11: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

[00:00:00] Ah!

[00:00:02] Ah!

[00:00:03] Ah!

[00:00:04] I can't stand it!

[00:00:10] I wish the ring had never come to me.

[00:00:15] I wish none of this had happened.

[00:00:17] So do all who live to see such times,

[00:00:20] but that is not for them to decide.

[00:00:23] All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.

[00:00:30] There are other forces at work in this world,

[00:00:32] who do the serves that will live ev'ry.

[00:00:34] Bill Boe was meant to find the ring,

[00:00:37] in which case you also were meant to have it.

[00:00:41] And that is an encouraging thought.

[00:01:00] .

[00:01:19] Hey everybody, welcome to our podcast.

[00:01:21] I'm Ann Wynn and I'm Penny.

[00:01:23] And this is The Cast of the Rings, Episode 11.

[00:01:27] This episode we're covering The Lord of the Rings,

[00:01:29] The Fellowship of the Ring,

[00:01:31] the 2001 film by Peter Jackson.

[00:01:33] Yay! I'm so excited to be back.

[00:01:35] I know.

[00:01:36] I'm recording with you, Penny and I'm so excited to be covering this awesome film.

[00:01:39] So have a good time.

[00:01:40] I missed you.

[00:01:41] I only got to see you for like a couple of minutes that day

[00:01:45] that we were playing trivia online.

[00:01:47] I was so excited to watch this movie again because

[00:01:53] I don't know, like about 10 years ago,

[00:01:55] I decided to sort of put the movie aside

[00:01:59] and not watch it for a long time

[00:02:01] so that it could be fresh when I watched it again.

[00:02:04] And so this was my fresh viewing

[00:02:07] and it was like, oh my god, it's so beautiful!

[00:02:09] Oh my god, I forgot just how good this is!

[00:02:11] Like it was really...

[00:02:12] It was a fun experience to watch it like that.

[00:02:18] So good, eh?

[00:02:19] It's so good.

[00:02:20] And I mean, I have to be honest.

[00:02:22] I must have seen it.

[00:02:24] I don't even know how many times.

[00:02:26] 40, 50, 80.

[00:02:28] I've got no idea.

[00:02:29] I know you've reliant and everything

[00:02:31] and it's just such a treat to go back

[00:02:33] and revisit it again.

[00:02:34] And a real treat to go back and visit it

[00:02:37] after having watched the first season of Rings of Power

[00:02:40] and some of the kind of bits of background things

[00:02:43] that we've gotten to know in the Rings of Power

[00:02:45] and then kind of watching this

[00:02:47] with that and perspective.

[00:02:48] And I'm sure we'll get into some of that.

[00:02:50] But I found that really interesting

[00:02:52] and an exciting and, yeah, it kind of...

[00:02:57] You know that I love the Rings of Power.

[00:03:00] Yeah, yeah.

[00:03:01] But in some ways watching this

[00:03:03] almost made me realise

[00:03:05] some more of the flaws of Rings of Power.

[00:03:07] This is still stands up 20 years later.

[00:03:09] It's so amazing.

[00:03:10] You just can't fault it.

[00:03:12] There's just nothing to fault

[00:03:13] and some of our little nitpicks with Rings of Power

[00:03:16] was clear that, you know,

[00:03:18] the show owners were fairly fresh

[00:03:20] and that they were just still kind of working things out

[00:03:22] and so on and so on.

[00:03:23] Go back and listen to all our other episodes

[00:03:25] if you want to know and it picks on there.

[00:03:27] For this episode,

[00:03:29] we're talking about the fellowship of the Ring

[00:03:31] and we just both absolutely loved it.

[00:03:35] So I wanted to give it just a little background

[00:03:37] about the movie.

[00:03:38] It was released in December 2001,

[00:03:41] directed by Peter Jackson

[00:03:43] and the screenplay was by Peter Jackson,

[00:03:45] his partner, Frann Walsh

[00:03:47] and their friend, Philip of Williams.

[00:03:49] And they had wanted to make a film

[00:03:53] that was a fantasy after they had finished

[00:03:56] their previous film, Heavenly Creatures,

[00:03:58] which had some fantasy elements

[00:04:00] and also sort of growing kind of digital work as well,

[00:04:03] little bit more than his other films.

[00:04:05] And they had been talking about writing a screenplay

[00:04:07] for a fantasy

[00:04:08] and they kept talking about it being

[00:04:10] like Lord of the Rings

[00:04:11] and they kept saying,

[00:04:12] oh it'll be like Lord of the Rings

[00:04:13] and it'll be sort of the scale of Lord of the Rings.

[00:04:15] And then eventually one of them said,

[00:04:17] hey do you think we should just try and do Lord of the Rings?

[00:04:19] So they ended up buying the rights

[00:04:21] and were able to do it.

[00:04:23] It was originally going to be one film

[00:04:25] and then they realised, well,

[00:04:28] there's so much material

[00:04:29] and it's three books

[00:04:30] so let's make it three films

[00:04:32] and they shot it entirely in New Zealand.

[00:04:35] The principal photography for all three movies

[00:04:38] is filmed at once

[00:04:39] and one continuous shoot which took 14 months,

[00:04:42] which is a huge amount of time,

[00:04:43] most movies shoot for between six weeks

[00:04:46] and you know three or four months

[00:04:48] if they're sort of the longer ones.

[00:04:51] Each subsequent year

[00:04:52] the cast were brought back to New Zealand

[00:04:53] for pickups or reshoops

[00:04:55] to film parts that they'd missed

[00:04:56] or needed to add after editing.

[00:04:58] And the cast all really loved New Zealand

[00:05:00] and Wellington where they lived.

[00:05:02] They became part of the community

[00:05:03] and they all sort of fell in love with the country.

[00:05:06] The nine, the main nine actors in the fellowship

[00:05:09] all got tattoos to celebrate their bond.

[00:05:11] They got a tattoo of the alvish symbol for nine

[00:05:15] and Elijah Word who played Frodo

[00:05:18] was only 17 when they started filming

[00:05:20] so he was really, really young

[00:05:22] and I think it was a pivotal kind of time

[00:05:24] for these guys coming out

[00:05:25] for a year of their lives

[00:05:27] to immerse themselves in the middle of the earth

[00:05:29] and the movies were released

[00:05:31] between 2001-2003 every December

[00:05:34] for three years in a row.

[00:05:36] And the trilogy grossed nearly $3 billion worldwide

[00:05:39] and it won 17 out of its nominated 30 Academy Awards

[00:05:43] which is pretty amazing achievement.

[00:05:46] I remember hearing first about the filming quite early on

[00:05:50] you know obviously it being happening in New Zealand

[00:05:53] and I did get to be an extra in the two towers

[00:05:55] I'll describe that experience when we cover that movie

[00:05:57] on the next episode

[00:05:59] but it was interesting to have been involved

[00:06:01] you know 16 months earlier in the filming

[00:06:04] when I got to see this first film

[00:06:06] the fellowship when it came out

[00:06:08] and I went to see it at the midnight screening

[00:06:10] absolutely loved it.

[00:06:12] It was such a feast for the senses

[00:06:14] and it was really different anything that I'd seen before

[00:06:17] took fantasy to a whole new level

[00:06:19] but it also looked really real

[00:06:21] and I know that something that Peter Jackson really

[00:06:23] set out to do to make it look like a real lived

[00:06:26] and kind of gritty world.

[00:06:27] What was your first experience

[00:06:29] of saying the My VP name?

[00:06:31] It's funny I can't remember seeing this one

[00:06:35] I must have seen it right away when it came out

[00:06:38] very possibly it might have been what my family did

[00:06:41] on Christmas Day that year

[00:06:43] we go to movies a lot on holidays

[00:06:46] oh cool

[00:06:48] but I do remember going to see two towers

[00:06:50] and how excited we all were about that

[00:06:53] and I remember going to see Return of the King

[00:06:57] but obviously I saw this movie

[00:06:59] and loved it

[00:07:01] and I have seen it

[00:07:02] like you I don't know

[00:07:04] 50 times

[00:07:05] something like that

[00:07:06] I was obsessed right after they came out

[00:07:08] and just watched them over and over and over again

[00:07:13] And the DVD

[00:07:15] that came out the extended edition

[00:07:17] that had all of those extras on it

[00:07:19] there's like three or four hours per movie

[00:07:21] of extra content

[00:07:23] interviews with the filmmakers

[00:07:25] and the cast

[00:07:26] and a whole bunch of behind-the-scenes stuff

[00:07:28] and how they did the music

[00:07:29] and how they did everything

[00:07:30] and I was obsessed by those as well

[00:07:32] just used to watch those over and over

[00:07:33] it was so much fun to dive right into

[00:07:35] yeah

[00:07:36] and the director of commentary sometimes

[00:07:38] and actor commentary on some of those

[00:07:41] yeah and I think there's a commentary

[00:07:42] with the cast as well

[00:07:43] and they're just you can tell how close they are

[00:07:45] and how much fun they're having

[00:07:46] and they just kind of go off on to events

[00:07:48] about different stories of things

[00:07:49] that were happening

[00:07:50] in the background

[00:07:52] yeah

[00:07:53] it was really really cool

[00:07:55] all right so should we get into it?

[00:07:57] I think we've got

[00:07:58] I mean you know

[00:07:59] honestly this could probably be a six-hour podcast

[00:08:01] and we're trying to keep it a bit less than that

[00:08:03] we can't cover everything

[00:08:05] but we're going to try and talk about the

[00:08:07] main points of the things that we loved about it

[00:08:09] so would you like to start Penny?

[00:08:11] Sure

[00:08:12] and I'm going to dive right in

[00:08:13] and let's talk about the ring

[00:08:15] um

[00:08:16] so

[00:08:17] you know

[00:08:18] that's what all this hubbub is about

[00:08:20] is this

[00:08:21] uh

[00:08:22] seemingly simple

[00:08:24] gold ring

[00:08:26] that is revealed early on in the movie

[00:08:29] to be the one ring

[00:08:31] that was cut from Sauron's hand

[00:08:33] and

[00:08:34] something I've always really liked about

[00:08:37] this story

[00:08:38] and found really interesting about this story

[00:08:40] is that

[00:08:41] the ring almost has its own consciousness

[00:08:44] it has agency

[00:08:45] it wants things

[00:08:47] right

[00:08:48] it fell off Ezile Doors finger

[00:08:51] intentionally

[00:08:53] because it didn't want him to be its master

[00:08:56] or something

[00:08:57] and

[00:08:58] and it betrayed Gollum

[00:09:00] and fell off his finger

[00:09:01] or got lost intentionally from him

[00:09:04] and in this movie you see it really

[00:09:06] happening like the ring

[00:09:08] like calls to Frodo

[00:09:10] it's like Frodo

[00:09:11] you know, whispering to him

[00:09:13] and

[00:09:14] and it

[00:09:15] like there's the scene where he's at

[00:09:16] the radio's mirror

[00:09:17] and the ring is like

[00:09:18] trying to get to the mirror

[00:09:20] it's like moving on its chain

[00:09:22] yeah

[00:09:23] kind of leaning out

[00:09:24] like with Grape Sheer

[00:09:25] yeah

[00:09:26] like because he was seeing Sauron's eye

[00:09:28] and the ring was like

[00:09:29] daddy

[00:09:30] like wanted to go to the

[00:09:31] Sauron

[00:09:33] um,

[00:09:34] it's always trying to get back

[00:09:35] to its master

[00:09:36] yeah, that's what it wants

[00:09:37] and you know

[00:09:38] at one point Gandalf says

[00:09:39] you know

[00:09:40] it woke up

[00:09:41] the ring has woken up

[00:09:42] because Sauron's power is growing

[00:09:44] and it wants to

[00:09:45] it yearns to be back

[00:09:46] with its master

[00:09:47] um,

[00:09:49] one thing that's really

[00:09:50] interesting in the prologue

[00:09:51] uh, you know, it's

[00:09:53] Galadriel's voice

[00:09:55] doing sort of a narration

[00:09:57] and that always makes me wonder

[00:09:58] is it her perspective

[00:09:59] on history

[00:10:00] or is that meant to be like

[00:10:02] an omniscient narrator

[00:10:03] it's hard to know

[00:10:05] um, but she uses the passive voice

[00:10:08] three rings were given to the elves

[00:10:11] and seven to the dwarves

[00:10:14] and nine to the humans

[00:10:16] it kind of makes it sound like

[00:10:17] the elves weren't responsible

[00:10:19] for you know

[00:10:21] making the problems

[00:10:22] to get away

[00:10:23] yeah, that's what I'm going to do

[00:10:24] this time more than ever

[00:10:25] yeah, just because of

[00:10:26] you know, having recently

[00:10:27] scene rings of power

[00:10:28] and you think

[00:10:29] well they weren't

[00:10:30] given to them

[00:10:31] they made them

[00:10:32] um, they aggressively

[00:10:33] and so yeah, it's interesting

[00:10:35] yeah, it is really interesting

[00:10:37] to see how they've

[00:10:38] been able to do that

[00:10:40] and she in particular

[00:10:41] right, because

[00:10:42] she was a huge part of creating those rings

[00:10:44] she wasn't just like

[00:10:46] entrusted to keep one

[00:10:48] you know, she was the

[00:10:50] she was one of the directing

[00:10:52] powers

[00:10:53] it's, uh, it just

[00:10:55] kind of bothered me

[00:10:56] and it got me thinking about

[00:10:57] like the

[00:10:58] you know

[00:10:59] whether or not you can trust

[00:11:00] narrators

[00:11:01] right because they have their own bias

[00:11:03] um, exactly

[00:11:05] yeah

[00:11:06] and it's simplified, isn't it?

