From: Aelinwen
The splendid Christopher Lee appeared in interview on The Big Breakfast this morning. I can say splendid..I’ve spoken to Christopher Lee and can confirm that his deep, resonant, velvet voice is how he actually speaks, even when he is doing something as innocent as buying cheese (which is how I met him).
Anyway…
Ed Wood opened by asking Chistopher what he thought of the project and he said it was the biggest film he’d been part of and that Peter Jackson’s achievment in filming all three together was ‘amazing’
Once again a cast member was subjected to the weird ‘Board of the Rings’ game where cast members have to open a door on a board and answer the questions behind it. There are prizes! Plastic gnomes…
Christopher says he hopes he can answer some of the questions, Ed replies, to quote Galadriel,’If you cannot do it, no one can.’
First door opened had the question, ‘Gnome it in three’ Christopher had to pick the three biggest and best film characters he had played.
He said..’This film.. the up and coming Star Wars film I’m not allowed to talk about and Rasputin.’
The next door opened was ‘Orc all about it’
Christopher was asked if the myth about him actually meeting Tolkien is true?
Apparently it is. Someone introduced him to Tolkien, who was smoking a pipe, and shook his hand. Christopher said all he could do was exchange greetings and gape.
Asked how he had become a fan, he said he had read the first volume when it came out in 1954 and he has read it every year since. He is, he admits, obsessed, but ‘for the right reasons’.
He was then offered a plastic gnome out of the sack. After peering at them for a moment he asked, ‘Do you have an Uruk-Hai?’ Believe me, he says ‘Uruk-Hai’ beautifully. By the magic of television, a plastic orc was produced (out of its box but I couldn’t see which orc it was). He said, ‘I don’t know what my wife will think,’ but thanked the interviewer graciously.
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My good friend Garrett has sent us a non-spoiler and spoiler filled reviews of LOTR:FOTR! Enjoy!
Non-Spoiler
Well I have just returned from seeing “Fellowship of the Ring” at the NY Press Screening and will do my best to give you all the non-spoiler and spoiler details of a film that honestly surprised me. Don’t get me wrong I had the highest of expectations, but I think you will be surprised too. I will write this review without any spoilers or plot give-aways (not that we don’t know them) so any one who wants to just see the film can enjoy it. For fanatical readers of theonering.net like me, I will be sending in a second review full of spoilers and points to watch for and a few of my favorite parts. Sound fair? Good.
I will tell you what I know of elves, men, and dwarves. Of Hobbits and wizards and the one ring to rule them all. First of all the film begins with the history of the ring as we all know it. Galadriel tells the tale as we are taken to Middle Earth. The opening battle sequences are amazing, giving true epic proportions to fantasy battles. Magic, armor, hordes of orcs all come to life. Then we see Bilbo and Gollum in the dark caves of the Misty Mountains, just seeing it makes you catch your breath.
Switch to Hobbiton, we are introduced to Gandalf and Frodo right away. I must say that Ian McKellen has done something remarkable with Gandalf. We all have our images of the old wizard, but no embodiment of our visions. Thank you Sir Ian for giving us a Gandalf who shows strength, caring, and humor in the best of ways. Elijah Wood plays Frodo with innocence and uncertainty. His development throughout the film is wonderful. I must mention as no other reviews I read have, that Ian Holm is a FANTASTIC Bilbo. He is truly great. Watch for some surprises from him as well later on in Rivendell. Billy Boyd and Dominic Monaghen are wonderfully troublesome as Merry and Pippin. Pippin gets into all sorts of mishaps and adds some funny lines at times when the Fellowship are in peril. The landscape behind the Shire is fantastic, in reading the books you have the comfortable countryside images and Peter Jackson serves them up on a beautiful canvas.
Don’t make any mistake about it, this film keeps you on the edge of your seat. The dark riders are an awesome force of fear and an excellent depiction of evil early on in the film.
Adding to the collective villains is Christopher Lee. He is Saruman to the core. Adding such a voice to treachery and destruction (I can’t wait to watch the Ents rip through Isengard..you will know why when you see the film). This whole sequence gives a powerful image of Tolkein’s classic theme of machine vs. nature. Lee is wonderful, encompassing all the destructive force that misused knowledge can bring with it.
Viggo Mortensen and Sean Bean carry the film at many points. Please note that all the casting is EXCELLENT. Some of the moments between these two are great, the competition, the weakness that mankind suffer from are played out perfectly. Especially by Bean who really comes to life at the end of the film.
I know many fans of the book are uncertain of Arwen and Liv Tyler. Well frankly, I understand Peter’s choice and think that it is done wonderfully. She is great, offering healing and romance to Viggo as Strider. The moment on the bridge is great as they speak elvish to each other.
