Weekly Geeky Trivia: Lord Of The Rings
By Hmsbeefnuts
Thank Zeus for that. This is my last week on trivia for four whole weeks!! Whooo!! Next week, Geeky Gem is back with her usual brand of Geek trivial awesomeness, at least I hope she is…you are back Gem right? Anyway, just before I break down and cry, may I present to you 10 most excellent facts all about the greatest film trilogy of all time, The Lord of the Rings…your quest begins…..now!
Viggo Mortensen was not originally cast as Aragorn, the guy who played Lestat in the awful Queen of the Dammed, and Dorian Grey in League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, also awful, Stuart Townsend was cast, Peter Jackson soon realised he was shit, and fired him, thank God.
Jack the Ripper himself, Ian Holm, plays Bilbo Baggins in the films, but weirdly was the voice of Frodo in the 1981 BBC Radio adaptation of LOTR.
Security was so tight on set, and things so secret, three people were arrested for break-ins, obviously spies of Saruman.
J.R.R. Tolkien’s estate, was never in favour of the film adaptations, but unlucky, the great man signed over the right to his book in 1968 for a mere $15,000, and thus they were as powerless as a baby hobbit in a warg pit. Tolkien’s grandson was even disowned by his family because he supported Peter Jackson’s production. Christopher Tolkien later retracted any opposition, probably after he knew that Jackson hit all three films out of the park.
The village of Hobbiton was built a year before production started, in order to make it look like hobbits lived there, real vegetable patches, sheep eaten grass and all. Take note film directors, Peter Jackson doesn’t fuck about.
The large tree that overshadows Bag End, was built by the production design team, every single leaf was attached by hand, that is dedication.
The Battle of Helms Deep, took four months to shoot, all of it at night, most of it in heavy rain.
The Riders of Rohan were some of the bravest men in Middle Earth, except, in the film, many of them were not men, women with beards glued on had to be used as, a) they were usually better riders and b) Jackson needed to increase numbers of riders on screen, and not enough men, who could ride, could be found.
A normal major motion picture usually averages around 200 effects shots, or at least did in 2003, The Return of the King alone had 1488!!
The Lord of the Rings is now the most nominated film series in Oscar history, with 30 nominations, others that are close are, the Godfather Trilogy, 28 noms, and Star Wars with 21, sorry George.
So there it be. My last trivia for a whole four weeks, hahahahaha, four weeks off!!! Well actually, I’d better get to work on the next four weeks worth, it does take ages after all…..
All Geek To Me 