The Lord of the Rings (kinotrilogy)

The Fellowship of the Ring

It all started with the casting of great rings . Three of them were given to immortal elves , seven to cave gnomes , and nine to kings of the human race . But in the flaming cave of the Orodruin volcano, the Dark Lord Sauron secretly forged another - the One Ring , designed to subjugate everyone else. In this Ring was concentrated all the anger and power of the lord of Mordor , who planned to put an end to the freedom of the peoples of Middle-earth and subjugate them forever. The last alliance of humans and elves opposed the armies of Mordor. Isildur , the son of the king who fell in battle , managed to chop off Sauron's finger and take possession of the Ring. But it enslaved his will and led to death. The ring was lost and lay on the bottom of the river for two and a half thousand years. Then it fell into the hands of a creature named Gollum , who had possessed it for centuries until the Ring was found by the hobbit Bilbo Baggins .

60 years later, Bilbo leaves the Ring to his nephew Frodo . Upon learning that this is the Ring that once belonged to the Dark Lord, the wizard Gandalf the Gray warns Frodo that the servants of Sauron will look for him. Frodo and his servant Sam leave the Shire . Gandalf appears for advice to the head of his order, Saruman Bely , who reports that the Black Riders left the Minas Morgul fortress to hunt for the Ring. Saruman himself went over to the side of Mordor. Gandalf refuses to join him and is captured.

On the way to Bree, Frodo and Sam accidentally meet the hobbits Pippin and Merry . They almost come across the Black Riders, but manage to escape from the Shire at the last moment. At the Prancing Pony tavern, Frodo meets the ranger Aragorn , who volunteers to bring them to Rivendell . During the journey, the Nazguls attack the hobbits. Aragorn drives them away, but Frodo is badly wounded by the Morgul blade. Arriving elven Arwen on a fast horse delivers Frodo to Rivendell and drowns the Nazguls chasing her in a raging river. Her father, Lord Elrond , heals Frodo. Gandalf, meanwhile, escaped from captivity and arrived at Rivendell. On the council, Elrond demands that the Ring be destroyed by casting it into the flames of the Doom Mountain , which is located in Mordor. Frodo volunteers to do this. Sam, Pippin, Merry, Gandalf and Aragorn are ready to accompany him, to which the elf Legolas , the dwarf Gimli and Boromir , a man from Gondor, join. Elrond calls this unit the Fellowship of the Ring .

During the passage through the underground mines of Moria, the Brotherhood is attacked by orcs and balrog , a demon of ancient times. Gandalf brings down the bridge with the balrog into the abyss, but he, having entwined the magician with his scourge, carries him along with him into the abyss. After leaving the caves, the detachment enters the Lorien Forest, where they are received by the rulers, Celeborn and Galadriel . Elves supply travelers with everything they need and send them in boats along the Anduin River. Saruman sends in their search a detachment of orcs of the newly created tribe - Uruk-hai . In the parking lot, Boromir requires Frodo to give him the Ring in order to save his people. Frodo refuses, Boromir tries to take the Ring, but the hobbit, becoming invisible, eludes him. At this time, the squad is attacked by orcs. Gimli and Legolas manage to help Aragorn and hear Boromir's horn. He defended the hobbits, but was mortally wounded by arrows. Orcs capture Pippin and Merry. Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas decide to pursue the orcs and help their friends out. Frodo and Sam cross Anduin and head for Mordor.

Two Fortresses

The brotherhood fell apart, and now each has its own path. Ring Guardian Frodo Baggins, accompanied by faithful Sam Gamgee, goes deep into the sinister Mordor. After all, only there, in the country of the non-dormant Fiery Eye of Sauron, can the unfortunate "treasure" be destroyed. Gollum is pursuing his friends, a creature bewitched by the Ring many years ago. The poor fellow’s sole purpose is to take possession of his “charm,” and for this Gollum is ready to even kill the hobbits. Sam and Frodo manage to grab the villain and make him swear on the Ring that he will not harm them and, moreover, will become a guide to the Black Country ...

Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli rush to find Merry and Pippin, captured by the orcs of Saruman. The former white mage, who entered into an alliance with the Dark Lord of Mordor, created his own fighters - huge Uruk-hai . The path of the orcs running towards Isengard runs through the lands of Rohan. Without rest and sleep, humans, elves and gnomes chase the Uruk-hai in the hope that the hobbits are still alive. No one suggests that the search will lead them to the magical forest of Fangorn , where they will meet the one whose death was mourned ...

Rohan is preparing for war. The 10 thousandth Uruk-hai army created by Saruman rushes to Helmova Padi - there, in the gorge, protected from all sides by mountain spurs, the impregnable fortress of Hornburg is hidden. Women, old people and children are hiding in deep caves, and men, boys, who barely have the strength to pull a bow, peasants who have never held a sword and a handful of rohirrim warriors come to the defense of the citadel. In the gloomy silence of the night, they await the approach of an enemy approaching an endless black river. People are ready to give the last battle, and no one hopes to live until dawn ...

The Return of the King

The hobbits Frodo and Sam , using Gollum as a guide, continue on their way to Orodruin . Frodo believes the sworn allegiance to Gollum. But Sam understands that Gollum will try to destroy them as soon as possible - he is under the rule of the Ring. Gollum is plotting and trying in every possible way to quarrel the hobbits.

Meanwhile, after the victory at Helm's Paddy , Theoden's army is returning to Edoras. The first night, Peregrine Took steals from Gandalf the palantir , in which he sees the Eye of Sauron . To save the hobbit from the Eye, Gandalf takes him to Minas Tirith .

The troops of Mordor, led by the Sorcerer King , the most faithful servant of Sauron, captured Osgiliath , a city standing on the Anduin River, that is, in fact, attacked Gondor . Sauron suspected that the Ring was in Gondor. He believed that they wanted to use the Ring against him, and not destroy it.

Following his insidious plan, Gollum leads the hobbits into the cave of the giant spider Shelob (a creature of ancient Ungoliant ). Shelob wounds Frodo and paralyzes him with poison, but Sam manages to drive the spider out. Thinking that Frodo is dead, Sam takes the Ring and decides to continue on. An orc detachment passing by captures Frodo, and Sam, hiding in a cave, Shelob finds out that the owner is alive, and goes to Kirit Ungol fortress to rescue him. Dividing the prey, the orcs fought each other because of Frodo's mithril chain mail, and the hobbits managed to break free. Sam returns Frodo Ring, not having time to subordinate his will to himself.

Meanwhile, the forces of Darkness began the siege of Minas Tirith . Catapults were used, as well as a ram called Grond . In the army of Sauron, in addition to the orcs, there were people , trolls , mumaki , and most importantly - the Nazguls led by the leader, the Witch-king of Angmar . The Nazguls flew on winged creatures like dragons. Their presence and chilling screams terrified the defenders of the city.

For many centuries since the death of the last king, the governors ruled Gondor. The last of them, Denethor , was a wise and powerful ruler, but his mind was weakened by grief from the news of the death of his eldest son Boromir . In addition, his youngest son Faramir , having returned with his people from the east coast of Anduin, tells his father about his meeting with Frodo and Sam and their strange guide Gollum, as well as about the dangerous path they had chosen through the Kirit Ungol pass. The fact that Faramir missed the Ring of Omnipotence infuriates Denethor, and he sends Faramir to recapture Osgiliath from the orcs, and in fact - to certain death, since the forces are unequal. The detachment perishes, Faramir returns seriously wounded. Thinking that his son was dead, but there is no hope for Gondor’s salvation, Denethor tries to make a funeral pyre for himself and his son, but thanks to Peregrine Tuk and Gandalf’s intervention, Faramir was saved, but Denethor died. Gandalf took charge of the defense of the city.

Gandalf, being one of the Mayars , was sent from the Overseas West to help the free peoples of Middle-earth, but he could only instruct them in a difficult struggle. He could engage in battle only with an equal rival - he became the Witch-king.

At first, the battle went with a significant preponderance of the forces of Sauron, who managed to break into the defense of Minas Tirith and break into its upper levels. However, at dawn, the horsemen of Rohan , the longtime allies of Gondor, approached. The hobbit Merry and Eowyn were with them, and the Witch-king was defeated by them, who in ancient times made a prophecy that he would not fall at the hands of a mortal husband. But at the same time, the king of Rohan, Theoden , who after that battle was called "Glorified", also died.

