Projects » The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring

Production Year: 2001
Directed by: Peter Jackson
Genre: Action / Adventure / Fantasy
Rating: 8.8/10 (166,696 votes)
Runtime: 178 min / 208 min (special extended edition)
Country: New Zealand / USA
Language: English / Sindarin
Certification: Argentina:13 / Australia:M / Brazil:12 / Canada:14A / Denmark:11 / Denmark:15 (special extended edition) / Finland:K-11 / Finland:K-15 (special extended edition) / France:U / Germany:12 (w) / Germany:16 (special extended edition) / Hong Kong:IIB / Iceland:12 / Ireland:12RA (video rating) / Ireland:PG (original rating) / Israel:PG / Italy:T / Japan:PG-12 / Mexico:B / Netherlands:12 / New Zealand:M (special extended edition) / New Zealand:PG / Norway:11 / Peru:14 / Philippines:G / Portugal:M/12 / Singapore:PG / Spain:13 / Sweden:11 / Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) / Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) / UK:PG / USA:PG-13 (certificate #38473) / Greece:K-13

Plot Outline: An ancient Ring thought lost for centuries has been found, and through a strange twist in fate has been given to a small Hobbit named Frodo. When Gandalf discovers the Ring is in fact the One Ring of the Dark Lord Sauron, Frodo must make an epic quest to the Cracks of Doom in order to destroy it! However he does not go alone. He is joined by Gandalf, Legolas the elf, Gimli the Dwarf, Aragorn, Boromir and his three Hobbit friends Merry, Pippin and Samwise. Through mountains, snow, darkness, forests, rivers and plains, facing evil and danger at every corner the Fellowship of the Ring must go. Their quest to destroy the One Ring is the only hope for the end of the Dark Lords reign!

Awards

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring won 4 Oscars and received another 70 wins & 81 nominations.

Academy Awards, USA 2002 - WON
Best Cinematography, Andrew Lesnie
Best Effects, Visual Effects, Jim Rygiel, Randall William Cook, Richard Taylor, Mark Stetson
Best Makeup, Peter Owen, Richard Taylor
Best Music, Original Score, Howard Shore
MTV Movie Awards 2002 - WON + 3 nominations
Best Movie - WON
Breakthrough Male Performance, Orlando Bloom - WON
Best Action Sequence, The cave tomb battle.
Best Fight, Christopher Lee, Ian McKellen
Best Male Performance, Elijah Wood
Best Villain, Christopher Lee
Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards 2002 - WON
Best Picture
Best Acting Ensemble, Sean Astin, Sean Bean, Cate Blanchett, Orlando Bloom, Billy Boyd, Ian Holm, Christopher Lee, Ian McKellen, Dominic Monaghan, Viggo Mortensen, John Rhys-Davies, Andy Serkis, Liv Tyler, Hugo Weaving, Elijah Wood.
Screen Actors Guild Awards 2002 - nominated
Film - Choice Actor, Drama/Action Adventure, Elijah Wood
Film - Choice Actress, Drama/Action Adventure, Liv Tyler
Film - Choice Movie, Drama/Action Adventure

Cast

Elijah Wood .... Frodo Baggins
Sean Astin .... Sam Gamgee
Dominic Monaghan .... Merry
Billy Boyd .... Pippin
Viggo Mortensen .... Aragorn
Orlando Bloom .... Legolas Greenleaf
John Rhys-Davies .... Gimli
Sean Bean .... Boromir
Ian McKellen .... Gandalf
Christopher Lee .... Saruman
Liv Tyler .... Arwen
Andy Serkis .... Gollum
Ian Holm .... Bilbo Baggins
Sala Baker .... Sauron
Hugo Weaving .... Elrond
Cate Blanchett .... Galadriel

