Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring

Lord Of The Rings,The : Fellowship Of The Ring,The - 2002

New Line Cinema/Wingnut Films - 175 min. + extras
DVD UPC # 794043554223(standard); 794043554926(Extended); 9398710357394(Extended); 794043710827(standard trilogy); 794043734724(extended trilogy)

Principal Cast: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, Liv Tyler, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Ian Holm, Orlando Bloom, Christopher Lee, Cate Blanchett, Sean Bean, John Rhys-Davies, Hugo Weaving, Andy Serkis, Maron Csokas, Lawrence Makoare.

Principal Filmmakers: Peter Jackson, Director, Writer, Producer; Barrie M. Osborne, Producer; Tim Sanders, Producer; Fran Walsh, Writer, coproducer; Philippa Boyens, Writer; Mark Ordesky, Executive Producer; Bob and Harvey Weinstein, Executive Producers; Rick Porras, Associate Producer; Ellen M. Somers, Associate Producer; Andrew Lesnie, Director of Photography; Richard Taylor, Creature/Miniature/Armor/Special Makeup Effects Supervisor; Grant Major, Production Supervisor; Ngila Dickson, Costume Designer; Howard Shore, Composer; Jamie Selkirk, Post-Production Supervisor; John Gilbert, Editor; Michael J. Horton, Editor; Jim Rygiel, Visual Effects Supervisor; Alan Lee, Conceptual Artist/Set Decorator; John Howe, Conceptual Artist; Dan Hennah, Supervising Art Director; Peter Owen, Makeup and Hair Design; Peter King, Makeup and Hair Design.

Censor Rating: PG - Review Rating: A-

New Zealand filmmaker Peter Jackson fulfills his lifelong dream of transforming author J.R.R. Tolkien's best-selling fantasy epic into a motion picture. Frodo Baggins, a Hobbit resident of the medieval "Middle-earth" discovers that a ring bequeathed to him by beloved relative and benefactor Bilbo is in fact the "One Ring," a device that will allow its master to manipulate dark powers and enslave the world. Frodo is charged by the wizard Gandalf to return the ring to Mount Doom, the evil site where it was forged millennia ago and the only place where it can be destroyed. Accompanying Frodo is a fellowship of eight others: his Hobbit friends Sam, Merry, and Pippin; plus Gandalf; the human warriors Aragorn and Boromir; Elf archer Legolas; and Dwarf soldier Gimli. The band's odyssey to the dreaded land of Mordor, where Mount Doom lies, takes them through the Elfish domain of Rivendell and the forest of Lothlorien, where they receive aid and comfort from the Elf princess Arwen, her father, Elrond, and Queen Galadriel. In pursuit of the travelers and their ring are Saruman -- a traitorous wizard and kin, of sorts, to Gandalf -- and the Dark Riders, under the control of the evil, mysterious Sauron. The Fellowship must also do battle with a troll, flying spies, Orcs, and other deadly obstacles both natural and otherwise as they draw closer to Mordor. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) was filmed in Jackson's native New Zealand, closely followed by its pair of sequels, The Two Towers (2002) and The Return of the King (2003). -- Karl Williams - All Movie Review

The Standard Release

It is available in standard (pan & scan) and Widescreen versions. The VHS NTSC or R1 DVD version sells for under $15us. The R4 set is selling for $20nz or $20au. R2 PAL versions are selling for about 8#.

The DVD is a 2 disc set. One disc is the PG-13 cut of the 178-minute film that was seen in theatres. It is presented in a 16:9 widescreen with Dolby Digital EX 5.1 Surround Sound. Differing subtitles and closed captions are added, depending upon the market and the zone.
The second disc contains over two hours of content including:
An inside look at the special extended DVD edition being released in November (See below).
A 10 minute preview of The Two Towers, hosted by Peter Jackson.
The "Welcome To Middle- Earth" Houghton Mifflin Special
The Fox Network "The Quest For The Ring: Special
The Sci-Fi channel "A Passage To Middle-Earth: Special
Some 15 additional featurettes originally created for lordoftherings.net which include:
Finding Hobbiton
Hobbiton Comes Alive
Believing the World of Bree
Ringwraiths: The Fallen Kings
Languages of Middle Earth
Two Wizards
Music of Middle Earth
Details of Elijah Wood, Viggo Mortenson, Orlando Bloom, Cate Blanchett, Liv Tyler and Ian McKellan
Weathertop: The Windy Hill
Theatrical Trailers and TV Spots
Enya's "May It Be" Video
A Preview of the Electronic Arts 'The Two Towers' video game
Exclusive online content, via DVD-ROM and more

Six Disc Trilogy Set
A six disc Trilogy set in a slipcase, of the theatrical version of all three films, is available for about $40us, 20# or $90nz.

