The scouring of the net and my email is complete, and I am now prepared to give you a slightly different glimpse of the Lord of the Rings featurette that was shown at Comic Con 2000.
Scant hours after the featurette was shown at Comic Con, Quickbeam submitted an in-depth report on it. Despite his involvement with Ian McKellen showing up at the featurette, he did not have the best seat in the house (well crouched on the floor is no seat at all!).
Numerous people chimed in with what they saw and felt through email and our discussion boards. These are some excerpts from those messages. I also grabbed some excerpts from a variety of sources around the web. We would like to thank everyone who submitted information.
“I just got done watching the LoTR footage at Comic Con 2000, and I am even more hyped up about it now than before.“… …”All in all it was killer, and the part with Ian coming out was totally unexpected, totally made my Comic Con 2000.” Kevin
“I had resisted downloading the Internet trailer because I wanted to experience a theater trailer, and boy, am I glad I waited!“… …”Last of all, there was a tiny scene in which a small, golden-haired toddler girl runs down a path and jumps into the arms of Sean Astin as Sam. This caused me to immediately burst into tears as it was obvious that this was the final scene when Sam returns from the Havens to Elanor and Rosie. Just the sight of this poignant, bittersweet moment at the end was enough to break my heart, and to reassure me that whatever flaws, inaccuracies, or changes that these movies have won’t matter one whit — they are all going to be so emotionally resonant and beautiful that no one will care.” Sandy
“I agree completely with Quickbeam’s review of the Comic Con LoTR preview. The crowd energy when Sir Ian himself was introduced was chilling. Everyone stood as one and cheered. I felt he was genuinely touched by the reception.” Jim
“The featurette was fabulous. My only complaint was that it was TOO SHORT! But it made my visit to Comic Con.” Eerok
“Sean Bean eloquent delivery about the troubles caused by the Ring “…such a small thing…” in the controversial scene where he is grasping the chain the Ring hands on. Having established the context of the scene now, it makes for a perfect example of how moments from the book dramatized for film gain a new level of intensity and intimacy.“… …”To sum up, the production has clearly captured what you might call the “essential feel of Tolkien.”” DV
“Amazing stuff. Sir Ian McKellen absolutely rules!!!” Lord of the Nazgul
“… you could feel the wave of energy building in the crowd. From the first moment of the LOTR footage until the end, the stunned silence was broken only by the occasional “ooh” or “ahh”.“… …”Between Gandalf and Magneto, Sir Ian is having a Beatles-like effect on fanboy crowds these days.” IGN.com
“What happened during the next 15 minutes of Comic Con would probably be one of the most magical moments of my life.“… …”I tried to take glances at how Ian was taking in most of the footage. He was very engrossed in what was happening on screen and would occasionally take a look into the crowd to see how they were reacting as well. I probably missed some stuff in the trailer, but it was so cool to watch one of the actors react to others seeing his own work.” Joram Manka (of Fandom/Ringbearer) as reported on AICN
“In total, New Line presented approximately 6 minutes of footage. Jonathan and I tend to think that this footage was released for an event in New Zealand prior to today’s showing because of the dates at the end of the trailer–instead of “December 2001”, it read “Holiday 2001″… a term we Americans don’t use to refer to the Christmas/Holiday season.” Ted (of Tolkien Online) in his report
I must say I am quite jealous of the people who were able to attend, and that like the rest of you I will be holding my breath for the theatrical trailer this fall.
On behalf of TheOneRing.net and myself, our thanks to everyone who submitted a report on the LoTR footage at Comic Con 2000.
Quickbeam’s full coverage of Comic Con:
