question_text: lord of the rings fellowship of the ring theatrical edition runtime

text: Plot[edit]

text: In the Second Age of Middle-earth, the lords of Elves, Dwarves, and Men are given Rings of Power. Unbeknownst to them, the Dark Lord Sauron forges the One Ring in Mount Doom to conquer them all, abandoning a great part of his power to it in order to dominate, through it, at a distance, the other Rings and conquer Middle-earth. A final coalition of men and elves battle Sauron’s forces in Mordor, where Prince Isildur of Gondor cuts the One Ring off of Sauron's finger, thereby temporarily destroying his physical shape and allowing Sauron to be permanently destroyed. Unfortunately, Isildur decides to take care of the Ring himself, but the evil influence of the Ring corrupts Isildur, preventing him from destroying it in Mount Doom. Isildur is later killed by Orcs, and the Ring is lost for 2,500 years, found and owned by Gollum for five centuries. The Ring is then found by a Hobbit named Bilbo Baggins.

text: Sixty years later, Bilbo celebrates his 111th birthday in the Shire, reuniting with his old friend Gandalf the Grey. Bilbo reveals he intends on leaving the Shire for one last adventure and leaves his inheritance to his nephew Frodo, including the Ring. Although Bilbo has begun to become corrupted by the Ring and tries to take it for himself, Gandalf intervenes. Telling Frodo to keep the Ring hidden, he investigates it and discovers its true identity, returning to warn Frodo. Learning that Gollum was tortured by Orcs and told them that Bilbo took the Ring, Gandalf instructs Frodo to leave the Shire, accompanied by his gardener Samwise Gamgee. Gandalf rides to Isengard, meeting fellow wizard Saruman the White, but learns that he is in league with Sauron, who has unleashed the Ringwraiths to find Frodo. After a brief battle, Saruman imprisons Gandalf. Frodo and Sam are joined by fellow Hobbits, Merry and Pippin, and they evade the Ringwraiths, arriving in Bree where they are meant to meet Gandalf, but are instead aided by a ranger named Strider, a friend of Gandalf's who escorts them to Rivendell.

text: The Hobbits are ambushed by the Ringwraiths, one stabbing Frodo with a cursed Morgul blade. Arwen, an elf and Strider’s lover, comes to Frodo’s aid and successfully takes him to Rivendell where he is healed, meeting Gandalf who escaped Saruman on the back of a giant Eagle. Arwen’s father, Lord Elrond, holds a council, deciding that the Ring must be destroyed in Mount Doom. While the members argue, Frodo volunteers to take the Ring, accompanied by Gandalf, Sam, Merry, Pippin, elf Legolas, dwarf Gimli, Boromir of Gondor, and Strider, who is revealed to be Aragorn, Isildur’s heir and rightful King of Gondor. Bilbo gives Frodo his sword, Sting. The Fellowship of the Ring sets off but Saruman’s magic forces them to travel through the Mines of Moria, much to Gandalf's chagrin.

text: The Fellowship find out that the dwarves within Moria have been slain, and they are attacked by Orcs and a cave troll. They defeat them, but are confronted by an ancient demon called a Balrog. Gandalf casts the Balrog into a vast chasm, but its fiery whip drags Gandalf down into the darkness with it. The rest of the Fellowship, now led by Aragorn, reach Lothlórien, home to elves Galadriel and Celeborn. Galadriel privately informs Frodo that only he can complete the quest and one of his friends will try to take the Ring. Meanwhile, Saruman creates an army of Uruk-hai to track down and kill the Fellowship.

text: The Fellowship leave Lothlórien by river to Parth Galen. Frodo wanders off and is confronted by Boromir, who tries to take the Ring in desperation. Afraid of the Ring corrupting his friends, Frodo decides to travel to Mordor alone. The other members fight off the Uruk-hai, but Merry and Pippin are taken captive, and Boromir is mortally wounded by the Uruk chieftain. After killing the chieftain, Aragorn helps Boromir die peacefully. Sam follows Frodo, accompanying him to keep his promise to Gandalf to protect Frodo, while Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli go to rescue Merry and Pippin.

