15 Movies That Changed Film Industry Forever
15. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (2001-2003)
The films are subtitled The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Two Towers (2002) and The Return of the King (2003).
It is considered to be one of the biggest and most ambitious film projects ever undertaken, with an overall budget of $281 million.
The endeavor took eight years to complete, with the filming for all three films done simultaneously and entirely in New Zealand, Jackson’s native country.
The franchise was a huge financial success, with the films collectively being among the highest-grossing film series of all time. All three parts were critically acclaimed and awarded, winning 17 out of 30 total Academy Award nominations.
The final film in the series, “The Return of the King,” won all of its 11 Academy Awards nominations, tying it with “Ben-Hur” and “Titanic” for most Academy Awards received for a film. The series received wide praise for its innovative special and visual effects.
As far as the CGI is concerned, the movies certainly brought the visual effects to the next level, especially when it comes to bringing to life Andy Serkis as the famous Gollum. Serkis was actually only supposed to voice the equivocal Gollum character, but when the animators saw the way his face moved while recording the dialogues, they wanted more.
Wearing a motion-capture suit, Serkis actually appeared on camera alongside real-life actors, and then the Gollum character would be placed over him in post-production. Peter Jackson relied on Star Wars legend George Lucas to help him follow through with this concept, and the collaboration certainly paid off.
Awesome stuff.
