Celebrating Lord of the Rings 25th Anniversary!
Written by Hayley Miller, Founder at World VFX Day –
The Lord of the Rings means something to a lot of people. For me, it was a coming-of-age movie. This was the first cinematic experience that left me permanently awestruck, wondering how on earth anyone could create such heart-racing, lifelike fantastical characters and worlds.
I still don’t really know why I wanted to see it in the first place. At the time, I was a chart-music, fashion-obsessed, Spice Girls–wannabe teenager who only read pop magazines (and I hadn’t even read The Hobbit). And yet, there I was, sat between my boyfriend and my best friend, both of whom I’d dragged along to the local cinema, for my birthday.
When I say I almost had to leave the cinema at the Balrog scene because my heart felt like it was going to pop is an understatement. Scene after scene had me peeking out from behind my popcorn: the nightmare-inducing Ringwraiths chasing Frodo, the gruesome “birth” of the Uruk-hai, the fight against a furious cave troll. The rollercoaster of horrors and heartfelt moments just kept coming, and I was completely hooked.
To this day, I still watch at least one of the films every year, if not all three. They remain one of the greatest trilogies ever made, if not the greatest. I also credit them, in no small part, for the excitement I felt when I first started working in visual effects (okay, maybe Ghostbusters too). These movies are often cited as the perfect combination of production design, practical and visual effects. This is true, but it also feels like the entire production was blessed by Galadriel herself.
For many in VFX, that galaxy far, far away is their childhood eureka moment, but The Lord of the Rings was my Star Wars! So, of course I’ll use any excuse to talk and write about these movies…and this year marks the 25th anniversary.
To celebrate, I’ve pulled together a collection of videos and content that lets us dive deeper into this mystical, mythical world, created by J.R.R. Tolkien and brought to life by Peter Jackson, alongside countless other extraordinary talent, including lead VFX studio on the movies, Weta Digital. My genuine thanks to every single one of them.
Weta Digital
Of course we have to start with Weta, who worked on all three movies and have dedicated pages to each via their website. VFX awards include wins at the Oscars, BAFTA, VES, AEAF and Saturn.
Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Corridor Crew
The kings of spotlighting VFX for all the world to see, watch part one and two of their insights into the magic on screen:
Screen Junkies
No-one does funny (and accurate) film reviews better than this channel. Watch their ‘Honest Trailers’ for all the movies:
Are They Really the Best Trilogy of All Time?
Short answer: YES. And if you don’t believe us, then read IMDb’s article confirming it (which combines reviews from their site, Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic).
J.R.R. Tolkien – The Man, the Myth-creator, the Legend
What does World War One have to do with the epic fantasy novel Lord of the Rings? The author himself tells us in this BBC interview from 1968. Watch the short version below:
Peter Jackson "Lived and Breathed" the Lord of the Rings world
What does it take to direct not one but three epic movies, all as good as the other and all within 18 months? Watch below and find out! Courtesy of The Director’s Cut channel.
All eyes now turn to Andy Serkis, who is set to direct and star in the upcoming Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, scheduled for release in 2027…
It’s a big deal, he says, “revisiting a character that has never really left me, and this time stepping into the directorial shoes of the man who created these important movies that have affected so many people’s lives over the course of the last quarter of a century.” Directing the next Lord Of The Rings film is no small feat. “It is a phenomenal challenge, exciting and of course terrifying at the same time,” Serkis writes. “We have a very specific task ahead of us. A return to Middle-earth, that satisfies the passion and the love that generations of Lord Of The Rings fans have for these stories, whilst also presenting something completely fresh and new for first-timers to Middle-earth, with one of Tolkien’s richest and most complex characters at its heart.” Let the next adventure begin.
Read the full article via Empire here.
Are You Under the Ring's Spell?
Learn more about Lord of the Rings through these dedicated pages:
