1. LOTR’s Critical Adulation
Currently, theLord of the Ringstrilogy is the highest-rated film trilogy on Metacritic (which compiles critical analyses of all professional movie critics and aggregates a single score called the “metascore”).
Fantasy movies weren’t “serious movies” back in 2001, and critics rarely paid much attention to them. While there had been one-off movies that garnered high praise, they were rare—and none of them ever won any prestigious awards. That’s whereLord of the Ringsdiffered.
The Return of the Kingbecame the first fantasy film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. The first two films were both nominated for it, but it wasn’t until the last one that the award was secured. In doing so,Lord of the Ringslegitimized fantasy cinema as “real” cinema.
The film also equaled the record for most Oscars won by a single film, with eleven wins across every category it was nominated in. The effect saw people everywhere cast off the previous geeky nature of the franchise and accept it into the mainstream.
2. LOTR’s Concurrent Shooting Schedule
The film series wasn’t shot year-by-year, with the later films contingent upon the success of the first. Instead, the entirety of theLord of the Ringstrilogy was shot in one go over a single 18-month filming schedule, which was a first for any film series.
It’s an enormous risk for any studio, as failure would mean tons of lost money. But the risk was worth the reward, and the result is a film trilogy that holds a consistent narrative thread throughout.
Contrast that to the struggles of director Denis Villeneuve, who can’t work onDune: Part 2until the first film proves itself successful—and even when it does, he and his crew have to pick up from where they left off.
This high-risk style of filming isn’t the norm for large Hollywood productions, but it’s a shining example of what such confidence in a single filmmaker’s vision can bring to the screen.
Related:The best scenes in the Lord of the Rings movies
3. LOTR’s Annual Release Schedule
TheLord of the Ringsfilms released across three consecutive years: 2001, 2002, and 2003. It’s the perfect release schedule in how it affords each film enough time in theaters, but not so much time in between to kill interest. Those were three magical years in cinema.
TheHarry Potterfilm series also shares credit for this style of cinema releases, with each film coming out with one year in between. Both franchises were produced by Warner Brothers, who doesn’t always get things right, but they definitely got it right here.
The yearly release schedule has since become a staple for big film franchises, as seen in how the MCU’sInfinity WarandEndgamefilms each released one year apart to huge success.
4. Motion & Performance Capture
Before Andy Serkis' Gollum, motion capture performances didn’t exist in any meaningful way. His work on the trilogy revolutionized filmmaking at the blockbuster level, and now actors can become transformed by visual effects into anything they need to be.
Furthermore, Serkis' performance showcased how an actor’s performance could come through the visual effects and permeate the screen to such a degree that the character becomes iconic.
Think about all the iconic mo-cap characters that came later, including Alan Tudyk’s Sonny, Zoe Saldana’s Neytiri, and Josh Brolin’s Thanos. None of them would have become a reality without the groundbreaking work that Serkis and the effects team did inLord of the Rings.
Related:What is ILM’s StageCraft technology? How it’s revolutionizing filmmaking
5. Mainstream Attitudes
For something to break into the mainstreams of cinema culture and even pop culture, it all depends on how the general public embraces that thing. Usually, the things that live longest in pop culture are new and novel subjects that haven’t been done before.
That’s why theLord of the Ringsfilm trilogy is such an achievement. This adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s book series brought the story across in such a way that mainstream audiences embraced it feverishly—and it’s an indication of how beloved Jackson’s films have become.
Suddenly,Lord of the Ringswasn’t just a book series for nerds to read in secret, keeping hidden from their friends and family who have no interest in fantasy lest they ridicule in return. It’s now acceptable.
Terms such as “Gollum” and “The One Ring” became phrases that anybody would understand, and two decades later, Boromir became a worldwide “One does not simply…” meme.
The effect of that pop culture propulsion allowed such properties like Marvel to think thattheirfilms and lesser-known characters could have a real future on the big screen.
Related:The Best Lord of the Rings Movie Quotes, Ranked
6. Birth of Modern Blockbuster Cinema
There is a cogent argument to be made thatThe Fellowship of the Ringwas the first blockbuster fantasy film to change what modern filmmaking could be.
Yes, the film raked in money. Yes, the film garnered a large dedicated following that still exists to this day. But before all of that, the film showed audiences that fantasy could be a real blockbuster film.
Again, theHarry Potterfilms deserve some credit for doing that in their own way as well. But the degree to whichLord of the Ringsearned critical acclaim while dominating the box office was evidence that the market for expansive-scope stories was ready to explode.
In the years since, billion-dollar movies are now regular events year-on-year at movie theaters.Dunewas the latest high-budget production that achieved similar critical success for adapting a classic novel.
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