[00:11:07] I mean, she's telling the story

[00:11:08] that's really simple at the start

[00:11:10] to kind of set it up

[00:11:11] yeah

[00:11:12] um, but the fact that the ring

[00:11:14] has agency always interested me

[00:11:16] like from when I was a kid

[00:11:17] and I was first reading

[00:11:18] these books I would think

[00:11:19] a lot about that

[00:11:20] like what did the ring

[00:11:21] think the whole time

[00:11:22] it was with Bilbo

[00:11:23] was it like

[00:11:24] oh, I should have

[00:11:25] fallen off Bilbo

[00:11:26] and gone with that

[00:11:27] Gandalf guy

[00:11:28] like what was the rings

[00:11:29] like what was it thinking

[00:11:31] or

[00:11:33] like did it fall off

[00:11:34] golem's hand

[00:11:36] because at that point

[00:11:37] Sauron was

[00:11:39] making his power known

[00:11:40] in the

[00:11:41] in the

[00:11:42] in the

[00:11:43] is that when it woke up

[00:11:44] or did it wake up

[00:11:45] when Sauron was

[00:11:46] maybe

[00:11:47] I mean, it could just be

[00:11:48] that the ring knew

[00:11:49] that golem was just going to

[00:11:50] keep it

[00:11:51] not do anything

[00:11:52] with it

[00:11:53] not take it back

[00:11:54] to the master

[00:11:55] because he just lives in a cave

[00:11:56] whereas maybe the hobbits

[00:11:57] are more adventurous

[00:11:58] or more likely to

[00:11:59] have been

[00:12:00] have it out

[00:12:01] and the open

[00:12:02] and be found perhaps

[00:12:03] yeah, I always thought

[00:12:04] of the ring as a

[00:12:05] as a main character

[00:12:06] in the film

[00:12:07] you know, it has

[00:12:08] has a lot of

[00:12:09] close-ups

[00:12:10] it has its own

[00:12:11] musical theme

[00:12:12] and it's got these

[00:12:13] unique properties

[00:12:14] it grows or shrinks

[00:12:15] to the wearer

[00:12:16] and I love how it has

[00:12:18] has real weight

[00:12:19] there's scene where

[00:12:20] Bilbo's

[00:12:21] leaving bag end

[00:12:22] and he has it

[00:12:23] in his hand

[00:12:24] and Gandalf says

[00:12:25] you've got to leave it

[00:12:26] behind Bilbo

[00:12:27] and it's sitting on his

[00:12:28] palm

[00:12:29] and it's almost like

[00:12:30] it sticks

[00:12:31] like it doesn't

[00:12:32] and it's interesting

[00:12:33] whether that's the ring

[00:12:34] not wanting to leave Bilbo

[00:12:35] or is it Bilbo's

[00:12:36] reluctance to let it go

[00:12:37] and it finally

[00:12:38] his hand's almost vertical

[00:12:39] and it slides off

[00:12:40] to the ground

[00:12:41] and this is massive

[00:12:42] kind of clunk

[00:12:43] as it hits the ground

[00:12:44] and then

[00:12:45] when Gandalf first puts

[00:12:46] it in Frodo's hand

[00:12:47] after taking it

[00:12:48] out of the fire

[00:12:49] Frodo's hand

[00:12:50] drops down as if he's

[00:12:51] sort of surprised

[00:12:52] by the weight of it

[00:12:53] and I love how it just has

[00:12:54] this heaviness

[00:12:55] not just physical heaviness

[00:12:56] but it has this

[00:12:57] huge

[00:12:59] kind of importance

[00:13:00] to everything

[00:13:01] and it's a story

[00:13:02] and so every time

[00:13:03] it's shown

[00:13:04] it's very, I think

[00:13:05] the filmmaker did an

[00:13:06] amazing job of

[00:13:07] you know

[00:13:08] it's this tiny little

[00:13:09] inanimate object

[00:13:10] but they made it

[00:13:11] so menacing

[00:13:12] and they used a lot

[00:13:13] of effects

[00:13:14] as well with the sound

[00:13:15] but also

[00:13:16] with every time

[00:13:17] you see a close-up

[00:13:18] of the ring

[00:13:19] especially if someone's

[00:13:20] holding it

[00:13:21] there's a shot

[00:13:22] of a sealed-or-holding

[00:13:24] it in the flashback

[00:13:25] when Gandalf's

[00:13:26] in the Library of Minsteroth

[00:13:27] and that all feels

[00:13:28] quite familiar

[00:13:29] after seeing

[00:13:30] the ring of power

[00:13:31] especially when it's

[00:13:32] calling about it

[00:13:33] and we're kind of

[00:13:34] like, oh, we've

[00:13:35] heard that before

[00:13:36] but you see

[00:13:37] the writing revealed

[00:13:39] and flames

[00:13:40] on the side

[00:13:41] of the ring

[00:13:42] but you also see

[00:13:43] his face reflected

[00:13:44] in it

[00:13:45] and the same with a shot

[00:13:46] of Froda

[00:13:47] it's pretty amazing

[00:13:48] to have this ring

[00:13:49] that you can

[00:13:50] this tiny thing

[00:13:51] you can see reflection

[00:13:52] of someone's face

[00:13:53] and writing on it

[00:13:54] I know that

[00:13:55] for the filming they

[00:13:56] made many, many copies

[00:13:57] of it

[00:13:58] and lots of different sizes

[00:13:59] and it was

[00:14:00] close to the size

[00:14:01] of a dinner plate

[00:14:02] and that was used

[00:14:03] for the shot

[00:14:04] of the ring

[00:14:05] and the snow

[00:14:06] yeah

[00:14:07] when Baramia

[00:14:08] lifts it up on the

[00:14:09] chain it's

[00:14:10] really incredible

[00:14:11] it's such a beautiful

[00:14:12] shot

[00:14:13] yeah

[00:14:14] I love that one

[00:14:16] yeah there's a lot

[00:14:17] of

[00:14:18] like, when they're

[00:14:19] at the council of

[00:14:20] Elrond, Frodo can see

[00:14:22] everyone in the

[00:14:23] reflection of the ring

[00:14:24] and they're like arguing

[00:14:26] and then he sees

[00:14:27] all these flames

[00:14:28] and he says

[00:14:29] I will take the ring

[00:14:30] or Frodo

[00:14:32] moving isn't it?

[00:14:33] Yeah

[00:14:34] and when he says that

[00:14:35] and Gandalf just has

[00:14:36] this look on his face

[00:14:37] like he's just

[00:14:38] resigned look

[00:14:39] like I knew he was

[00:14:40] going to do it

[00:14:41] but I'm so sad

[00:14:42] from

[00:14:43] it's really emotional

[00:14:44] yeah

[00:14:45] they do

[00:14:47] well

[00:14:48] they do a good job

[00:14:49] though of inserting

[00:14:51] Pippin

[00:14:52] and Mary

[00:14:53] in moments like that

[00:14:54] very quickly

[00:14:55] to lighten everything up

[00:14:56] lighten the moment

[00:14:57] yeah

[00:14:58] exactly

[00:14:59] yeah

[00:15:00] not going anywhere

[00:15:01] without us

[00:15:02] so great

[00:15:04] I love that

[00:15:05] well I wanted to talk

[00:15:07] a little bit about the

[00:15:09] music and the sound

[00:15:10] the music is so

[00:15:12] incredible

[00:15:13] in this movie

[00:15:14] and this trilogy of movies

[00:15:15] the score was

[00:15:16] by Howard Shore

[00:15:17] and Howard Shore

[00:15:19] did the opening

[00:15:21] credits song

[00:15:22] for the rings of power

[00:15:24] obviously

[00:15:25] the rest of the

[00:15:27] TV show rings of power

[00:15:28] was scored by Bermacrary

[00:15:30] I like how they

[00:15:32] got Howard Shore back

[00:15:34] and to do that

[00:15:35] to tie it in together

[00:15:36] sort of

[00:15:37] thematically

[00:15:38] I guess with the films

[00:15:39] and in this movie

[00:15:41] just the music

[00:15:42] is so outstanding

[00:15:44] it's so memorable

[00:15:45] and emotional

[00:15:46] I love it so much

[00:15:47] and just even the sound

[00:15:48] from the very beginning

[00:15:50] so it's quite unusual

[00:15:51] to have a film

[00:15:52] open with just a black screen

[00:15:54] and there's a hardy

[00:15:55] new sound

[00:15:56] and every time I watch it

[00:15:58] you know all 50 or

[00:15:59] 100 times that I watch it

[00:16:00] you have to kind of

[00:16:02] stop and go hang on

[00:16:03] this the sound on

[00:16:04] because it's so quiet

[00:16:05] it starts with

[00:16:06] the prologue opening

[00:16:07] it's just black

[00:16:08] it's got a

[00:16:09] gladious voice

[00:16:10] and really, really soft

[00:16:11] kind of opening

[00:16:12] but the set's up

[00:16:13] this kind of

[00:16:14] intrigue

[00:16:15] or excitement

[00:16:16] or kind of mystery

[00:16:17] from the very beginning

[00:16:18] with the background theme

[00:16:20] and

[00:16:22] it's just the sound

[00:16:24] and it's unbelievable

[00:16:26] and you think about it's 20 years old

[00:16:28] now it still sounds incredible

[00:16:30] some are really deep

[00:16:32] and rich sounds

[00:16:33] that I definitely remember

[00:16:35] noticing in the theatre

[00:16:36] you know when you have proper

[00:16:37] surround sound in the theatre

[00:16:39] especially in the prologue

[00:16:40] because it's that part

[00:16:41] where Sauron is

[00:16:42] as defeated

[00:16:43] and there's this kind of

[00:16:45] kind of sound

[00:16:46] effect that happens

[00:16:47] and I remember that

[00:16:48] and I remember that

[00:16:49] and I remember that

[00:16:50] and I remember that

[00:16:51] and it goes like right

[00:16:52] through you

[00:16:53] you can kind of, yeah

[00:16:54] it's such a gutterall

[00:16:55] kind of sound

[00:16:56] I loved that

[00:16:57] it was amazing

[00:16:58] music

[00:17:06] music

[00:17:11] I really loved

[00:17:13] the fellowship theme

[00:17:16] the main theme

[00:17:17] when they've left

[00:17:18] driven down

[00:17:19] there's that kind of

[00:17:20] very sharp

[00:17:23] and they've really

[00:17:24] really sharp

[00:17:25] of them all walking

[00:17:26] over the mountain

[00:17:27] it's absolutely beautiful

[00:17:29] I love this song

[00:17:30] and it's so stirring

[00:17:32] like every time I hear that

[00:17:33] music

[00:17:34] and it swells

[00:17:35] I'm like, I need to go

[00:17:36] like I'm ready for the quest

[00:17:38] it's powerful music

[00:17:40] music

[00:17:43] music

[00:17:48] That's so beautiful isn't it? Yeah, yeah. It's really cool. And when I used to do the

[00:18:06] Lord of the Rings tours we used to play the music as we got to each location. So I had

[00:18:12] all figured out which where we're in the song to start playing and when we're driving

[00:18:18] down the road, which moment to start that. And I'd have it all set up so that when

[00:18:22] we got to the location we were kind of in the music for that scene, which was really fun because

[00:18:27] so many people associate the music emotionally with each sort of scene. So it was really cool

[00:18:33] and a great way to kind of set people up for it. That was always really fun. And yeah,

[00:18:38] from the beginning to the end, you know, the end you've got the the fellowship theme,

[00:18:43] the breaking of the fellowship at the very end and then going into our end-year song may it be.

[00:18:49] And it's so so beautiful. You kind of relax, sometimes you watch a movie and you're like,

[00:18:54] oh it's done, all right get up. But with this you just reluctant to move because it's just the music,

[00:18:58] just moves straight into that final song and it fits so well and it's so beautiful and yeah I can

[00:19:04] just listen to Eva. And also at the end of this movie, yeah at the end of this movie you need to

[00:19:11] sit for a bit because it's such a fantastic cliffhanger ending that is, you know what's going to

[00:19:23] have a next but also has a sense of closure. It's like kind of an amazing combination. Like the

[00:19:30] movie sort of holds together on its own but it also makes you really want to watch the next one.

