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20 years ago today, the very first footage of Lord of the Rings was put online

Khanimus

Khanimus

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
40,212
Greater Vancouver


I was right in the middle of reading The Hobbit when this came out, having no idea what Lord of the Rings even was. It wasn't until the first real trailer where Frodo says "No one knows its here, do they... Do they, Gandalf?" that I perked up and said "wtf?" It's not overselling it to describe how these movies changed my life.
 
AlteredBeast

AlteredBeast

Don't Watch the Tape!
Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,767
Just finished the trilogy with my oldest son for his first time. I hadn't watched through them in years. They definitely still hold up. Went to the midnight showing of all three movies. Was definitely unforgettable and changed fantasy movies forever, no question.
 
Hayama Akito

Hayama Akito

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,326
I remember watching this I was like "holy shit, waiting for 2003 for The Return of the King will be sooooooo long". Good times, heh.


EDIT: On a fun note, I clearly remember a lot of pessimism about this, like nerds saying that was "technically impossible to bring Lord of the Rings to film" and that was made by "that super weird director that did those terrible gore films, what is Hollywood thinking?". Good times x2
 
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Matsukaze

Matsukaze

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,234
Haven't watched them in well over a decade, but I enjoyed them all. Given my undesired abundance of free time these days, I should give them a rewatch.
 
Huey

Huey

Member
Oct 27, 2017
13,201
Amazing to think we are nearing two decades from the release of the first film.

We'll probably never see such a successful film adaptation of such a massive and challenging property again.
 
Zulith

Zulith

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,753
West Coast, USA
I must have rewatched that preview trailer a hundred times before Fellowship came out. Was a lot of fun following all the leaks, rumors and production reports on the internet at the time.

Back when AICN was a site you looked forward to visiting. Since you couldn't just visit anytime you wanted on your phone back then. Makes me nauseous now. Still a lot of great memories!
 
spam musubi

spam musubi

Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,381
edit; cannot read

It's crazy to think how these movies have shaped a generation of public perception of fantasy.
 

WolfForager

Member
Oct 27, 2017
248
I remember going to see FOTR with my family when I was nine, my whole family had read the books, one of my fondest memories.
 
Any Questions

Any Questions

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
1,074
UK
Hayama Akito said:
I remember watching this I was like "holy shit, waiting for 2003 for The Return of the King will be sooooooo long". Good times, heh.


EDIT: On a fun note, I clearly remember a lot of pessimism about this, like nerds saying that was "technically impossible to bring Lord of the Rings to film" and that was made by "that super weird director that did those terrible gore films, what is Hollywood thinking?". Good times x2
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Classics. These films well t stand the test of time for generations to come
 
Strangelove_77

Strangelove_77

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
13,392
This trilogy is basically my Star Wars since I saw them all while I was in middle school and high school.
The Two Towers battle was the loudest I've ever heard people be at a movie theatre. It was great.
 
Lee Morris

Lee Morris

Member
Oct 28, 2017
3,724
I hope the eventual 4k UHD versions are worthy of the film's cause the blu ray versions are average at best.
 
5pectre

5pectre

Member
Nov 16, 2017
2,237
I'm currently rewatching the trilogy, just finished the first movie and it still holds up BUT some of the CGI is a little rough and that's understandable as it's 20 years old by now.

When they're in the mines running away from the countless of enemies. The bird view shot is terrible. It's straight up Scooby Doo levels of scrolling as the characters move at an unrealistic pace compared to the surroundings.

I fear the ghost army in the 3rd movie might look terrible too.

Also, I have to say that the ending of the first movie where Boromir redeems himself hit me right in the feels, ooof! Hit me a lot harder than it did 20 years ago.
 
Titik

Titik

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,490
spam musubi said:
edit; cannot read

It's crazy to think how these movies have shaped a generation of public perception of fantasy.
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The books did the same. All the fantasy tropes you see from Warcraft, Game of Thrones, Dungeons and Dragons and basically anything where you see an elf or dwarf that isn't a folkloric tiny person with wings were directly inspired by Tolkien. Also the world building.
 
DieH@rd

DieH@rd

Member
Oct 26, 2017
10,569
I remember this announcement trailer, and the first official one [that starts with the shot of the woods, it took me an entire night to download the crappy MOV file via 56k modem].



They looked spectacular and more massive than anything Hollywood has done before. A true blockbuster.

