andy Serkis as a gift when the shoot was finished. They both thought they had the only one."
* '''Scene 21''' - "In this movie's first theatrical release, a story circulated that when Sam tells Frodo that he is now the farthest he has ever been from home, a car is visible driving by in the background (top-right corner of the screen). Arguments ensued. Some said it was smoke from a chimney, others said they saw the glint of sunlight reflected from the windshield of a fast-moving vehicle. In the version of the movie released on DVD, there is definitely no car, only chimney smoke and a one-frame flash of light that could conceivably be a car, but not in any sense that could be considered a goof. Sir Peter Jackson said (in the commentary track on the Extended DVD) that he looked at every frame on a computer, and has never seen anything resembling a car, and claims that it's nonsense (and certainly the original sighting remains unconfirmed by IMDb goof spotters). In the documentary of the Extended DVD version, editor John Gilbert says that there was a car in the background, but they thought no one would notice it. They got rid of it in the DVD version. In a subsequent magazine interview, Jackson agreed that the car was there."
* '''Scene 21''' - "Miramax was the first studio to express an interest in Sir Peter Jackson's interpretation of the books, but wanted to do it all in one movie. Jackson refused, leaving him with four weeks to find another studio for funding. Thinking that no studio would agree to three movies, Jackson was prepared to settle, and touted the project as two movies. Even then, most studios didn't want to take the risk. Calling upon his friend Mark Ordesky, who was an executive at New Line Cinema, a pitch was set up with New Line Cinema President Robert Shaye. Shaye's only quibble with the presentation was that it should really be three movies."
* '''Scene 21''' - "After the New Zealand premiere, director Sir Peter Jackson joined the actors who played the nine members of the Fellowship by getting a commemorative tattoo of his own. While their tattoos were the Elvish symbol for "9", Jackson received an Elvish "10"."
* '''Scene 21''' - "Pregnancy changed Sir Peter Jackson's vision of "The Lord of the Rings." Originally, he wanted to cast Lucy Lawless as Galadriel and Uma Thurman as Arwen. However, both became pregnant after being asked to read, and the roles were filled in by Cate Blanchett and Liv Tyler, respectively. Thurman was also considered to play Eowyn in later installments, but Miranda Otto landed that role."
* '''Scene 21''' - "Tom Bombadil was a character in the book who never made it into the movie. He appears early on when he saves Frodo and Sam who are trapped by an evil sentient willow tree after having just left the Shire. Sir Peter Jackson originally contemplated having Bombadil incorporated into a cameo scene in which the Hobbits are walking through the forest and see a man with a feathered cap dart through the trees. They then hear Tom singing, and begin running through the forest. However, the production ran out of time to film it. A small reference to Bombadil is made in the extended edition of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) instead, where Treebeard saves Merry and Pippin from the roots of a sentient tree."
* '''Scene 21''' - "For high-tech tasks, a computer program called MASSIVE made armies of CGI orcs, elves, and humans. These digital creations could "think" and battle independently, identifying friend or foe, thanks to individual fields of vision. Director Sir Peter Jackson's team could click on one creature, in a crowd scene of twenty thousand, and see through his "eyes". Different species even boast unique fighting styles."
* '''Scene 21''' - "Before production began, it had to be determined whether computer effects could convincingly create battle scenes featuring thousands of warriors. Sir Peter Jackson invested his own money in the pursuit of this software, using the computers of his special effects company Weta Digital, Ltd. that had been purchased to make his previous movie, The Frighteners (1996)."
* '''Scene 21''' - "Sir Peter Jackson has the entire Bag End set in storage."
* '''Scene 22''' - "Sir Peter Jackson's original plan was to exclusively hire British actors for the roles of the hobbits. As it turned out, Billy Boyd and Dominic Monaghan were the only ones, and one of the tasks he charged them with was to coach Elijah Wood and Sean Astin in the ways of British pub culture."
* '''Scene 22''' - "Some of the customers in the Prancing Pony are walking around on stilts to emphasize the height difference with the Hobbits."
* '''Scene 22''' - "The main sound elements for the cave troll's roar were a walrus, a tiger, and a horse. Despite its fierce nature, Sir Peter Jackson considered the cave troll not to be an inherently bad creature: "I wanted to not make it an over-the-top movie monster but a creature that you could sort of believe in, so we wanted to make him a little stupid, like he is not really evil; [..] he's like a big simple kid who just has got bad friends. [..] I always imagined that the troll has a mother [..] and she's probably got his bed turned down and a glass of warm milk by his bed, and he's just not going to come home, [..] and I always felt quite sad really.""
* '''Scene 22''' - "About 3,100 shots (78% of the Super 35 film) were color graded at Colorfront in Wellington, New Zealand, using 5D Colossus software, after being scanned by an Imagica XE scanner full 2K resolution (2048*1536). The color-graded shots were then recorded on Kodak 5242 intermediate film by two Arri Laser film recorders at ten bits per channel. Because only 78% of the film was digital, a digitally-squeezed anamorphic print could not be made for the whole movie. Instead, the digital shots were recorded on an inter-negative hardmatted at 1.77:1, intercut with the non-digital original negative (which had been color timed by The Film Unit, New Zealand), and printed to 2.39:1 anamorphic Kodak film, using an optical printer at Deluxe, Los Angeles, California. Fuji 3519-D was used for release prints."
* '''Scene 22''' - "Although Frodo calls him Uncle Bilbo, Frodo is (according to J.R.R. Tolkien) Bilbo's second cousin once removed, which is also how Pippin describes his relationship with Frodo in the Prancing Pony."
* '''Scene 22''' - "Veteran sword master Bob Anderson called Viggo Mortensen "the best swordsman I've ever trained.""
* '''Scene 24''' - "Over twelve and a half million plastic rings were made in order to fabricate simulated chain mail for the movie. Two crew members spent the length of the shoot linking the rings by hand into suits of armor. By the end of production, they had worn the fingerprints off of their thumbs and index fingers."
* '''Scene 24''' - "At Bree, when the Nazgul "kill" the hobbits, Sir Peter Jackson does a close-up reaction shot of Merry, as he pulls back, you can see Frodo come into frame. To facilitate the shot he wanted, Jackson had Elijah Wood sit on the edge of the bed and then slide in as the camera pulled back. If you watch carefully you can see he is in motion."
* '''Scene 26''' - "When Pippin is being hit with the apples after asking about second breakfast, it is Viggo Mortensen chucking the apple at his head. They had to shoot the scene sixteen times to get it just right, and Billy Boyd says he believes Mortensen enjoyed himself immensely."
* '''Scene 27''' - "1,800 Hobbit feet were made for the production."
