I posted this a while back, as an idea for Emperor Norton I to use on the 60's/70's timeline he is developing (and is still open for him to use, should he choose). I'd clean it up a bit and change some things (I'd like to think I've improved my writing skills), and it's not a John Boorman film, but here you go.
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The Lord of the Rings trilogy (1974, 1975, 1976)
Directed by Stanley Kubrick
Produced by Stanley Kubrick
Screenplay by Stanley Kubrick and Peter S. Beagle
Cinematography by John Alcott
Score by John Williams
Distributed by Warner Bros.
Budget: $25,000,000 (all three films)
Gross Revenue: $516,290,817 (Fellowship of the Ring)
$443,005,903 (The Two Towers)
$685,987,386 (The Return of the King)
$1,645,284,106 (Total)
Plot Synopsis:
“Frodo Baggins (Malcolm McDowell), a young Hobbit from the land of the Shire, is pressed by the wizard Gandalf (Charlton Heston) to go on a quest to destroy a magical ring that has been left in his possession. Joined by the warrior Aragorn (Jack Nicholson), the elf Legolas (Anthony Perkins), the dwarf Gimli (Brian Blessed), and his companion Sam Gamgee (Jason Miller), they would embark on an epic adventure, riddled with breathtaking locations, strange monsters and climatic battles between good and evil.” (official Warner Bros. press release)
Origins and Pre-Production:
Ever since publishing his works in the 1950’s, J.R.R. Tolkien had rejected several offers for them to be adapted for the screen, from a proposal by Walt Disney to make them into an animated film to an idea the Beatles had to film it with the four of them as the lead roles.
However, the project first really started when Stanley Kubrick was trying to find backers for his Napoleon biopic in the late 1960’s. While he had been the director the Beatles had proposed for the project, Kubrick turned them down, saying the books were too large in scope to be faithfully adapted into film. However, by chance a flight of his was delayed substantially, and so he got to reading a copy of The Fellowship of the Ring that happened to be in his briefcase, left over from John, Paul, George, and Ringo’s pitch. Suddenly intrigued by the possibilities, he became more open to the idea of directing them. He wrote a letter to Tolkien expressing his interest, which narrowly prevented Tolkien from selling the rights to United Artists.
Kubrick’s chance came after production on A Clockwork Orange wrapped up in England, and his Napoleon movie was still going nowhere. He got fantasy author Peter S. Beagle to help develop three screenplays, one for each book, and submitted them to his studio of choice, Warner Bros., and to Tolkien for review. Both were cautiously optimistic, but requested some test footage to placate fears. Kubrick hurriedly cast his For All Time star, Malcolm McDowell, as Frodo Baggins, and had Nazgul costumes created, so he could shoot a scene of Frodo being chased through the woods at night. Tolkien agreed to sell the rights to Warner Bros, and they in turn agreed to green-light an unprecedented deal for a three film series, to be directed back-to-back with a hefty $25 million dollar budget. This was only agreed upon because of Kubrick’s previous critical and commercial success.
Primary Cast:
Jack Nicholson as Aragorn
Malcolm McDowell as Frodo Baggins
Charlton Heston as Gandalf
Jason Miller as Samwise Gamgee
Anthony Perkins as Legolas
Leonard Nimoy as Elrond
Max von Syndow as Saruman
Vanessa Redgrave as Galadriel
Jessica Lange as Arwen
Brian Blessed as Gimli
Bruce Boxleitner as Merry Brandybuck
Mark Hamill as Pippin Took
Ryan O’Neal as Boromir
Leon Vitali as Faramir
James Gregory as Theoden
Jill Clayburgh as Eowyn
Hal Holbrook as Bilbo Baggins
Marlon Brando as Denethor
Jeff Goldblum as Gollum
Production Design:
As he did not enjoy flying, Stanley Kubrick resolved to shoot the trilogy completely in the United Kingdom. The films were notable for its sets and scenery, and the way in which the various cultures were portrayed. Model sets were used to portray the large cities and exotic landscapes, such as Minas Tirith and Minas Morgul. Though no societies were supposed to hold too much of a resemblance to real-life counterparts, comparisons could be made: the Shire had a very English countryside feel about it (perhaps because that was where it was shot), Isengard had elements taken from Germany’s Second and Third Reichs, while Mordor had a somewhat Russian feel about it. Rohan was portrayed as close to Medieval Western Europeans, while Gondor had just a touch of Byzantine inspiration.
Shooting started in early 1972 and continued until the middle of 1975, with some breaks in filming (a whole day was taken off when the crew accidentally killed a rabbit, and Kubrick, an animal-lover, took off the rest of the day in despair).
Makeup and Animatronic Effects:
Kubrick was convinced that part of portraying a realistic fantasy universe was to have lifelike creature effects. Due to his impressive work on Planet of the Apes and the Star Trek television series, John Chambers was hired to design the make-up for the elves and orcs. Hundreds of pairs of prosthetic ears, similar to the ones created for the Vulcans in Star Trek, were produced for the trilogy. For the difference between normal orcs and more powerful Uruk-hai , Chambers created a green-skinned, long-nosed, design for the former, while the latter had grey skin and slits for noses.
For less humanoid creatures, puppeteer Jim Henson was tapped to design the animatronics. The goblins were portrayed by little person actors in complex animatronic masks. Henson intentionally designed them to be a heterogeneous bunch, with some having reptilian, simian, rodent-like or pig-like facial features. While many trolls were to be present throughout the series, but eventually only two were, one in the mines of Moria in the first film and another at the gates of Minas Tirith in the third. Originally they were to be portrayed by men in suits, but the effects were unconvincing, so they were replaced with rod-operated puppets. A similar design was used to create Shelob the giant spider, and the race of Ents.
The Nazgul’s fell-beasts were portrayed as similar to giant pterodactyls, and were created with a combination of stop-motion effects similar to those used by Ray Harryhausen, and rod-operated puppets for when they were on the ground.
The Balrog, made to resemble a being created out of molten rock, was successfully portrayed in a man in a suit. The creature Gollum was originally to be portrayed with an animatronic puppet, and voiced by Brother Theodore. This creation was only used for glancing shots in the first film. Unhappy with the effect, Kubrick had him replaced with an actor under heavy prosthetic makeup, allowing Jeff Goldblum to get his first big role.
Reaction:
The series was very well received by critics, and broke box office records. In all, the movies were nominated for 17 Academy Awards, and won 15, including Best Picture and Best Director for Kubrick for Return of the King, Best Supporting Actor for Heston for The Fellowship of the Ring, and another Best Supporting Actor, this one for Goldblum, for his work in Return of the King. In later years, they have come to join the ranks of films considered the best ever.
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Thoughts?