text: Cast[edit]

text: Before filming began on 11 October 1999, the principal actors trained for six weeks in sword fighting (with Bob Anderson), riding and boating. Jackson hoped such activities would allow the cast to bond so chemistry would be evident on screen as well as getting them used to life in Wellington.[8] They were also trained to pronounce Tolkien's verses properly.[9] After the shoot, the nine cast members playing the Fellowship got a tattoo of the English word "nine" written in Tengwar, with the exception of John Rhys-Davies, whose stunt double got the tattoo instead.[10] The film is noted for having an ensemble cast,[11] and some of the cast and their respective characters include:

text:
Elijah Wood as Frodo Baggins: a young hobbit who inherits the One Ring from his uncle Bilbo. Wood was the first actor to be cast on 7 July 1999.[12] Wood was a fan of the book, and he sent in an audition dressed as Frodo, reading lines from the novel.[13] Wood was selected from 150 actors who auditioned,[14] including Jake Gyllenhaal.[15]
Ian McKellen as Gandalf the Grey: an Istari wizard and mentor to Frodo. Sean Connery was approached for the role, but did not understand the plot,[13] while Patrick Stewart turned it down as he disliked the script.[16] Before being cast, McKellen had to sort his schedule with 20th Century Fox as there was a two-month overlap with X-Men.[14] He enjoyed playing Gandalf the Grey more than his transformed state in the next two films,[10] and based his accent on Tolkien. Unlike his on-screen character, McKellen did not spend much time with the actors playing the Hobbits; instead he worked with their scale doubles.[8]
Viggo Mortensen as "Strider" Aragorn II Elessar: a Dúnedain ranger, the descendant of Isildur, and heir to Gondor's throne. Daniel Day-Lewis was offered the part at the beginning of pre-production, but turned it down.[17] Nicolas Cage also received an offer, declining because of "family obligations",[18] while Vin Diesel, a fan of the book, auditioned for Aragorn. Stuart Townsend was cast in the role, before being replaced during filming when Jackson realized he was too young.[13] Russell Crowe was considered as a replacement, but he turned it down after taking what he thought to be a similar role in Gladiator.[13] Day-Lewis was offered the role for a second time, but declined again.[17] Executive Producer Mark Ordesky saw Mortensen in a play. Mortensen's son, a fan of the book, convinced him to take the role.[8] Mortensen read the book on the plane, received a crash course lesson in fencing from Bob Anderson and began filming the scenes on Weathertop.[19] Mortensen became a hit with the crew by patching up his costume[20] and carrying his "hero" sword around with him off-camera.[8]
Sean Astin as Samwise "Sam" Gamgee: a hobbit gardener and Frodo's best friend. Astin, who had recently become a father, bonded with the 18-year-old Wood in a protective manner, which mirrored Sam's relationship with Frodo.[8]
Billy Boyd as Peregrin "Pippin" Took: a hobbit who travels with the Fellowship on their journey to Mordor.
Dominic Monaghan as Meriadoc "Merry" Brandybuck: a distant cousin of Frodo. Monaghan was cast as Merry after auditioning for Frodo.[13]
John Rhys-Davies as Gimli: a dwarf warrior who accompanies the Fellowship to Mordor after they set out from Rivendell and a descendant of Durin's Folk. Billy Connolly, who was considered for the part of Gimli, later portrayed Dáin II Ironfoot in Peter Jackson's The Hobbit film trilogy.[13] Rhys-Davies wore heavy prosthetics to play Gimli, which limited his vision, and eventually developed eczema around his eyes.[8]
Orlando Bloom as Legolas Greenleaf: a prince of the elves' Woodland Realm and a skilled archer. Bloom initially auditioned for Faramir, who appears in the second film, a role which went to David Wenham.[13]
Sean Bean as Boromir: a prince of the Stewards of Gondor who journeys with the Fellowship towards Mordor. Bruce Willis, a fan of the book, expressed interest in the role, while Liam Neeson was sent the script, but passed.[13]
Liv Tyler as Arwen Undomiel: an elven princess of Rivendell and Aragorn's lover. The filmmakers approached Tyler after seeing her performance in Plunkett & Macleane, and New Line Cinema leaped at the opportunity of having one Hollywood star in the film. Actress Helena Bonham Carter had expressed interest in the role.[13] Peter Jackson wanted to cast Uma Thurman as Arwen, but Thurman pulled out due to pregnancy, Tyler came to shoot on short occasions, unlike the rest of the actors. She was one of the last actors to be cast, on 25 August 1999.[21]
Sala Baker as Sauron: the Dark Lord of Mordor and the Ring's true master who manifests as an Eye after the destruction of his physical form. Originally hired as one of the several stunt performers for the film trilogy, Baker ended up landing the role. In addition, he went on to play several Orcs as well.
Cate Blanchett as Galadriel: the elven co-ruler of Lothlórien alongside her husband Celeborn.
Christopher Lee as Saruman the White: the fallen head of the Istari Order who succumbs to Sauron's will through his use of the palantír. Lee was a major fan of the book, and read it once a year. He had also met J. R. R. Tolkien.[19] He originally auditioned for Gandalf, but was judged too old.[13]
Hugo Weaving as Elrond: the elven Lord of Rivendell who leads the Council of Elrond, which ultimately decides to destroy the Ring. David Bowie expressed interest in the role, but Jackson stated, "To have a famous, beloved character and a famous star colliding is slightly uncomfortable."[14]
Ian Holm as Bilbo Baggins: Frodo's uncle who gives him the Ring after he decides to retire to Rivendell. Holm previously played Frodo in a 1981 radio adaption of The Lord of the Rings, and was cast as Bilbo after Jackson remembered his performance.[13] Sylvester McCoy, who would later play Radagast the Brown in The Hobbit, was contacted about playing the role, and was kept in place as a potential Bilbo for six months before Jackson went with Holm.[22]
Andy Serkis as Gollum voice and motion capture: a wretched hobbit-like creature whose mind was poisoned over centuries by the Ring. Serkis also voiced the Witch-King of Angmar.
Marton Csokas as Celeborn the Wise: the elven Lord of Lothlórien and Galadriel's husband;
David Weatherley as Barliman Butterbur, proprietor in Bree
Lawrence Makoare as Lurtz: the commander of Saruman's Orc forces;
Craig Parker as Haldir: the leader of the Galadhrim warriors guarding the border of Lothlórien;
Mark Ferguson as Ereinion Gil-galad, the last Elven-King of Noldor;
Peter McKenzie as Elendil the Tall: the last High King of Arnor and Gondor;
Harry Sinclair as Isildur: Elendil's son and Aragorn's ancestor who originally defeated Sauron.
Peter Jackson as Albert Dreary: a man of Bree.

