The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (film)

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring is a film, released on December 19, 2001, directed by Peter Jackson, with a runtime of 178 minutes. It is the opening installment of the Lord of the Rings film trilogy, and relates the adventures of the Fellowship of the Ring that are contained in the similarly titled first volume of J. R. R. Tolkien's epic literary fantasy, The Lord of the Rings. The screenplay was written by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens and Peter Jackson. It was filmed in New Zealand simultaneously with its two sequels, having a combined budget of U.S. $270 million. Principal photography took 15 months and post-production continued for a year afterwards.

Cast

Actor/Actress	Role
Alan Howard	The Ring (voice)
Noel Appleby	Everard Proudfoot
Sean Astin	Sam Gamgee
Sala Baker	Sauron
Sean Bean	Boromir
Cate Blanchett	Galadriel
Orlando Bloom	Legolas Greenleaf
Billy Boyd	Peregrin "Pippin" Took
Marton Csokas	Celeborn
Ian Holm	Bilbo Baggins
Christopher Lee	Saruman
Brent McIntyre	Witch-King
Ian McKellen	Gandalf the Grey
Peter McKenzie	Elendil
Sarah McLeod	Rosie Cotton
Dominic Monaghan	Meriadoc "Merry" Brandybuck
Viggo Mortensen	Aragorn
Craig Parker	Haldir
John Rhys-Davies	Gimli
Andy Serkis	Gollum
Harry Sinclair	Isildur
Liv Tyler	Arwen
Hugo Weaving	Elrond
Elijah Wood	Frodo Baggins

Synopsis

Sauron, the Lord of the Rings, has awakened and threatens to conquer Middle-earth. To stop this ancient evil once and for all, Frodo Baggins must destroy Sauron's 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.

He travels from his home in the Shire with Sam, Merry and Pippin to Bree where they meet Aragorn. Pursued by Black Riders, they must get to Rivendell where they decide to take the ring to Mordor, and where they are joined by Gandalf, Gimli, Legolas and Boromir. They try to cross the mountains but are defeated because of Saruman's magic and travel underneath, through the mines of Moria, where Gandalf falls into a chasm while fighting a Balrog. They then travel to the country of the elves in Lothlórien, and down the Great River on boats, where the company splits during an attack by Uruk-hai. Boromir is killed, and Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas split off to track the Uruk-hai who have captured Merry and Pippin. Frodo and Sam head east in the direction of Mordor.

Special effects

The Fellowship of the Ring makes extensive use of digital, practical and make-up special effects throughout. One noticeable illusion that appears in almost every scene involves setting a proper scale so that the characters are all the correct height. Elijah Wood, who plays Frodo, is 5ft 6in (1.68 m) tall in real life, but the character of Frodo Baggins is barely four feet in height. Many different tricks were used to depict the hobbits (and Gimli the Dwarf) as being of diminutive stature. (As a matter of good fortune, John-Rhys Davies — who played Gimli — is as tall compared to the hobbit actors as his character needed to be compared to theirs, so he did not need to be filmed separately as a third variation of height.) Large and small scale doubles were used in certain scenes, while entire duplicates of certain sets (including 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, so that it would look as though the short hobbits were interacting with taller Men and Elves. Surprising the makers of the film, the simple ruse of kneeling down 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 by Stephen Regelous that would allow thousands of individual animated "characters" in the program to act independently. This helped give the illusion of realism to the battle sequences.

Filming locations

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	Manakau
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

A small but vocal minority of admirers of the original book raised some concerns when the film was released, complaining that the movie's screenplay made a number of changes to Tolkien's work. Many of these protests seemed to be rather minor concerns and were largely ignored by general movie-going audiences. However, more than a few people expressed surprise when the movie diverged from the book in what might be considered more fundamental ways.

The final scene is actually taken from the first chapter of the second volume, The Two Towers.

Bilbo's birthday party was actually a combined birthday party for himself and Frodo (who was 33) since they share the same birthday. The (controversial) number of guests invited to the party (144) was determined by adding their ages together.

In the book, the Fellowship's adventure takes place 17 years after Bilbo's birthday party. In the film, this time period was eliminated, requiring various characters to have their ages changed at the beginning of the film. (It should also be noted that in the book Frodo is a good deal older than Merry, Pippin and Sam, but in the film the contrary happens.)

In the book, Gandalf stays with Frodo for two months following telling him about the Ring, and Frodo stays in the Shire another three months before leaving. In the movie, Gandalf is with Frodo and Sam as they set off, seemingly only a few days after telling Frodo of the Ring; then he rides off. This hurried behavior makes Gandalf appear to be a very fickle guide and guardian.

