October 2000 Update

Hello once again, this is Radio Tolkien.....well, not really. But here's your audio soundbyte of 'Rings' news for October 2000 from TheOneRing.net.

[Speaking] of audio stuff, Tehanu says "repeat after me: You cannot buy or download Chris Field's 'Gothic Power' music which accompanies the internet preview. Don't ask me again. Do youself a favour and buy Carl Orff's Carmina Burana instead. It's basically the same music."

On the 11th [of October] we celebrated the anniversary of the start of principal photography [of the Lord of the Rings movie one year ago]. We compiled a roundup of memorable news and images covering the year's work, [so for a great summary of the year you can come to our Archives section and enjoy].

[October saw some great interviews with actors popping up on the net]. There were the great audio interviews with Sir Ian McKellen and an in-depth article on Sean Astin. Better still, the lesser-known actors such as Orlando Bloom and Dominic Monaghan were [featured] at long last. [Finally], [New Zealand's magazine] 'Listener' did a huge and well-researched article on the 'Rings' and its impact on the film industry in NZ.

With the US presidential elections looming, some of our polls and articles have been influenced by the thought of politics. Quickbeam wrote a satire relating the real life contestants to Middle-earth characters. The storm of praise and protest he got for that was more interesting than any film news for a few days.

Around [mid-October] a new [filming] issue came up concerning some of the extras who'd worked on the film. While most of them had had a wonderful time fulfilling some childhood fantasies and getting paid to run, scream, shout and fight, some others didn't enjoy their time on set. There were complaints about the treatment of horses especially. A big debate followed, both in the press and on our site; the upshot of this seems to have been an improvement in working conditions.

There were some good images posted this month; one of the interior of the Prancing Pony showing some forced perspective, and one of Cate Blanchett that caused some debate. Was that Cate as Galadriel, as we'd hoped? Or simply a still image from another film? Either way, the picture showed something of her elegance and forceful presence.

Two props have surfaced on the Net this month; one is a Rohan warrior's shield. The second was reportedly a genuine Orc blade [prop] which was offered on EBay, but sources close to the film said it was a fake.

The spoiler of the month is probably the news about the Wizard Kebab image [the one of a wizard in white impaled on the spike of a torture wheel]. Somebody got hold of a cast call sheet for the day [which states] that Saruman's double is required to lie on that spike and drop the palantir. Quickbeam compiled a roundup of responses to that news.

Spies in Wellington sent us shots of the the Minas Tirith set which is rising up above the old walls of Helm's Deep at the same Dry Creek Quarry site. We already get an impression of white turrets and golden domes. We're hearing a bit about the new stuff at the Wingate set - it's big, and full of stairways - but so far nobody's got any good pictures of it.

Down in the super-scenic South Island there's a large 'village' set being built in the remote Poolburn area. Filming should start there by November, and will use the lake in some shots.

[Although the] release of the first movie seems far away, for those of you that are looking farther ahead there's some good news. Apparently each film will be released on DVD BEFORE the next [one] comes out in theatres, and the DVDs will contain previews of the [upcoming movie]. Also TheOneRing.net had some orc extras confirm that the DVD versions might be more gory than the cinema copies.

[In gaming news] the licencing wars continue. It looks like 'Electronic Arts' is clinching a deal with New Line to produce the video game tied to the Rings Films.

[If you're up for Talking Tolkien, come to our site chatroom Barliman's, or for the strait stuff, check out our twice-monthly Hall of Fire debates. Our November topics will cover Tolkien and Religion, so they'll be sure to raise a few eyebrows on the weekends of November 11-12 and 25-26.]

[Feeling lucky? TheOneRing.net still has our annual Halloween Costume Contest open till mid-November, and we'll be offering more opportunities to win KILLER Tolkien prizes like the BBC radio LOTR on cd or a signed Peter Jackson movie poster soon.]

[For the latest Lord of the Rings movie news and other Tolkien related fun come on down to TheOneRing.net!]