* '''Scene 28''' - "Port Waikato, Waikato, New Zealand."
* '''Scene 29''' - "New Zealand's Army was cast as extras for large battle scenes in this movie, but was forced to back out, due to a commitment to serve as peacekeepers in East Timor."
* '''Scene 29''' - "Security was tight on the set. At least three people were arrested for attempted break-ins."
* '''Scene 29''' - "Aragorn battling the Ringwraiths at Weathertop was Viggo Mortensen's first day on-set. It was also the first time that Mortensen had ever handled a sword."
* '''Scene 29''' - "Viggo Mortensen chipped a tooth while filming a fight sequence. He wanted Sir Peter Jackson to superglue it back on so he could finish his scene, but Jackson took him to the dentist on his lunch break, had it patched up, and returned to the set that afternoon."
* '''Scene 29''' - "Viggo Mortensen joined the movie when it was already shooting, never having met director Sir Peter Jackson before, nor indeed having read the J.R.R. Tolkien book. It was Mortensen's eleven year old son Henry Mortensen, a fan of the book, who was the chief instigator in convincing Mortensen to sign on as Aragorn."
* '''Scene 30''' - "The moth to which Gandalf whispers was born shortly before filming that day, and died soon after the scene was finished."
* '''Scene 30''' - "One of the indistinct words that Gandalf whispers to the moth when he is trapped by Saruman is "Gwaihir," the name of the eagle that later rescues him from the tower."
* '''Scene 30''' - "The Orc blacksmiths shown beneath Isengard are the WETA Workshop staff, who made the weapons used in this movie."
* '''Scene 31''' - "Liv Tyler had never read the book when she was approached to appear in the trilogy. She quickly boned up on Middle-earth lore, to the extent of even learning some Elvish."
* '''Scene 31''' - "The trilogy was voted number nine in Total Film's 100 Greatest Movies Of All Time list (November 2005)."
* '''Scene 31''' - "During filming, Liv Tyler left her pair of prosthetic ears on the dashboard of her car. When she returned, they had melted."
* '''Scene 32''' - "Elijah Wood dressed up in breeches and a flowing shirt and went out into the hills to shoot his audition tape. His friend George Huang directed the video."
* '''Scene 32''' - "Sir Sean Connery was offered $10 million per film for the role of Gandalf, but he turned it down, reportedly due to "not understanding the story.""
* '''Scene 32''' - "Liv Tyler accidentally stabbed herself in the right thigh when filming the "If you want him, come and claim him!" sequence. The footage was featured in bloopers and outtakes of this movie."
* '''Scene 32''' - "When Arwen escapes from the Black Riders through the river by flooding them, the spell she speaks isn't subtitled. According to the Encyclopedy of Arda (see External Links: Miscellaneous # 58), she says: "Nîn o Hithaeglir lasto beth daer; rimmo nín Bruinen dan in Ulaer", which means roughly "Waters of the Hithaeglir, hear the word of power, rush, waters of Bruinen, against the Ringwraiths!""
* '''Scene 33''' - "Robin Atkin Downes and Jason Carter auditioned for the role of Aragorn."
* '''Scene 33''' - "Sean Astin gained thirty pounds for his role as Samwise Gamgee."
* '''Scene 33''' - "David Bowie expressed interest in the role of Elrond, but Sir Peter Jackson stated, "To have a famous, beloved character and a famous star colliding is slightly uncomfortable.""
* '''Scene 34''' - "The water used on the Rivendell set was brought in, and contained chlorine. The entire water system had to be waterproof, so that the chlorinated water would not leak into the ground and contaminate natural water. After shooting was finished, the water was collected back."
* '''Scene 34''' - "When Frodo is leafing through Bilbo's book in Rivendell, a page with dwarven runes is shown. The runes translate thus: "Stand by the grey stone when the thrush knocks, and the setting sun with the last light of Durin's Day will shine upon the keyhole." This is a reference (actually a direct copy) to a map in the book "The Hobbit," and the runes tell of the secret entrance to The Lonely Mountain. Another page, to which Frodo turns, shows two illustrations of swords on one page, and a key on the other. While varying visually from their movie counterparts, these swords are Glamdring and Orcrist, the two swords Bilbo and the Dwarves found in the troll cave. The key is the key used to enter stone troll's hoard from The Hobbit novel which did not take place in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)."
* '''Scene 35''' - "Kaitoke Regional Park, Wellington Region, New Zealand"
* '''Scene 35''' - "Howard Shore used the music of Richard Wagner as his primary influence for the movies' musical scores. Wagner's most famous work is the four-opera cycle called "The Ring of the Nibelung.""
* '''Scene 36''' - "In 2007, the American Film Institute ranked this as the number fifty Greatest Movie of All Time. This movie was the most recently released entry of the one hundred movies compiled in the AFI's list."
* '''Scene 36''' - "Orlando Bloom landed the role of Legolas two days before he finished drama school."
* '''Scene 36''' - "Composers are usually involved with movies for about six to eight weeks. By the time this movie was released, Howard Shore's involvement was stretching back for two years."
* '''Scene 37''' - "References Sharpe: The Legend (1997): Sean Bean in his films always references his character "Sharpe" from the British TV series. In Rivendell, he picks up the shards of Elendil and whispers, "still Sharpe", referencing his old role."
* '''Scene 37''' - "Although Bill the pony is a feature of the novel, the writers initially decided not to include him as the Fellowship make their journey, for the simple logistical reason of transporting a horse deep into the mountains. The problem was solved in the more difficult shots by using the classic pantomime trick of dressing two people up as a horse, one at the front and one at the back."
* '''Scene 38''' - "Liv Tyler deepened her voice so much to play Arwen that her father Steven Tyler asked her if her voice had been dubbed by someone else."
* '''Scene 38''' - "The scripts were essentially being re-written every day of the sixteen-month shoot, including input from the actors and actresses, who were all now heavily involved with their characters."
* '''Scene 39''' - "The overall budget for the trilogy was $300 million, plus another $200 million for publicity and marketing."
* '''Scene 39''' - "The Council of Elrond was changed quite a bit from the book, where it is much more a debriefing of several characters about the current state of affairs, and a regrouping moment from where Frodo proceeds with his quest (as in the book, he has already decided to take the Ring to Mount Doom from the very beginning). The screenwriters changed it to a fierce debate where Frodo makes his decision, but keeping visual order in all the quarreling parties was quite a challenge. Because the scene was starting to get too long and expository, it was rewritten even during filming: Boromir's speech at the Council was read from a sheet of paper sitting on Sean Bean's lap, as it was only given to him the night before."