Mordor’s strength did not run out. Black ships with the Umbar pirates were supposed to come in their support; but Aragorn , Legolas and Gimli , who passed the Way of the Dead , enlisted the support of the Dead Army, intercepted the ships and came to the aid of Minas Tirith. The battle was won by the forces of the West (or rather, by ghosts, who, in fulfillment of an ancient oath, obeyed Aragorn as king of Gondor). Aragorn, as promised, freed the Dead from their oath, and the ghosts disappeared.

After the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, a Council was held at which an incredible decision was made - to approach the entire army with the remaining army to the gates of Mordor and summon Sauron to battle. With no chance of victory, just distract the Eye and enable Frodo to complete the mission. Sauron did not suspect about this plan and was sure that the Ring was used in the upcoming battle.

Exhausted hobbits get to the foot of Orodruin, and when Frodo does not have enough strength to walk, Sam lifts him up the mountain on his shoulders. At the crevice itself, the hobbits are attacked by Gollum, but can no longer prevent them.

Standing on the edge of the abyss, Frodo realizes that he cannot destroy the Ring, puts it on and declares it his. An unexpected denouement comes with the advent of Gollum, who takes the Ring, bites off Frodo's finger. Frodo, after a short struggle, pushes Gollum into the mouth of Orodruin, he falls into the abyss, but holds onto the rock. Arriving in time Sam pulls out a friend. Thus, the Ring was destroyed.

With the destruction of the Ring, the citadel of Sauron collapsed, and the army of Mordor fled. The eruption of the volcano Orodruin began. Eagles come to the aid of Frodo and Sam, who carried them out of the flaming lava.

Aragorn becomes king of Gondor and marries the elven princess Arwen . The hobbits are returning to the Shire. Sam will marry Rosie Cotton. Frodo is overwhelmed with bouts of illness caused by too much contact with the Ring. Gradually, he realizes that he will not be able to return to ordinary life, and decides to use the opportunity he and Bilbo gave him to leave for the West with the elves. Merry , Pippin and Sam escort them to the Harbor; Gandalf, Galadriel and Elrond leave Middle-earth on the same ship.

The first acquaintance of Peter Jackson with “ The Lord of the Rings ” occurred while watching the cartoon of the same name by Ralph Bakshi . He subsequently read the book during a twelve-hour train ride from Wellington to Auckland ^{[4] [5]} .

Jackson has been considering filming the novel since 1995. Given the development of CGI after the release of Jurassic Park , Jackson began to plan a fantasy film that would be relatively serious and realistic. By October, he and his wife Fran Walsh had teamed up with Miramax Films owner Harvey Weinstein to negotiate with Saul Seinz , who had owned the book since the early 1970s, to film The Hobbit and two films based on The Lord of the Rings. Negotiations came to a halt as Universal Studios invited Jackson to remove the remake of King Kong ^[6] . It further turned out that Seinz did not have the rights to the adaptation of The Hobbit. By April 1996, the issue of rights was still not resolved ^[6] .

When Universal canceled the King Kong project in 1997 ^[7] , Jackson immediately received Weinstein’s support and began a six-week trial of rights ownership. Jackson asked his friend, director Costa Boats, to write a synopsis of the book, and he himself began to re-read the novel. Two to three months later, Jackson and Walsh wrote their draft script ^[8] . The first of the films was supposed to end on the death of Saruman and the departure of Gandalf with Pippin to Minas Tirith . In this project, Guaikhir and Gandalf visit Edoras after escaping from Orthank , Bilbo takes part in the Council of Elrond, Gollum attacks Frodo when the Brotherhood has not yet broken up, Sam looks into the Mirror of Galadriel ; farmers Maggot , Glorfindel , Radagast , Elladan and Elrohir are present ^[8] . They presented their project to Harvey and Bob Weinstein and agreed on the creation of two films with a budget of $ 75 million ^[8] .

In mid-1997, ^[9] Jackson and Walsh began writing the script with Stephen Sinclair. ^[8] Sinclair's partner, Philippe Boyens, joined the authors after reading their project ^[9] . It took 13-14 months to write the scripts for the two films, which amounted to 147 and 144 pages, respectively. Sinclair subsequently left the project due to theatrical commitments. According to the scenario, Gandalf's stay in Orthank is shown in flashback , Lorien was cut out, but Galadriel is present in Rivendell . Denethor visits the Council with his son, and Arwen was supposed to kill the Sorcerer King ^[8] .