[00:19:36] Yeah and to create a tone at the end of a film that everybody knows is one of three and you know

[00:19:43] you have to wait another year to see the second one. I think it was so masterfully done because

[00:19:50] it's really sad, it's heartbreaking as you know Mirian Pippen has been taken away by the Eurokhi,

[00:19:55] you've got Frodo and Sam leaving together and the fellowships broken and you know they've lost

[00:20:01] Gandalf. And then it's just done. Yeah it's really tragic and I love how they kind of,

[00:20:10] there's a couple of things they did. The first one was that beautiful scene with Frodo and Sam

[00:20:16] locking over towards Mordor after the sort of climbed the hill, after they've got out of their boat

[00:20:21] and they're talking about you know what's going to happen next and it could be desperate but they

[00:20:27] kind of, there's a bit of a lightness to it because they focus on the fact that they're together

[00:20:31] and that they're you know they're going to do this together and this sort of a bit of hope.

[00:20:36] That scene by the way was shot actually for real on Mount Marrapehu which is the mountain where

[00:20:42] they used for a lot of the Mordor scenes and it was shot against a real sunset. That's not a

[00:20:50] police screen or shot in a studio anything. They were up there one day and they just went,

[00:20:54] we've just got to get the shot right now looks amazing and they just went straight into it and

[00:20:57] it was done within a few minutes but yeah it's beautiful. The lighting is incredible. The lighting

[00:21:03] is gorgeous but it's also a well acted scene. I mean they didn't lose anything by going so fast.

[00:21:10] Elijah Wood is a really impressive actor. His ability to convey emotion with just his eyes

[00:21:21] is pretty fantastic. Oh yeah and Sean Austin is amazing. He's so lovely. Yeah they're just

[00:21:34] amazing together and the chemistry and acting together was incredible. We're watching last

[00:21:40] night at the scene at the end where we're photos like crying like he's got these big tears in his

[00:21:47] eyes. I think it's when he's when he's talking to Aragorn for the final time. He's huge blue eyes

[00:21:54] and my husband goes oh my god he's got like interview with a vampire eyes.

[00:22:00] I see. Yeah but those are like Elijah's actual eyes. Those are his actual eyeballs. That's

[00:22:07] what they look like in real life. Oh I worked at a company that was in the sort of movie business

[00:22:15] and what the offices were decorated with movie posters and oh cool everybody you got to sort of

[00:22:24] you sort of got to choose what poster was in your office there was like subtle politics that went

[00:22:29] on and like sometimes you had to know someone to get the good poster and sometimes people got stuck

[00:22:35] with bad posters it was a whole thing but I remember the Lord of the Rings posters were really

[00:22:40] really popular. I started working there in 2005 so they were still pretty recent and they had used

[00:22:46] our products and the company had a really good relationship with Weta Workshop so you know

[00:22:53] the Lord of the Rings posters were everywhere and that fellowship with the rings one is just like

[00:22:58] Elijah Wood like just staring out at you with those eyes and I would sit in so many meetings where

[00:23:06] I'd be just like staring into Elijah Wood's eyes like oh no. No pay attention to work. Yeah

[00:23:15] Those first posters were quite amazing and that I think the one with him looking out

[00:23:20] you know into the camera was the second one the first one they ever released was

[00:23:24] you couldn't really see his face it was kind of his face looking down you could just sort of see

[00:23:28] his hair and it was just his hand with the rings sitting in the middle of his palm that was a

[00:23:33] really powerful poster because I think it was the first image of anything that had been released

[00:23:38] and people obviously waiting you know with huge excitement to see any of the images from the film

[00:23:44] so that was really really amazing. It was cool. The other thing about the ending that I think

[00:23:53] really lifted that hope and made you feel positive about waiting for the next one was

[00:24:00] when Aragorn tells Gimli and Legolas that they're going to go and hunt some orc you know

[00:24:05] and there's sort of music swells and they both look excited and they're like yeah and it's

[00:24:09] doing it kind of you know it picked up a little bit of hope amongst the despair which helped

[00:24:14] to carry us all through I think I was very excited about that part and yeah it's a wonderful moment

[00:24:19] and he's sort of decisively you know holsters not the right word his dagger and she says like

[00:24:28] she's his dagger yes and and he's like leave everything that you know that you don't need

[00:24:34] and I love that they don't even pick up one single thing they just start running. No it's like

[00:24:39] they look at everything except their weapons yeah

[00:24:42] yeah and I was thinking like it's kind of not fair that Gimli has to keep up with like an elf who

[00:24:50] has like you know immortal endurance and can walk on top of the snow and all the other things

[00:24:56] that Legolas can do and like Aragorn who's this like literal Superman right like the only person

[00:25:02] left with humanorian blood and here's Gimli with his little dwarf legs like and his heavy armor

[00:25:07] I'm like he's never gonna be able to keep up with them but I know and there is a line and the

[00:25:13] next toe about that he's like I'm very lethal over short distances. He's like yeah

[00:25:18] don't throw an endurance running

[00:25:22] that's really good I love that. This film isn't doesn't have the best

[00:25:28] Legolas and Gimli stuff like their characters really grow a lot more in the second film

[00:25:34] and this film they're both sort of like elf stereotype dwarf stereotype.

[00:25:40] You know they have moments like when they find balance to him and everything but it's not

[00:25:45] it's not like in the second movie where it's all about you know them discovering other cultures

[00:25:50] and stuff it's so cool yeah yeah oh it's a billionth but Vigo Mortensen

[00:25:56] is that his absolute peak of hotness in this movie oh yeah

[00:26:05] he's just unbelievable isn't he like just absolutely born for this role

[00:26:10] yeah the first shot where we see his face

[00:26:14] he like you know he like rips off his hood when he's talking to Frodo you know at the end

[00:26:19] and his hair is like a little wet and it like it's across his face a little bit and he

[00:26:24] just looks like like he couldn't be more rugged and handsome and prince like like it's just

[00:26:29] unbelievable. Scruffy aif in the most perfectly hot way oh he's so good looking in this movie

[00:26:38] and he just carries the you know the sad weight of his king king Lee birthright it's uh

[00:26:48] yeah he's amazing he's really the the reluctant king you know like he never he never

[00:26:53] wanted to lead and I love that scene in the extended version so for everyone in case you didn't

[00:26:58] know we did watch the extended version in preparation for this if you haven't seen the extended

[00:27:03] addition I highly recommend it there's so much more in there that adds weight and and detail to

[00:27:08] the story it is available on streaming I think where do we find it? We just found it on Apple

[00:27:15] movies um we've got all the DVDs but I couldn't find our DVD player

[00:27:20] in the US the extended and regular theatrical release versions are on HBO Max

[00:27:28] and the theatrical releases are on Amazon Prime and you can rent the extended ones on Amazon Prime

[00:27:36] um and you could also you know rent them on Apple and there's probably other places but I

[00:27:41] agree I'm not the first to use Max even though I know exactly where my DVDs are um I don't know if

[00:27:46] my DVD player works yeah I have a point to do in like the other cool thing is that when you do rental

[00:27:54] buy those um those extended editions it does come with the extras so you've got that extra

[00:27:58] couple of hours per film of all the background stuff so highly recommend going and checking that out

[00:28:02] if you haven't but one of the things that that I loved in in the extended edition was when

[00:28:07] Aragon is visiting his mother's grave and he is having that conversation with Al Rondon

[00:28:13] he talks about never never wanting to be to be king and it's quite the um you know it's quite a

[00:28:21] classic kind of hero isn't it when you kind of yeah if you really want it then you probably

[00:28:26] don't deserve it but if you don't want it then you're going to make a better king um and the scene with

[00:28:32] I mean has acting is just unbelievable I just I'm such a fan of Vigo the scene between

[00:28:38] Vigo and with Aragon and Galadriel so there when they say farewell so they're just left

[00:28:46] off about to leave Lotharion and they're having that sort of farewell talk and a bit of strategising

[00:28:51] but a lot of kind of you know just giving hope and all that sort of stuff um and it's incredible

[00:28:57] because Kate Blanchett is quite a few years younger than Vigo Mortensen um I don't know exactly

[00:29:03] how many but I want to say maybe 12 15 years younger than him but in that scene you know they

[00:29:09] they they portrayed it so well that who who wisdom and age as this 7000 year old elf versus this

[00:29:17] 80 year old new menorian man really came across so incredibly you know has has reverence for her

[00:29:23] and his kind of difference to her wisdom and her knowledge and her power it didn't seem like

[00:29:31] he was older than her even though clearly visually you know the actor is older I just think that

[00:29:35] was so subtle and so beautifully done so incredibly actors loved that so much and I kind of hit

[00:29:41] me a little bit more this time and maybe just because you know we've had that but we'll background

[00:29:45] about Galadriel having seen the rings with power um Vigo was not originally cast to be Aragon they

[00:29:55] cast another actor and he actually started filming it was Stuart Townsend I don't know what he's

[00:30:00] done since then um but he adjusted the workout and they feel like he was maybe perhaps too young

[00:30:08] in the role and they actually recast last minute when they already started shooting and Vigo got

[00:30:14] the role um he hadn't read to Lord of the Rings recently I think he might have read it previously

[00:30:20] but he basically just read it on the on the plane on the way over to New Zealand it takes a while

[00:30:25] to get down here it's like 24 hours of plane so that's a lot of books do we yeah and uh so he he came in

[00:30:34] and his first his first scene his very first shot in his first scene was the scene on weather top

[00:30:40] when the black writers have come to find the hobbits in and Aragon and the Hobbit into the frame

[00:30:46] with a sword and a torch yeah that was literally his first shot it's like boom here's Aragon and he

[00:30:53] went straight into it is incredible and he he's known to be quite a method actor he um he stayed in

[00:31:00] and uh close to his kind of character for a lot of the filming and he actually used to um carry

[00:31:07] his sword around like with him all the time so like they went out for dinner that they famously

[00:31:12] used to go to a restaurant in Wellington called the Green Parrot which is a classic old school kind

[00:31:16] of steakhouse and um he would take his sword in there and lend up against the wall and if you go to

[00:31:22] the Green Parrot now um they actually have a mural on the wall of all different types of people and

[00:31:26] all of the Lord of the Rings characters just the actors themselves are in the mural it's quite cool

[00:31:31] that's right I'm fine but yeah he used to he used to carry that around uh when when they were

[00:31:37] filming up in uh the scenes for Ediris which is just an encangibri at a play school mount Sunday

[00:31:44] that all of the cast and crew you know stayed at a hotel he stayed in this little kind of

[00:31:48] sheepen's hut you know not to horsey in the location and he like took he would he would repair his

[00:31:54] own costume so if his costume you know got ripped or something um he didn't give it to the

[00:31:58] costume department to fix he's like well Erdogan would do it himself so I'm gonna do it so that

[00:32:02] that's how kind of deep he got into it which is pretty cool he is amazing has he done anything lately

[00:32:12] yeah he's actually done a couple of um oh god I uh try and remember the names of them but he's

[00:32:17] he did it a series recently um that I saw on one of the streaming services um trying to read what

[00:32:24] the um what the name was and he did he did um a move another movie quite recently as well I think

[00:32:30] it was nominated for something he's interesting because he's always chosen um roles that are

[00:32:37] not overly commercial you know you think something like this that would propel you into being

[00:32:41] kind of leading hero status he seemed to avoid that which I think is quite cool you know like it's

[00:32:47] not um he didn't suddenly go and do the most you know extreme things that he could do so

[00:32:53] I've always been a real artist he cares so much more about the quality of the work he's one of

[00:33:00] those people who's like what I have two shirts I'm good I don't need more shirts than that like

[00:33:06] he's just he doesn't care about getting rich um yeah yeah he's a rose for poet and photographer

[00:33:13] and painter yeah he does a lot of different art forms and he's he likes to work with you know

[00:33:19] otors like Tronabird yeah he did a movie called the Way of the Dog I haven't seen it yet

[00:33:24] no I'm remembering yeah that's right and then um the one the more recent one that I remember was

[00:33:30] um grain book oh yeah I'm just nominated for an Oscar for that one um yeah I don't say that

[00:33:36] because my friends of color all told me it was offensive so I didn't see it yeah okay yeah I mean

[00:33:43] he's he's done some edgy stuff like he's not likeable in quite a few things um he was also

[00:33:49] in captain fantastic which is which looks like quite a moving it's kind of more of a family thing

[00:33:54] but a family drama um he got nominated for that as well for an Oscar it's pretty amazing he's

[00:34:01] just done some really cool stuff um yeah absolutely nothing I well we probably should move on

[00:34:08] because I could talk about figure all day but um and we'll talk about him again in the next

[00:34:12] in the two towers because he continues to be beautiful and inspiring yeah yeah exactly um

[00:34:23] I've lost track who's next do you want to

[00:34:26] I'll just start something just shut up and yeah uh let's talk about Boramir um

[00:34:32] whose character arc in this film is my favorite because you don't often get to see

[00:34:42] corruption as it happens in fiction people usually are introduced characters are introduced