Trivia

Stuart Townsend was originally cast as Aragorn, but was replaced by Viggo Mortensen after four days of shooting because Peter Jackson realized that an older actor was needed.
Ian Holm, who plays Bilbo Baggins, was the voice of Frodo Baggins in the 1981 BBC Radio adaptation of The Lord of The Rings.
Elijah Wood dressed up in breeches and a flowing shirt and went out into the hills to shoot his audition tape. His friend George Huang, directed the video.
Daniel Day-Lewis turned down the role of Aragorn.
Originally the narration at the prologue was to be spoken by Elijah Wood, but it was felt that the information imparted had little bearing on the character of Frodo. Ian McKellen also recorded a narration but once again it was felt that Gandalf wasn't the right character to speak it. They eventually settled on Cate Blanchett as Galadriel as it emphasizes the timelessness of the elves.
There were supposed to be 144 Hobbits at Bilbo Baggins's party. Due to budgetary constraints, there are actually only 100
Bilbo Baggins's birthday cake has 111 candles on it and they eventually set fire to the polystyrene cake.
Two sets of Bag End, Bilbo Baggins's home, were built. One to accommodate the Hobbits, the other 33% smaller for the full size Ian McKellen, right down to smaller versions of the books on the bookshelves
Some of the customers in the Prancing Pony are walking around on stilts to emphasize the height disparity with the Hobbits
The big trees in Lothlorien forest are made of rubber.
The climactic fight scene was shot in the middle of a heatwave, with temperatures in excess of 100 degrees. Many of the actors playing the Uruk'hais had to be carried off the set with heat exhaustion.
Security was tight on the set: at least 3 people were arrested for attempted break-ins.
The Tolkien estate was never in favor of Peter Jackson's film adaptation but seeing as J.R.R. Tolkien signed the rights away in 1968 for $15,000, there was nothing they could do about it. Tolkien's grandson Simon came out in support of the production and was disowned by his relatives. Tolkien's son Christopher later retracted any opposition.
Legolas's arrows in the final battle are computer generated. It would not have been physically possible for the most gifted archer to fire off so many arrows so quickly.
Fans were offered the chance to have their names in the special edition's hugely lengthy closing credits for $39.95
Although the film received a PG rating in the UK, it was with a disclaimer that some scenes might be unsuitable for young children. After Jurassic Park (1993) and The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997), it was only the third film to receive such a disclaimer.
The film stayed in the US top ten grossing films for 13 weeks.
Hobbiton was made a year before production began to make it look like it was a natural, lived-in place, complete with real vegetable patches. The greens department regulated the length of the grass by having sheep eat it.
1800 Hobbit feet were made for the production
29 Ring Wraith costumes were made in total.
During the Council of Elrond, leaves are continually falling in the background to suggest that this is a meeting that is taking place outside. This meant about half a dozen crew members were positioned above the set, dropping leaves at various intervals. This also meant that the production department had to collect sacks and sacks of leaves during autumn, and of course dead leaves turn brown fairly quickly. Which also meant that every single one of those leaves had to be individually painted.
A rubber puppet with a horrific face was superimposed over Ian Holm's face when Bilbo Baggins catches a glimpse of the ring again in Rivendell. Holm was so delighted with the puppet that the design team had a cast iron version of it made for his mantelpiece and gave it to him as a parting gift when Holm wrapped all his scenes on the film.
While the rest of the Fellowship struggle through snow drifts, Legolas walks on the top of the snow.
Galadriel's home at Lothlorien was the largest miniature set built for the trilogy.
Large amounts of horsehair had to be imported into New Zealand for all the wigs.
Although Bilbo Baggins's opening scenes are in Hobbiton, Ian Holm never actually worked on the location. His scenes were all done against blue screen.
The main sound elements for the cave troll were a walrus, a tiger and a horse.
The total crew amounted to over 3,000 people of which approximately over 300 were in the art department alone.
The Weta Workshop produced 58 miniatures which were so large and detailed they were nicknamed "bigatures".
The design for the Hobbits's feet took over a year to perfect. Over 1800 feet were produced for the 4 lead Hobbits alone, and each pair would take about an hour and a half to be put on over the actors' real feet.
Composers are usually involved with films for about 6-8 weeks. By the time "The Fellowship of the Ring" was released, Howard Shore's involvement was stretching back for 2 years.
The overall budget for all 3 films was $300 million. Add another $200 million for the publicity and marketing of all 3.
When Arwen escapes from the Black Riders through the river by flooding them, the spell she speaks isn't subtitled. According to the Encyclopedy of Arda (see External Links: Miscellaneous # 58), she says: "Nîn o Chithaeglir lasto beth daer; rimmo nín Bruinen dan in Ulaer", which means roughly "Waters of the Hithaeglir, hear the word of power, rush, waters of Bruinen, against the Ringwraiths"