The problems began due to the inability for Miramax to fully fund the project, but, given that $ 15 million had already been spent, it was decided to merge two films into one. On June 17, 1998, Bob Weinstein presented the draft script for the only two-hour film. He proposed cutting Bree and the Battle of Helm's Paddy , uniting Rohan and Gondor , cutting scenes in Rivendell and Moria ; Eowyn was to become Boromir’s sister ^[8] . Frustrated by the idea of ​​“cutting out half of the good stuff” ^[9], Jackson rejected this scenario, and Miramax stated that any work done by Weta Workshop belongs to her ^[8] . For four weeks, Jackson showed a 35-minute video of their work to various Hollywood companies ^[9] before meeting with Mark Ordesky of New Line Cinema ^[10] . In New Line Cinema, producer Robert Shay watched the video and asked why they worked on two films, while the book was published in three parts; he wanted to shoot a trilogy. Now Jackson, Walsh and Boyens had to write three new scripts ^[9] .

The expansion into three films significantly increased the creative freedom of the scriptwriters, although they had to rewrite their script accordingly. The three films do not correspond exactly to the three parts of the book, but rather represent a three-part adaptation. Frodo's journey is the main storyline, Aragorn is the main of the other storylines ^[11] , and some episodes (such as Tom Bombadil and the cleansing of the Shire ) that do not contribute to the development of these two lines were not included. Even during the filming, the script continued to develop, partly thanks to the assistance of actors studying the images of their characters ^[9] . The most famous among such rewritings is the character Arwen, who was originally supposed to become a warrior princess, but later the screenwriters returned to her book version ^[12] .

Famous fencer Bob Anderson was invited to teach sword skills. His role in the Lord of the Rings trilogy was featured in the film Reclaiming the Blade . Actors Viggo Mortensen and Karl Urban , illustrator of The Lord of the Rings, John Howe, and Weta Workshop CEO Richard Taylor are also featured in this documentary on the art of sword ownership.

Jackson invited his longtime collaborator, Richard Taylor, to work with his Weta Workshop with five design elements: weapons, armor, makeup, creatures, and miniatures. In November 1997 ^{[9], the} famous Tolkien illustrators Alan Lee and John Howe joined the project. Most of the images in the films are based on the images they created ^[13] . Production designer Grant Major was given the task of transforming Lee and Howe's projects into architecture, creating scenery models, while Dan Henna worked as an art director , exploring possible locations and arranging the construction of the scenery.

The director's vision of Middle-earth was based on detailed realism and a historical approach to fantasy, on the desire to make the world rational and believable. For example, the New Zealand army helped build the Hobbiton months before the start of filming, and the plants managed to grow on time ^[14] . All creatures were created biologically plausible, in particular, the winged creature has huge wings for the possibility of flight ^[15] . Weta Workshop created 48,000 pieces of armor, 500 bows and 10,000 arrows ^[16] . 1800 hobbits feet for the main actors, many artificial ears, noses and heads were also made. About 19,000 costumes were woven and aged ^[9] .

The filming process of all three films took place simultaneously in many places, including in nature reserves and national parks of New Zealand, for 438 days (from October 11, 1999 to December 22, 2000). Additional shootings were carried out annually from 2001 to 2004. Seven film crews shot the trilogy in more than 150 different places ^[16] , as well as in pavilions near Wellington and Queenstown . Due to the remoteness of some areas, the team took along survival kits in case helicopters could not reach their location ^[9] . The New Zealand Conservation Department was criticized for approving the shooting in national parks without considering the possibility of adverse environmental impacts and without notifying the public ^[17] .

The following is a list of actors who played or voiced their characters in the directorial version of the trilogy.