text: Comparison with the source material[edit]

text: Jackson, Walsh and Boyens made numerous changes to the story, for purposes of pacing and character development. Jackson said his main desire was to make a film focused primarily on Frodo and the Ring, the "backbone" of the story.[23] The prologue condenses Tolkien's backstory, in which The Last Alliance's seven-year siege of the Barad-dûr is a single battle, where Sauron is shown to explode, though Tolkien only said his spirit flees.[24]

text: Events at the beginning of the film are condensed or omitted altogether. In the book the time between Gandalf leaving the Ring to Frodo and returning to reveal its inscription, which is 17 years, is compressed for timing reasons.[25] Frodo also spends a few months preparing to move to Buckland, on the eastern border of the Shire. This move is omitted, and associated events, including the involvement of Merry and Pippin, are changed and combined with him setting out for Bree. Characters such as Tom Bombadil and the incidents in the Old Forest and the Barrow Downs are left out to simplify the plot and increase the threat of the Ringwraiths. Such sequences are left out to make time to introduce Saruman, who in the book doesn't appear until Gandalf's account at the Council of Elrond. While some characters are left out, some are referenced such as Tom, Bert, and William to show how The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings series intertwine. Saruman's role is enhanced: he is to blame for the blizzard on Caradhras, a role taken from Sauron and/or Caradhras itself in the book. Gandalf's capture by Saruman is also expanded with a fight sequence.