Speaking of elves…Hugo Weaving does a great job with Elrond. A powerful elf lord who shows his timeless knowledge and caring for his friends as well as all races of Middle Earth.
Gimli and Legolas…everyone has their favorite. Well I have two, Orlando Bloom and John Rhys-Davies are wonderful. Gimli is great at the Council of Elrond, and Legolas lays waste to orcs with his bow.
Cate Blanchett remains one of my favorite actresses ever since “Elizabeth”, there is no change here. Galadriel and the Lothlorien are amazing. The whole sequences has to be rewatched a dozen times to pick up all the elvish glamor. She is wonderful, powerful and yet an enigma. Galadriel is an in-depth character no doubt, and Cate is perfect as the elf sorceress-queen.
Ok, so have I mentioned everyone, Oh ya…that Director guy. Well Mr. Jackson what can I say, I’ve been following the making of this film for 3 and a half years on this very Web site. So I will say to you Thanks. Thanks for taking all of our hopes as fans of Tolkein and fantasy and putting them on the screen in a truly powerful film. Thanks for using John Howe’s art as an inspiration. It looked great, paced well, and left me realizing why I have been a fan of fantasy my whole life.
I can say that this film has something at its core which forces us to all look inside ourselves. People read fantasy to get away from the dull everyday things in life and quest for what is best in themselves. Tolkein created a world of powerful evil, and proved that with some trust in yourself and a little friendship any foe can be beaten. This film is better than just going to see a larger than life movie. It shows, as “Lord of the Rings” did, the humanity within us all. Please fell free to check out the next review full of spoilers!!!!
Scoll down for spoilers…
SPOILER FILLED REVIEW!
Here we go, I’m just going to run down the list of spoilers I think you will all enjoy:
1. Though it’s not in the books the part when Merry and Pippin steal Gandalf’s fireworks is hysterical.
2. Sauron in the battle against men and elves at the beginning is great to watch. It shows the true destructive power of the ring.
3. Isildur and Elrond take the ring to Mt. Doom to destroy it but their attempt fails when Isildur gives into the ring. (This happens as a flashback during the Rivendell sequence).
4. Gwahir (spelling?) is awesome. I thought it was very cool that Gandalf whispers to a moth who then sends the great eagle.
5. The wizard duel is short, and not silly at all. Other reviews found it lame, I thought it was a good addition to confirm Saruman’s treachery.
6. Lothlorien, Moria, Hobbiton, and Rivendell are AMAZING!!!
7. Strider does not give his speech in the Prancing Pony as I’d have liked to have seen, but gives it to Frodo at the Council of Elrond.
8. Boromir does use the horn.
9. Gimli tries to smash the ring during the Council and breaks his axe to pieces. I know this was not in the book, but it was very dwarven.
10. When Frodo shuts up the arguing Council by saying “I’ll take the ring” you want to stand up and cheer, it’s great.
11. The fights are great!!! Loads of slashing and smashing and shooting, I loved when Legolas shoots at the orcs in Moria when they are on the steps. Also, when Gimli and Gandalf attack the cave troll its great!
12. The whole Mithril shirt and Sting combo is great, especially when it saves Frodo’s life. The troll stabs him instead of an orc captain, but the effect is maintained.
13. We do see Aragorn’s broken sword in Rivendell in a short scene between Boromir and Aragorn.
14. Gandalf’s look to Frodo when he is all dressed and ready to leave is wonderful.
15. Gandalf’s opening line is hysterical. “Precisely on time”
16. The Balrog!!! Holy Gandalf standing in the face of that demon…just great images.
17. Saruman ordering the orcs to destroy the gardens and trees at Isengard. Great imagery, Bring on the ENTS!!! It will justify that sequence so well in the next film.
18. Boromir’s two speeches to Aragorn are great. Once when he explains Gondor and of course when he dies. You really got the sense of their hope to improve mankind from the greedy, corrupt race that the elves and dwarves see them for.
19. The white hand on the Urak Hai was silly to some, but I love orcs and thought it was great, the yelling and running, as Saruman calls them the perfect warriors.
20. After the Fellowship leaves Lothlorien, look at their cloak clasps. Oh, look at Boromir’s vanbraces as well.
21. Mordor is great, in the beginning, when the riders come forth. The black riders in general are scary, slimey, dark and really make you jump.
22. Bilbo’s grab at the ring in Rivendell….the whole audience JUMPED!!!
23. Sam jumping after Frodo at the end is great.
24. Legolas, takes down three orcs with three shots in in like two seconds…just enjoy watching Legolas and Gimli do there stuff can wait for the competition.
25. The Watcher in the water is awesome. I like how it traps them inside Moria. Add the whole gate sequence and Frodo helping Gandalf and its really fun to watch.