[00:34:49] already corrupt or incorruptible yeah um but watching him succumb to the temptation of the ring

[00:34:58] and you know at first his arguments are very reasonable right it you know he's like well

[00:35:03] saueron is this horrible enemy and gondor has been fighting him for centuries and

[00:35:10] you know we could really use a weapon like this to defeat him um but he agrees to go along with

[00:35:17] the fellowship on the quest and you know at first he's kind of disdainful of airgorn and then

[00:35:23] grows to to love him and call him brother on his deathbed um you know early in the movie he's

[00:35:31] shown as being this like lovely person like the scene I love I've always loved the scene where

[00:35:37] he's like so you know teaching the hobbits to use their swords oh yeah to do it and then they

[00:35:42] like attack him and they're all laughing and like rolling around on the ground and then airgorn

[00:35:47] somehow gets mixed up in there and um you know it he's not a bad person he has this moment where

[00:35:57] he he goes over the line and he attacks Frodo but he regrets it almost immediately it's almost

[00:36:04] like as soon as the ring left his presence he came back at two his senses yeah I love how they

[00:36:11] made it really clear that it was sort of him being almost possessed a little bit by the ring

[00:36:16] and then when he sort of snaps out of it you realize that it's really not him you know the essence

[00:36:21] of him is really not that person which which I loved and yeah the same also like playing with the

[00:36:27] hobbits but also um after they just come out of the minds of Moria and they've lost Gandalf and

[00:36:31] airgorn says come on we've got to we've got to get going these these hills will be

[00:36:36] teaming with Orcs by morning and he says give them a moment for pity's sake you know like he's

[00:36:41] he's on their side and he he feels for them and and he he is a very noble and honorable and

[00:36:48] caring person um and I do like that complexity too like you say that that this it's not just

[00:36:55] all good and all bad characters it's not just black and white it's he's someone who's

[00:36:59] who's got that temptation and yeah and that's that scene every time gets me when he and

[00:37:08] and when he's dying and airgorns by his side and it gives him a sword and this is I would have

[00:37:12] followed you my brother my captain my king oh gets me every time so emotional I mean first yeah

[00:37:19] he has incredibly heroically tried to rescue Mary and Pippin you know and he faces how many

[00:37:28] Orcs are running at him 50 orcs yeah um yeah and uh I always think about the scene where Pippin tells

[00:37:35] Denathor and he says uh even the medias warrior can be killed by an arrow and Boramir was

[00:37:42] pierced by many um yeah like while he's dying I always think about that like he you know it doesn't

[00:37:49] matter how strong it keeps getting up yeah it just keeps getting up and he's so heroic to his last

[00:37:54] breath oh yeah he also has some of the best lines in the movie right he has some of the most iconic

[00:38:00] like quoteable lines I mean there's the you know one does not simply walk into Mordor

[00:38:08] how many of us have used that line like all the time and there's the old um just a gift

[00:38:15] a gift of those of mortal that's a great one he is so mammable yeah and then you know uh after

[00:38:24] he was Ned's Sean Bean was Ned Stark do you remember there was this whole stopkilling Sean Bean

[00:38:30] came on the internet because he dies in every like every night screen a lot yeah he dies a lot

[00:38:37] on movies um whether he's a good guy or a bad guy he's gone yeah he's always getting killed um

[00:38:44] he's such a powerful performer he has so much presence on screen Sean Bean and he and and

[00:38:51] Viko Mortensen had really wonderful chemistry together that you could tell that that these

[00:38:57] were two people that were equals and you know that the brotherhood that he felt for

[00:39:05] Aragorn by the end of the movie was real and that he was he was glad to have a king you know after all

[00:39:14] this time of him and his father's family defending gondor he was like oh you know I want a king

[00:39:20] I have issues with monarchies but um that's not the point of this point uh he um

[00:39:28] he has a couple of other great moments where he talks to Frodo um he says at one point when they're

[00:39:37] in Lothlorian after they've just lost um Gandalf he says oh god i have so many notes um

[00:39:46] uh Gandalf's death was not in vain nor would he have you give up hope you carry a great burden Frodo

[00:39:53] do not carry the weight of the dead um it kind of reminded me of what Galadriel says to Theo

[00:40:01] in um after the eruption in rings of power yeah good cold yeah um but it was just exactly what

[00:40:10] Frodo needed to hear right then like Gandalf's death is not on you I love how they all assume

[00:40:16] Gandalf is dead by the way like he falls into a pit and they're all like he's dead i'm like he's a

[00:40:22] wizard um yeah but also they kind of don't really know like they think he's a wizard in terms of

[00:40:28] like uh you know an old wise dude they don't know he's a Maya so they're not 100% sure on that

[00:40:35] but Galadriel says you know he's falling into shadow but that doesn't mean he's dead

[00:40:41] yeah no um just gonna go and hang around for a bit and zoom back to Valinor and then get sent back

[00:40:48] in time for the next film spoiled it sorry guys if you haven't watched the two towers yet

[00:40:53] yeah i think we'll have to spoil all three movies 20 years later yeah i think so

[00:40:59] Boramore also says um when he picks up the ring when they're on the top of the mountain

[00:41:04] and that gorgeous snowy peak scene with the amazing blue sky he says uh it's a strange thing

[00:41:10] that we should suffer so much fear and doubt for such a small thing for such a little thing

[00:41:16] and then Aragorn is like give the ring back to Frodo and he kind of like he gets a little defensive

[00:41:22] and he's like i don't care about it you could have it like um yeah what do you have as on his

[00:41:27] scene um but later he says to Frodo um i know why you seek solitude you suffer i see it day by day

[00:41:36] and then it turns are you sure you do not suffer needlessly there are other ways Frodo other paths

[00:41:41] we might take um but he does really really see and care about the suffering of other people

[00:41:49] um and i think a lot about the exhaustion that he talks about if like gondor just trying to be a

[00:41:54] bulwark against the evil um yeah and how desperate and and how much he must have wanted needed a

[00:42:00] weapon you just want to say this people yeah and it's a well i guess we'll talk about a lot more

[00:42:06] in when we cover the return of the king but you know you've got these stewards who for hundreds of

[00:42:11] years have um have guarded and looked after uh gondor and the hope that you know the the king would

[00:42:18] return but a lot of them obviously don't think that's going to happen in particularly denathor

[00:42:22] sees himself as the king as the ruler um but i do think the barameer and then later we'll see

[00:42:27] farameer as well um have it more that they i think they feel like to me more more like true stewards

[00:42:33] that they are there to protect and serve the city um and not necessarily you know really properly

[00:42:40] needed or rule it uh and so that's that's why it's so beautiful moving at the end when barameer dies

[00:42:46] and he um he you know says to to arrogant that he would follow him and it's um it's so beautifully

[00:42:53] done and yeah it's a shame that we don't um we we we get to see him a little bit more later in

[00:42:59] flashbacks which is lovely and we'll touch on that again in the next two films but yeah Sean

[00:43:03] been absolutely incredible um and again huge bond with all the rest of the cast i know that he

[00:43:09] became really close friends with vgo mordinson and um also with the hobbits as well and um yeah

[00:43:17] and one funny thing about Sean been is that he really really hates heights and he can't stand

[00:43:22] flying in helicopters he's just a freak doubt by it and he would actually choose to to hike up to a

[00:43:28] location rather than be um then be helicoptered up there and there's this one particular um scene where

[00:43:36] when they've just come out of um out of uh moria and they sort of they're in the mountain that

[00:43:41] they splash across this little kind of weed lake this little pond um that's just right by

[00:43:45] Queenstown just near the remarkable ski field and uh on our tours we used to take the helicopter

[00:43:51] flight to fly over this location and you could look down and see and there's this really steep

[00:43:56] narrow zigzag ski field road that goes right up next to where that is and apparently the cast

[00:44:03] used to just laugh because they'd be like flying up the helicopter and then they'd look down and

[00:44:07] then see Sean been in his full barrow mere costume like climbing, scaling this this mountain like

[00:44:13] hand over hand to try again because it'd rather do that than spend five minutes like literally

[00:44:17] it's five minutes you Queenstown airport is right there you get in the helicopter it's about three

[00:44:22] or four minutes flight over to this top of this mountain that looks like it's in the middle of no

[00:44:27] yeah um right by Queenstown and yeah but I hated wanting to that's it well that's it. Well I mean

[00:44:32] he must have been like a dirty sweaty mess by the time he got to the top and costume people were

[00:44:38] like yes perfect yeah like no makeup requires that's it that's awesome you crawled through the

[00:44:44] dirt to get here that's that's everybody else crawled through the dirt from now on like just uh you

[00:44:49] look very authentic um yeah it's really funny that's determination. I didn't I knew that the

[00:44:59] thing about the hiking up but I didn't know he did it in costume and that's just really funny

[00:45:08] so those costumes look I mean they're heavy there's like leather and like oh yeah whatever

[00:45:14] it's so many layers to them yeah that's it yeah well speaking of the of that location I did want

[00:45:22] to talk a bit about the locations in general and uh you know uh Peter Jackson has has sort of

[00:45:28] said in interviews as well that New Zealand is a character in the film um because you know it was

[00:45:34] all shot here of course they did quite a lot in the studios as well um and at Stone Street Studios

[00:45:39] in Wellington but a huge amount was shot outside and um on location and they built a huge number

[00:45:46] of of exterior sets in different places around New Zealand um usually really uh quite remote places

[00:45:54] partly to make it look um you know wild and amazing but also for secrecy purposes so that they

[00:46:01] could just do it in a private area where no one was just gonna drive past and take photos of it um

[00:46:07] so I'll just talk a little bit about a few of the locations um I've been to most of them

[00:46:14] having been like enough to guide the Lord of the Rings tours with Red Carpet Tours

[00:46:18] and get into go and see them you know every month and through lots of different seasons with

[00:46:23] a huge treat um Hobbiton is incredible you can now visit Hobbiton they've been running

[00:46:31] tours therefore the last sort of 18 years or so um and it's now for a while after the after the

[00:46:39] filming they stripped it right back um to talk about all those set dressing and all the plantings

[00:46:44] and everything like that and they stripped it right back to the the basic sort of um frontages

[00:46:49] of the Hobbit holes so it was just basically like plywood with a sort of round

[00:46:53] hole for the door um it was still incredible when we'd visit it like that in the old days

[00:46:59] um and then uh eventually they after the Hobbit was filmed they gained permission from the

[00:47:06] studios to be able to keep it dressed basically so it looks exactly like it is in the films

[00:47:13] and you go there and it's actually you're in Hobbiton there's no kind of behind the scenes

[00:47:18] in front of the scenes you're like all of the Hobbit holes of there you walk around whichever

[00:47:22] direction you lock you just in Hobbiton that's all you can see the plantings are all there they've

[00:47:26] incredible detail with all the little seats and the little baskets and the carts everywhere um

[00:47:32] the fruit and the vegetables everything and you can go inside so that's kind of a

[00:47:40] slight in your addition as well over the last few years they have the green drag in there

[00:47:44] so you can actually go in and you can um you can order the beer and drink it out of the cups

[00:47:49] that they have in the movies and um you can have lunch there they have a big feast

[00:47:53] they do um a bunch of special events as well so for bilbo's birthday on bilbo and fronos

[00:47:59] birthday September the 22nd they always have a big party um they did like a Christmas thing

[00:48:05] they have a whole bunch of different things that you can do now and it's incredible like honestly

[00:48:10] people we take people there from overseas and you just look at it and then they just

[00:48:13] absolutely blown away the party tree is still there um the tree at the top of bag end like it's

[00:48:19] just blows your mind it's so beautiful and really feels like like you're there you know I highly

[00:48:25] recommend anyone who comes to use your lunch go there it's um it's really it's really special

[00:48:31] um and you know that's that's absolute quintessential Lord of the Rings

[00:48:37] Hobbiton is just you know amazing but my favourite locations were the ones that were

[00:48:44] in the South Island and really just wild and um rugged um the there was a few really great ones

[00:48:52] that they did around Wellington as well so um the where they shot Rivendell uh some of it was

[00:48:58] shot in a park in Wellington um and you can go and sort of walk around and that same where you see

[00:49:05] uh Gandalf and Saruman walking around all I think was also also shot in a in a portion of that

[00:49:11] same park we sort of see you know flowers and trees behind them but Rivendell was shot there they

[00:49:15] built quite a big exterior set um there for for Rivendell and then they shot a lot of that in

[00:49:22] the studio as well I love the design of of Rivendell you know these gorgeous rich colours really

[00:49:27] similar design was carried through to the Alvin locations in the rings of power I like how

[00:49:32] you know we've talked about that before how they look really similar in terms of their design

[00:49:36] but and this it's a much more kind of golden and autumnal you know um the rings of power you have

[00:49:41] these kind of parallel silvers and greens and things and then and this one it sort of shows that

[00:49:46] the Alves are reaching the the end of their time in middle earth so you have these gorgeous

