16 September 2002
| The marketing of Lord of the Rings
will be universal and many-tentacled. The toys, the images,
the mementoes of the first film are still in the shops nine
months after the premiere, although it is a little shocking
that the major display in the bookshop at Auckland's
international airport terminal should currently be preparing
for Harry Potter2 rather than Frodo and Sam2.
In July the standard DVD became available plus some extras
for home viewing of The Fellowship of the Ring. It
outsold the Potter equivalent according to my local store at
Canary Wharf London where they got me to sign a poster. Like
the rest of the cast I had recorded my memories of making
the film and these have been added to the various
commentaries that can be played alongside the movie. |
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| So will continue the process begun I suspect by
Oscar voters, of viewing Peter Jackson's trilogy not where it
belongs and for which it was designed, the large public screen, but
at home on whatever inadequate equipment the DVD will slip into. I
do urge first-time viewers to see each film on whatever big screen
is convenient. |
| In November, to get the juices flowing
before the December release of The Two Towers, a
four-disc super DVD package will be released. But, better
still, this November version will include 40 minutes that
didn't make it into the cinema film which Peter Jackson has
always considered his director's cut, or rather the one that
best fitted a theatrical release. There was bound to be
some wonderful stuff that didn't make it and which ought to
be seen. This longer version follows the same route as
before but with much more detail of plot and of character.
Howard Shore has added his music seamlessly to the
soundtrack. A few weeks ago I saw a screening at the
60-seater cinema within the WETA workshop complex at
Camperdown Road in Miramar, Wellington. |
Approving publicity stills for The Two Towers
|
Approved Gandalf the White and a porcelain version of the
animated Fellowship of the Ring Gandalf
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It's an undistinguished two storey wooden
building within which Treebeard and Minas Tirith were
designed and made, where all the weapons, masks and props
for Middle earth were invented and tooled. The cinema is
used for viewing daily rushes of the previous day's film,
where snacks and take-in food and fizzy drinks are always on
hand. Arriving early for the screening - well wouldn't you?
- I helped pop some corn and arrange a display of candy-bars
in the drafty lobby guarded over by a full-size Gandalf
cut-out and, for me much more alarming, by two Saruman
figures. What chance would a grey wizard have against two
whites? |
| My impression was that this cut is superior to
the previous one and that it is a pity that there are as yet no
plans to show it in the cinema, where managers gulp at the thought
of a three and a half hour movie, with no interval and thereby
less-remunerative refreshment sales. But perhaps I am wrong. Perhaps
it's the greed of one already sated that makes this extra dish so
appetising. At first sitting the original cut may be easier to
digest. But this DVD is a must for the devotee. |
"Sauron's forces have begun their
attack"
Photo by Daniel Harris
Signing "Gandalf the White" trading cards
Vancouver, September 2002
|
I am now in Vancouver with the X-Men and
Women but even so Middle earth still beckons. I have been
needed to add a couple of lines for the next trailer of
Two Towers. The X-Men sound crew, bless them, set
me up in an unused studio at Vancouver Film Studios. That's
how Gandalf got to work with his Apple (on which were my
lines) within the dismantled Cerebro. I am spending spare
time in my trailer signing Topps trading cards to be on sale
by year's end. You can imagine the Master of Magnetism
sniffily dealing with the wizard's business... |
|
A tentative schedule for the release is being organised.
The European premiere will be in Paris and Dan Hennah has
already scouted out the terrain for the post-show party.
There will undoubtedly be premieres and advance screenings
in the US and Wellington — I am hoping to attend a couple of
these screenings, if only to witness first reactions to the
oh-so-thrilling scene that links the first movie to the
second.
|
Ian McKellen, September 2002
Nairn Falls, British Columbia
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Photos by Keith Stern unless otherwise noted
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