"kiwi George Lucas" LOTR TTT interview

[trailergod]

hehehehe.. its director Peter Jackson

http://www.ew.com/ew/report/0,6115,4...lained,00.html

What's the difference between ''The Two Towers'' and ''Fellowship''?
''The Two Towers'' was much, much harder because of the simple fact that ''Fellowship'' was a linear story. It started with Frodo and followed him all the way through. The decisions were simple: What do you leave in and what do you cut out? You didn't change the order of things; you just kind of followed the plot. In this film, because we have three different plot lines branching out, we had a lot of flexibility over how long we stayed with a particular plot before cutting to the other one. For example, in the last cut, [the CG creature] Gollum appears in the second scene of the film. But we did edits earlier this year where he didn't appear for half an hour. It was much more fun and much more of a creative exercise this year.

What was the most painful thing to cut from this one?
Not a great deal was cut. There's not very much [extra footage] with Frodo and Sam because there's so much of Gollum in each of their scenes, and because those shots are so difficult to do, you don't really do Gollum unless you absolutely know that it's going to be in the movie. [We cut] the whole scene where Merry and Pippin drink the Ent draught. I'll definitely put that on the DVD because it's so funny.

Gollum already has Oscar buzz. Can you imagine Andy Serkis -- who voiced and provided the movements for the CG character -- getting a supporting performance nomination?
To be honest, I think that what Andy has ultimately achieved with Gollum is as relevant an acting performance as ''The Elephant Man'' with John Hurt. Hurt's buried beneath inches of rubber, but he has to use his acting skills to push this prosthetic around and fuel the character. Andy is really doing the same thing. He's the driver manipulating this pixilated skin that we see in the film.

Along with the CG, there are a considerable amount of ambitious live action sequences, such as the Battle of Helm's Deep. How was it shooting those?
Viggo bore the brunt of the Helm's Deep battle. He had 14 weeks of night shoots in the rain and in the winter, and he was just amazing. He got whacked in the mouth with an Orc sword during one of the fight scenes and his front tooth got snapped off at the root. While any other actor would obviously immediately say, ''Take me to my trailer! Oh my God, my tooth! Stop, stop!'' Viggo just picked up this tooth. He was holding it in his hand and he goes, ''Gimme me some superglue. I'll just glue it back on and we'll keep fighting.'' We literally had to drag him to the car to go get some surgery and dental work done.

What about filming ''The Hobbit,'' Tolkien's prequel to this trilogy?
I can honestly tell you that [New Line has] never, ever discussed it with me. I've never had a single ''Hobbit'' conversation with anybody from the studio, and I've been working with them for five years now. But I know they've picked up the ''Hobbit'' production rights as part of the ''Lord of the Rings'' package -- essentially to keep anybody else from making a ''Hobbit'' film. The last thing that New Line wanted was to be spending all of this money on ''Lord of the Rings'' movies, and then have a cheesy ''Hobbit'' film get put out that somebody else makes.

Would you consider doing it eventually?
It would be a difficult decision. Difficult in the sense that I have other films that I want to make. I have three or four other ideas that I'm looking forward to doing one day. It would also be tough for me to think of somebody else doing it. But on the other hand, I'd like to pay 12 bucks and go see the ''Hobbit'' that somebody else made and avoid ME doing all the work.

What are the Hobbits up to this time around? Frodo and his gardener Sam (Sean Astin) head toward Mount Doom, guided by Gollum, the same creep who stalked them in ''Fellowship.'' They trek through the bubbling Dead Marshes -- lined with fire-belching hotspots and rotting carcasses -- and suffer through Gollum's schizophrenic behavior (his good side wants to help destroy the Ring while his dark side would rather eat the ''filthy Hobbitses''). Merry (Dominic Monaghan) and Pippin (Billy Boyd), last seen in the clutches of Saruman's thugs, escape their captors and find refuge with the slow-talking, funny-walking trees called Ents (imagine Wilford Brimley reborn as an elm tree). After some persuasion, the Ents sign on for war against Sauron. If you ever thought trees were wimpy, wait 'til you see an Ent squash a whole mess of Orcs with one step.

Do we finally see our first big battle? Absolutely. Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), Gimli (John Rhys-Davies), and Legolas (Orlando Bloom) end up at Helm's Deep in the Kingdom of Rohan and join the first large-scale good-versus-evil rumble of the trilogy. Besieged by an army of Orcs and other meanies, the three count off ''...twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three...'' as they tally their kills. By the time we leave them, each has surpassed 100. Aragorn, alone, offs that many as he rides down a narrow bridge, toppling every Orc in his way like a line of muscle-bound dominoes. As if that's not enough, Helm's Deep offers the best Dwarf-tossing scene in recent memory.
How is ''The Two Towers'' different from ''The Fellowship of the Ring''?
It's a harder story. The landscapes are still beautiful, but the odds are much higher. The enemy is closer. And Aragorn's role is changing as well.

Who's departed since the last movie? Absent is Ian Holm's Bilbo Baggins (cousin to Frodo), whom we last saw relaxing in his Elvish retirement home, Rivendel. Liv Tyler's Arwen -- a relatively important character in ''Fellowship'' -- pops up to snog Aragorn in flashback and dream sequences, but is otherwise unseen. And while we all know Boromir (Sean Bean) is dead, guess who ISN'T? Gandalf! (Remember, he fell down that rather ominous-looking hole.) Ian McKellen's Oscar-nominated wiz reappears decked out in white, making him -- you guessed it -- Gandalf the White. While he provides much-needed relief at the Battle of Helm's Deep, let's hope we never get to Gandalf the Plaid.

What new creatures appear? ''The Two Towers'' offers a bevy of beasties. Sauron's Ringwraiths -- cloaked spirits seeking the One Ring -- ditch the stallions they rode in ''Fellowship'' for impressive dragon-like beasts that chase down Frodo. And Saruman's legion of Orcs have dismounted their wimpy steeds for hyena-like Wargs and Oliphaunts, elephant-ish creatures that carry war towers on their backs. What would John Wayne say about that?

Which characters have bigger roles this time? While Frodo's journey to Mount Doom is still a major plotline, he's no longer the trilogy's clear-cut Luke Skywalker. Sam's long-winded speeches become crucial in maintaining Frodo's sanity and propelling the journey. Meanwhile, the CG Gollum's stunning performance -- whether he's gnawing on a dead fish or conducting a two-way conversation with himself -- may keep your eyes diverted from Frodo altogether. Elsewhere, Aragorn begins to earn his title as leading man and eventual King of the land by way of his sword. Oh, and he makes the ladies swoon, too. But you already knew that.

[Jedi Master]

interesting