If Christopher Lee says so then it must be true, because the man knows his Tolkien (and probably how to kill you with his eyebrows). He also states that the changes to the story Jackson, Boyens and Walsh made are mainly improvements. Christopher Lee booms dark wisdom, and the story behind his acting decisions for Saruman’s death scene will stay with you. There are other heroes who emerge from these discs. Jonathan Rhys-Davies’ habit of referring to Orlando Bloom as ‘The Elf’ is also colossally endearing. As the films progress, more time is given to Dominic Monaghan and Billy Boyd (especially on the commentaries) as the makers realised they were on to a good thing putting as much footage of these two dicking about as possible. One of the most memorable features is the elegiac The Fellowship Of The Cast, which makes acting in these films seem like simply the best job ever. In these documentaries, while discussing the books’ themes, it’s posited that Aragorn’s main motivation in defeating evil is that his prospective father-in-law won’t let him get married until he vanquishes evil and becomes King. In The Two Towers there is a great sequence where the talking heads proceed to demolish Tolkien’s writing and then set about rebuilding and vigorously defending it. When you put on disc one of the Appendices on Fellowship Of The Ring, you’ll be waiting a long time untill the process moves beyond pre-production.Īt the start of each set is a feature on Tolkien these contain elements of biography, linguistics, history and the themes of the books (including some heavily personal elements). While both JRR Tolkien and Peter Jackson’s approaches seems to be idiosyncratic and not averse to making things up as they go along, the sheer wealth of material on these discs shows you how much planning and effort goes into making a story. Less flippantly, it’s a story of how films get made and how Lord Of The Rings happened.
Essentially, it’s an ideal shorthand for lazy people like me who have no time or inclination to read The Silmarillion. On top of that, you’re able to build up a clearer picture of Middle Earth than you might when involved with the films’ narrative. Without them, I would have nothing to base that assumption on. I can’t help but think that Professor Tolkien would have tutted, but that’s only because of the various documentaries about him across the discs.
This was my happy place, to the extent that I watched the extras before the film when we got Return Of The King. Fried things, a pint of tea and a documentary about horses. Once purchased, the films themselves became a staple of dementedly-involved drinking games, and these Appendices part of the hangover cure for the next day.