I recently bought my first HDTV, so I was eager to try it out. And what better way than to re-visit some of my best DVD/movies of the past few years? Not just one movie, but the whole trilogy (plus special features). It also came at the perfect time, because my wife just finished reading The Hobbit (for her class this fall) and she actually enjoyed it. So I thought if she was ever to enjoy the Lord of the Rings, this was it. She would never read the book unless required by her job, so the movies are her only options.
As for my history with LOTR, I read the book when I was in high school, watched all movies at the theater and subsequently watched the extended cuts on DVD. I tried to re-read the book after watching the movies, but I only read 2/3. This is the first time I am watching the extended cuts one after the other.
The Movie
This first movie is a great introduction to this incredible world. I already knew about it, but seeing it realized so faithfully was incredible.
The Prologue was a great crash course in the history of Middle-Earth. It also showed Sauron in his physical form, but I’m ambivalent about that choice. Seeing him as a physical being meant that I was expecting to see him at the end of the story also. Which never happened.
The beginning in the Shire was fun with a hint of the dark. Seeing the Hobbits next to Gandalf really made me believe that they were real creatures. And it also showed how simple the hobbits, which makes their journey even more impressive. The ring is really a character, its close ups are huge on my HDTV, and it even has a voice.
But when the Nazgul appear, things start to get darker. Frodo’s long journey starts here, joined by his 3 hobbit friends, as well as Aragorn in Bree. When Frodo is wounded by the Ringwraiths, that’s the first of many such scenes which all have the same expression by Elijah Wood: a bit constipated… Once Arwen is introduced my wife’s interest increased. Her look is obviously suited for an elf, but it’s her voice that striked me as perfect. I know they manipulated it a bit, but she does have a very elven voice especially when speaking elvish.
Meanwhile Gandalf’s meeting with his superior Saruman does not go well. I couldn’t think of a more suited actor than Christopher Lee. Not only his appearance, age and voice are perfect, he’s the biggest fan of Tolkien. Their fight with their staffs didn’t look ridiculous, which I was afraid of, whenever there are old people physically fighting. In this case it wasn’t too bad. The creation of the Uruk-hai is a great scene, with my favorite piece of music by Shore, as well as the big theme of industrial revolution.
Rivendell is where the Fellowship is formerly formed, with the inclusion of men (Boromir), elf (Legolas) and dwarf (Gimli). I love Pippin’s line at the end of the council: “Right, where are we going?”. LOTR is not without its funny moments, Gimli is the one that has the most funny lines. His friendship with Legolas is a great arc and funny even in the midst of the battle.
The fight in Moria is a great one, not only visually (first the orcs and a Cave Troll, then the impressive Balrog), but especially emotionally, due to Gandalf’s fall. The desperation in the fellowship’s faces told much more than any word could.
After this tragedy, they get some rest in Lothlorien, where we learn more about the characters. I really liked the scene with Galadriel and Frodo, it showed even more clearly the corrupting power of the ring. Galadriel is not really what she looks like, she has a darker feel to her.
The ending is about the end of the fellowship. Frodo is the first to realize that he has to go by himself, especially after Boromir (corrupted by the ring) tries to steal the ring from him. But Sam would never leave Frodo, so lucky for Frodo he has him. Boromir’s death is a great emotional place to end the movie. Sure he was easily corrupted by the ring, but he also fought honorably to save Merry and Pippin. His death scene with Aragorn was important for both characters. Unfortunately Merry and Pippin are captured, and Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli go after them to save them.
The DVD Extras
The documentaries go deep into the production of this incredible film, from the design and visualization, to the writing and characters and cast.
The adaptation of the story gets a good featurette, where the writers (two of them at least) try to explain their reasoning behind some of the changes. I have no bad feelings about those changes, first of all because I don’t even remember the details of the book anymore, and most importantly a movie is obviously different from a novel, so it needs changes, otherwise it wouldn’t work at all.
Weta was obviously at the center of the look of the film. They are obviously proud of what they’ve achieved, considering that it was basically created for these movies. Alan Lee and John Howe’s role was also highlighted, which gives them almost an authentic cred from the start.
The filming of the movie was also interesting, from the cast recounting their lives during the shoot, including some funny anecdotes, especially from the hobbits. It’s ironic to see that the cast’s real lives were actually not too far from their screen counterparts.
My favorite featurette was the one about scaling effects. How did they achieve the illusion of the hobbits and dwarves being so small? Many different techniques, that worked seamlessly on screen. I especially liked the explanation of the moving forced perspective. Brilliant.
Another interesting doc was about digital grading. I must say I wasn’t aware of this technique at all, so I was happy to learn about it. Though the fact that they scanned the film into digital, and then export it back out into film felt such a waste. Digital cameras make so much more sense.
The only little problem with these extras, is that they were done before The Two Towers was released, so some things were left unsaid for fear of spoiling the rest of the movies.
Final Thoughts
The filmmakers managed to give us the first part of a story that felt like a complete movie. It had a longer introduction, but it quickly went into action and emotional scenes. By the end we’re totally engaged in the characters, and we even had a full arc with Boromir. Even the other characters already have grown by the end.
The documentaries satisfied most of my curiosity, though at times they might have felt a bit dry. Still, I had no problem going through them for the second time.
Rating: 4 Stars