The Lord of the Rings has been a major hit at this year's Cannes Film Festival in France. New Line Cinema saw this as a good opportunity to get the word out to the media on their much-awaited, extremely expensive Tolkien trilogy project. It appears to have been a smart idea.

Just being at the LOTR pavilion is quite an experience! TheOneRing.net had this description of the grounds:

"There are Elves, Hobbits, Orcs, Men from Gondor and Rohirrim walking around at the party.

"Outside of the castle they built the entire set of Bag End (real life size), the tents which they used at bilbo's farewell party, and there was a pool in which Galadriels boat was floating.

"Inside the castle there was some sort of exposition where you could see the phial of galadriel, some swords (including Narsil) and pictures of the cast."
That certainly sounds like a lot of fun and all, but the real highlight of the festival has been the 24 minutes of completed footage (effects and everything) shown to entertainment journalists and others by New Line. This was do-or-die time for the producers – good reactions from the media could make interest in the films reach new heights, while a poor reaction could imperil the entire project.

Well, the Boston Herald had this to say about the world's first real glimpse of the three movies:

"The preview opened with a summary of the plot and snippets of the different characters. That was
followed by 'The Mines of Mooria,' [sic] 14 minutes of film with original music. Finally came a three-minute preview of films II and III.

"The reaction was, well, a ringing endorsement. Commented one journalist, 'The best film at the festival isn't even in the festival.'

"Jackson's lush imagery has created a magical, wondrous world and his casting and costuming – not to mention the ease with which he helmed the action scenes – was a perfect embodiment of JRR Tolkien's fantasy world.

"Standouts in this brief look were: Sir Ian McKellan's lordly and very tall Gandalf the Wizard; Sir Ian Holms' Bilbo Baggins, the hobbit; Elijah Wood's Frodo Baggins, the hobbit hero of the trilogy; and the swash-buckling Robin Hood-style Aragorn of Viggo Mortensen. Liv Tyler's Arwen appeared only fleetingly, as did Cate Blanchett's Lady Galadriel.

"The mind-blowing mine sequence featured a mixture of action, suspense and digital special effects. A group of nine – the Fellowship of the Ring – encounter an army of fearsomely ugly and ferocious Orcs and a giant ogre who nearly kills Frodo.

"The underground chase continues with an amazing race over a crumbling bridge amid a deluge of Orc arrows and ends as a massive, fire-breathing demon appears. As the Orcs scatter, the demon takes on Gandalf."
A ringing endorsement! There can be little doubt in skeptics' minds that this will be a terrific trio of movies and a milestone in filmmaking.

Celebrating the Lord of the Rings events at Cannes, the official movie site has launched a special section. This section's features include links to live coverage from the event, new photos and interviews, and a "downloadable production booklet which outlines Peter Jackson's filmmaking process." It's a great time to be a Tolkien fan! Stay tuned for more LOTR news.

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