Peter Orphanos, the producer of TORN Digital, gives us his first report on the recent events at the LOTR Press Junket in New York City. Check this out!

“This will most likely be one of the greatest film epic adventures of all time”, if I may steal a quote from the great dwarf himself, John Rhys-Davies… “You know, Mr. Rhys-Davies, you weren’t exaggerating about that declaration.”, I will tell him one day, I hope.

Please bear in mind, I will try and avoid any true spoilers…

I never thought I would be seeing this movie so soon, let alone meeting some of the cast and crew, but when the lights dimmed in the theater my wish’s came true. Peter Jackson, some say,”has never had a hit”. Well, I say now, to all those naysayers and disbelievers, “Never Say Never” again. This is, without a doubt, the greatest adaptation of a book to the big screen we have ever seen. And not only does the film look great, but the story itself does true justice to the book. I would also like to add that Mr. Jackson has skillfully translated all the characters from print to motion without a single hitch.

As for the movie, it is well paced and for a feature that is this long (2:45+), you will not only feel comfortable as a fan, but you will become immersed in the world of Middle-earth. It starts out with a great visual history of the ring up until The Hobbit and then the journey begins in Hobbiton. It is here that we meet Gandalf The Grey, Frodo, Bilbo and Sam Gamgee, on a bright sunny day in the Shire. The story flows along from here in a nice trot that seems to cover the essentials of the book, while pleasantly surprising the audience with its unique interpretations of scenes and chapters.

Throughout the film, Peter Jackson consistently builds a solid base for the main characters to grow and he does it the best with dear Frodo. He has also enhanced other characters such as Saruman, Boromir and Arwen with just the right amount of screen time (no more, no less) to fulfill their purpose in the story and keep it moving. And, of course, Gollum is the real treat (I won’t say more than that) and fans will be looking forward to him in the next two films.

One of the coolest characters that had a great presence/aura all the time was Orlando Bloom as Legolas, from his first appearance at the Council Of Elrond to Amon Hen, there is this confidence in him as a tried and true person, and it clearly shows in all of his scenes and is most effective in the Battles.

Liv Tyler also delivered in her role as the beautiful Arwen and at times I thought I was watching someone else on the screen. She was that good! There were many great performances by the entire cast and to write that out would be redundant, but I will say that “Viggo Mortensen, Elijah Wood, Sir Ian McKellen, John Rhys-Davies, Orlando Bloom, Ian Holm, you’ve created a new ring for yourselves.”

A few scenes will be stuck in my mind for a long time, the first is the battle at Amon Hen, which is one of the best action scenes so far in this trilogy (I can’t wait for Helm’s Deep, which according to Orlando Bloom, took 9 weeks to shoot). Mines Of Moria, of course, blew me away and seeing the tomb of Balin and the Great Halls built by the Dwarves was unbelievable.

Peter Jackson doesn’t just use the visual effects to impress the audience, but uses it to enhance the story and it is evidenced by some of his motion shots, especially with the Pillars Of The Kings and a diving camera shot from the top of Orthanc into the mines of Isengard. Isengard, Orthanc, Mordor, Lorien, Rivendell and Bag End will also be among those remembered too, but there are many favorites to be had by all fans.

So what was it like? The best way to describe it is that I left the theater feeling like I had, not only, read the book, but lived through and witnessed the journey of Frodo and company first hand. And please keep in mind I have read the original trilogy several times including an October read just to prepare for the movies. It Was Worth The Time! And worth the HYPE!

Thanks to Peter Jackson & Company plus New Line for making this epic adventure come to life and for giving TORN Digital the thrill of a lifetime. New Line has not only brought back a great feeling of TRUE Entertainment on the big screen to the motion picture industry, but they will be making film history in doing so. With the trilogy, What many of us have imagined about for many years will finally be seen and experienced by all! Enjoy It!

I’ll return next week with some of the press junket interviews we did with PJ, Sir Ian, Elijah, Sam, Viggo and others, and let you know what they were like.

Teaser:

I walked into the Waldorf Astoria with Brian and who do we run into while waiting for the elevator, but none other than Viggo Mortenson himself. What a guy! I congratulated him on his performance and he was surprised I had seen the film. We then continued to speak a little bit about his great scene at Amon Hen.

I was sitting right next to Peter Jackson the day after my first viewing of FOTR…