Beyond the Movie: The Fellowship of the Ring

December. 23,2001      NR
Rating:
6.9
Trailer Synopsis Cast

A documentary about the influences on Tolkien, covering in brief his childhood and how he detested the onslaught of industry through the idyllic countryside, moving on to describe his fighting experience from WWI, and closing with a look at the Finnish inspiration for the scholar's self-invented languages of Elfish. In between are interviews with the cast of the films and some clips, by far the most from "The Fellowship of the Ring", but a few glimpses of Rohan riders (from "The Two Towers") are provided. Also, there are interviews with a range of the filmmakers.

John Rhys-Davies as  Narrator (voice)
Peter Jackson as  Self
Elijah Wood as  Self
Ian McKellen as  Self
Orlando Bloom as  Self
Sean Astin as  Self
Billy Boyd as  Self
Philippa Boyens as  Self
Winston Churchill as  Self (archive footage)
Adolf Hitler as  Self (archive footage)

Reviews

Cebalord
2001/12/23

Very best movie i ever watch

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Ariella Broughton
2001/12/24

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

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Marva
2001/12/25

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

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Curt
2001/12/26

Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

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thingadonta
2001/12/27

Like the books themselves, and then the film, this background to J.R.R.Tolkien's tale is a bit better than expected. There is a little bit more to the background of the trilogy than one might expect, as Mr Tolkien lived a somewhat unusual life.Even though he repeatedly denied it, literary experts have found parallels to things he experienced in his life, and the tale of the Ring. He was involved in the Battle of the Somme in World War 1, where he lost many of his closest friends. He got trench fever. His sons fought in World War 11, and he disliked intensely the bleak industrialism which spread across the countryside he grew up in. He was much drawn to Finnish and Anglo-Saxon sagas, and wished to write about the forgotten Anglo-Saxon tales from before William the Conqueror's invasion of old England in 1066.There was little doubt his sensitive soul was much affected by the horrible trench conditions of World War 1, the repeat of such in World War 11, and the industrial 'poisoning' of the beautiful countryside which he called home.The documentary is delicately done, with the historical background a bit of an eye opener.

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