33. Perry and Mippin.

Peter Jackson's The Fellowship of the Ring.

Jared, Oriana and Ned talk about our collective choice of topic: Peter
Jackson’s version of The Fellowship of the Ring. Released twenty years ago
this month, there’s simply no question regarding the sheer force of the impact
that the first part of the massive effort to create a three-film adaptation of
The Lord of the Rings had. It squarely placed the story directly into more
mainstream popular culture, transformed the nature of the longtime fandom and
appreciation around the books, and became the anchor point of any number of
adaptations and interpretations since. But besides fond memories of a suddenly
wild and exuberant time, looking back with a more critical but still
appreciative eye is useful in acknowledging flaws and curious decisions as
well as reflecting once more on just how striking a film it is. What does a
wider consideration of that time in history tell us, not least of which was
the shattering impact of 9/11 three months prior, as well as being caught in a
continuing new wave of sf, comic book and fantasy adaptations? Are all the
various casting choices that the team made for the film successful, as well as
the adaptational choices themselves? How does the film succeed as a film
straight up, and what are its best moments? And is Legolas really a mink
stole? (Admit it, you’d love to see it.)

[Thanks to Michael Collins from This Is Your
Mixtape for editing this episode!]

Jared’s
doodle.
This was exactly what he looked like, no question.

Will Poulter, via a larger GQ feature, on why he couldn’t make the Amazon series. No biggie, it
happens.

The Daily Mail (yeah, we know) story on Christopher Tolkien’s
will. We hope everyone was happy and
there were no Succession-style shenanigans.

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the
Ring.
You KNOW. Stream it if you don’t. (But NOT the remastered
version, as we say later in the episode.)

Yes, true, a certain first Harry Potter
film
a month beforehand did cast a shadow…

That first web-only featurette from
2000. LOTS of questions resulted
among the fans. Then there was the first overall
trailer…

LordOfTheRings.net isn’t around any more but the Internet Archive turns up
things.
(TheOneRing.net is eternal.) As for Ain’t It Cool
News…never mind.

Elijah Wood really was inspired
casting, and darn if he didn’t deliver, eyes and all.

Ian McKellen, goddamn. Enjoy some
diaries.

And indeed, Bob Shaye. Thanks
for that call.

Ah, AOL Time
Warner.

The ‘pity and mercy’ scene as
filmed. So, so necessary.

Andrew Lesnie was truly a
craftsman and artist, and is much missed.

Polygon’s yearlong series on
Jackson’s original trilogy is well worth a read, and the horror movie
essay is one of the best.

The ‘Boromir trains the
hobbits’ scene is a delight.
(And yes, Ned did a little spoonerism with the names there…)

If you want Arwen’s hero moment, come and click
here.

Cate Blanchett fully arrives in the
film and we’re all in awe.

The mirror of Galadriel
scene, what a moment. “I know what it was you saw…”

Saruman summoning the storm is
a great film moment, no lie.

For more thoughts on Gimli, our dwarves
episode.

Howard Shore, indeed. And not just him: the piece of music Jared
refers to with his memories of cranking the movie up so he could hear it
better is “The Passing of the
Elves,” a quite lovely number
recorded for the film by the Plan 9 sound/music
team in NZ.

The Aragorn temptation scene.
(And the Uruk-hai, which, again, consider our orc
episode.)

Frodo leaves the Fellowship –
it all builds up to this, and it lands.

Mission: Recall! Give it an
ear!

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