During filming, most of the members of the Fellowship took up surfing in New Zealand in their spare time. Among them was Viggo Mortensen, who wiped out terribly one day, and bruised one whole side of his face. The next day, makeup tried to mask the bruising and swelling, but were unsuccessful. Instead, Peter Jackson opted to film Mortenson from one side for the entire scene. In the scene in the Mines of Moria when they find the grave of Gimli's relative, Aragorn is only seen from one side in the whole scene.
Orlando Bloom originally auditioned for the part of Faramir. He was called back and subsequently cast, instead, as Legolas.
New Zealand's army was cast as extras for large battle scenes in the film, but was forced to back out due to having to serve as peacekeepers in East Timor.
When the trailer was released on Internet on 7 April 2001, it was downloaded 1.6 million times in the first 24 hours.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002), and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) were filmed simultaneously. The back-to-back shoot lasted a record-equaling 274 days, in 16 months - exactly the same time as taken for the principal photography of Apocalypse Now (1979).
The original cut ran four hours and thirty minutes.
The hobbits needed to appear about three to four feet tall - tiny compared with the seven-foot Gandalf. This was often accomplished using forced perspective, placing Ian McKellen (Gandalf) consistently closer to the camera than Elijah Wood in order to trick the eye into thinking McKellen is towering.
Viggo Mortensen lost a tooth while filming a fight sequence. He went to the dentist on his lunch break, had it patched up, and returned to the set that afternoon.
1,460 eggs were served to the cast and crew for breakfast for every day of shooting.
More than 1,600 pairs of latex ears and feet were used during the shoot, each "cooked" in a special oven running 24 hours a day, seven days a week. There was no way of removing the feet at the end of the day without damaging them and so each pair could only be used once. The used feet were shredded to prevent a black market in stolen hobbit feet but apparently Dominic Monaghan (Merry) kept a pair.
During filming, Liv Tyler left her pair of prosthetic ears on the dashboard of her car. When she returned they had melted.
Dominic Monaghan (Merry), wore a fat suit made of foam. He drank three liters of water a day so he would not dehydrate.
Sean Astin gained 30 pounds for his role as Samwise
Viggo Mortensen did his own stunts. He also insisted on using only the real steel sword, instead of significantly lighter aluminum sword or safer rubber sword which were manufactured for battle scenes and stunts.
Orlando Bloom (Legolas) did most of his own stunts and broke a rib in the process.
John Rhys-Davies (Gimli) developed an allergic reaction to his makeup.
While filming the scene where Sam rushes through the river after Frodo, Sean Astin stepped on a shard of glass that was sticking up from the riverbed. It pierced his foot, even through the prosthetic foot, which bled so much he had to be airlifted to hospital.
Christopher Lee reads "The Lord of the Rings" once a year and is the only member of the cast and crew ever to have met J.R.R. Tolkien.
As well as being the only member of the cast and crew to have met J.R.R. Tolkien face to face, Christopher Lee was also the first person to be cast in the trilogy because of his extensive knowledge of the books. He frequently visited the makeup department and often gave tips about the facial design of the monsters
John Rhys-Davies, who plays Gimli the dwarf, is the tallest of the actors who play members of the Fellowship. He is 6' 1".
After the New Zealand premiere, director Peter Jackson joined the actors who played the nine members of the Fellowship by getting a commemorative tattoo of his own. While their tattoos were the Elvish symbol for "9", Jackson received an Elvish "10".
Peter Jackson gave one of the rings used in the movies to both Elijah Wood and Andy Serkis as gift when the shoot was finished. They both thought they had the only one.
Wellington, the capital of New Zealand, changed its name to Middle Earth for the film's opening.
Peter Jackson's two children are listed in the end credits as "Cute Hobbit Children".
The original plan was to film the trilogy in two movies. Miramax said that it had to be done in one movie so the producers went to New Line Cinema. When their presentation was done, one of the people at New Line told them that they were crazy and that the film had to be done as a trilogy. This caused the producers to go back and rewrite the script.
Cate Blanchett joked that she took the role of Galadriel because, "I've always wanted pointy ears".
Gandalf's painful encounter with a ceiling beam in Bilbo's hobbit-hole was not in the script - Ian McKellen banged his forehead against the beam accidentally, not on purpose. But Peter Jackson thought McKellen did a great job "acting through" the mistake, and so kept it in.
Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn), who is trilingual in English, Spanish, and Danish, requested the script be revised to let Aragorn speak more of his lines in Elvish.
The different colors of blue for the elves' eyes revealed what race they were. The Lothlorien elves had light blue eyes, and the Rivendell elves were dark blue.
Bilbo's cake caught fire as he was about to leave the party, but Ian Holm gamely finished the scene.