[00:49:51] golds and browns and oranges it's so beautiful yeah and Lothlorean again yeah and Lothlorean you've

[00:49:58] got this kind of ethereal look you know these huge mallow on trees and this sort of mist and it's all

[00:50:04] a little bit kind of mystical and spooky and that's pretty special as well um that's a location

[00:50:10] near Featherston which is a couple hours drive from or an hour or so drive from Wellington

[00:50:15] and that's like a private kind of homestead where they have a little lake and they have this kind

[00:50:21] of bridge over it which they dress to look more more Alvin that's quite a pretty location as well

[00:50:28] um moreya uh i really struck me this time you know after having seen Kazadoum at its peak

[00:50:35] and the rings of power to see it again now deserted and ruined was even more emotional than on

[00:50:41] previous viewings yeah and really struck me how how I had fallen so far and and you know

[00:50:50] it was really tragic when they're walking through and you know you see Gimli's Gimli's face

[00:50:54] or I have a question about that um do you know in the story how much time has supposedly passed

[00:51:03] um from when moreya fell and you know fallen died and everything to now because it looked like

[00:51:12] it had happened quite a long time previously and that the place had had time to fall into ruin but

[00:51:18] Gimli was like my cousin like he seemed to fully expect them to be there so like how long

[00:51:24] you had it going so it's about um it's about 25 years so there's a long backstory to Kazadoum

[00:51:30] where it had actually after it had fell the first time it was abandoned for about a thousand

[00:51:34] years and then um tharlin and uh Gimli's um father and uncle Gluin and Owen went back and reclaimed it

[00:51:44] and so they had been there for a number of years um you know brought it back not to its former glory

[00:51:50] but brought it back to a comfortable and um you know renowned kind of place and then at it

[00:51:57] been about 25 years prior to this that uh that it fell to the baurog and it's when you know

[00:52:03] barlin was killed and all that stuff um but there is a there is a part in the book where they mention

[00:52:12] and the council of bauron that no news had been heard for about 25 years from there so it does sound

[00:52:19] like a long time especially given how you know it's not that far away um from where they are

[00:52:25] but they hadn't heard anything but um there was no news because the orcs had kind of way laid

[00:52:30] the messages and that was the the idea was that there was this growing darkness and that

[00:52:34] you know people weren't getting the message early enough and so that's why um Gimli expected it to be

[00:52:42] still thriving and why he was so surprised that it had happened but yeah 25 years earlier

[00:52:47] seems like a long time to not know that stuff isn't it yeah yeah and then uh the other

[00:52:57] location that I really really loved um is the breaking of the fellowship so at the very end

[00:53:03] the all the scenes with um with the the battle with the orcs and Frodo hiding behind the tree

[00:53:10] and Merriam Pippa in there and and then they come out to the lake shore and you've got

[00:53:14] Sam leaving in the Frodo leaving in the boat and Sam following him that was all filmed at a place

[00:53:20] called Lake Bavora um and that's probably more on my top two favorite locations um it's about four

[00:53:26] hours drive from my house just in the in this lower part of the southern Alps there on the way to

[00:53:32] Fjordland it's quite remote like you have to sort of drive down the main road and then you have

[00:53:37] to drive like almost an hour up a dirt road gravel road but there's a campground there which is

[00:53:43] just beautiful right on the edge of the lake and it all just looks still looks just like it did

[00:53:49] and the film is quite beautiful and remote um and absolutely gorgeous location um beautiful cold

[00:53:56] clear water and uh that whole scene and the whole everything about the the breaking of the fellowship

[00:54:03] and the music and how that all works just is so beautiful and combined with how gorgeous the location

[00:54:09] is um it just kind of fits to be one of my favorite favorite scenes in favorite locations as well

[00:54:15] on the tours we used to go uh there and we'd pose for photos like you could we found the actual tree

[00:54:21] that Frodo had behind and then the the stump that Merriam Pippa and it's probably not there anymore

[00:54:25] because it was kind of half-rottling like 18 years ago yeah but uh we used to pose there for photos

[00:54:31] and you know reenact all the scenes and people would like run into the water and pretend to be

[00:54:36] Sam and yeah it was very cool um one of my favorite scenes is actually just before that when they're

[00:54:43] just in the bolts and they go through this very like tall gorge is that a real location?

[00:54:50] Yeah that's the Karwo Gorge um and that scene where they uh going through there with the

[00:54:56] towering kind of rock rock walls that's also quite near Queenstown it's between Queenstown and

[00:55:02] Cromwell and it's um it's about it's about 100 meters from the original AJ Hackett Bungee Bridge

[00:55:11] so you know Bungee first became popularized in commercialized in New Zealand and the very first

[00:55:17] flagship Bungee Jump is right there right where they superimpose the pillars of Argoneth

[00:55:23] yeah that next to that that gorge so when you're driving along the road you can we go

[00:55:28] we go every year often at New Year we go through that area and you're driving on the bridge

[00:55:32] and you look to your right and you can see the Bungee Bridge and you look to the left and it's

[00:55:35] that exact shot of um of the where the fellowship uh um paddling up the river that's really cool

[00:55:42] there's a really great music cue in that scene where they're having like a little bit of quiet time

[00:55:46] in the boat you know and they're all in the boats and they're they're just paddling along and then um

[00:55:53] I think we get a shot of the Erochi and then the camera zooms in on our heroes in the boats

[00:56:00] and the music picks up and it's like done and done yeah and it gets really exciting all of a sudden

[00:56:06] it's like yeah it's an incredibly powerful moment

[00:56:36] and let legalist senses it and he kind of looks suddenly to towards the shore he can sense the

[00:56:46] the orcs there and yeah that's really cool and you have the the orc feet like there's a close-up

[00:56:51] shot of the orc feet like stamping over this log and yeah that's really exciting it's cool and

[00:56:56] you've also got the the Argoneth there the statues um huge statues that they that they go past

[00:57:02] and of course we saw their precursors in the rings of power in Numenor um these statues uh it's

[00:57:09] quite interesting because they uh in the movie portray a sail door in a lendel who we're familiar with

[00:57:17] in the books it was actually a sail door and his brother in Arion so the the movie trilogy pretty

[00:57:23] much ignored in Arion and didn't give him his credit with having a statue there and everything

[00:57:31] and of course remember in rings of power he's the brother that we haven't met yet he's a sailor's

[00:57:35] brother that they've mentioned um and what happened was when they arrived from Numenor a lendel

[00:57:40] established the northern area of Middle-Earth as a kingdom of Arnor and his sons established the

[00:57:47] southern kingdom of Gondor so although a lendel he was like the king of both realms but he kind of

[00:57:53] lived in Arnor and he let um his sons a sailor and anari on rule the south rule Gondor so anari

[00:58:00] on lived in Minnes Arnor and a sailor lived in Minnes Ethel which is um which later on we see

[00:58:08] and Osgilieth was the kind of middle bit um and so yeah he's kind of ignored in these films and uh

[00:58:14] I will be interested to see we've talked about it before whether we get to see him in the rings of

[00:58:19] power yeah but yeah here we go we've just got this um the statue I thought those um you know

[00:58:28] gigantic statues when I you know when I first saw fellowship the ring um I couldn't really understand

[00:58:37] like why Gondor would go to the trouble to create them

[00:58:43] um but now that I've seen the Numenorian ones I get that it's like a tradition

[00:58:51] yeah and it's sort of and you know in the in the very peak of their of their might I guess they

[00:58:55] they wanted to celebrate the the founders um of of their land you know the the forefathers who came

[00:59:02] from from Numenor yes all pretty grand tradition isn't it can you mention they actually building

[00:59:08] the statue is massive um I thought it was a really great metaphor that when um Frodo and Bore Amir have

[00:59:16] their confrontation um Frodo is is standing next to this fallen you know face of one of these

[00:59:24] giant sculptures and it's like a it's like a man who has fallen and you know he's not himself

[00:59:31] his face is broken yeah um yeah it's beautiful everdrazing it it works really well

[00:59:37] yeah all right what what's next for you um I thought we could talk about the action sequences

[00:59:50] um because there are several in this movie that are truly remarkable um the one of my favorites

[01:00:00] in like any movie favorite fight scenes is the um the cave troll scene and in the minds of Moria

[01:00:08] I love how the camera like whips around the room and you get a sense of the chaos and and um

[01:00:18] you know confusion of a battle like that it's truly scary um and then when they do kill the cave troll

[01:00:26] somehow Peter Jackson made me care about the cave troll you know he's like oh yeah it's kind

[01:00:33] of a rainbow in my minutes isn't it that's exactly what I was about to say it reminds me that

[01:00:37] I'm like oh poor cave troll he didn't he didn't know that he was hurting heroes um but you know and then

[01:00:47] Frodo gets hurt they handle it a little differently in the movie than the book

[01:00:51] um in the movie they reveal the mythrael shirt like right away like in the room with the troll

[01:00:58] but in the book it's not until they get outside and they've already lost Gandalf right because at

[01:01:02] that point there are also all worried that Frodo might be about to die um I'm not sure why the change

[01:01:10] but fine um and then you know the rut the race and the stairs and the jumping on the stairs when

[01:01:18] they're crumbling it's it's really scary and the music is amazing this you know the camera

[01:01:25] work is amazing and then the whole Gandalf you shall not pass

[01:01:33] which is another iconic line that has uh become a big part of our culture um

[01:01:46] it's so beautiful the ballrog is terrifying um fly you fools and other iconic line

[01:01:55] how are you fools

[01:01:57] you

[01:02:12] it's it's an amazing action sequence and you know at that point in the movie I'm like they're not

[01:02:17] gonna top this and then the orc battle at the end um you know where we've already talked about it

[01:02:24] a little bit where boormeer is so heroic but like everyone has a hero moment in that battle

[01:02:30] oh yeah um pipette and marry like fully you know sacrifice themselves for so Frodo can get away

[01:02:38] and then even when boormeer is like run run they like stay and throw rocks at the orcs

[01:02:44] more effective than you would think like they they knock out the morx which is a hard to believe

[01:02:48] a couple of them yeah uh very you walk and then you've got you cook here and then you've got

[01:02:54] legolas and in the extended edition he he fires like seven arrows in a really quick succession

[01:03:00] which is which is super cool and he has it has a few cool kind of archery gags with like stabbing

[01:03:06] one in the face with an arrow and then pulling it back and shooting another one and yeah

[01:03:09] it's um this the start of legolas is kind of antics really but yeah they all have a huge

[01:03:15] amount to do that that's seen that you mentioned um and moria when they're on the stairs and

[01:03:20] the stairs are starting to crumble and they have to jump is one of my favorite sequences in

[01:03:25] in the whole movie i absolutely love it just um when they're standing there and

[01:03:30] and they end up having to throw um the hobbits across and then gimme lee goes nobody tosses a dwarf

[01:03:37] and then he goes not the beard it's really cool i just agree with you love it um yeah and the

[01:03:45] the bell rock you know the this was you know 20 years ago when when the digital kind of

[01:03:51] age was was just sort of beginning um you know an earnest and things were starting to look super

[01:03:57] real and i just loved the there's a shot of the bell rock when it sort of breathes out fire and

[01:04:03] sort of roars at Gandalf and you can see the shimmer of the heat coming out i thought that was so

[01:04:08] beautifully done uh and you know Gandalf fighting it and you shall not pass

[01:04:18] oh shout out pass

[01:04:24] it's just oh love it so much yeah yeah it's really it's a really remarkable scene and um

[01:04:32] the only thing that that keeps it from being like the scene of the movie is how much i love the scene

[01:04:39] of the four hobbits hiding under the tree roots and when the nas school almost find them

[01:04:45] because that is like one of the scariest things i have ever seen in my life um yeah uh but yeah

[01:04:51] the action the the choreography with the the sword play is remarkable and the way that the camera

[01:04:59] captures the action is really um extraordinary and at the time was um

[01:05:08] it i hadn't seen anything like this before then that showed a battle

[01:05:14] from inside the battle you know they're usually sort of shot from the side and you see

[01:05:20] you can see like all the action or they're like all montage up close and you can't tell what's going on

[01:05:26] but this you could tell what was going on but at the same time you felt like you were spinning around

[01:05:31] like watching all the different parts of the battle and um your adrenaline is pumping like it

[01:05:37] it's it's very effective i mean the combination of the choreography the camera work and the um

[01:05:43] music it's like a drug it captured that the real the real frantic um and disorganized in chaotic nature

[01:05:53] of being in a battle but like you say a lot of times you get that on screen but you can't actually see

[01:05:58] what's happening it's just a lot of fast stuff happening in front of your face this is you know every

[01:06:03] shot you can actually see what's happening you can see every little stunt and every little action

[01:06:06] piece um and especially uh you know when it's in a dark place too you know the better with the cave

[01:06:12] troll is in this pretty dark location but they actually made it um quite bright and distinct

[01:06:17] and what you could see i think they did it by um you know adding a little bit of a filter to it where

[01:06:22] it was sort of um a bit monochrome like it was almost a bit sort of gray blue that that scene