text: The role of Barliman Butterbur at the Prancing Pony is largely removed for time and dramatic flow. In the film Pippin is seen to identify Frodo explicitly with the phrase "why there's Baggins over there" whereas in the book Pippin is only telling the tale of Bilbo's disappearance when Strider tells Frodo to create a distraction, which he does by singing a song.

text: The events at Weathertop were also altered. The location of the fight against the Ringwraiths was changed to the ruins on top of the hill rather than a campsite at its base. When Frodo was stabbed in the book, the party spent two weeks travelling to Rivendell, but in the film this is shortened to less than a week, with Frodo's condition worsening at a commensurately greater rate. Arwen was given a greater role in the film, accompanying Frodo all the way to Rivendell, while in the book Frodo faced the Ringwraiths alone at the Ford of Bruinen. The character of Glorfindel was omitted entirely and his scenes were also given to Arwen. She was tacitly credited with the river rising against the Ringwraiths, which was the work of her father Elrond with aid from Gandalf in the book.

text: A significant new addition is Aragorn's self-doubt, which causes him to hesitate to claim the kingship of Gondor. This element is not present in the book, where Aragorn intends to claim the throne at an appropriate time. In the book Narsil is reforged immediately when he joins the Fellowship, but this event is held over until Return of the King in film to symbolically coincide with his acceptance of his title. These elements were added because Peter Jackson believed that each character should be forced to grow or change over the course of the story.

text: Elrond's character gained an adversarial edge; he expresses doubts in the strength of Men to resist Sauron's evil after Isildur's failure to destroy the ring as depicted in the prologue. Jackson also shortens the Council of Elrond by spreading its exposition into earlier parts of the film. Elrond's counsellor, Erestor—who suggested the Ring be given to Tom Bombadil—was completely absent from this scene. Gimli's father, Glóin, was also deemed unnecessary. In addition, the movie makes it seem by chance that the Fellowship is made of nine companions, whereas in the book Elrond suggests there be nine in the fellowship in response to the nine Nazgûl.

text: The tone of the Moria sequence was altered. In the book, following the defeat on the Caradhras road, Gandalf advocates the Moria road against the resistance of the rest of the Fellowship (save Gimli), suggesting "there is a hope that Moria is still free...there is even a chance that Dwarves are there," though no one seems to think this likely. Frodo proposes they take a company vote, but the discovery of Wargs on their trail forces them to accept Gandalf's proposal. They only realize the Dwarves are all dead once they reach Balin's tomb. The filmmakers chose instead for Gandalf to resist the Moria plan as a foreshadowing device. Gandalf says to Gimli he would prefer not to enter Moria, and Saruman is shown to be aware of Gandalf's hesitance, revealing an illustration of the Balrog in one of his books. The corpses of the dwarves are instantly shown as the Fellowship enter Moria.[26] One detail that many critics commented upon is the fact that, in the novel, Pippin tosses a mere pebble into the well in Moria ("They then hear what sounds like a hammer tapping in the distance"), whereas in the film, he knocks an entire skeleton in ("Next, the skeleton ... falls down the well, also dragging down a chain and bucket. The noise is incredible."[27])[28][29][30][31]

text: In terms of dramatic structure, the book simply ends; there is no climax, because Tolkien wrote the "trilogy" as a single story published in three volumes. Jackson's version incorporates the first chapter of '"The Two Towers" and makes its events, told in real time instead of flashback, simultaneous with the Breaking of the Fellowship. This finale is played as a climactic battle, into which he introduces the Uruk-hai referred to as Lurtz in the script. In the book, Boromir is unable to tell Aragorn which hobbits were kidnapped by the orcs before he dies. From there, Aragorn deduces Frodo's intentions when he notices that a boat is missing and Sam's pack is gone. In the film, Aragorn and Frodo have a scene together in which Frodo's intentions are explicitly stated.