Ok guys, it’s 2 a.m. I have to work at 7 a.m. But its worth it. I hope you all see the film and enjoy it as much as I did. I hope my hints and thoughts gave you reason to be more excited. I have to say a quick thanks to Xoanon, Carl, Sir Manfred and all the Von Halsterns, Marianne (a true elf), Shawnda (a true Tolkein fan), my cousin Kevin, and of course to Padma who always will be eternal to me. Please feel free to write me any questions at drandarion@yahoo.com, I’ll do my best to answer. Oh, did I mention Peter Jackson’s cameo on the streets of Bree…hahaha Thanks again guys, see you all on Dec. 19th!!!!!
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HOLLYWOOD (Zap2it.com) – It hasn’t been released yet and it’s already causing headaches. Despite the unprecedented security measures taken at press and test screenings, pirated copies of “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” have surfaced, reports The Hollywood Reporter.
Investigators from Britain’s Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT) have found about 100 video CD copies of the film during a raid on a market site near the town of Bridgenorth in England on Sunday. They’ve arrested 35 people in what was described as a major operation by FACT officials including police, local council trading standards officers, computer games and music industry copyright watchdogs.
“People have been going into this market for a few weeks, filming the pirates and carrying out test purchases,” said FACT senior investigator Roger Hamilton.
In Dartford, officials discovered 150 DVD copies of “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” but no “Lord of the Rings” because, according to the vendor, the quality was too poor.
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Ringer Spy Kris was SO kind to send us the ENTIRE 30 page article in the latest issue of ‘American Cinematographer’, take a look, cool film-related info here!
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Lord of the Rings The Fellowship of the Ring promotion drives record traffic on Burger King website
Miami, 12/10/01
Burger King Corporation today reported that during the past 14 days of operation of its Lord of the Rings The Fellowship of the Ring related interactive website, 4.5 million hits were recorded on its site, http://www.LOTR.bk.com . Although system upgrades were installed several weeks ago, some users did experience lock out from the site due to heavy traffic.
Average user time on the site was 6 minutes, with the greatest interest on the Sweepstakes portion of the site. Other popular features include BigKids, Restaurant Locator and Nutrition. To date, more than 178,000 individual entries have been received for the on-line sweepstakes, which offers one lucky winner a trip toNew York for a screening of Lord of the Rings The Fellowship of the Ring.
“Lord of the Rings related websites are some of the most highly visited sites on the internet,” said Hal Rossiter, senior director of USA interactive marketing for Burger King Corporation. “Since these enthusiasts are some of the most internet savvy users out there, offering an exciting, interactive website was a natural extension of our Lord of the Rings promotion.”
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LONDON (Reuters) – For Canadian composer Howard Shore, it has been the movie challenge of a lifetime — writing the nine-hour score for the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy.
But he loved every moment in the dark and fantastical world of Middle Earth, can’t wait to dive back in and is hopeful the mammoth composition could be Oscar-winning material.
And he stayed ever faithful to the J.R.R. Tolkien classic that has attracted more than 100 million readers over the last 50 years and was voted in many millennium polls as the book of the century.
“When I was writing, I had the book open on my desk and I was reading it page by page,” Shore told Reuters Television on the eve of Monday’s world premiere of “The Fellowship of The Ring,” the first in the trilogy of films being released every Christmas for the next three years. Shore, whose impressive Hollywood track record ranges from “Seven” to “Mrs. Doubtfire,” from “Silence of the Lambs” to “Philadelphia,” was the first to admit this was the most daunting musical challenge he had ever faced.
“I have found personal achievement in what I have done,” he said. “All of us as a group worked well beyond ourselves.”
The personable 55-year-old from Toronto said: “It is a very inspiring piece to work on.”
But surely he must have got sick of devoting such a large chunk of his life to the epic $270 million project that took 18 months to film amid the scenic splendors of New Zealand?
Not at all, says Shore. “Actually I felt if I had more time, I would be happy to live in that world. It was a wonderful world to live in.”
Movie buffs will be able to gorge themselves on the dark world of Middle Earth full of hobbits, trolls, elves and wizards where Frodo the hobbit sets out to destroy the magic ring before the forces of evil conquer all.
“In future you will be able to watch a nine-hour version of ‘Lord of the Rings’. I think of this as act one,” Shore said.
Inevitably, film critics have made comparisons between the magical world of the intrepid Frodo Baggins and boy wizard Harry Potter, who took the box office by storm last month when “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” was released.
“Fellowship of the Rings” hits 10,000 cinemas worldwide on December 19, but Shore insists there is no comparison.
“They are quite different pictures. ‘Lord of the Rings’ is a much darker and more complex world. I think the comparisons are just due to the proximity of their releases,” he said.
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