* '''Scene 39''' - "During the council scene in Rivendell, as Boromir makes his plea for the Ring to be brought to Gondor, the "Gondor theme" can faintly be heard. In The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), when the characters finally reach Gondor, this theme is heard as a full orchestral piece. Composer Howard Shore didn't plan out that this Rivendell background music would develop into the "Gondor main theme" by the third movie, but it ultimately did evolve into it."
* '''Scene 39''' - "During the Council of Elrond, leaves are continually falling in the background to suggest that this is a meeting that is taking place outside. This meant about half a dozen crew members were positioned above the set, dropping leaves at various intervals. This also meant that the production department had to collect numerous sacks of leaves during autumn, and of course dead leaves turn brown fairly quickly, which also meant that every one of those leaves had to be painted."
* '''Scene 39''' - ""Moria", in Koine Greek, quite appropriately means "folly", or "foolishness". In Elvish, it just means "black chasm". In Italian (accent on "i") it means a deadly epidemic, like pest or smallpox. In Dwarvish, it's Khazad-dûm, a very more reassuring "House of the Dwarves"."
* '''Scene 39''' - "Bret McKenzie made a silent cameo as an elf during the Council of Elrond scene. His attractive character was noticed by fans, who dubbed him "Figwit" (short for "Frodo is great...who is THAT?!?"). His celebrity on the Internet was such that Sir Peter Jackson (who has informally accepted the use of the name), brought him back in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), with two scripted dialogue lines."
* '''Scene 39''' - "Sometimes when there is a close-up of the ring you can hear a gruff voice chanting. This is the voice of Sauron and the words he is chanting are "One ring to rule them all, one ring to find them, one ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them", in the language of Mordor. Whenever Frodo puts the ring on, it is also Sauron speaking to him."
* '''Scene 39''' - "More than 1,600 pairs of latex ears and feet were used during the shoot, each "cooked" in a special oven running twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. There was no way of removing the feet at the end of the day without damaging them, and so each pair could only be used once. The used feet were shredded to prevent a black market in stolen hobbit feet, but apparently Dominic Monaghan (Merry) kept a pair."
* '''Scene 39'''' - "In each movie in the trilogy, the subtitle of the movie is incorporated as dialogue. In this instance, Elrond: "So be it. You shall be the Fellowship of The Ring"."
* '''Scene 40''' - "It is estimated that filming of the trilogy pumped about $200 million into the New Zealand economy. The New Zealand government even created a Minister for Lord of the Rings, whose remit was to exploit all the economic opportunities the movies represented."
* '''Scene 40''' - "A rubber puppet with a horrific face was superimposed over Sir Ian Holm's face when Bilbo Baggins covets the ring in Rivendell. Holm was so delighted with the puppet that the design team had a cast iron version of it made for his mantelpiece, and gave it to him as a parting gift when Holm wrapped all of his scenes on this movie."
* '''Scene 41''' - "Producer Tim Sanders left the project after principal photography had commenced."
* '''Scene 42''' - "When the Fellowship comes out of hiding from the crows during their stop on the hills, Gandalf says "Spies of Saruman!" However, during the first take of this scene, Sir Ian McKellen jokingly said "Spies of Star Wars!""
* '''Scene 42''' - "When Frodo falls on the snow and loses the ring, a close-up of the ring with Frodo in the background is shown. In order to keep both the subjects focused, a giant ring (six inches in diameter) was used."
* '''Scene 44''' - "As well as being the only member of the cast and crew to have met J.R.R. Tolkien face to face, Sir Christopher Lee was also the first person to be cast in the trilogy, because of his extensive knowledge of the books. He frequently visited the make-up department, and often gave tips about the facial design of the monsters."
* '''Scene 44''' - "There were supposed to be one hundred forty-four Hobbits at Bilbo Baggins' party. Due to budgetary constraints, there were only one hundred."
* '''Scene 44''' - "Although larger actors were cast as hobbits, and shrunk by visual effects, the filmmakers discovered that full-size actors (six feet tall) did not look right when the effects were applied. Therefore, the hobbit actors averaged around 5' 6"."
* '''Scene 45''' - "The illuminated door that leads to the Mines of Moria was painted with the same substance of which cats' eyes and road signs are made."
* '''Scene 45''' - "In the mines of Moria, the battery for Sir Ian McKellen's illuminated staff was hidden within the folds of his robes."
* '''Scene 45''' - "While filming the trilogy, Viggo Mortensen got so into character that during a conversation, director Sir Peter Jackson referred to him as "Aragorn" for over half an hour without him realizing it."
* '''Scene 45''' - "Usually on a theatrical movie, when the director comes to view the dailies, there's about twenty to twenty-five minutes of footage to be seen. Because of the number of different units out filming at any one time, the dailies for this movie were about three to four hours long."
* '''Scene 45''' - "Despite playing a dwarf, John Rhys-Davies (Gimli) is the tallest of the actors who play members of the Fellowship. He is 6' 1"."
* '''Scene 45''' - "Movie theater prints of this movie were labelled "Changing Seasons" on the film cans and the actual reels. The extended edition prints were distributed as "EFOTR" (extended Fellowship of the Ring)."
* '''Scene 46''' - "For the musical background to the chase in the mines of Moria, Howard Shore wanted some heavy chanting, so he cast a Maori choir."
* '''Scene 47''' - "With the exception of the Bridge of Khazad-dûm, there are no curves or circles in the architecture of Moria, only polygons."
* '''Scene 47''' - "Jake Gyllenhaal auditioned for the role of Frodo."
* '''Scene 47''' - "Viggo Mortensen kept his sword with him at all times off-set, so that he could remain in character. He was questioned several times by police, after reviewing his training sessions with the sword and being spotted by members of the public."
* '''Scene 48''' - "The designs for the Mines of Moria sets were inspired by the works of Venetian artist Giovanni Battista Piranesi and Dutch artist M.C. Escher."
* '''Scene 48''' - "The bridge in Hobbiton was built by the New Zealand Army out of polystyrene."
* '''Scene 48''' - "During filming, most of the members of the Fellowship took up surfing in New Zealand in their spare time. Amongst them was Viggo Mortensen, who wiped out terribly one day and bruised one whole side of his face. The next day, make-up artists tried to mask the bruising and swelling, but were unsuccessful. Instead, Sir Peter Jackson opted to film Mortensen from one side for the entire scene. In the Mines of Moria, when they find the tomb, Aragorn is only seen from one side in the whole scene."
* '''Scene 49''' - "Orlando Bloom spent two months learning how to fire a bow."
* '''Scene 49''' - "Sir Anthony Hopkins and Kate Winslet turned down roles in the trilogy."