And in the end, every movie delivered.
 

Deleted member 16516

User requested account closure
Member
Oct 27, 2017
8,427
I wonder what the reaction to Amazon's LOTR Second Age will be. The diversity of the cast might be an issue for some.
 
mhayes86

mhayes86

Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,249
Maryland
20 years ago, yet it doesn't feel like it's been that long at all considering how well they've held up and that they still look great.
 
Arc

Arc

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
4,514
I saw all three with my dad and brother in the theater. My dad read the books when he was a kid and this one of the first things from his youth that he could share with his kids. Every following Christmas we'd get the prior movie on DVD and watch it endlessly. The movies are great but my memories attached to them are even greater.
 
Emmz

Emmz

Member
Oct 28, 2017
404
The DVD version of Little Nicky had the trailer hidden in its menus. You could select a little halo over Adam Sandler's head and press enter to play the trailer.

That's how I remember seeing the Fellowship of the Ring trailer for the first time.
 
Doctor Doggo

Doctor Doggo

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,379
Speaking of LOTR. Why the fuck isn't the first one on Netflix, but the second and third are? Have been wanting to finally sit down and watch the series. Even rented the first one on Prime a couple months ago, but I never finished it in one sitting and my rental ran out...
 

uncleniccius

Member
Nov 3, 2017
1,082
Finished another extended run last night, having done the hobbit extended just before.. It truly an incredible trilogy. These movies were my childhood.

Looking forward to the Amazon show.
 
Culex

Culex

Banned
Oct 29, 2017
6,844
Yea after finishing FOTR the first time in the theater, i said to myself "I cannot believe how goddamn amazing that was"
 
Foot

Foot

Member
Mar 10, 2019
10,909
Fellowship of the Ring is a movie with zero flaws and COUNTLESS high points.
 

mclem

Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,458
I went to New Zealand at the start of the year and visited Weta Workshop, it's a fascinating place to go; pretty small-scale but it's great to see some of their practical effects and armour.
 
Kill3r7

Kill3r7

Member
Oct 25, 2017
24,443
I absolutely adore Fellowship.

I remember getting some of my high school buddies to read the books at the time. Most of us had read the Hobbit in middle school and stopped there.
 
digitalrelic

digitalrelic

Weight Loss Champion 2018: Biggest Change
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
13,124
I've wanted to watch these again soooo bad for about 2 years now, but I'm waiting for the 4K versions to drop.
 
JimNastics

JimNastics

Member
Jan 11, 2018
1,383
Foot said:
Fellowship of the Ring is a movie with zero flaws and COUNTLESS high points.
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After all is said and done I agree, FotR is flawless and the best of the three. When they released I firmly believed they improved on each other and RotK was my favourite, but as time has passed it is FotR which I will forever cherish the most. Just absolute pure magic.
 
SealedSeven

SealedSeven

Prophet of Regret
The Fallen
Oct 26, 2017
2,026
Yea, but when will they release the butthole version?


Fine, I'll settle for the 4k version.....
 
nujabeans

nujabeans

Member
Dec 2, 2017
961
I remember watching this and the teaser trailers released afterwards in Quicktime. I had the .mov files downloaded on my computer.

Such a nostalgic time. I remember browsing The White Council forums and TOR every day for the latest updates. And thank god FOTR didn't disappoint.

Amazing films.
 
spam musubi

spam musubi

Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,381
Titik said:
The books did the same. All the fantasy tropes you see from Warcraft, Game of Thrones, Dungeons and Dragons and basically anything where you see an elf or dwarf that isn't a folkloric tiny person with wings were directly inspired by Tolkien. Also the world building.
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I know, but the movies brought it to a whole different level of popularity. Too bad fantasy movies didn't really catch on afterwards.
 
Spider-Man

Spider-Man

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
2,353
AlteredBeast said:
Just finished the trilogy with my oldest son for his first time. I hadn't watched through them in years. They definitely still hold up. Went to the midnight showing of all three movies. Was definitely unforgettable and changed fantasy movies forever, no question.
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Haha this perfectly describes me too. Did the same with my oldest son a week or so ago. Midnight showings. Etc.
 
SABO.

SABO.

Member
Nov 6, 2017
5,872
Nothing will ever top this trilogy for me. I've watched amazing films since then but these LotR movies really had it all and the cast was absolutely perfect.
 
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