Saruman is only mentioned in one chapter in the book, but his character is brought forth as the chief adversary to the Fellowship in the film. In addition, a new character, Lurtz, was created to be Saruman's minion. The filmmakers made these changes partly because Saruman is a very important character in the second volume, and they felt he needed to be properly introduced and explained before then, and partly because they needed more villains in the first film.

The hobbits' adventures on the way from the Shire to Bree, which occupy over five chapters of the novel, were drastically cut, implying that the journey took place over a much shorter period of time. This material includes the visit to Buckland and the Old Forest, as well as characters like Farmer Maggot, Fredegar Bolger and Tom Bombadil, who are completely absent from the film. The time they spend in Bree itself is also significantly shortened, and their acquisition of the pony, Bill, is missing. Also missing is an entire subplot in which Frodo pretends to be moving back to his ancestral home in Buckland, with the help of his hobbit friends (who, in the book, turn out to be Sam's co-conspirators and are introduced quite differently).

Old Man Willow was transplanted to Fangorn Forest (in the extended version of The Two Towers (movie)).

Arwen Evenstar has a more visible, if not greater role, and her replacement of the character of Glorfindel from the novel raised the ire of many dedicated Tolkien fans.

The characterization of Boromir is expanded somewhat, and his final stand at Amon Hen is included on-screen (an event which happens in the next volume of the books, though it takes place chronologically at the same time as the events in the last chapter of The Fellowship of the Ring).

Certain battle scenes are exaggerated. In the book the Fellowship only slays a couple of orcs in Moria, while in the movie it battles a whole league of them and a cave-troll. Similarly at Amon Hen, Legolas, and Gimli slay few orcs and Aragorn doesn't even see one alive. However in the movie it is shown as a climactic battle, where all members of the company except Frodo and Sam slay several of the creatures. Also in the book, there are few of Saruman's Uruk-hai at the battle (the Fellowship doesn't even see one at the time). The book states that the army mainly consists of orcs, whereas in the movie it comprises Uruk-hai.

The dynamics of the ending of the film differ greatly from its source material. The book ends in chaos. Frodo and Sam have no idea there's an orc attack, Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli know some hobbits have been captured but not which ones, and Merry and Pippin are unaware that the rest of the company has divided. (The idea being that the reader then plunges right into the next book, as The Lord of the Rings was written as a single novel.) In the movie, the screenwriters felt the need to create a cleaner and more satisfying ending, as not to frustrate a theatrical audience that won't see the sequel for a year. Therefore, the characters' knowledge and decisions are crystal clear: Frodo says his goodbye to the company (to Aragorn), Merry and Pippin realize he's leaving and give themselves up so he can have a safe getaway, and Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli realize they've done their part for Frodo and must attempt to rescue Merry and Pippin. These changes also allowed the second film to begin with immediate action and a forward-moving story, as opposed to exposition and picking up the pieces of the ending of the first film.

Many of the characters do not match their descriptions in the book, from their appearance (e.g., in the film, Aragorn's hair is not "flecked with grey" and Boromir's hair is not "shorn about his shoulders" as described in the book) to their costumes (such as the footwear of Legolas, which differs greatly from what Tolkien had in mind) to their personalities (Elrond perhaps being the most changed in the first film).

Some fans explain that, compared to the many film adaptations of literary works over the years, many of which bear little or no resemblance to the source material (e.g., Blade Runner), this film and its sequels are still very faithful versions, with some changes necessary due to the nature of the medium. (Books can explain their characters' motivations through thoughts and musings and advance the plot through internal struggles, whereas films can only use external visual and audio within set time and budget limitations.) Critics argue that while condensation of such a long narrative was an inevitable consequence of adapting the books for the screen, Jackson and his co-creators erred in substituting their own standards of character and plot construction for Tolkien's. ^*

Linguistic elements

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

In particular, Namárië, Galadriel's lament in Lórien 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, make it into the soundtrack at the departure from Lórien. 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, they still show 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 is written in such a way that it bears resemblance to the Tengwar, including tehtar above their corresponding vowels. This refers visually to the Tengwar while allowing the audience to immediately recognise the text.

Time Allotment

One can perform a comparative analysis of the film and the book by comparing scenes to chapters and comparing time to pages. Those chapters that have low pages per minute values are chapters that have been given focus in the movie.