* '''Scene 49''' - "Sir Peter Jackson wanted either Russell Crowe or Daniel Day-Lewis for Aragorn. Both turned it down, Crowe choosing A Beautiful Mind (2001) instead, even though he is from New Zealand. He was also unwilling to play a role similar to his one in Gladiator (2000). Both The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) and A Beautiful Mind (2001) would later contend for the 2002 Academy Awards (Oscars) for Best Picture, Director, Screenplay, Score, Editing and Make-up, with Fellowship winning Best Make-up and Score, and Beautiful Mind winning Best Picture, Director and Screenplay."
* '''Scene 49''' - "Sir Ian McKellen hadn't read the books when he was first approached by Sir Peter Jackson to play Gandalf. It was Jackson's enthusiasm for the project that won him over."
* '''Scene 49''' - "The nocturnal screams of possums were used for the screeches made by the Orcs in the mines of Moria."
* '''Scene 49''' - "Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn), who is trilingual in English, Spanish, and Danish, requested the script be revised, to let Aragorn speak more of his lines in Elvish."
* '''Scene 49''' - "The sounds of the Orcs were, in part, recordings of elephant seal pups at the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito, California, a marine mammal hospital that rescues, rehabilitates, and releases sick and injured seals, sea lions, whales, and dolphins."
* '''Scene 49''' - "John Rhys-Davies suffered from a reaction to his prosthetics, usually inflammation around the eyes. That meant that he could never be filmed on consecutive days, and would always require at least a day off for his skin to return to normal. He was never anything less than three hours in the make-up chair."
* '''Scene 49''' - "Eight of the nine members of the Fellowship got a small tattoo of the word "nine" spelled out in Tengwar, which is the Elvish script created by Tolkien. They got it at a tattoo parlor in Wellington, New Zealand, to commemorate the experience of the movie. The ninth member, John Rhys-Davies, declined, and sent his stunt double in his place. Elijah Wood's tattoo is on his lower stomach. Sean Astin and Billy Boyd have the tattoo on their ankles (to commemorate all those hours in the hobbit feet). Orlando Bloom, who plays the archer elf Legolas, has his on his forearm. His tattoo is visible during a fight scene in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003). Sir Ian McKellen's is on his shoulder. Dominic Monaghan's is on his shoulder. And the eighth member, Sean Bean, has his tattoo on his right shoulder. Viggo Mortensen has his tattoo on his left shoulder. It is visible on some pictures from the movie Eastern Promises (2007)."
* '''Scene 50''' - "In August 2002, the home video release set a U.K. record, when it chalked up sales of 2.4 million."
* '''Scene 50''' - "While filming the scenes on the River Anduin, Orlando Bloom and John Rhys-Davies were swept out of their boats."
* '''Scene 51''' - As Gandalf and the others leap the stairway gap in Moria while fleeing the Balrog, incoming arrows shot at them by goblins high above seem to rapidly flex. This is not an accidental special-effects artifact -- arrows actually do this, and it contributes to stable flight, similar to a gyroscope's effect. That one of Legolas's arrows does not flex in a flying-point-of-view shot may indicate that elvish arrows are enchanted, or that the filmmakers just wanted to spare the audience the extra distraction in that shot."
* '''Scene 51''' - "Gimli's line "Nobody tosses a dwarf!" was filmed after the "Toss me" line in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)."
* '''Scene 51''' - "This movie was the first recipient of the American Film Institute's Movie of the Year Award."
* '''Scene 52''' - "When Gandalf had his big stand-off scene with the Balrog, Sir Ian McKellen was actually acting to a green ping pong ball, which was used, along with the greenscreen technology employed during filming, to give him and other cast members a reference point for some of the larger CGI characters."
* '''Scene 52''' - "Sir Ian McKellen teased Sir Ian Holm that his old-age make-up made him resemble Dame Judi Dench's mother."
* '''Scene 52''' - "In the French version, names are translated (as in the books) into names that sound medieval to French people. Thus, Frodo and Bilbo Baggins are called "Frodon et Bilbon Sacquet", the Shire is "La Comté", Rivendell is "Fondcombe", and so on."
* '''Scene 53''' - "The ironic part about the Fellowship mourning the loss of Gandalf was, at that point, none of the cast members had met Sir Ian McKellen, let alone seen him dressed up as the wizard."
* '''Scene 53''' - "The Weta Workshop produced fifty-eight miniatures, which were so large and detailed that they were nicknamed "bigatures"."
* '''Scene 54''' - "References The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966): Gimli's comment about having the "eyes of a hawk" before being captured by Galadriel's bodyguards almost identical to a scene with Eli Wallach and Clint Eastwood in this film. The initial shot is even similar, with bayonets/arrows popping into frame unnoticed by the characters.
* '''Scene 54''' - "In order to make forced perspective a bit more interesting, the filmmakers devised a new system, consisting of a pulley and a platform. When the camera moved (which is normally impossible, as the forced perspective would become obvious), the actors also moved, and the perspective (seven-foot Gandalf, four-foot hobbits) would always be okay. They also used three differently sized props (large, medium, and small) to interact with the different-sized characters."
* '''Scene 55''' - "The big trees in Lothlorien forest are made of rubber."
* '''Scene 55''' - The Elves are speaking Sindarin, a fictional language, which is influenced by Welsh."
* '''Scene 55''' - "Large amounts of hair had to be imported into New Zealand for all of the wigs. They found some women in Russia who were cutting their hair and selling it to filmmakers."
* '''Scene 55''' - "There are several close-ups of fingers toying with the Ring. While some have lovely cuticles and nails, some look quite ragged. The latter are Elijah Wood's hands. He has a habit of biting his nails."
* '''Scene 56''' - "Dominic Monaghan suffered from hay fever while filming the scene in the cornfield."
* '''Scene 56''' - "Although this movie received a PG rating in the U.K., it was with a disclaimer that some scenes might be unsuitable for young children. After Jurassic Park (1993) and The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997), it was only the third movie to receive such a disclaimer."
* '''Scene 56''' - "During the Fellowship's stay in Lothlorien, Boromir says that his father Denethor is "a noble man." In The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), Denethor was played by John Noble."
* '''Scene 57''' - "Bill Bailey auditioned for the role of Gimli."
* '''Scene 57''' - "Costume designer Ngila Dickson had forty seamstresses working for her, creating over 19,000 costumes."
* '''Scene 57''' - "Dominic Monaghan (Merry) wore a fat suit made of foam. He drank three liters of water a day so he would not dehydrate."
* '''Scene 57''' - "Orlando Bloom (Legolas) did most of his own stunts, and broke a rib in the process."
* '''Scene 57''' - "This movie, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002), and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) were filmed simultaneously. The back-to-back-to-back shoot lasted a record-equalling 274 days across sixteen months, exactly the same time as taken for the principal photography of Apocalypse Now (1979)."
* '''Scene 57''' - "Cate Blanchett's role as Galadriel required her to film for only a month."