[01:06:28] to make it look like the colors were bleached out a bit but it didn't make it actually dark you know

[01:06:32] yeah i'm looking at your game of thrones but um yeah it's it's beautifully done and um

[01:06:40] I you know the amount of work that goes into not just you know you know constructing and blocking

[01:06:46] out a scene like that and deciding storyboarding and deciding what's going to go where but the training

[01:06:51] that's involved in the practice and the rehearsals for for the the cast is incredible when you think

[01:06:57] about that um absolutely amazing the the the sword master on this film was a guy called Bob Anderson

[01:07:04] who um was one of the most famous Hollywood sword masters who did or like like he kind of you know

[01:07:09] did all of the old action movies way back in the day with all the famous Hollywood stars and um

[01:07:15] I think Vigo Mortensen in particular was really thrilled to be trained by him and yeah it really

[01:07:20] shows that they all sort of have such power over their weapons and really know how to handle them

[01:07:25] and really make it look real. I read something um when i was looking for uh any like new information

[01:07:33] about this movie that might be out there that um in the orc battle at the end when Erragorn

[01:07:40] knocks a knife away that's been thrown at him that really happened that wasn't choreographed the

[01:07:47] the urkai who had the knife was like unable to see through his mask and like aimed too well

[01:07:54] at Vigo Mortensen and uh Vigo Mortensen instinctively blocked it with his sword and they caught it

[01:08:00] on camera and they were like well we're keeping that like that was awesome you look like a superhero

[01:08:06] um i thought that was really funny it was like i could have been i did hit him in the head yeah

[01:08:14] oh my gosh yeah yeah and then i hope that there's a few little bits like that

[01:08:18] uh and i heard also that in that scene when Sam goes out in the river that he got like horribly hurt

[01:08:26] yeah he did that there's um they actually show part of that in the in the behind the scene stuff

[01:08:31] there was a piece of quite a decent chunk of glass in the in the um in the riverbell the lake bed

[01:08:36] there and went through his prosthetic hobbit foot into his foot and yeah it was really bad they had to

[01:08:43] chop her him out you know i can say that it's two hours from the nearest at least two hours from the

[01:08:47] nearest kind of medical center so they had to chop her him out and he got several stitches but

[01:08:52] yeah there's a bit where Sean Ashton is relating the story and he said that he was lying there and

[01:08:57] he did start to worry when he um when he heard one of them say uh yes it's bleeding quite freely now

[01:09:05] that doesn't sound good yeah yeah so i mean it's just absolute idyllic location but you know like as

[01:09:11] I said there is a campground nearby and you know sometimes you get you get bits of glass here

[01:09:16] in there but yeah it's sound pretty awful and then there's some other little bumps and injuries

[01:09:21] that stayed in the film as well uh the scene where Gandalf is in bag end and he bangs into the candle

[01:09:28] labra and then right after that he turns around so he's he's meant to banning into the candle labra

[01:09:35] but what right after he did that he turned around and he banged his head really hard on the on the archway

[01:09:41] and that wasn't supposed to happen and but like he did it and so if you watch it if you kind of

[01:09:45] watch it afterwards you could just see before they cut away that he's kind of in pain but laughing as well

[01:09:53] and there's um there's another shot to where Vigo it's in the next um in the next film in the two

[01:09:59] towers but where Vigo kicks a an awk helmet and he kicked it so hard that he broke his toes for real

[01:10:05] and um he just he's Vigo he kept acting he just screamed and then went down to his knees

[01:10:11] and he's still in character and stuff and then yeah later they cut and he's like yeah I'm pretty sure

[01:10:15] I break my toes I mean from his point of view Aragorn would keep going

[01:10:22] tells me damn because I should have stopped just because he's an actor

[01:10:28] yeah well that that no there you go um you that kind of merges quite nicely to my next point which

[01:10:36] is about the effects so we talked a bit about the effects and the battles and uh this film is

[01:10:43] full of effects you know and there's practical effects and then there's digital sort of visual

[01:10:47] effects as well and um you know overall it all looks as I said really real and really gritty

[01:10:55] they used such a good combination of practical and digital effects for that whole look

[01:10:59] I really liked how they used slow motion quite sparingly like they used it when it was effective

[01:11:04] and when it was needed um not like some of the overuse that I felt like there was in the ringer's power

[01:11:11] yeah um but you know there's a couple of moments that stand out particularly um Boramia's death

[01:11:16] scene where you know that it sort of feels like it would feel if you were there you know when

[01:11:21] something really horrible tragic um or traumatic happens it does feel like you're in slow motion

[01:11:27] that was really beautifully done um you know all the digital stuff still holds up

[01:11:31] all of those scenes at the in the prologue with these huge armies of of orcs and elves and men

[01:11:38] still looks amazing the cave troll still looks great um I love the lava effects and more doer

[01:11:44] there's that shot where you first see um the tower of Baradur and you see this kind of river of

[01:11:49] lava and then you see a tower and you think oh that's a big tower and then it pulls out and

[01:11:54] you realize that's one of the tiny little towers that builds up to the huge tower of Baradur so

[01:11:59] that was incredible sequence two all of the sequences with um with uh or think

[01:12:05] with when saramans wrapping up the trees and then you have these tunnels and you do this fly

[01:12:10] over kind of with the tunnels it hurts to call it a mixture of but it is yeah yeah it has it's

[01:12:17] incredible and that was they used to use a lot of these were a lot of miniatures on this film

[01:12:24] but they they actually called them bigotures rather than miniatures because the for example the

[01:12:28] miniature of of minis terrath which we see in the third film was you know like 10 meters high

[01:12:34] or the the miniature of this scene with um with the the tunnels underneath ice and guard um was

[01:12:41] you know five or six or seven meters wide so they made it huge but you know it was big enough

[01:12:46] there small enough that you could zoom in and move the camera around it still look realistic

[01:12:51] right down to that you know the camera is a few centimeters away from from this this miniature and

[01:12:56] you could see all this detail it's um absolutely beautiful they used a lot of other practical effects

[01:13:03] so the problem I guess and one of the biggest challenges in this film was the scale so you've got

[01:13:09] lots of different scales you've got um you know humans and elves and and wizards on a sort of similar

[01:13:15] similar level where the actors could all just act next to each other and be the right type of scale

[01:13:20] but then you've got the hobbits are only supposed to be sort of three foot six and then you've

[01:13:25] got the dwarves which are kind of in between they need to be you know four and a half feet around that

[01:13:30] so they use lots of old tricks you know old Hollywood movie tricks lots of forced perspective so

[01:13:35] that's when you have one person further away from the camera than the other and the camera can't

[01:13:39] pick up the depth like the human eye can and so it just makes it look like one is smaller one is large

[01:13:45] um there's a few examples of that there's a two shot of Gandalf and Frodo in the cart

[01:13:50] and Ian McCallan they met they built a cart where the um the part that Elijah set on was much further

[01:13:57] behind and then the part that um Ian McCallan as Gandalf set on was much closer to the camera

[01:14:03] so it was almost like the the front seat was kind of split in two but when you see the two of them

[01:14:09] on it together it just makes it look like one smaller one's big that's a really easy way to do it one

[01:14:13] of the easiest ways um there was the same with Gandalf and Frodo having tea they kind of split the

[01:14:18] table and had um had Sir Ian Hall me plays Frodo further away from the camera so he looks really small

[01:14:25] um and they did other things sometimes for height with like having one of the actors walk in a trench

[01:14:30] to make them be shorter um they did other things um like all of the actors had scale doubles so you

[01:14:37] had your your hero actors and then they used for the hobbits they used little people um actors and

[01:14:42] they had latex masks made to look like the main actors so a lot of the time if you're seeing um

[01:14:48] the the humans or the elves or Gandalf walking along and you've got hobbits there with them um

[01:14:53] often you might see them from behind or you might see them from from a slight distance um and those are

[01:14:57] those are other actors that they used um when you're seeing scenes with the with the hobbits um

[01:15:04] you know face but you're seeing the the back of a of a body of of um say for example Gandalf or

[01:15:08] Eragon they had a really um tall actor a body double call and his name was Paul so they called him

[01:15:14] tall Paul but he was like seven foot something and so they would actually have him dress up in the

[01:15:20] Gandalf costume and there was actually I think even a scene we're here to where they are in costume

[01:15:25] so that he would be the right size and scale to the hobbits um the only scale that that actually

[01:15:31] worked um for them to be together was um Gimli and the hobbits because the the hobbit actors are all

[01:15:36] around five foot six and John restavers is six foot one so he was tall enough against them to seem

[01:15:41] like a dwarf foot against the hobbits um so that was the right kind of scale uh they used a lot

[01:15:47] of a lot of make up a lot of prosthetics you know everyone had wigs everyone was all wigged um

[01:15:52] and they had um everybody had had prosthetics basically ears or feet um Gimli had most of his face

[01:16:01] I think it was only Eragon and um and Baramia that didn't have any facial prosthetics Gandalf

[01:16:08] um ahead obviously has has beard and everything but he also had a nose um prosthetic

[01:16:13] um and the most incredible make up was lutes so that's the Eric Hyatt the end who kills Baramia

[01:16:19] and Eragon has that that drawn out. The one who like pulls where himself closer on the sword

[01:16:25] that one yeah yeah yeah he grabs the sword and pulls it into oh my god so gross so that some

[01:16:30] that was a New Zealand actor called Lawrence Mkawari and uh he took 12 hours to put the make up on

[01:16:38] so it was full body prosthetics and facial prosthetics in makeup and so it was a 12 hour and so

[01:16:43] he would he would he would sit with Stan and he would sort of go into a days and actually kind

[01:16:47] of go to sleep while they were doing it uh and then they would shoot the scenes and yeah that's

[01:16:52] seen at the end day when he's fighting Eragon it's so brutal he licks the he like he pulls the knife

[01:16:58] out of his leg and licks it and then has arms off and then he's stabbed but he still pulls oh my

[01:17:04] god it's so incredible but yeah it's um the make up in and their feats is outstanding you just

[01:17:11] think about and they did that every day I know that the hobbits would love it when it was a day

[01:17:15] where they didn't need their feet on so there was quite a few days when when they um just had close

[01:17:20] ups and oh you know sort of from the knees up they didn't need to have their feet put on because

[01:17:24] that was quite a process as well every single day having that applied um yeah um yeah they don't look

[01:17:31] comfortable no yeah uh would be quite weird uh yeah think about they there's hundreds of them

[01:17:38] like I'm sure there's still some of them around yeah of course um the fireworks are really great

[01:17:45] as well with the uh the opening scene and hobbiton at the party uh Gandalf's fireworks were really

[01:17:51] a really great visual effect too and we talked a little bit about the lighting um Andrew Lesney

[01:17:56] was the cinematographer for this film um Peter Jackson approached him to work with him on this movie

[01:18:03] after he'd seen babe which is a really cute um movie um but he went on to do a lot more with him he

[01:18:11] did King Kong um he also went on to do Rise of the Planet of the Apes I'm Legend and he did

[01:18:16] lovely bones again with Peter Jackson 2 and he he was incredible just the lighting is

[01:18:22] is um is absolutely beautiful to see and it really adds to the whole whole look of the film

[01:18:28] he uh found a quote from Andrew Lesney which I loved he was asked um where does the light come

[01:18:35] from when people are asking about his often impossible light sources they said where does the light

[01:18:39] come from and he said the same place as the music and I loved that I loved it because it kind of

[01:18:46] it shows you that it's not just a technical thing you know like it would be easy to think okay well

[01:18:51] it's technical it's like you know you set up the camera and you have to light it this particular

[01:18:54] way and it is very technical but I love how he showed you how much of an art it is and were that

[01:19:01] the answer um it's just absolutely stunning yeah uh yeah that's about it on the on the effects

[01:19:10] I mean again I could go on all day but um those are the main sort of points they had on how

[01:19:14] how things look yeah absolutely stunning um so I watched this film three times to get ready for

[01:19:20] this and um after the first watch I was like oh no I don't have anything to say that is it

[01:19:27] and this part was really cool and then this other part was really gorgeous and then this thing

[01:19:32] was cool and then oh my god and then this part like I wanted to have more to say than that um

[01:19:39] so I focused on you know our Tolkien themes a little bit uh there's the ever popular racism theme

[01:19:48] and you know the the fellowship is very clearly made up of four different races of people

[01:19:57] five if you count Ergorn and Boramir as kind of being two different races have been um

[01:20:04] and it's not just a diversity of race but diversity of abilities and diversity of you points

[01:20:11] and and ways of looking at the world it's a very different everybody in that group is really

[01:20:16] distinct from everybody else um representation matters uh not a lot for women to do in the movie of

[01:20:23] course um and then the big theme is about you know the lore of power and how power corrupts and

[01:20:32] and we get to see that in two different ways there's Boramir which we've already talked about

[01:20:37] and we get to sort of watch it creep up on him but we meet Saramon and he's already been corrupted