Section	Pages	Minutes	pages/minute
Book One	180pp	64:10	2.8ppm
Chapter I - A Long-expected Party	22pp	19:30	1.1ppm
Chapter II - The Shadow of the Past	23pp	9:40	2.4ppm
Chapter III - Three is Company	21pp	~4:20	~4.8ppm
Chapter IV - A Short Cut to Mushrooms	13pp	~4:20	~3.0ppm
Chapter V - A Conspiracy Unmasked	12pp	~4:20	~2.8ppm
Chapter VI - The Old Forest	14pp	0:00	—
Chapter VII - In The House of Tom Bombadil	12pp	0:00	—
Chapter VIII - Fog On The Barrow-downs	15pp	0:00	—
Chapter IX - At the Sign of The Prancing Pony	14pp	5:30	2.5ppm
Chapter X - Strider	13pp	0:30	26.0ppm
Chapter XI - A Knife in the Dark	21pp	10:00	2.1ppm
Chapter XII - Flight to the Ford	18pp	6:00	3.0ppm
Book Two	180pp	95:10	1.9ppm
Chapter I - Many Meetings	21pp	12:50	1.6ppm
Chapter II - The Council of Elrond	33pp	6:50	4.8ppm
Chapter III - The Ring Goes South	23pp	9:40	2.4ppm
Chapter IV - A Journey in the Dark	27pp	10:00	2.7ppm
Chapter V - The Bridge of Khazad-dum	12pp	17:40	0.7ppm
Chapter VI - Lothlorien	21pp	2:30	8.4ppm
Chapter VII - The Mirror of Galadriel	15pp	10:10	1.5ppm
Chapter VIII - Farewell to Lorien	13pp	0:50	15.6ppm
Chapter IX - The Great River	15pp	3:10	4.7ppm
Chapter X - The Breaking of the Fellowship	12pp	21:30	0.6ppm
extra in movie	0pp	4:00	0.0ppm
Total	375pp	170:00	2.2ppm

Score

The musical score for the Lord of the Rings films was composed by Howard Shore. Two original songs, including the end title theme, "May It Be", were composed and sung by Enya, who allowed her label, Reprise Records, to release the soundtrack to this and its two sequels.

Awards

In 2002 the movie won four Academy Awards out of thirteen nominations. The winning categories were for Best Cinematography, Best Effects (Visual Effects), Best Makeup and Best Music (Original Score). Despite its praise by fans, the other nominated categories of Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Ian McKellen), Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Best Costume Design, Best Director, Best Editing, Best Music (Best Song) (Enya, Nicky Ryan and Roma Ryan for "May It Be"), Best Picture, Best Sound and Best Writing (Best Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published) were not won.

The movie won the 2002 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation.

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

The success of the theatrical cut of the film brought about an Extended Edition (208 minutes), with new editing, added special effects and music. This version was released on DVD November 12, 2002 along with four commentaries and hours of supplementary material. It was so successful that the sequels were each given similar releases.

Notable among the restored scenes is a new beginning to the film (following the prologue) and many character-building elements, showing sides of various protagonists (notably Aragorn and Galadriel) that were absent from the theatrical cut, which was largely edited around the character of Frodo.

The extended edition of The Fellowship of the Ring had limited theatrical runs before each of its sequels were released.

Extended Edition

Some scenes were either removed or shortened for the theatrical release of the movie. These were later released as a part of the extended edition DVD. Additional scenes included:

Bilbo's opening narration "Concerning Hobbits".
Aragorn singing "The Lay of Lúthien".
Gandalf reciting Black Speech at the Council of Elrond.
Aragorn visiting his mother's grave.
The Fellowship given a goodbye at Rivendell.
Gandalf warning Frodo about Boromir near Moria.
Lothlorien massively recontextualised, with extra lines by Boromir and the gift giving ceremony.
Aragorn and Boromir seeing Gollum on a log.
Fan Club credits.

An Easter Egg is present on the first DVD of some editions of the extended edition. It can be accessed by going to the final page of the chapter menu and then scrolling down until a golden ring appears. The Easter Egg is a parody of the Council of Elrond scene and stars Jack Black and Sarah Michelle Geller.

External links

Cast

Synopsis

Special effects

Filming locations

Deviations from the source material

Linguistic elements

Time Allotment

Score

Awards

Extended Edition

See also

Following movies

Previous versions

Other articles

External links

Gourt Home::Gourt :: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (film)

Cast

Synopsis

Special effects

Filming locations

Deviations from the source material

Linguistic elements

Time Allotment

Score

Awards

Extended Edition

See also

Following movies

Previous versions

Other articles

External links