* '''Scene 57''' - "Cate Blanchett joked that she took the role of Galadriel because "I've always wanted pointy ears."
* '''Scene 58''' - "Hobbiton was made a year before production began to make it look like it was a natural, lived-in place, complete with real vegetable patches. The greens department regulated the length of the grass by having sheep eat it."
* '''Scene 58''' - "Wherever possible, costume designer Ngila Dickson followed J.R.R. Tolkien's descriptions of the characters' clothing to the letter. One such example is Bilbo Baggins's waistcoat, which sports brass buttons, as referenced in "The Hobbit"."
* '''Scene 59''' - "J.R.R. Tolkien's original novel describes the fate of all of the surviving dwarves from The Hobbit. Gimli originally comes to Rivendell only to escort his father, Gloin, a member of Bilbo's quest, who has come to inform the Elves that servants of Sauron are searching for Bilbo. Gimli ends up being selected, so that the Dwarves, along with all the other free peoples of Middle-earth, would be represented in the Fellowship. Balin, whose tomb they find in Moria, was also a member. Sadly, most of the other surviving dwarves accompanied Balin there, and were killed when the Orcs and the Balrog returned."
* '''Scene 60''' - "Stuart Townsend was originally cast as Aragorn, but was replaced by Viggo Mortensen after four days of shooting, because Sir Peter Jackson realized that an older actor was needed."
* '''Scene 61''' - "Viggo Mortensen purchased Arwen's horse after production and gave it to Liv Tyler's riding double Jane Abbott."
* '''Scene 62''' - "Throughout the trilogy, the color of Legolas's eyes change from blue to brown. This is because the contact lenses Orlando Bloom was wearing scratched his corneas, and could not be worn every day. In some of the shots, the post-production team digitally changed the color of his eyes."
* '''Scene 62''' - "A scene involving the Fellowship escaping the Uruk-Hai via some river rapids had to be abandoned, as extreme flooding in the Queenstown area had washed the set away. A similar scene where Bilbo's Dwarf company escapes the Orcs via river rapids was finally featured in the prequel The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)."
* '''Scene 63''' - "Elijah Wood never wore a full chainmail Mithril vest, only the top half."
* '''Scene 63''' - "When the trailer was released on the internet, on April 7, 2001, it was downloaded 1.6 million times in the first twenty-four hours."
* '''Scene 63''' - "The cast often had to fly to remote shoot locations by helicopter. Sean Bean (Boromir) was afraid of flying and would only do it when absolutely necessary. When they were shooting the scenes of the Fellowship crossing the snowy mountains he'd spend two hours every morning climbing from the base of the mountain to the set near the top, already dressed as Boromir. The crew being flown up could see him from their helicopters."
* '''Scene 64''' - "During the 2001 Cannes Film Festival, twenty minutes of this movie was shown to a crowd at a nearby castle, including members of the production, the first time this movie's actors and actresses had seen any completed footage."
* '''Scene 64''' - "Twenty-nine Ringwraith costumes were made."
* '''Scene 64''' - "For the role of Lurtz, it took eleven hours for Lawrence Makoare's full costume and make-up to be applied."
* '''Scene 64''' - "Orlando Bloom originally auditioned for the part of Faramir, a supporting character (eventually played by David Wenham) in the next two movies. He was called back and subsequently cast, instead, in the more prominent role of Legolas."
* '''Scene 65''' - "The climactic fight scene was shot in the middle of a heatwave, with temperatures in excess of one hundred degrees Fahrenheit (thirty-eight degrees Celsius). Many of the actors playing the Uruk-Hai had to be carried off the set with heat exhaustion."
* '''Scene 65''' - "During one take of the Buckleberry Ferry scene, a very strong splinter found its way through Dominic Monaghan's prosthetic foot and into his own, causing him considerable pain. While crew members took the splinter out of his foot, Monaghan bragged to his fellow hobbits as to how large the splinter would be, but it ended up being very small. From that point on, Billy Boyd would tease him about splinters whenever something happened to Dominic, much to Dominic's frustration."
* '''Scene 65''' - "Wellington, the capital of New Zealand, changed its name to "Middle-earth" for the movie's opening."
* '''Scene 65''' - "The Elvish language lines spoken in this movie are not just quotes from the book, they were derived from J.R.R. Tolkien's own limited dictionary of that language. Dialect coach Andrew Jack used recordings of Tolkien reading his books to guide the actors' and actresses' pronunciations."
* '''Scene 65''' - "Sean Bean is wearing a fiberglass bodysuit underneath his costume for his death scene to stop the arrows sticking out of him from wobbling."
* '''Scene 65''' - "Viggo Mortensen did his own stunts. He also insisted on using only the real steel sword, instead of a significantly lighter aluminum sword, or safer rubber sword, which were manufactured for battle scenes and stunts."
* '''Scene 66''' - "The different colors of blue for the elves' eyes revealed what race they were. The Lothlorien elves had light blue eyes, and the Rivendell elves' eyes were dark blue."
* '''Scene 66''' - "It's common practice with a big budget movie to have more than one unit shooting at any given time, usually two or three. With these movies, there were occasions when there would be between five and seven units shooting at one time."
* '''Scene 66''' - "Sean Bean swears that he was not actually in New Zealand on the day they shot the scene where the Fellowship departs from Rivendell, and that he must have been digitally added to the shot."
* '''Scene 67''' - "When Frodo is leaving everyone behind at the River Anduin, to take up the quest on his own, divers went into the water to make sure it would be free of any sharp objects or debris for Sean Astin to run into when Sam goes chasing after him. Although they gave the "OK," Sean ended up stepping on a piece of glass that completely pierced his foot from bottom to top, requiring a helicopter to transport him to the nearest hospital, and receive several stitches."
* '''Scene 67''' - "Sean Astin's scene underwater didn't really happen. He was filmed in a dry studio, with fans making his cloak billow. The water effects were added in afterwards by computer."
* '''Scene 67''' - "The four actors playing the young Hobbits would have to go into make-up at 5 a.m. and stand for an hour and a half while their prosthetic feet were being applied. Sean Astin's personal make-up artist doing this was named Sean Foot.
* '''Scene 68''' - "The dummy of Sean Bean's body, seen at the end, was so convincing that a crew member, while taking lunch orders, asked other cast members if he wanted anything."
* '''Scene 68''' - "The climax of the movie actually intercuts the last chapter of the first book (Boromir trying to take the Ring from Frodo, Frodo's decision to leave the Fellowship) with the first chapter of the second book, which shows Boromir's death and funeral, Merry and Pippin's capture, and Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas beginning their pursuit of the Orcs."
* '''Scene 69''' - "Sir Richard Taylor's Weta Workshop made over 45,000 individual items from prosthetics to armor for the trilogy."