Twenty of the 30 minutes of the unusually long credits at the end of the Extended Edition, are dedicated to listing the Charter Members of the Official Lord of the Rings Fan Club. Included as Charter Members are Peter Jackson, Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Dominic Monaghan, Billy Boyd, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, and many other cast and crew members.
Viggo Mortensen kept his sword with him at all times off set so that he could remain in character. He was questioned several times by police after reviewing his training sessions with the sword and being spotted by members of the public.
The cast often had to fly to remote shoot locations by helicopter. Sean Bean (Boromir) was afraid of flying and would only do it when absolutely necessary. When they were shooting the scenes of the Fellowship crossing the snowy mountains, he'd spend two hours every morning climbing from the base of the mountain to the set near the top, already dressed as Boromir. The crew being flown up could see him from their helicopters.
While filming the scenes on the River Anduin, Orlando Bloom and John Rhys-Davies were swept out of their boats.
Gollum is different in this movie, because scheduling forced those scenes to be filmed based on an early design. He is only seen in brief glimpses, partly due to this discrepancy, and partly to tease audiences before his entrance in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002). Peter Jackson (jokingly) said in the commentary on the Extended DVD that sometime in the future he would enjoy creating a 'Special Edition' (a la Star Wars) where this inconsistency could be fixed.
Peter Jackson's original plan was to exclusively hire British actors for the roles of the hobbits. As it turned out, Billy Boyd and Dominic Monaghan were the only ones, and one of the tasks he charged them with was to coach Elijah Wood and Sean Astin in the ways of British pub culture.
There is a hidden extra in the 4-disc version of the Region 1 DVD. It is a spoof of the Council of Elrond, prepared by MTV and starring Jack Black and Sarah Michelle Gellar. You can find it by going to the chapter index of the first disc, going to the last chapter "The Council of Elrond" and use the down arrow to go a gold ring immediately under that chapter. The gold ring only appears when the cursor is there. Press play and you'll see Peter Jackson presenting this feature.
While filming the trilogy, Viggo Mortensen got so into character that during a conversation, Peter Jackson referred to him as "Aragorn" for over half an hour without him realizing it.
Christopher Lee broke his left hand after he slammed it on his hotel door.
Sometimes when there is a close-up of the ring you can hear a gruff voice chanting. This is the voice of Sauron and the words he is chanting are, "One ring to rule them all, one ring to find them, one ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them," in the language of Mordor.
Dominic Monaghan (Merry) originally auditioned for the role of Frodo Baggins.
Jake Gyllenhaal auditioned for the role of Frodo
Pregnancy changed Peter Jackson's vision of "Lord of the Rings". Originally, he wanted to cast Lucy Lawless as Galadriel, and Uma Thurman as Arwen. Unfortunately, both actresses became pregnant after being asked to read; and the roles were filled in by Cate Blancett and Liv Tyler, respectively.
When Bilbo finds the Ring at the start of the movie Gollum shouts "My Precious" however Andy Serkis wasn't on set that day so Dominic Monaghan stood in for him.
When Pippin is being hit with the apples after asking about second breakfast, it is Viggo Mortensen himself chucking the apple at his head. They had to shoot the scene 16 times to get it just right, and 'Billy Boyd' says he believes Mortensen enjoyed himself immensely.
Stuntwoman Lani Jackson doubled for Arwen for some fight scenes that were cut from the film. Jackson does appear in the film trilogy as various stunt orcs.
Liv Tyler had never read any of the books when she was approached to appear in the film. She quickly boned up on Middle Earth lore, to the extent of even learning some Elvish.
Orlando Bloom landed the role of Legolas two days before he finished drama school.
Cate Blanchett's role as Galadriel required her to film for only a month.
Orlando Bloom spent two months learning how to use a bow and arrow.
Elijah Wood never wore a full chain-mail Mithril vest, only the top half.
Viggo Mortensen joined the film when it was already shooting, never having met Peter Jackson before, nor indeed having read the Tolkien books either. It was Mortensen's 11 year old son Henry who was the chief instigator in convincing Mortensen to sign on as Aragorn.
The four actors playing the young Hobbits would have to go into make-up at 5am and stand for an hour and a half while their prosthetic feet were being applied. Sean Astin's personal make-up artist doing this was called Sean Foot.
Eight of the nine members of the Fellowship got a small tattoo, the Elvish symbol for "9" at a tattoo parlor in Wellington, New Zealand, to commemorate the experience of the movie. The ninth member, John Rhys-Davies, declined and sent his stunt double in his place. Elijah Wood's tattoo is on his lower stomach. Sean Astin and Billy Boyd have the tattoo on their ankles (to commemorate all those hours in the hobbit feet). Orlando Bloom, who plays the archer elf Legolas, has his on his forearm. Ian McKellen's is on his shoulder. Dominic Monaghan's is on his shoulder.
Warwick Davis and Timothy Spall auditioned for the role of Gimli.
Robin Atkin Downes and Jason Carter auditioned for the role of Aragorn.