The Extended Release

It is in two versions. A leather-bound hardcover book style set, and a more elaborate Collector's Gift Set. Expect the 4 disc DVD set to sell for about $30us, in the U.K. for 15#, in Australia for about $45au, New Zealand about $35nz. Expect the Collector's Gift Set to go for about $60us, about 30# or about $80au.
The standard set is widescreen, with Dolby Digital 5.1 EX and Surround sound. It contains approximately 30 additional minutes of scenes restored to the film which includes:

A new opening sequence in which Bilbo provides background on Hobbits and their history, in voice-over, as he is writing his memoirs.
A new introduction to Samwise, seen in his capacity as a gardener.
A scene taking place at the Green Dragon Inn, which introduces the camaraderie of the Hobbits and sets up the geopolitics of the story.
The Hobbits witnessing the departure of the Elves from Middle Earth on the way to Bree.
Aragorn watching over the sleeping Hobbits, singing the ballad of Beren and Luthien.
Aragorn at his mother's grave, in which we learn that he was raised by Elves and that Sauron has long hunted him.
Two new moments during the departure from Rivendale, one in which we see Arwen's emotional reaction to Aragorn's leaving, and another in which Elrond sees the Fellowship off.
A scene with the Fellowship in the mines of Moria, in which we learn how the Dwarves themselves unleased the fire-demon that eventually destroyed them.
A scene at Lothlorien, where Galadriel bestows, upon each of the Fellowship, a gift which will play an important role later in the Trilogy.
More footage of the battle at Amon Hen.
And Howard Shore is recording new music cues for all these added scenes, which includes a song from Gandalf. The soundtrack will be Dolby Digital 5.1 EX with 5.1 Surround Sound from both Dolby and DTS. It has been reported that the French are getting a DTS 6.1 ES track on their version of the extended film.

This 210 (approx.) length version of the film are on two of the discs. The other two discs contain more than six hours of in depth, behind the scenes material, as well as a feature length director's audio commentary, art and photo galleries, and documentaries.

The Collector's Gift Set includes the National Geographic: Beyond the Movie DVD, a set of exclusive Decipher game cards, and a pair of bookends sculpted by WETA artists to look like the Argonath - all in packaging designed by Alan Lee.

Twelve Disc Trilogy Set

A Trilogy packaging of the Extended editions, in slipcase, is available for about $80us, 30#, $100au or $95nz. It contains the same material as the separate four-disc expanded edition versions of the three features.

SOUNDTRACK ON AUDIO CD

Click for Lord of the Rings - Fellowship of the Ring CD Details

REVIEWS

Ebert and Roeper Video Review

DVDFile Extended Edition Review

DVDFile Standard Review

Moria Review

Dominic Corry review at TVNZ

Metacritic consolidated reviews

DVD Compare's Review

DVD Compare's Ext. Ed. Review

Urban Cinefile Review - Theatrical Version

Urban Cinefile Review - Extended Edition

Michaeldvd Region 4 Reviews of Standard Edition

Michaeldvd Region 4 Reviews of Extended Edition

All Movie Guide Review

Movie Review Query - 337 articles

OFFLINE REVIEW SOURCES

Bulletin, v.120no.6307(Jan.15 2002)
Film comment, v.38no.1(Jan/Feb.2002), p.73
Guardian weekly, v.165no.26(Dec.20 2001)
Illusions, no.34(winter 2002), p.2
Investigate, issue 17(Jan.2002), p.87
Listener, v.182no.3218(Jan.12 2002)
Metro, 248(Feb.2002)
New musical express, 5 Jan., 2002
New Yorker, v.77no.41(Dec.24/31 2001)
New Zealand herald, Dec.22, 2001
North and south, issue 191(Feb.2002)
Quadrant, v.46no.5(380)(May 2002), p.67
Sight and sound, v.12, issue 2(Feb.2002), p.49
Sunday star-times, Dec.23, 2001
Time, 2001, no.51(Dec.24)
Waikato times, Dec.20, 2001

TRAILER AND OTHER TITLE RELATED LINKS

Trailers at IMDB - 18 selections

Peter Jackson on Charlie Rose - Feb. 22, 2002

The One Ring Net

Official Lord of the Rings Website

The boxoffice numbers - worldwide

AWARDS - As of JULY 2003

AFI Awards, USA - 2002

AFI Digital Effects Artist of the Year - Jim Rygiel
AFI Movie of the Year - Peter Jackson, Barrie M. Osborne, Tim Sanders (I), Frances Walsh
AFI Production Designer of the Year - Grant Major

ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards - 2002

ASCAP - Top Box Office Films - Howard Shore

Academy Awards Oscars USA - 2002

Best Cinematography - Andrew Lesnie
Best Effects, Visual Effects - Randall William Cook, Jim Rygiel, Mark Stetson, Richard Taylor (III)
Best Makeup - Peter Owen, Richard Taylor (III)
Best Music, Original Score - Howard Shore

Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films - 2002

Saturn Award - Best Direction - Peter Jackson
Best Fantasy Film
Best Supporting Actor - Ian McKellen

Australian Film Institute - 2002

Best Foreign Film

AOL Awards - 2002

DVD Movies - Premiere Award for the best, new release, Special Edition of the year.
Additional DVD Premiere awards for: audio commentary, enhanced or reconstructed scenes, overall new extra features, original retrospective documentary (for appendises).