==Special effects==
==Special effects==

Latest revision as of 20:52, 2 February 2023

"I shan't call it the end, till we've cleared up the mess." — Sam
This article or section needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of article quality.
The name The Fellowship of the Ring refers to more than one character, item or concept. For a list of other meanings, see The Fellowship of the Ring (disambiguation).


The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring is the first film of Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings (film series).It is directed by Peter Jackson, while it's screenplay is written by Peter Jackson, Philippa Boyens, Fran Walsh and Stephen Sinclair.

The film retells the adventures of the Fellowship of the Ring, taking its story from the first part, The Fellowship of the Ring, and the first chapter of The Two Towers.

It is the first film of Peter Jackson's film trilogy, and it was filmed simultaneously on various locations in New Zealand. With a budget of U.S. $180 million, it is one of the most expensive movies production in history of cinema. Principal photography took 14 months and postproduction continued long after that. The film premiered at Odeon Leicester Squareon, in London, in 10 December 2001. It was followed by The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers in 2002.

Synopsis[edit | edit source]

Sauron, the dark lord, has awakened and threatens to conquer Middle-earth. To stop this ancient evil once and for all, Frodo Baggins must destroy the One Ring in the fires of Mount Doom. Men, Hobbits, a Wizard, an Elf and a Dwarf form a fellowship to help him on his quest.

Scenes[edit | edit source]

  1. Prologue: One Ring to Rule Them All... **
  2. Concerning Hobbits *
  3. The Shire **
  4. Very Old Friends **
  5. A Long-expected Party **
  6. Farewell Dear Bilbo
  7. Keep It Secret, Keep It Safe
  8. The Account of Isildur
  9. At the Green Dragon *
  10. The Shadow of the Past
  11. The Passing of the Elves *
  12. Saruman the White
  13. A Short Cut to Mushrooms
  14. Bucklebury Ferry
  15. At the Sign of The Prancing Pony
  16. The Nazgûl
  17. The Midgewater Marshes *
  18. The Spoiling of Isengard
  19. A Knife in the Dark
  20. The Caverns of Isengard
  21. Flight to the Ford **
  22. Rivendell
  23. Many Meetings
  24. The Fate of the Ring
  25. The Sword that Was Broken **
  26. The Evenstar
  27. The Council of Elrond **
  28. Gilraen's Memorial *
  29. Bilbo's Gifts
  30. The Departure of The Fellowship *
  31. The Ring Goes South **
  32. The Pass of Caradhras **
  33. Moria **
  34. A Journey in the Dark **
  35. Balin's Tomb **
  36. The Bridge of Khazad-dûm
  37. Lothlórien **
  38. Caras Galadhon **
  39. The Mirror of Galadriel **
  40. The Fighting Uruk-hai
  41. Farewell to Lórien **
  42. The Great River **
  43. Parth Galen
  44. The Breaking of the Fellowship **
  45. The Departure of Boromir
  46. The Road Goes Ever On...
  47. Credits
  48. Official Fan Club Credits *

* denotes a scene only available in the Extended Edition cut of the film.
** denotes a scene which includes extended content only available in the Extended Edition cut of the film.

Cast[edit | edit source]

Actor Role
Alan Howard Voice of the Ring
Noel Appleby Everard Proudfoot
Sean Astin Sam
Sala Baker Sauron
Sean Bean Boromir
Cate Blanchett Galadriel
Orlando Bloom Legolas
Billy Boyd Pippin
Peter Corrigan Otho
Marton Csokas Celeborn
Lori Dungey Mrs. Bracegirdle
Megan Edwards Mrs. Proudfoot
Michael Elsworth Gondorian Archivist
Mark Ferguson Gil-galad
Norman Forsey Gaffer Gamgee (Extended Edition only)
Ian Holm Bilbo
William Johnson Old Noakes (Extended Edition only)
Ian McKellen Gandalf
Christopher Lee Saruman
Lawrence Makoare Lurtz
Brent McIntyre Witch-king
Peter McKenzie Elendil
Sarah McLeod Rosie Cotton
Dominic Monaghan Merry
Elizabeth Moody Lobelia
Viggo Mortensen Aragorn
Ian Mune Bounder
Craig Parker Haldir
Cameron Rhodes Farmer Maggot
John Rhys-Davies Gimli
Martyn Sanderson Gate Keeper
Brian Sergent Ted Sandyman (Extended Edition only)
Andy Serkis Gollum (voice)
Harry Sinclair Isildur
Liv Tyler Arwen
David Weatherley Barliman Butterbur
Hugo Weaving Elrond
Isildur (voice)
Elijah Wood Frodo
Victoria Beynon-Cole, Lee Hartley, Sam La Hood, Chris Streeter, Philip Grieve, Jonathan Jordan, Semi Kuresa, Clinton Ulyatt, Paul Bryson, Lance Fabian Kemp, Jono Manks, Ben Price, Kate O'Rourke (Extended Edition), Thomas McGinty (Extended Edition) Hero Orcs, Goblins, Uruks, Ringwraiths
Billy Jackson, Katie Jackson Cute Hobbit Children

Uncredited[edit | edit source]