text: Production[edit]

text: Development[edit]

text: Peter Jackson began working with Christian Rivers to storyboard the series in August 1997, as well as getting Richard Taylor and Weta Workshop to begin creating his interpretation of Middle-earth.[32] Jackson told them to make Middle-earth as plausible and believable as possible, to think of Middle-earth in a historical manner.[33]

text: In November,[33] Alan Lee and John Howe became the film trilogy's primary conceptual designers, having had previous experience as illustrators for the book and various other tie-ins. Lee worked for the Art Department creating places such as Rivendell, Isengard, Moria and Lothlórien, giving Art Nouveau and geometry influences to the Elves and Dwarves respectively.[33][34] Though Howe contributed with Bag End and the Argonath,[33][34] he focused working on armour having studied it all his life.[35] Weta and the Art Department continued to design, with Grant Major turning the Art Department's designs into architecture, and Dan Hennah scouting locations.[33] On 1 April 1999, Ngila Dickson joined the crew as costume designer. She and 40 seamstresses would create 19,000 costumes, 40 per version for the actor and their doubles, ageing and wearing them out for impression of age.[20]

text: Filming locations[edit]

text: Filming took place in various locations across New Zealand. A list of filming locations, sorted by appearance order in the film:[36][37]

text:
Fictional
location
Specific location
in New Zealand
General area
in New Zealand

Mordor (Prologue)
Whakapapa skifield
Tongariro National Park

Hobbiton
Matamata
Waikato

Gardens of Isengard
Harcourt Park
Upper Hutt

The Shire woods
Otaki Gorge Road
Kapiti Coast District

Bucklebury Ferry
Keeling Farm, Manakau
Horowhenua

Forest near Bree
Takaka Hill
Nelson

Trollshaws
Waitarere Forest
Horowhenua

Flight to the Ford
Tarras
Central Otago

Ford of Bruinen
Arrow River, Skippers Canyon
Queenstown and Arrowtown

Rivendell
Kaitoke Regional Park
Upper Hutt

Eregion
Mount Olympus
Nelson

Dead Marshes
Kepler Mire
Southland

Dimrill Dale
Lake Alta
The Remarkables

Dimrill Dale
Mount Owen
Nelson

Lothlórien
Paradise
Glenorchy

River Anduin
Upper Waiau River
Fiordland National Park

River Anduin
Rangitikei River
Rangitikei District

River Anduin
Poets' Corner
Upper Hutt

Parth Galen
Paradise
Glenorchy

Amon Hen
Mavora Lakes, Paradise and Closeburn
Southern Lakes

text: Special effects[edit]

text: The Fellowship of the Ring makes extensive use of digital, practical and make-up special effects throughout. One noticeable illusion that appears in almost every scene involves setting a proper scale so that the characters are all the correct height. Elijah Wood, who plays Frodo, is 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) tall in real life, but the character of Frodo Baggins is barely four feet in height. Many different tricks were used to depict the hobbits (and Gimli the Dwarf) as being of diminutive stature. (In a happy coincidence, John-Rhys Davies – who played Gimli – is as tall compared to the Hobbit actors as his character needed to be compared to theirs, so he did not need to be filmed separately as a third variation of height, and is quite taller than Orlando Bloom, who played Legolas.) Large- and small-scale doubles were used in certain scenes, while entire duplicates of certain sets (including Bag End in Hobbiton) were built at two different scales, so that the characters would appear to be the appropriate size. At one point in the film, Frodo runs along a corridor in Bag End, followed by Gandalf. Elijah Wood and Ian McKellen were filmed in separate versions of the same corridor, built at two different scales, and a fast camera pan conceals the edit between the two. Forced perspective was also employed, so that it would look as though the short Hobbits were interacting with taller Men and Elves. Even the simple use of kneeling down, to the filmmakers' surprise, turned out to be an effective method in creating the illusion.