Goofs

Incorrectly regarded as goofs: Gimli attempts to smash the ring with an axe which is completely destroyed, breaking into several pieces. In the next shot the pieces are missing and, when he pledges his axe to Frodo several minutes later, the axe is suddenly intact. In fact, he snatches the axe of the dwarf next to him to attack the ring.
Revealing mistakes: As Frodo runs from the orcs, his cape is clearly supported by a string to make it look flowing.
Continuity: As Boromir lies dying, Aragorn leans over him. In the shots over Aragorn's shoulder, looking at Boromir, Boromir's right hand rests on Aragorn's left shoulder. In shots looking at Aragorn, the hand is not there.
When Arwen and Aragorn are alone together on a bridge in Rivendell, her lips are moving while he is speaking.
Throughout the movie, Frodo's fingernails are very bitten down and short, but a close-up when the Black Rider tries to sniff him out shows neatly manicured nails.
Audio/visual unsynchronized: As Saruman reveals the Palantir to Gandalf, he lifts the cloth while speaking the line "Why should we fear to use it?" As he finishes the line, his mouth is still moving.
Revealing mistakes: During the final big battle, Legolas shoots six orcs in quick succession. The fifth falls before Legolas releases the arrow.
During the Mirror of Galadriel scene, Galadriel is still holding the vase that held the water for the mirror, there are several shots of her as Frodo looks into the mirror and she never moves. When Frodo falls backwards there is a full body shot of her and she is no longer holding the vase.
After fighting the Cave Troll in Moria, Aragorn is crawling towards the camera, and bumps a 'rock' with his left elbow, causing it to wobble
When King Elendil is hit by Sauron and falls to the ground, his helmet is on his head, when Isildur runs to him, it is lying beside him.
In the final fight between Aragorn and the chief Uruk Hai, Aragorn is thrown against a tree and we see his sword fall from his hand. The next shot shows the Uruk Hai throw his shield pinning Aragorn to the tree and again we see his sword fall from his hand.
When Boromir is running to save Merry and Pippin from the Uruks, he is clearly shown with sword in hand. However, when he reaches them, he has no sword - both hands are free to stop the swing of an Uruk's axe.

Quotes

Aragorn: "Are you frightened?"
Frodo: "Yes."
Aragorn: "Not nearly frightened enough. I know what hunts you."

Galadriel: I know what it is you saw, for it is also in my mind.
Galadriel: It is what will come to pass, If you should fail. The Fellowship is breaking, it has already begun. He will try to take the Ring, you know of whom I speak. One by one, it will destroy them.
Frodo: [telepathically] If you ask it of me, I will give you the One Ring.
Galadriel: You offer it to me freely? I do not deny that my heart has greatly desired this.
Galadriel: In the place of a Dark Lord you would have a Queen! Not dark but beautiful and terrible as the Morn! Treacherous as the Seas! Stronger than the foundations of the Earth! All shall love me and despair!
Galadriel: I have passed the test. I will diminish, and go into the West, and remain Galadriel.
Frodo: I cannot do this alone.
Galadriel: You are a Ring-bearer, Frodo. To bear a Ring of Power is to be alone.
Galadriel: This is Nenya, the Ring of Adament. And I am it's keeper. This task was appointed to you, and if you do not find a way, no one will.
Frodo: I know what I must do, it's just that... I'm afraid to do it.
Galadriel: Even the smallest person can change the course of the future.

Aragorn: Gentlemen, we do not stop till nightfall.
Pippin: What about breakfast?
Aragorn: You've already had it.
Pippin: We've had one, yes. What about second breakfast?
Merry: I don't think he knows about second breakfast, Pip.
Pippin: What about elevenses? Luncheon? Afternoon tea? Dinner? Supper? He knows about them, doesn't he?
Merry: I wouldn't count on it.

Aragorn: "I swore to protect you."
Frodo: "Can you protect me from yourself?"
Frodo: "Would you destroy it?"
Aragorn: "I would have gone with you to the end, into the very fires of Mordor".