Actor Role
Gino Acevedo, Xander Forterie, Rich Mayberry Ring Dwarf-lords
Betty Adams, Timothy Bartlett, Darcy Beehre, Bob Blackwell, Dave Houma, Timothy Patrick, Jo Surgison, Kate Surgison, John Turner, Josh Widdicombe, Geoffrey Hughes, Bernie Lord Hobbits
Frazier Anderson, Daniel Andrews, Rodney Bane, Mana Hira Davis, Branko Dordevich, Siaosi Fonua, Winham "Mu" Hammond, Ralph Johnson, Timothy Patrick, Nooroa Poa, Chris Reid, Samuel E. Shore, John Turner, James Waterhouse-Brown, Saeed Zamiri Orcs
Sala Baker, Rachel Clentworth, Mana Hira Davis, Ben Fransham, Winham "Mu" Hammond, Lani Jackson, Sharen Maxwell, David J. Muzzerall, Steve Reinsfield, John Turner, James Waterhouse-Brown, Robert Young Goblins
Daniel Andrews, Sala Baker, Sean Button, Ryan Carey, Tack Daniel, Peter Daube, Mana Hira Davis, Shane Dawson, Branko Dordevich, Siaosi Fonua, Ben Fransham, Matthew Gibbons, Winham "Mu" Hammond, Greg Lane, Tim McLachlan, Nathan Meister, Dean Morganty, Greg "Danger" Morrison, Andrew Munro, Grant Roa, Vincent Roxburgh, Mike Stearne, Andrew Stehlin, Ken Stratton, Tim Wong Uruk-hai
Matt Appleton, Jonathan Harding, Sam Kelly, Blair Morton Council Elves
Jarl Benzon, Ben Britton, Kester Fordham, Sam Kelly, Jason Secto Last Alliance Elves
Jørn Benzon, Ben Fransham, Jonathan Harding, Ax McClennan, Jason Secto Lothlórien Elves
Lynden Berryman Uruk at Amen Hen
Ben Britton, Sabine Crossen, Kester Fordham, Andy Gunn, Gareth Jensen Rivendell Elves
Jed Brophy, Tim McLachlan Ringwraiths
Riley Brophy, Phoebe Gittins, Taea Hartwell Cute Hobbit Children
Justin B. Carter, James Morcan, Ken Reinsfield, Vincent Roxburgh, Billy "Roy" Taylor, Marcus Thorne, Brendan Young Gondorian Soldiers
Norman Cates, Jeff Kingsford-Brown, Jill Jackson Party Hobbits
Randell William Cook Cave Troll
Matthew Gibbons Birthing Uruk
Michael Elsworth Círdan the Shipwright
Warren Green, Stu Johnson, Peter Lyon Isengard Orc Blacksmiths
Zo Hartley Kissing Hobbit (Extended Edition)
Ray Henwood, Ralph Johnson Council Men
John Howe, Alan Lee, Larry Rew Ring Kings of Men
Peter Jackson Albert Dreary
Tim Kano Gondorian Citizen
Sacha Lee Arms of Gollum
Marta Martí Village Female Hobbit
Bret McKenzie Figwit
Nathan Meister Gondorian Guard
Liz Merton Hobbit Band Member
Arnold Montey, Paul Shapcott Burning Ringwraiths
Greg "Danger" Morrison, Robert Young Orc Archers
Christy Qullium Galadriel's Elf
Shane Rangi Witch-king
Thomas Robins Hand of Gollum
Chris Ryan, Bruce Sinclair, Rebecca Fitzgerald Breelanders
Samuel E. Shore Refugee
Ken Stratton Isengard Orc
Ken Stratton, Andy Gunn Last Alliance Soldier
Ken Stratton Morgul Orc
John Turner Wildman
Nathan Clark Galdor
Nikki Webster Elf
Andy Serkis Black Rider, Witch-king (voices)
Fran Walsh Screaming Ringwraith (voice)
Mike Hopkins Farmer Maggot (voice)
Augie Davis, Ross Duncan, Jason Fitch, Micha Kemp, Sandro Kopp, Andrea Russell, Pete Smith, Piripi Waretini, Tim Wong, Andrew Van Klei Extras

Special effects[edit | edit source]

The Fellowship of the Ring makes extensive use of digital, practical and makeup special effects throughout. One noticeable effect that appears in almost every scene involves setting a proper scale so that the characters are all the proper height. Elijah Wood, who plays Frodo, is 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) tall in real life; but the character of Frodo Baggins is barely four feet tall. Many different tricks were used to cast the hobbits (and Gimli the Dwarf) as diminutive. Large and small stunt doubles were used in certain scenes, while entire duplicates of certain sets (especially Bag End in Hobbiton) were built at two different scales, so that the characters would appear to be the appropriate size. At one point in the film Frodo runs along a corridor in Bag End, followed by Gandalf. Elijah Wood and Ian McKellen were filmed in separate versions of the same corridor, built at two different scales, and a fast camera pan conceals the edit between the two. Forced perspective was also employed, making it look as though the short hobbits were interacting with taller Men and Elves. Surprising the makers of the film, kneeling was used to great effect.

For the battle between the Last Alliance and the forces of Sauron that begins the film, an elaborate CGI animation system, called Massive, was developed to allow thousands of individual animated "characters" in the program to act differently. This helped give the illusion of realism to the battle sequences.

Filming locations[edit | edit source]

A list of filming locations, sorted by appearance order in the movie:

Fictional
Location
Specific Location
in New Zealand
General Area
in New Zealand
Hobbiton Matamata Waikato
Gardens of Isengard Harcourt Park Upper Hutt
The Shire woods Otaki Gorge Road  
Bucklebury Ferry Keeling Farm Manukau
Forest near Bree Takaka Hill Nelson
Trollshaws Waitarere Forest  
Ford of Bruinen Arrowtown Recreational Reserve Queenstown
Rivendell Kaitoke Regional Park Upper Hutt
Eregion Mount Olympus Nelson
Dimrill Dale Lake Alta The Remarkables
Dimrill Dale Mount Owen Nelson
Lothlórien Lake Wakatipu Queenstown
River Anduin Rangitikei River  
River Anduin Poet's Corner Upper Hutt
Parth Galen Paradise Glenorchy
Amon Hen Mavora Lakes Milford Sound

Deviations from the source material[edit | edit source]

Narrative differences[edit | edit source]

Jackson, Walsh and Boyens made numerous changes to the story. Jackson said his main desire was to make a film focused primarily on Frodo and the Ring, the "backbone" of the story. The prologue condenses Tolkien's backstory, in which The Last Alliance's seven-year siege of the Barad-dûr is a single battle, where Sauron is shown to explode, though Tolkien only said his spirit flees.

Events at the beginning of the film are condensed or omitted altogether. In the book the time between Gandalf leaving the Ring to Frodo and returning to reveal its inscription, which is 17 years, is compressed for timing reasons. Because of this, Frodo is around the same age as Sam, Merry, and Pippin in the films. Frodo also spends a few months preparing to move to Buckland, on the eastern border of the shire. This move is omitted and combined with him setting out for Bree. Also compressed is the time between Frodo and Sam leaving Bag End and their meeting Merry and Pippin. Characters such as Tom Bombadil are left out to simplify the plot. Such sequences are left out to make time to introduce Saruman, who doesn't appear in the book until Gandalf's account at the Council of Elrond. Saruman's role is enhanced: he is to blame for the blizzard on Caradhras, a role taken from Sauron and/or Caradhras itself in the book. Gandalf's capture by Saruman has an added fight sequence.

Barliman Butterbur's role at the Prancing Pony is largely removed for time, although the character does appear briefly.