text: For the battle between the Last Alliance and Sauron's forces that begins the film, an elaborate CGI animation system, called MASSIVE, was developed by Stephen Regelous; it allowed thousands of individual animated "characters" in the program to act independently. This helped give the illusion of realism to the battle sequences. The "Making of" Lord of the Rings DVD reports some interesting initial problems: in the first execution of a battle between groups of characters, the wrong groups attacked each other. In another early demo, some of the warriors at the edge of the field could be seen running away. They were initially moving in the wrong direction, and had been programmed to keep running until they encountered an enemy.

text: The digital creatures were important due to Jackson's requirement of biological plausibility. Their surface was scanned from large maquettes before numerous digital details of their skeletons and muscles were added. In the case of the Balrog, Gray Horsfield created a system that copied recorded imagery of fire.

text: Score[edit]

text: The musical score for The Lord of the Rings films was composed by Howard Shore. It was performed by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the London Voices, and featured several vocal soloists. Two original songs, "Aníron" and the end title theme "May It Be", were composed and sung by Enya, who allowed her label, Reprise Records, to release the soundtrack to this and its two sequels. In addition to this, Shore composed "In Dreams", which was sung by Edward Ross of the London Oratory School Schola.

text: Release[edit]

text: A special behind-the-scenes trailer was released in 2000. Two teasers were shown before Spy Kids and Pearl Harbor. The final trailer was with the television premiere of 1999 tv show, ""Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film), and on the DVD and VHS of Rush Hour 2

text: Home media[edit]

text: The Fellowship of the Ring was released on VHS and DVD in August 2002.

text: Theatrical and extended release[edit]

text: In November 2002, an extended edition was released on VHS and DVD, with 30 minutes of new material, added special effects and music, plus 20 minutes of fan-club credits, totalling to 228 minutes.[38][39] The DVD set included four commentaries and over three hours of supplementary material.

text: In August 2006, a limited edition of The Fellowship of the Ring was released on DVD. The set included both the film's theatrical and extended editions on a double-sided disc along with all-new bonus material.

text: Blu-ray edition[edit]

text: The theatrical Blu-ray version of The Lord of the Rings was released in the United States in April 2010. There were two separate sets: one with digital copies and one without.[40] The individual Blu-ray disc of The Fellowship of the Ring was released in September 2010 with the same special features as the complete trilogy release, except there was no digital copy.[41]

text: The extended Blu-ray editions were released in the US in June 2011.[42] This version has a runtime of 238 minutes[39][43] (the extended editions include the names of all fan club members at the time of their release; the additional 9 minutes in the Blu-ray version are because of expanded member rolls, not any additional story material).

text: Reception[edit]

text: Box office[edit]

text: The Fellowship of the Ring was released on 19 December 2001 in 3,359 cinemas where it grossed $47.2 million on its opening weekend. The world premiere was held at the Odeon Leicester Square in London. It went on to make $314.7 million in North America and $555.9 million in the rest of the world for a worldwide total of $870.7 million.[44] Box Office Mojo estimates that the film sold over 54 million tickets in the US in its initial theatrical run.[45]

text: Critical response[edit]

text: The Fellowship of the Ring received positive reviews from major film critics and was one of 2001's best reviewed films.[46] The film holds a 91% approval rating on aggregate review site Rotten Tomatoes based on 225 reviews and an average score of 8.2/10. The site's main consensus reads "Full of eye-popping special effects, and featuring a pitch-perfect cast, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring brings J.R.R. Tolkien's classic to vivid life".[47] The film holds a score of 92 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 34 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[48]