[01:20:45] I've always found the scenes between Saramon and Gandalf to be a little off they don't work

[01:20:51] as well as the rest of the scenes in the movie for me and I think it's because Saramon is a little

[01:20:58] cartoonish if we had known him before he was corrupted it would be more poignant when we find out

[01:21:08] that he is and that he's you know basically betraying his people the a starry but as it is he

[01:21:15] just kind of seems like a cartoon villain and then he's all like so excited about his erocha

[01:21:19] that he's created this like a bombination of technology um but they do a great job showing like

[01:21:27] the orcs just like slashing these gorgeous beautiful giant trees and like throwing them into the

[01:21:34] flames to create weapons and like and the what they leave behind is this wasteland not unlike

[01:21:42] what the orcs did to the south lands and rings of power right it's like to achieve our goals we're

[01:21:48] just going to decimate the land and we're given the ultimate contrast in with the hobbits who are

[01:21:55] idyllic pastoral life of you know hijinks include stealing carrots and you know getting a little

[01:22:03] too drunk on ale at the pub and the hobbits are like oh we keep our nose out of other people's business

[01:22:08] and we'll be okay and um that's not the right answer either because evil will come to the shire

[01:22:15] you can't just ignore it forever yeah and that's that's a huge thing for Tolkien we've talked

[01:22:21] about before is the impact on the environment and how much responsibility to take for that

[01:22:26] and you know the themes came through and the rings of power and then okay come through in this too

[01:22:32] I agree about Saruman being being fairly one-sided in this and um you know let's see what happens

[01:22:39] in the rings of power there are some theories out there that the stranger is not gandalf but is

[01:22:43] potentially Saruman and I think it would be great to see his backstory to see him start out good

[01:22:48] and then yeah to see some of that corruption later obviously um unbelievably portrayed by Christopher

[01:22:55] Lee uh he's such a legend and he's so scared I think that might lend it to it as well that

[01:23:01] we just know him as a villain he's the ultimate villain he's been in 230 films and in most

[01:23:05] of them he's the bad guy you know he's played the classic bad guy he was Dracula and

[01:23:10] and a huge number of other baddies and so when you see him you just think okay he's evil

[01:23:15] he's definitely definitely bad and you can kind of tell by his like interior design right like

[01:23:21] the style of of Eisenguard with the four prongs at the top doesn't that doesn't look like a good

[01:23:27] wizard that looks like Saruman's helmet it doesn't I yeah um yeah he's uh Christopher Lee is amazing

[01:23:38] you know we've seen him we've seen him as so many villains obviously count Duku in the prequel

[01:23:43] star was trilogy um and I read apparently he was offered the role of grandmove Tarkin

[01:23:49] as well in a new hope but he turned it down and Peter Cushing who's his friend actually took it

[01:23:54] that's pretty amazing isn't it ended up being in yeah and then and then next lot um

[01:24:00] yeah he was uh he was the only one on set who had actually met Tolkien uh so and he also

[01:24:07] was uh basically like a Tolkien scholar he used to read the Lord of the Rings books every single year

[01:24:13] you know for the last like 50 years and um and so he was a bit of an authority on set people would

[01:24:19] ask him about things and he was pretty well with that I think um but yeah he was he was in his 80s

[01:24:25] already when he shot there so sort of 82 83 it was incredible obviously they had stunt um

[01:24:31] stunt men for quite a few other fight scenes but a lot of it you know still physical he still did

[01:24:35] quite a bit of it uh yeah he had a great line uh early on he says to Gandalf um you know he's

[01:24:42] kind of making fun of Gandalf for not realizing that Bill Boz ring is the one ring and he says

[01:24:46] your love of the Halflings leaf has clearly slowed your mind yeah kind of big

[01:24:52] yeah yeah yeah if anyone's interested in in Christopher Lee there's so much interesting stuff about

[01:25:00] out there about him he's he was a fascinating man and um if you go to i his page on IMDB and you

[01:25:06] look at the trivia there's just pages and pages and pages of really interesting facts about him um

[01:25:13] one of the stories that came out I think in in the film of Lord of the Rings was um he was uh talking

[01:25:19] about how one of the sound effects of of someone being stabbed wasn't wasn't right and Peter Jackson

[01:25:24] was like well yeah doesn't you know he's like yeah no it doesn't sound like that I know because um

[01:25:30] you know I've been there like he was in Wilbur Turin he knows what it's like to for someone to be stabbed

[01:25:34] he was also apparently one of witnessed the last public execution by Gillatin in 1930s France

[01:25:41] how crazy is that like that's you know that's when he was around so let me mind blowing

[01:25:48] what he's seen you know in his career and in his life as well yeah that's amazing incredible guy yeah

[01:25:55] yeah and he's more important in the second movie so we get to spend a lot more time with him

[01:26:01] which is good yeah yeah that's all good so much more excellent stuff to come how about

[01:26:08] hit us hit us with the lines okay um uh right at the beginning a wizard is never late nor is he

[01:26:15] early he arrives precisely when he means to um and then you know everyone's favorite conversation

[01:26:24] what about breakfast you've had breakfast we've had one yes what about second breakfast

[01:26:31] don't think he knows about second breakfast a bit what about 11s lunch and afternoon tea dinner

[01:26:37] supper dinner's about slime does he knows about them doesn't he I wouldn't count on it and then

[01:26:42] strider you know throws him an apple which is a really uh nice touch um and Pipin has another great

[01:26:50] one when he when you know he and Mary insist on going along with the fellowship and he says

[01:26:55] anyway you need people with intelligence on this sort of mission quest thing

[01:27:04] and then he's like where are we going?

[01:27:08] and I love at the end um when Frodo says I'm going to m- to Mordor alone and Sam yells of course

[01:27:15] you are and I'm going with you um it's uh it's a wonderful line it's it's kind of up there with

[01:27:22] I love you I know like it's just yeah it sums up their relationship doesn't it that you know

[01:27:28] that we're in for Frodo as that's where Sam's gonna be but it's obvious it's where he'll be because

[01:27:33] he loves him so much yeah and of course let's hunt some orc one of the greatest lines in a movie ever

[01:27:40] um there are others but those are those are my favorites I remember when um my uh my nephew was

[01:27:46] born in in 2001 and that when this movie came out and um the joke about second breakfast

[01:27:54] about him was like it was like five solid years of joking about my nephew wanting second

[01:28:01] breakfast and eleven z's and dinner and supper um so I have a real soft spot in my heart for

[01:28:08] that particular part of the dialogue yeah oh it's lovely I'm sorry it's my action to everyone you know

[01:28:16] like don't ever be sorry for your accident uh yeah there's another line that I love to um when

[01:28:27] Giladriel and uh in Frodo are talking and when she says to him to bear a ring of power is to be

[01:28:34] alone I think that's that's so powerful and beautiful and it sort of struck me a little bit more

[01:28:39] again since having seen the rings of power too yeah although she's not alone she's with

[01:28:46] caliborn I mean I guess it's like metaphorically alone but Frodo was gonna be like actually alone

[01:28:51] yeah without an army of elves surrounding him in a uh a prediction spell on his um little

[01:29:00] forest camp yeah what you complaining about yeah uh yeah god I can talk about this movie for an

[01:29:08] entire other like two hours but um yeah everybody who's listening uh if you want us to ever talk

[01:29:15] for like five hours about a movie you know right in the letters now and what do we'll do the

[01:29:20] podcast extended edition it's like exclusive without takes um I had a couple of other moments um

[01:29:30] there was some moments that really stand out for me where it's just a look on someone's face

[01:29:35] and and you realize sort of how much it means there's um there's when Frodo when they all come out of

[01:29:41] Moria and they're all standing there in and the hobbits are just crying and arrogance says come on

[01:29:46] come on on your feet Sam and come on Frodo he sort of turns around there's a shot where Frodo turns

[01:29:52] around and the look on his face just so filled with grief and sadness and uh I think it's the first

[01:29:59] time that he realizes the cost you know of this mission like it's sort of all been about theoretical

[01:30:03] before they're okay it's dangerous you're going into mortal but when they lose Gandalf he realizes

[01:30:09] how huge this all is and look on his face it's absolutely heartbreaking uh there's um

[01:30:17] there's another shot uh can't find a number of notes oh all the shots they're all they're all good

[01:30:25] the one where the one where the bellrog comes out and they first see the bellrog and uh

[01:30:30] oh Gandalf and I haven't quite seen it yet but you see the fire kind of approaching and then Gandalf

[01:30:34] says that it's a bellrog and uh that's the first time you see Legolas look really afraid

[01:30:41] you know like he's not slightly concerned and kind of you know on guard before but this is the

[01:30:45] first time you see him actually really you know the thousands of year old elf look really frightened

[01:30:50] I loved that too I didn't have to say anything it was just um the look on his face and then when

[01:30:55] they're in Lothlorian uh I found it it kind of made my ears prick up a little bit this time

[01:31:01] round because uh it's the only time that Morgoth is mentioned he's mentioned a lot in the rings of

[01:31:05] power but Legolas is explaining what happened to Gandalf and he says it was a bellrog of Morgoth

[01:31:11] and I thought that was cool because um that's the only mention we get and it was not you know

[01:31:15] not explained really and there's movies if you kind of get around the ground.

[01:31:18] They don't even mention him in the prologue

[01:31:22] yeah it's just sour on hey yeah yeah uh another little note that I had and I didn't count this time

[01:31:29] but I remember one of them many many times that we watched this um this movie back in the day uh

[01:31:35] me and my friend Fiona we used to watch it and uh we used to count how many times Frodo fell down

[01:31:41] or was pushed down and it's something like 19 times in this film it's kind of basic he's always

[01:31:48] either throwing himself to the ground gets knocked over someone throws him um he gets thrown across

[01:31:52] the room but you know like it's just constant it's really funny by the way if you actually like

[01:31:56] watch this and then notice it it's quite hilarious and you know like he's us here and he's

[01:32:00] just ringed here but um he's always trying to get the ring away yeah he tries to get Gandalf

[01:32:05] take it and then he tries to get Galatriel to take it and then he tries to get Arrog on the

[01:32:10] thing yeah come on Frodo he's like yeah really do not want this thing yeah

[01:32:17] well I think that it's I think the ring is physically heavy right we were talking about this but as

[01:32:24] he's wearing it it reminds to be a lot of the horror cruxes from the Harry Potter box

[01:32:30] that there's like the weight of evil around hanging around his neck yeah and it increases

[01:32:36] the longer he carries it and the closer he gets to Mordor and so we see later in the other films

[01:32:40] um how huge that is but um it's really only in the first movie that is trying to give it away

[01:32:45] and then once he realizes the importance I think it becomes more that he knows her his

[01:32:49] his mission and what he has to do which well which we'll see next time yeah um it was so hard

[01:32:56] to turn this movie off and then not immediately watch the two towers I was like but I want to see

[01:33:02] that's an it yeah um yeah I uh yeah I guess that's all my notes I mean I could keep talking

[01:33:12] I think we've covered it well we I think I think we've covered it sufficiently for now

[01:33:17] and there is more to come we've got some use and some feedback so we're just going to take a

[01:33:22] little break um stay with us and we'll be right back

[01:33:47] and we're back uh we have a little bit of news this wake uh about the rings of power

[01:34:01] right from collider.com it's safe to say the Lord of the Rings the rings of power was a

[01:34:07] resounding success for prime video it turned out to be the streamer's top original program

[01:34:13] in every region and broke viewership records with 25 million viewers on release day

[01:34:20] and 100 million viewers by the finale wow um so it's little wonder audiences are antsy to return

[01:34:28] to middle earth as quickly as possible but how long exactly are we talking? Emson Studios head

[01:34:33] Vernon Sanders was asked when eager viewers might expect a second season of the rings of power

[01:34:39] fortunately the series went into production back in October so at least we know it's in progress

[01:34:45] as far as specific dates that's a little less certain with Sanders saying that it's more unlikely

[01:34:50] than likely that season two will air in 2023 meaning it'll probably be 2024 before we get to

[01:34:56] check back in with our favorite elves, dwarves, harfots and humans. When asked about the timing of

[01:35:02] season two and how soon it might be released Sanders said I don't know that I can say it would be

[01:35:08] amazing if we could get season two out within a year of season one's release it may take a

[01:35:14] smidge longer than that but we're doing everything we can and we're going to get better and faster

[01:35:19] as we go certainly the production what we've learned in season one has taught us things that we're

[01:35:24] applying in season two and so far we set a goal for ourselves of when we want the show to be released

[01:35:31] and we are on track and on plan there have been some conversations about season three

[01:35:36] and we are making we are making some investments to make sure that we are ready for season three

[01:35:43] we're committed to JD John D Payne and Patrick McKay's vision for this and I'm confident

[01:35:49] that we'll be making many more seasons to come but we'll announce season three when we're ready

[01:35:54] even as we continue to put stakes in the ground for that we're very excited about our future with

[01:35:59] this one well that's cool yeah I'm not expecting it in 2023 I love how he says it's a smidge

