Press play when you start the movie. These notes follow along, minute by minute. Questions to think about are at the end.
Cate Blanchett narrates thousands of years of history in about seven minutes, so you can follow the rest of the trilogy.
Source · IMDb triviaElijah Wood and Ian McKellen both recorded the opening narration first. Neither Frodo nor Gandalf was there for these events, so the job went to Cate Blanchett.
Source · IMDb triviaIt let each digital soldier react on its own, telling friend from enemy, so huge battles could be built without thousands of extras.
Source · IMDb triviaThe set at Matamata is now a tourist stop that hundreds of thousands of people visit each year.
Source · Waikato Tourism (visitor numbers) + IMDb triviaIan McKellen sat closer to the camera while Elijah Wood sat farther back, so they look like they're side by side.
Source · IMDb triviaIt wasn't in the script. Peter Jackson liked how McKellen kept going in character and left it in.
Source · IMDb triviaFilming ran for 274 days between 1999 and 2000, all in New Zealand.
Source · American CinematographerBilly Boyd didn't know the firework would go off in that shot. His shriek wasn't planned, and it stayed in the film.
Source · IMDb triviaWhen filming wrapped, he gave Elijah Wood and Andy Serkis each a ring from the set. Both thought they had the only one.
Source · IMDb triviaHe was the only member of the cast who had met the author. He reread the books every year.
Source · IMDb triviaHe replaced the first actor cast as Aragorn after four days of shooting. He hadn't read the books, and his son, a big fan, talked him into it.
Source · IMDb triviaThey shot the scene 16 times. Billy Boyd says Mortensen enjoyed it a lot.
Source · IMDb triviaHe dressed as a hobbit and filmed his own audition in the woods.
Source · /Film (Elijah Wood on his audition)He carried it around to stay in character, and police stopped him more than once after people saw him practicing.
Source · IMDb triviaA dialect coach used recordings of Tolkien reading his books to teach the actors how to say them.
Source · IMDb triviaJohn Rhys-Davies, who plays Gimli, is 6 feet 1 inch.
Source · IMDb triviaEight of the nine actors in the Fellowship got the Elvish word for nine. John Rhys-Davies sent his stunt double instead.
Source · IMDb triviaHe's afraid of flying, so he hiked up while the rest of the cast took a helicopter.
Source · IMDb triviaHe's only seen for a moment here. Andy Serkis plays him, and he becomes a major character in the next two films.
Source · IMDb triviaViggo Mortensen had bruised half his face surfing the day before. Makeup couldn't hide it, so Peter Jackson shot his good side.
Source · IMDb triviaHe wrote music for each culture in Middle-earth. The score won an Oscar.
Source · Ludwig Van interview with Howard Shore + Seattle Times Oscar winners listIt won for cinematography, makeup, score and visual effects. Enya's "May It Be" was also nominated. It turns 25 in December 2026.
Source · Seattle Times, 74th Academy Award winnersQuestions to think about on your own, or to talk through with whoever you watched with.
Frodo takes the ring because no one else will. When have you taken on something hard because it had to be done?
Boromir is tempted by the ring's power. What kinds of power are hardest to say no to?
Middle-earth's heroes are mostly white and its villains are dark. How do stories shape who we see as good or evil?
Times are matched to the film's subtitles, so they may be off by a minute on some versions. Each note links to its source. Still images will come from the studio's press materials.