The events at Weathertop were also altered. The fight against the Ringwraiths occurs at the ruins on top of the hill rather than a campsite at its base. When Frodo was stabbed in the book, the party spent two weeks travelling to Rivendell, but in the film it takes less than a week, with Frodo's condition worsening at a commensurately greater rate. Arwen's role is greater in the film, accompanying Frodo all the way to Rivendell, while in the book Frodo faces the Ringwraiths alone at the Ford of Bruinen. The character of Glorfindel was omitted entirely and his scenes were also given to Arwen. She was tacitly credited with the river rising against the Ringwraiths, which was the work of her father Elrond with aid from Gandalf in the book.

A notable addition is Aragorn's self-doubt, which causes him to hesitate to claim the kingship of Gondor. This element is not present in the book, where Aragorn intends to claim the throne at an appropriate time. In the book Narsil is reforged immediately when he joins the Fellowship, but this event is instead moved to The Return of the King to symbolically coincide with his coronation. These elements were added because Peter Jackson believed that each character should be forced to grow or change over the course of the story.

Elrond's character gained an adversarial edge; he expresses doubts in the strength of Men to resist Sauron's evil after Isildur's failure to destroy the ring as depicted in the prologue. Jackson shortened the Council of Elrond by spreading its exposition into earlier parts of the film. Elrond's counsellor, Erestor — who suggested the Ring be given to Tom Bombadil — was completely absent from this scene. Gimli's father, Glóin, was present but had no speaking lines.

The tone of the Moria sequence was altered. Although in the book the Fellowship only realises the Dwarves are all dead once they reach Balin's tomb, the filmmakers instead used foreshadowing devices. Gandalf says to Gimli he would prefer not to enter Moria, and Saruman is shown to be aware of Gandalf's reticence, and also reveals an illustration of the Balrog in one of his books. The corpses of the dwarves are instantly shown as the Fellowship enter Moria.

In terms of narrative structure, the book simply ends; there is no climax, because Tolkien wrote the book as a single story published in three volumes. Jackson's version incorporates the first chapter of The Two Towers and makes its events, told in real time instead of flashback, simultaneous with the Breaking of the Fellowship. This finale is played as a climactic battle, where he first introduces the Uruk-hai referred to as Lurtz in the script. In the book, Boromir is unable to tell Aragorn which hobbits were kidnapped by the orcs before he dies. From there, Aragorn deduces Frodo's intentions when he notices a boat and Sam's pack missing. In the film, Aragorn and Frodo have a scene together where Frodo's intentions are explicitly stated.

Linguistic elements[edit | edit source]

Some fans also felt that movie producers missed the linguistic basis of the work (as Tolkien invented the world to bring his languages to life and not the other way around):

Particularly, Namárië, Galadriel's lament in Lothlórien that begins "Ai! laurië lantar lassi súrinen", did not appear in the film, although Tolkien considered it one of the highest points of The Fellowship of the Ring. A few lines of the poem do, however, appear in the soundtrack on the track "Lothórien". Other samples of Elvish language from the books are treated similarly. However, Elvish (most often Sindarin) is spoken extensively in the film, with and without subtitles. The Elvish lines were, for the most part, devised specifically for the film version, sometimes based on English text written by Tolkien.

The movie features numerous books and artifacts with Tengwar inscriptions. Even though they were researched for accuracy, there are still a couple of peculiarities and inconsistencies not found in Tolkien's own Tengwar samples.

Another idiosyncrasy of the films is that Hobbit writing is shown in the Latin alphabet, while the books state that the Hobbits used the Tengwar. However, the Latin calligraphy was designed to resemble Tengwar, including tehtar above their corresponding vowels. This refers visually to the Tengwar while allowing viewers to immediately recognise the text.

Score[edit | edit source]

Awards[edit | edit source]

In 2002 the movie won four Academy Awards out of thirteen nominations. The four awards were won for Best Cinematography, Best Effects, Visual Effects, Best Makeup and Best Music, Original Score. The nominations were Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Ian McKellen), Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Best Costume Design, Best Director, Best Editing, Best Music, Song (Enya, Nicky Ryan and Roma Ryan for "May It Be"), Best Picture, Best Sound and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published.

After its theatre run, it ranked in the top ten highest grossing movies worldwide, with takings of $860,700,000 USA dollars from world-wide box office sales. (Source: IMDB Top Movies Chart).

The movie has also been released on videotape and DVD, with some editions having additional footage and commentary not included in the theatrical release edition. Notable among the restored scenes is additional footage of a smiling Galadriel bestowing gifts on the members of the fellowship. In the theatrical version, she appeared dark and brooding. On Tuesday, November 12, 2002, Special Extended DVD Edition of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring was released, containing 208 minutes (3 hours, 28 minutes) of footage.

The extended editions of The Fellowship of the Ring and the second movie, The Two Towers had limited theatrical runs in selected cities worldwide in late 2003, during the run-up to the release of the final film, The Return of the King.

Reviews[edit | edit source]

See also[edit | edit source]

References

Licensed screen adaptations of J.R.R. Tolkien's works
Animation The Hobbit (1966) · The Hobbit (1977) · The Lord of the Rings (1978) · The Return of the King (1980) ·The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim (2024, upcoming)
Live-action The Lord of the Rings film series The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) · The Two Towers (2002) · The Return of the King (2003)
The Hobbit film series An Unexpected Journey (2012) · The Desolation of Smaug (2013) · The Battle of the Five Armies (2014)
TV series Hobitit (1993) · The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2022-present)


The Lord of the Rings film series
Source material: The Hobbit · The Lord of the Rings
Films The Fellowship of the Ring (extended editionThe Two Towers (extended edition) · The Return of the King (extended edition)
Music The Fellowship of the Ring (The Complete Recordings) · The Two Towers (The Complete Recordings) · The Return of the King (The Complete Recordings) · "May It Be" · "Gollum's Song" · "Into the West"
Tie-in books Official Movie Guide · The Making of the Movie Trilogy · Complete Visual Companion · Gollum: How We Made Movie Magic · There and Back Again: An Actor's Tale · Weapons and Warfare · The Art of The Lord of the Rings · Sketchbook
The Fellowship of the Ring Visual Companion · The Art of The Fellowship of the Ring
The Two Towers Visual Companion · Photo Guide · The Art of The Two Towers
The Return of the King Visual Companion · The Art of The Return of the King
Video games The Two Towers · The Return of the King · The Third Age · Tactics · Conquest · Aragorn's Quest · Lego The Lord of the Rings
Characters Frodo · Bilbo · Gandalf · Sam · Merry · Pippin · Gandalf · Aragorn · Boromir · Legolas · Gimli · Elrond · Galadriel · Théoden · Éomer · Éowyn · Saruman · Sauron · Witch-king · Denethor · Faramir · Gollum · Gríma · Treebeard · Celeborn · Haldir · Lurtz · Sharku · Grishnákh