The Lord of the Rings – The Fellowship of the Ring – 2001 (WINNER)
The special effects for this mega-blockbuster of a film were beyond incredible. The Lord of the Rings trilogy of books were only ever before adapted as animated features because it was thought that the special effects inherent in the story would never be able to be believably portrayed in a live action film. But it seems that technology had finally progressed enough that the attempt was made, and the results were spectacular. There is no doubt that this movie deserved its win. But all that being said, the special effects were not without their flaws.
Still, in order to find those flaws, I have to be incredibly nit-picky. So, I’ll spend only a moment to briefly mention the two scenes in which the effects didn’t quite work so seamlessly. First is a single shot during the Council of Elrond scene, where Frodo walks forward, saying he will take the Ring to Mordor, his image looks shaky, like he doesn’t belong in the image. Second is another isolated shot in Moria, when Frodo and Aragorn are on the collapsing staircase. As it topples forward, the two characters look very green-screened. And that was it.
Everything else was pretty-much perfect. The effects in this movie was so many and so varied, that it would be impossible to mention them all, but two types of effects that catch my attention the most, every time I watch the movie, is the beautifully detailed environments, usually displayed best when they are shown in wide shots, and the fantasy creature effects.
Now, I’ll admit that many of the wonderful scenery and environment shots are more than just the results of the visual effects artists. The cinematography, the production design, the set design, and others play huge parts in the success of these images. But the special effects team is mostly in charge of the miniature models and the digital environments, and they really created the most wonderfully memorable designs that are on hundred-percent photo-realistic. The house of Elrond, the Mines of Moria, and the home of Galadriel in Lothlorien, were phenomenal! These effects couldn’t have been done any better.
And the creatures like the Ring Wraiths, the cave troll, and the orcs and goblins, were incredible. And who can forget the terrifying flaming demon, the Balrog? But one of the most impressive things in the film were the main characters and their heights. Humans, elves, dwarves, and hobbits all have different heights, even though the actors were roughly the same size. Carefully choreographed scenes made use of forced perspective and other techniques to always make the actors appear height-appropriate, which was fundamentally impressive, especially when objects were handed from a hobbit to a human, but remained the same size. The effects in this film, and its sequels are just pure eye-candy, and a delight to watch, each and every time!