December 17, 2021

33. Perry and Mippin.

1 hour 34 minutes

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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By Jared Pechaček, Oriana Scwindt, and Ned Raggett

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