Installation

Jackson invited different editors for each film. Джон Гилберт работал над первым фильмом, Майкл Хортон — над вторым, и Джэми Селкирк — над третьим. «Две крепости» всегда признавались создателями самым сложным фильмом для монтажа, так как «у него не было начала и конца», и была дополнительная проблема совмещения разных сюжетных линий. Джексон продолжал редактировать фильм даже после официального окончания монтажного периода, в результате несколько сцен, включая перековку Нарсила , предысторию Голлума и гибель Сарумана, были перемещены в «Возвращение короля». Позже гибель Сарумана была вырезана из фильма (но включена в расширенную версию), потому что Джексон чувствовал, что эта сцена может затянуть начало третьего фильма ^[21] . Как и все этапы пост-продакшна третьего фильма, монтаж был очень хаотичным — режиссёр впервые увидел законченный фильм только на премьере в Веллингтоне.

Некоторые снятые сцены не были использованы даже в режиссёрской версии. Рекламный материал для «Братства Кольца» содержал нападение на Лотлориэн морийских орков после того, как Братство покидает Морию. Также были вырезаны некоторые сцены, упоминавшиеся в книге, в том числе Фродо, осматривающий территории Средиземья на Амон Хене , расширенный Совет Элронда, и новая сцена с нападением урук-хая на Фродо и Сэма на берегу Андуина ^[9] . В «Две крепости» не вошёл эпизод, в котором Элронд и Арвен посещают Галадриэль в Лотлориэне; Арвен впоследствии должна была привести отряд эльфов в Хельмову Падь. Эта сцена и флэшбек первой встречи Арагорна с Арвен были вырезаны во время пересмотра сценария фильма; появление эльфов было объяснено мысленным общением между Элрондом и Галадриэлью ^[12] . Эовин должна была защитить беженцев в Сверкающих пещерах от вторгшихся туда урук-хаев ^[22] , тогда как у Фарамира должно было быть видение Фродо, который становится подобным Голлуму ^[12] . У Фродо и Сэма также был эпизод, где они сражаются в Осгилиате ^[23] . Для «Возвращения короля» были сняты две сцены из книги: Сэм, использующий фиал Галадриэль для того, чтобы пройти мимо Стражей в Кирит Унголе и эпилог, включающий отплытие Леголаса и Гимли, свадьбу Фарамира с Эовин и смерть Арагорна ^[24] . Саурон должен был сражаться с Арагорном возле Чёрных врат, но Джексон решил, что эта сцена будет неуместной, и Саурона заменили на тролля ^[25] . Чтобы дать смысл убийству Леголасом Гримы , Саруман должен был сказать, что Грима отравил Теодреда ^[26] . Питер Джексон заявил, что хотел бы включить некоторые из этих неиспользованных сцен в будущем «Окончательном издании» трилогии ^[27] .

Music

Для написания музыки к фильмам трилогии в августе 2000 года был приглашён канадский композитор Говард Шор ^[28] . Он создал большое количество музыкальных тем для различных персонажей, культур и стран — существуют, к примеру, темы для Шира, Гондора, Рохана и Братства Кольца. Музыка главным образом исполнена Лондонским филармоническим оркестром при участии таких исполнителей, как Бен Дель Маестро, Эния , Рене Флеминг , Джеймс Голуэй , Энни Леннокс и Эмилиана Торрини . Песни также исполняли актёры Билли Бойд , Вигго Мортенсен , Иэн Холм , Доминик Монаган , Иэн Маккеллен , Лив Тайлер и Миранда Отто . Фрэн Уолш и Филиппа Бойенс написали слова для хора и песен, которые Дэвид Сало перевёл на языки Толкина. Заключительная песня третьего фильма, «Into the West», была посвящена молодому режиссёру Кэмерону Дункану, который умер от рака в 2003 году ^[25] . Почти весь фильм сопровождается той или иной музыкой.

Визуальные эффекты

Количество сцен со спецэффектами возрастало с каждым фильмом: в первом фильме их было 540, во втором — 799, и в третьем — 1488 (всего — 2730) ^[29] . Всего сцен со спецэффектами в режиссёрской версии трилогии 3420. Первоначально 260 художников по визуальным эффектам начали работу над трилогией ^[30] , а ко второму фильму их число удвоилось ^[31] . Команда во главе с Джимом Ригелом и Рэнди Куком приложила много усилий, чтобы доработать спецэффекты в пределах короткого промежутка времени. Например, несколько главных кадров Хельмовой Пади были созданы в течение последних шести недель пост-продакшна «Двух крепостей», подобная ситуация произошла и во время производства «Возвращения короля» ^[32] .

