33. Perry and Mippin.

By-The-Bywater: A Tolkien Podcast

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!]

SHOW NOTES.

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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