Bodil Awards - 2002

Best American Film (Bedste amerikanske film) - Peter Jackson (director)

Bogey Awards of Germany - 2002

Titan Award for Films with 10million + box office in Germany.

Boston Society of Film Critics Awards - 2002

3rd place BSFC Award Best Picture
Runner Up - Best Director - Peter Jackson

British Academy Awards - 2002

Audience Award -
BAFTA Film Award Best Achievement in Special Visual Effects -
Randall William Cook,, Alex Funke (I), Jim Rygiel, Mark Stetson, Richard Taylor (III)
Best Film - Peter Jackson, Barrie M. Osborne, Tim Sanders (I)
Best Make Up/Hair - Peter King (I), Peter Owen, Richard Taylor (III)
David Lean Award for Direction - Peter Jackson

Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards - 2002

BFCA Award Best Composer - Howard Shore
Best Song - Enya (I) - For the song "May It Be".

Chicago Film Critics Association Awards - 2002

CFCA Award Best Cinematography - Andrew Lesnie
Best Original Score - Howard Shore

Cinema Audio Society, USA - 2002

CAS Award Outstanding Sound Mixing for Motion Pictures -
Christopher Boyes (I), Gethin Creagh, Hammond Peek, Michael Semanick

Dallas-Ft. Worth Film Critics Association Awards - 2002

Cinematography

Empire Awards, UK - 2002

Empire Award Best Actor - Elijah Wood
Best Debut - Orlando Bloom
Best Film

Florida Film Critics Circle Awards - 2002

FFCC Award Best Director - Peter Jackson
Best Supporting Actress - Cate Blanchett

Golden Satellite Awards - 2002

Best overall DVD award
Golden Satellite Award Best Film Editing - John Gilbert (IX)
Best Motion Picture, Animated or Mixed Media
Best Sound - Christopher Boyes (I), Gethin Creagh, Hammond Peek, Michael Semanick
Best Visual Effects - Randall William Cook, Alex Funke (I), Jim Rygiel, Richard Taylor (III)

Hugo Awards - 2002

Best Dramatic Presentation

Kansas City Film Critics Circle Awards - 2001

KCFCC Award Best Director - Peter Jackson
Best Picture

Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards - 2002

Sierra Award Best Cinematography - Andrew Lesnie
Best Costume Design - Ngila Dickson
Best Director - Peter Jackson
Best Score - Howard Shore
Best Song - Enya (I) - For the song "May It Be".
Best Visual Effects - Richard Taylor (III)

Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards - 2001

LAFCA Award Best Music Score - Howard Shore

MTV Movie Awards - 2002

Best Movie
Breakthrough Male Performance - Orlando Bloom

Motion Picture Sound Editors, USA - 2002

Golden Reel Award Best Sound Editing - Music, Feature Film, Domestic and Foreign -
Jonathan Allen (II) (scoring mixer)
Nancy Allen (II) (music editor)
Peter Cobbin (scoring mixer) (plaque)
Gethin Creagh (re-recording music mixer) (plaque)
Andrew Dudman (scoring editor)
Mick Gormaley (assistant music editor) (plaque)
John Kurlander (scoring mixer) (plaque)
Suzana Peric (music editor)
Susan Shufro (assistant music editor) (plaque)
Price, Michael (VIII) (scoring editor)
Scott, Nigel (II) (assistant music editor) (plaque)

National Board of Review, USA - 2001

NBR Award Best Production Design/Art Direction -
Joe Bleakley (art director)
Tanea Chapman (set decorator)
Dan Hennah (art director)
Dan Hennah (set decorator)
Alan Lee (II) (set decorator)
Grant Major (production designer)
Victoria McKenzie (set decorator)
Rob Outterside (art director)
Mark Robins (art director)
Ivey, Philip (art director)

Best Supporting Actress - Cate Blanchett
Special Achievement Award - Peter Jackson

Robert Festival - 2002

Robert Best American Film (Bedste amerikanske film) - Peter Jackson (director)

Screen Actors Guild Awards - 2002

Actor Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role - Ian McKellen

Southeastern Film Critics Association Awards - 2001

SEFCA Award Best Director - Peter Jackson
Best Screenplay, Adapted - Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson, Frances Walsh
Runner(s) up SEFCA Award Best Picture

Video Software Dealers Association
Home Entertainment Awards - 2003

Best Special Edition DVD of the Year, from a major studio

World Soundtrack Awards - 2002

Public Choice Award - Howard Shore
World Soundtrack Award - Best original orchestral soundtrack of the year.

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