27 апреля 2000 года вышло онлайн-превью трилогии, которое установило новый рекорд количества загрузок — в первые 24 часа после выпуска ролик был загружен 1,7 млн раз ^[33] . В 2001 году на Каннском кинофестивале показали 24-минутную видеозапись из первого фильма, в которую вошли преимущественно эпизоды в Мории ^[34] . Этот показ также включал павильон, оформленный в стиле Средиземья ^[16] .

« Властелин колец: Братство Кольца » вышел в прокат 19 декабря 2001 года. В первый уик-энд в США фильм заработал $47 млн, а всего собрал $871 млн. В кинотеатрах перед заключительными титрами было включено превью «Двух крепостей» ^[35] . Позже был выпущен трейлер второй части, содержащий музыку из фильма « Реквием по мечте » ^[36] . « Властелин колец: Две крепости » вышел в прокат 18 декабря 2002 года. Фильм получил $62 млн в первый американский уик-энд и обогнал своего предшественника, собрав в мировом прокате $926 млн. Трейлер «Возвращения короля» был впервые показан перед фильмом New Line Cinema «Подержанные львы» 23 сентября 2003 года ^[37] . После премьеры фильма 17 декабря 2003 года его сборы в первый американский уик-энд составили $72 млн; в конечном итоге « Властелин колец: Возвращение короля » стал вторым фильмом в истории, собравшим в прокате более 1 миллиарда долларов.

Сборы

Реакция критиков и зрителей

Собрав в общей сложности ок. 2,92 миллиардов долларов, «Властелин колец» является самой кассовой кинотрилогией всех времён. Трилогия также повторила рекорд « Бен-Гура » и « Титаника » по количеству премий « Оскар » для одного фильма, выиграв одиннадцать «Оскаров» с « Возвращением короля » ^[41] .

Большинство критиков положительно приняло трилогию. По мнению Кеннета Турана из Los Angeles Times , «трилогия не скоро, если не никогда, найдёт себе равную» ^[42] . Актёрскую игру Иэна Маккеллена , Шона Эстина , Энди Сёркиса и Вигго Мортенсена выделяли многие участники опросов на IMDb ^{[43] [44]} , также хорошие отзывы получили спецэффекты в битвах и Голлум.

Некоторые критики не настолько высоко оценивали трилогию, в частности, Роджер Эберт дал фильмам приличную оценку (3/4 — для первых двух фильмов и 3,5/4 — для третьего) и отметил спецэффекты, но критиковал сюжет ^[45] , и ни один из фильмов не появился в его списках «лучших 10» соответствующих лет ^[46] .

Также негативно высказался о серии фильмов младший сын Толкина, английский писатель и лингвист , Кристофер Толкин , воссоздавший после смерти отца по его черновикам несколько произведений о Средиземье ^{[47] [48]} .

На Rotten Tomatoes трилогия получила положительный 94%-й средний рейтинг от критиков — 91 %, 96 % и 95 % соответственно, что возводит её в число самых рейтинговых кинотрилогий наряду с « Историей игрушек » (первые два фильма получили 100 %, третий — 99 %), трилогией об Апу (97 %, 93 % и 100 %), Долларовой трилогией (98 %, 93 %, 97 %) и оригинальной трилогией « Звёздных войн » (94 %, 97 % и 79 %). Metacritic , основываясь на своём рейтинге для каждого фильма (92 %, 88 %, 94 %), причисляет «Властелин колец» к наиболее приветствуемым критиками трилогиям. Каждый фильм помещён в топ—100 Списка лучше всего рецензированных фильмов Metacritic.

Трилогия находится во многих «лучших десятках» фильмов, таких, как «лучшие 10 фильмов Ассоциации кинокритиков Далласа — Форт-Уэрта », «100 лучших фильмов всех времён» журнала Time , 100 лучших фильмов кинокритика Джеймса Берардинелли ^[49] . В 2007 году USA Today назвал трилогию самыми важными фильмами прошлых 25 лет ^[50] . Entertainment Weekly поместил её в свой «список лучших фильмов последних десяти лет»