It’s hard to believe but Peter Jackson’s first Lord of the Rings film was released way back in December, 2001. As with all things memory-related, it’s hard to believe it’s been that long but it also seems a life-time ago when I think back to the events of 9\/11 that had taken place just prior to this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From the first announcement I had been following the production of these movies on the Internet, mostly from the breathless daily commentary to be found on aintitcoolnews (when it was still relevant and interesting) and then on theonering.net. The casting sounded like it was going to be spot-on and it seemed like Jackson was preparing to unleash something really special on the world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was not disappointed. As expected, the casting was perfect and so many shots were exactly as I had pictured them while reading the books (particularly the representation of the Argonath and the scenes at Amon Hen toward the end). There were call-backs to Bakshi’s 1970s animated version of the story, there was humor and the stunning special effects were almost seamless. Oh, and the musical score was great, too! Of course, the story itself was what made the film really work. Jackson and his crew had carefully and lovingly adapted the book for the screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I went to see The Fellowship of the Ring for the first time with my buddies Chris and George and we all loved it. I think I went to see the movie at least two more times in the theater and I bought the DVDs when they came out. Then came the second installment in 2002 and when The Return of the King was released in December 2003, the three of us went to see the all-day extended edition marathon followed by the first showing of the final film. Although I don’t think the other films lived up to the perfection of the first one, seeing the whole story on the big screen was amazing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I’ve watched these movies many times in the years since they were released (on DVD, on Blu-ray and in UHD and streaming) but honestly, they are an undertaking so I probably haven’t watched them as half as much as they deserve (see what I did there?) to be seen. I recently watched the extended version of Fellowship (which I much prefer to the original release) with my son and although I still loved it, he wasn’t as into the movie as I was which made me a bit sad but maybe I oversold it a bit in my excitement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It’s hard to believe but Peter Jackson’s first Lord of the Rings film was released way back in December, 2001. As with all things memory-related, it’s hard to believe it’s been that long but it also seems a life-time ago … Continue reading