All six “The Lord of the Rings” films, including the original trilogy and “The Hobbit” trilogy, are now all available in a remastered 4K Ultra HD re-release. And in revisiting the films, director Peter Jackson said he updated them to all look “like they were shot at the same time.”
Jackson says he noticed “visual inconsistencies” between the six films, especially because “The Fellowship of the Ring”, “The Two Towers” and “The Return of the King” were all shot on 35mm film, while “The Hobbit” films were shot with digital cameras and even experimental rates ahead of their time, as well as different color timing techniques between the first film and the second two.
“I realized how inconsistent they were,” Jackson said in a behind-the-scenes video of the process that was released Tuesday. “It’s great to have all the movies that seem like they were shot at the same time.”
“They now feel like a great feature film telling the same story with the same look and sound,” he continued.
Also read: Amazon’s ‘Lord of the Rings’ series adds 20 to the cast
Hearing a director perform with their beloved classic and modernizing special effects might raise a red flag for “Star Wars” fans who moaned over George Lucas’ tweaks and additions to the original “Star Wars” movie trilogy.
And while we haven’t seen the new look of the ‘Lord of the Rings’ movies, Jackson said nothing was done to be different, but shots that didn’t hold the 4K remaster have now been retouched. . He explains that the purpose of 4K is not just to make everything as sharp as possible, but to always preserve the cinematic quality of the movie.
“The imperfections of the visual effects started to appear. VFX technology has come a long way over the years, and when they get super crisp in the 4K process, some of the clips weren’t holding up so well. So we had the opportunity to go back and remove and paint all the imperfections, ”Jackson said. “I should add that we haven’t improved or improved any of the effects shots. They are exactly the same as you are used to seeing them, but they seem to have been made today rather than 20 years ago.
Watch Jackson’s full video on “The Lord of the Rings” here and above.
The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien: 15 facts about the ‘Fellowship of the Ring’ (Photos)
The “Lord of the Rings” trilogy has hit that increasingly rare sweet spot between critics and the box office, combining to win 30 Oscars and $ 2.9 billion worldwide. It remains a landmark series that has revitalized fantasy in pop culture and introduced JRR Tolkien to a new generation. To celebrate its 15th anniversary, TheWrap has teamed up with IMDb to bring you 15 facts about “The Fellowship of the Ring”.
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Peter Jackson hardly had the chance to turn “The Lord of the Rings” into a movie series. In the 1960s, the Beatles wanted to adapt “LOTR” themselves, with Paul McCartney as Frodo, Ringo Starr as Sam, George Harrison as Gandalf, John Lennon as Gollum and Stanley Kubrick as director. Fortunately, Kubrick declined the project, instead to make “2001: A Space Odyssey”. Then Tolkien, who still owned the film rights to his books, shut down the project for good.
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While showing the film at various studios, Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh presented a screenplay for two films, believing that no studio would ever give the green light to a trilogy. At first, only Miramax showed interest, but with the caveat that the script would be cut more to incorporate the entire “LOTR” story into one movie. As a final attempt, Jackson presented the film to New Line, who requested that the screenplay be turned into a trilogy.
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Christopher Lee is the only cast or crew member to have met Tolkien. In fact, Lee mentioned in the extended commentary for “Fellowship” that Tolkien had given him his blessing to play Gandalf in any potential film adaptation of “LOTR”. But when Lee auditioned for Gandalf, he was asked to play Saruman instead, as it was believed he was too old to play Gandalf. Lee accepted the role, but agreed that Ian McKellen was right about Gandalf.
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According to the Extended Edition DVD documentaries, Viggo Mortensen initially didn’t have much interest in playing Aragorn, but took on the role after his Tolkien-loving son Henry begged him to accept the role. After learning more about Aragorn, Mortensen viewed the character’s sword as the key part of his character and took it with him at all times during filming, even when he was not on set.
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For his fight scenes, Mortensen was trained by Bob Andersen, one of the most legendary sword fight choreographers in movie history. A former Olympic fencer, Andersen has trained actors like Cary Elwes in “The Princess Bride”, Sean Connery in “Highlander” and Errol Flynn in “The Master of Ballantrae”. But his greatest fame is his work in “Star Wars”, where he wore the costume of Darth Vader for the lightsaber duels against Luke Skywalker in “Empire Strikes Back” and “Return of the Jedi”.
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Being a dwarf, Gimli is the smallest of the warriors in the community. But its actor, John Rhys-Davies, is over six feet tall. For some larger shots, a double body was used to make sure Gimli didn’t appear taller than Legolas or Aragorn.
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Rhys-Davies also had to spend three hours on makeup to get the big nose and beard so common in dwarves. Unfortunately, as Jackson revealed in the Special Edition, the makeup severely altered her vision and triggered an allergic reaction to her skin that inflamed her. Despite this, Rhys-Davies swung Gimli’s ax in every fight scene, though he had to skip every other day of filming to allow his skin to recover from the makeup.
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Each role required a lot of time in the makeup department, but for the hobbits it was especially difficult. According to the extended edition, Elijah Wood and his halfling comrades had to get up at 5 a.m. to dress for the feet of the hairy hobbits. They were not allowed to sit while the feet were applied as their ankles would bend and cause the prostheses to deform, so the actors had to stand for over an hour while the feet were applied.
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If you take a closer look, you might notice that Legolas’ eyes change color from scene to scene. In the commentary for the extended edition, Jackson explained that the blue contact lenses worn by Orlando Bloom would have damaged his eyes if he wore them every day of filming, and that on some days they even forgot to put them on. . The visual effects team was able to digitally change Bloom’s brown eyes for some scenes.
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At Bilbo’s birthday party, you can see Jackson’s children, Billy and Katie, among the children who listen to Bilbo recount his adventures with Gandalf. Billy is the only actor in the film who does not wear a wig, as his father noted that his naturally curly hair was perfect for a hobbit.
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You can spot Peter Jackson playing an extra in each of the three “LOTR” and “Hobbit” movies. In “Fellowship”, look for the scene where the hobbits arrive at the Prancing Pony in Bree. Jackson can be spotted munching on a carrot outside the inn.
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Sean Bean, who played Boromir, said in a making-of interview that he was afraid of heights and hated helicopter flights. Jackson noted that in a later scene, Bean refused to fly to a distant setting and instead walked and climbed for two hours in full costume to get to the scene.
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Ironically, the scene where the community struggles during the snowstorm over Caradhras was filmed on a soundstage under extremely hot spotlights. Snow was actually a rice-based compound that severely irritated the skin and eyes of the actors. On the other hand, a lot of the scenes filmed on location were shot during the winter, even though it was supposed to be spring in Middle-earth.
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While filming the scene where Sam tries to stop Frodo from going to Mordor alone, Sean Astin stepped on a piece of broken glass while running into the water. Jackson said in the extended edition that the wound was bleeding so badly he had to be flown back to hospital.
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The Shire scenes were filmed near the small farming town of Matamata in northern New Zealand. Part of the set was left behind after filming for “LOTR” fans, and was rebuilt in more detail when Jackson returned to direct the “Hobbit” movies. Visitors can now even have a beer at a fully functional Green Dragon Inn.
Check out IMDb for more trivia and movie history.
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Peter Jackson’s Film Trilogy Introduced JRR Tolkien’s Classic Fantasy Novel to a Whole New Generation of Fans
The “Lord of the Rings” trilogy has hit that increasingly rare sweet spot between critics and the box office, combining to win 30 Oscars and gross $ 2.9 billion worldwide. It remains a landmark series that has revitalized fantasy in pop culture and introduced JRR Tolkien to a new generation. To celebrate its 15th anniversary, TheWrap has teamed up with IMDb to bring you 15 facts about “The Fellowship of the Ring”.
