MUMBAI: Just in time when the last of the Lord of the Rings troika premiers on the big screen, HBO will air the first part The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring for the first time on Asian Television.
Based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s novel The Lord of the Rings, a cult favorite amongst fantasy fans, the movie trilogy directed by Peter Jackson brings the fantasy genre is brought to life on the big screen. The channel is poised to premieres the first installment exclusively on 13 December at 9 pm in Taiwan. Although the channel has not as yet released the premier schedule for the Indian television, like the previous movie premiers, The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring should premier early next year.
Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings, an epic fantasy series, cost a massive US$300 million to make. The movie transports the viewer to an entirely different reality, immerses them in it and maroons them in a glorious alternative world, in this case, Middle Earth.
Filmed at scenic New Zealand locales, the film boasts of astonishing sets apart from impressive computer-generated technology. A well-crafted adventure is set against the backdrop of a mythical clash between good and evil.
The first part of the trilogy, The Fellowship of the Ring chronicles the formation of the fellowship – a group of nine consisting of four hobbits, two noblemen, an elf, a dwarf and a wizard — to help a young hobbit, Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood) destroy a gold ring of starling powers – the One Ring. Forged by the Dark Lord, Sauron the ring is capable of corrupting its wearer. The Ring must be destroyed at its place of origin – the cracks of Mount Doom before Sauron’s servants find it and return it to their master, which he will use to cast a darkness over Middle Earth and all the men, hobbits, elves, dwarfs and other creatures that dwell therein. According to the media reports Jackson and his team dedicated almost a year and a half to film all three parts of the trilogy in sequence.
Starring Elijah Wood as Frodo, the movie also boasts of star cast including the likes of Viggo Mortenson who portrays Aragon, the current Hollywood heartthrob Orlando Bloom plays elf Legolas and Ian McKellan portrays wizard. The movie also includes star-studded supporting cast including Liv Tyler, Cate Blanchett and Christopher Lee.
The movie moves fluidly from quaint sets of the countryside, to nightmarish battle scenes in eye-filling spectacle and blood-chilling mayhem, but also punctuates each action scene with subtle moments of reflection.