[01:36:07] longer than a year well says the one come out in September there's no way it's coming out

[01:36:12] next year yeah but it's exciting to look forward to it and think about that it's actually happening

[01:36:19] and yeah you know they've mapped out all five seasons so you know let's wait and see

[01:36:25] we'll be here for the next eight years Piny. I found also a couple of opinions from the

[01:36:35] Lord of the Rings actors from the films about the Rings of Power TV show and a couple of opposing

[01:36:41] ones which was really interesting from NME.com Lord of the Rings star Bernard Hill has hit out

[01:36:48] at Amazon's The Rings of Power the actor who status can fade in in the original Lord of the Rings

[01:36:53] Lord of the Rings trilogy in the two towers recently told Metro that he has no interest in watching

[01:36:58] the new spin-off series. Asked if he's watched the prequel series the actor replied no not interested

[01:37:03] it's a money making venture and I'm not interested in watching that or being in it good luck to them

[01:37:07] and all that stuff but it's not like the real thing asked if he believes the franchise would have

[01:37:12] been better off ending after the original trilogy he said completely yes I think they were pushing

[01:37:17] it when they made the Hobbit the Hobbits are tiny book they did it well they did it really really

[01:37:21] well they expanded it but I think you can only stretch a piece of elastic so far I think they managed

[01:37:25] it in the Hobbit because there were some really good things in the Hobbit without a doubt

[01:37:29] so that's interesting isn't it yeah I'm ready to hold not into it I mean all commercially released

[01:37:36] films and TV shows are money making ventures um yeah but I don't think this is purely don't make

[01:37:43] it to lose money yeah um so from screen rant one of the original members of the fellowship ways

[01:37:51] in on prime videos epic endeavor in an interview with sci-fi boyd who played pippin this is billy

[01:37:57] boyd who played pippin in the Lord of the Rings movies confirms that he's watched the rings of power

[01:38:02] and loved seeing Tolkien's world especially locations like Gaza du Mnumonore come to life on the

[01:38:08] small screen for the first time check out what boyd thinks about the rings of power below

[01:38:14] I as a fan of Tolkien I loved seeing all these places again some of them for the first time

[01:38:19] you know to see Gaza du Mnumonore in all these places I think that gave me the most joy I think the way

[01:38:25] they jumped from one place to another made it very watchable for me I think oh here we are in

[01:38:30] Numenore and then it would jump to the caverns of Gaza du M I loved that and seeing things like

[01:38:36] the rings for the first time all of that is just really joyful for me I loved it he is not subtle

[01:38:42] in his opinion yeah that's great it's really cool and like I said you know the the guys that play

[01:38:49] the hobbits hobbits it was such a pivotal time in their life and um and so huge for them and they

[01:38:54] obviously still really into it you know billy boys and Dom on a hand who played Mary they have a

[01:38:59] podcast now they talk and reminisce about um about being on the films and they're still really

[01:39:05] really huge proponents of them so I think it's great that they that he's enjoying it and

[01:39:10] and like said they have reunions and must be fascinating for them yeah the the four hobbits get

[01:39:15] together pretty regularly and when Aaron Deere the actor who plays Aaron Deere whose name I cannot

[01:39:21] remember right now um uh was getting you know hassled on the internet they you know posted some

[01:39:29] words of support and they were wearing those t-shirts with the multi-colored ears yeah um it's

[01:39:36] really special hey yeah yeah wonderful that's still really a part of that world which is great yeah

[01:39:43] we had a bunch of listener feedback as well this week thanks so much everybody for for writing in

[01:39:49] penny would you like to start sure Janet Sidel says like I needed an excuse to watch this again

[01:39:56] but I'll take it one of the all-time best

[01:40:01] Megan Diveley-Liamens says I'm a huge fan of this series and the fellowship is my least favorite

[01:40:06] of the three but when I watched it with my son for the first time in years recently I had forgotten

[01:40:10] how much good stuff is in there I still get chills when we meet Aragorn for the first time

[01:40:15] when Aaron writes photo to safety when we first see Riverdale Gandalf's fireworks and so many other

[01:40:20] great moments and I still get freaked out when Bill by momentarily turns evil and when the ring-ray

[01:40:24] reaches down almost catches the hobbits hiding into the tree roots I will always feel like this film

[01:40:30] is all the set up for what comes later but there's not a bad thing it's a great introduction to

[01:40:33] a perfectly crafted world thanks Megan Jason Kabassi says I was such a big Lord of the Rings

[01:40:41] and Hobbit fan ever since I was a little kid in my aunt Vicki used to read those books to me I was

[01:40:46] so excited when the films were finally given the go-ahead and when fellowship came out I was not

[01:40:51] disappointed Elijah Wood was perfectly cast as Frodo as were every single other character come to

[01:40:57] think of it I mean who would be a better Gandalf than Ian McKellen no one on top of that the Shire

[01:41:03] just looked incredible as did all the other locations and the vibe of the movie was so great warm

[01:41:08] and fun at times chilling and scary at others and though the size ratio of Hobbit to Man may have

[01:41:14] fluctuated here and there I just loved everything about this movie looking forward to hearing what

[01:41:20] you guys see about it cool thanks Jason I agree about Ian McKellen playing Gandalf like just

[01:41:29] absolute he is Gandalf that's pretty much a love that performance yeah tell me bar says recently

[01:41:36] watched this movie on a long plane ride it was perfect for our trip to New Zealand which included

[01:41:40] a tour of Hobbit and it had been ages since I'd seen it and I loved the rewatch I felt captivated

[01:41:44] the whole time one of the standouts for me is the beautiful music the other is the amazing scenery

[01:41:49] which I'm still exploring in New Zealand oh tell me that's awesome that's really great I hope

[01:41:54] you're enjoying it and I hope that you get to see a lot of the other locations as well as you

[01:41:58] travel around our beautiful far green country Justin Phillips says these are my favorite movies of

[01:42:06] all time for a long time fellowship was my least favorite of the three but in the last few years

[01:42:11] it has changed to my favorite I love that the fellowship is together for most of the movie before

[01:42:15] they have to split up it's a fun dynamic seeing them all as a group Gandalf the white is

[01:42:21] spectacular but nothing beats the joyful and fun loving Gandalf the grave for me and my favorite

[01:42:26] few seconds of any movie score are when Gandalf lights his staff and we get an incredible look at

[01:42:32] the glory of Moria for the first time the music is so powerful in moving and big at that moment

[01:42:38] it gives me chills every time thanks Justin yeah I'm the same that sort of sweeping music when

[01:42:47] it builds up and you see Moria it's incredible isn't it yeah I love that in the long shot or

[01:42:52] the set yeah with the oh yeah Gandalf staff glowing is it's very magical yeah yeah sometimes I wonder

[01:43:01] maybe when he risks a little more light um maybe does that help uh like get their wake the

[01:43:08] bell rang up I don't know I think it's probably um it's probably um Pippin and dropping the

[01:43:14] the the we're a bucket down the well yeah I think that we can blame that

[01:43:20] for sure Laura Bias is I remember thinking while watching for the first time that I needed to visit

[01:43:25] middle-earth out here one day two years later I did and I met you in a bunch of truly wonderful

[01:43:30] people best decision ever I might be more hobbit than anything else but I will be forever a part

[01:43:35] of the fellowship that is gondor one um thanks Laura uh when we did the first the uh return of

[01:43:43] the king premier tour we actually had so many people on that tour that we had um had to have three

[01:43:48] buses I think there's 150 people on that tour and um we split the buses up into names we had

[01:43:55] gondor one and gondor two and we had Rohan and uh Laura was on gondor one with me thank you so

[01:44:02] much for your message Laura so many amazing memories of that tour and um another one of the

[01:44:07] passengers from the Michelle Marrow also agreed with Laura and said how wonderful it is that 19

[01:44:12] years later we're still all friends and keep up on Facebook thanks Michelle um yeah I'm still

[01:44:17] friends with the heaps of the people that we met on that tour particularly and on some of the

[01:44:21] subsequent tours as well and um the fact that a movie like this can inspire people to travel

[01:44:28] all the way across the world um to a country that they've never been before is absolutely mind-blowing

[01:44:35] to me and you know it's I have to say it's changed my life and probably quite a few people's lives

[01:44:41] to be able to come in and experience that so um you know the tours are still going strong after

[01:44:46] our covid uh break um red carpet tours is back on on and they had um their december tour they had

[01:44:53] some like 65 people on it the numbers are still amazing you know people who have been waiting all

[01:44:58] this time and you know perhaps another resurgence of interest with the rings of power as well

[01:45:03] and they've added some of those locations to yeah so it is um it is pretty pretty mind-blowing

[01:45:08] to think about definitely on my bucket list the movies don't it yes come over

[01:45:16] brilliant or thanks so much everybody for your feedback we really appreciate it and uh please

[01:45:20] send your feedback in for the for the two towers and um and return of the king we will be covering

[01:45:26] both of those um in the near future um and yeah just whenever you watch just record or write something

[01:45:32] and send it on and we'll definitely play it for you um if you do want to write a nolly by some

[01:45:37] message um when we get close to recording we'll post on facebook but you can also find our

[01:45:42] contact information at podcastca.com and while you're there be sure to check out our other shows

[01:45:48] there is a lot to choose from i imagine that we have something for almost any tv viewer

[01:45:56] yeah it's amazing isn't it you know we we started out with just the walking dead cast and its

[01:46:01] podcastca has blossomed into all of these amazing shows and um quite a few things kind of wrapped up

[01:46:07] recently we had um and or wrapping up and um to follow on with that you took part in the star wars

[01:46:13] cast holiday special which was so much fun what was that like to record i think it might be some of

[01:46:19] the most of most people have ever heard on one podcast just that about right six people and uh

[01:46:26] everybody was in sort of a happy holiday mood um a lot of people had you know cocktails

[01:46:31] and um Jonathan does a really good job of sort of steering the ship so you always feel like

[01:46:38] you know he's in charge and you can just have fun with it um some of the people on there i had never met

[01:46:44] before so it was really cool to get to know them it was a lot like just being at like a

[01:46:49] cocktail party yeah it was great i really got the feeling of that too because i know all of you guys

[01:46:57] except for James really and so it was kind of like getting to i felt like i was in the room when

[01:47:02] i was listening to it it was so much fun it's a beautifully long recording so if you got some

[01:47:06] some time please listen to it it's so much fun and you guys did the the star wars quiz and you did

[01:47:11] the new hope um kind of rewatching it was uh it was wonderful thank you so much for that and Jonathan

[01:47:17] I agree did an incredible job of holding that all together and hosting it beautifully so

[01:47:22] that was fantastic uh and what else have we got going on penny over at podcast cast?

[01:47:26] We just finished up covering dead to me which is a uh dark comedy on Netflix um our podcast is called

[01:47:33] Dead to Us and our final episode uh just posted like yesterday maybe or two days ago um and uh

[01:47:42] coming up in January uh Jason J and I are gonna move on to a new show from Ryan Johnson

[01:47:50] starring Natasha Leone called poker face um that's late January there's also a new movie podcast

[01:47:58] from podcastica uh it's called it's showtime folks and it's any podcastca host can just pick any

[01:48:07] movie and you know find their co-host and go on there and so it's gonna be a really wide variety of

[01:48:14] different movies that are covered but so far the only one that's out is Miracle on 34th Street which

[01:48:20] was our Christmas edition beautiful that's gonna be really fun isn't it because it gives us that

[01:48:25] scope to kind of do anything old movies and current movies it doesn't just restrict us to one sort

[01:48:31] of series or TV show so that's really exciting I'm gonna be excited to jump on that and try and

[01:48:36] pick a movie or um one of you guys wants to ask me let's do it and then of course we've got

[01:48:44] a little bit of a uh a pivot from the Walking Dead cast is now going to be um last of us

[01:48:51] or the cast of us covering the new show last of us which is based on a video game which I haven't

[01:48:58] played but apparently you don't have to have played it or know too much about it to get into

[01:49:01] the series so I'm gonna be really excited to see what that's like and listen to the coverage of

[01:49:06] it and I think it's going to satisfy all our zombie appetites in the next year or so coming up.

[01:49:13] The previews look amazing um and uh Jason Kabase is incredibly excited about covering it

[01:49:21] so I think the coverage is gonna be pretty fun yeah it's gonna be great looking forward to it

[01:49:28] and the next episode that we'll be covering on cast of the rings is the Lord of the Rings,

[01:49:32] the two towers and I'm really excited to be talking about that one I can give you a bunch of

[01:49:38] behind the scene stuff because I got to be an extra on it so we'll be looking at that in the next

[01:49:42] few weeks or so so stick around keep us tuned in and look for us on your feet and we can't wait

[01:49:49] to hear what you guys have to say about the two towers as well. All right that's our show thanks

[01:49:54] for joining us. Thanks for listening everyone and remember all we have to decide is what to do with

[01:50:01] the time that is given to us.

[01:50:31] you