text: Roger Ebert gave the film three out of four stars and stating that while it is not "a true visualization of Tolkien's Middle-earth", it is "a work for, and of, our times. It will be embraced, I suspect, by many Tolkien fans and take on aspects of a cult. It is a candidate for many Oscars. It is an awesome production in its daring and breadth, and there are small touches that are just right".[49] USA Today also gave the film three out of four stars and wrote, "this movie version of a beloved book should please devotees as well as the uninitiated".[50] In his review for The New York Times, Elvis Mitchell wrote, "The playful spookiness of Mr. Jackson's direction provides a lively, light touch, a gesture that doesn't normally come to mind when Tolkien's name is mentioned".[51] Entertainment Weekly magazine gave the film an "A" rating and Lisa Schwarzbaum wrote, "The cast take to their roles with becoming modesty, certainly, but Jackson also makes it easy for them: His Fellowship flows, never lingering for the sake of admiring its own beauty ... Every detail of which engrossed me. I may have never turned a page of Tolkien, but I know enchantment when I see it".[52]

text: In her review for The Washington Post, Rita Kempley praised the cast, in particular, "Mortensen, as Strider, is a revelation, not to mention downright gorgeous. And McKellen, carrying the burden of thousands of years' worth of the fight against evil, is positively Merlinesque".[53] Time magazine's Richard Corliss praised Jackson's work: "His movie achieves what the best fairy tales do: the creation of an alternate world, plausible and persuasive, where the young — and not only the young — can lose themselves. And perhaps, in identifying with the little Hobbit that could, find their better selves".[54] In his review for The Village Voice, J. Hoberman wrote, "Peter Jackson's adaptation is certainly successful on its own terms".[55] Rolling Stone magazine's Peter Travers wrote, "It's emotion that makes Fellowship stick hard in the memory... Jackson deserves to revel in his success. He's made a three-hour film that leaves you wanting more".[56] However, in his review for The Guardian, Peter Bradshaw wrote, "there is a strange paucity of plot complication, an absence of anything unfolding, all the more disconcerting because of the clotted and indigestible mythic back story that we have to wade through before anything happens at all".[57]

text: In CinemaScore polls conducted during the opening weekend, cinema audiences gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.[58]

text: Accolades[edit]

text: In 2002, the film won four Academy Awards from thirteen nominations.[59] The winning categories were for Best Cinematography, Best Visual Effects, Best Makeup, and Best Original Score. It was also nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Ian McKellen), Best Art Direction, Best Director, Best Film Editing, Best Original Song (Enya, Nicky Ryan and Roma Ryan for "May It Be"), Best Picture, Best Sound (Christopher Boyes, Michael Semanick, Gethin Creagh and Hammond Peek), Best Costume Design and Best Adapted Screenplay.

text: As of January 2014[update], it is the 31st highest-grossing film worldwide, with US$871,530,324 in worldwide theatrical box office receipts.[3]

text: The film won the 2002 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation. It also won Empire readers' Best Film award, as well as five BAFTAs, including Best Film, the David Lean Award for Best Direction, the Audience Award (voted for by the public), Best Special Effects, and Best Make-up. The film was nominated for an MTV Movie Award for Best Fight between Gandalf and Saruman.

text: In June 2008, AFI revealed its "10 Top 10"—the ten best films in ten "classic" American film genres—after polling over 1,500 people from the creative community. The Fellowship of the Ring was acknowledged as the second best film in the fantasy genre.[60][61] The film was also listed as the 50th best film in the 2007 list AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition).


document_title: Back to School

question_text: who played rodney dangerfield son in back to school

root

text: Back to School

text: Plot[edit]

text: This article's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. Please help improve it by removing unnecessary details and making it more concise. (July 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

tag: table

text: Thornton Melon's is a rags-to-riches story. The son of an Italian immigrant tailor, he is shown as a boy (Jason Hervey) in his father's shop, bearing a report card with poor grades. His ambition is to go into his father's line of work, but his father reprimands Thornton for his poor schoolwork, and tells him no matter how hardworking, skilled or wealthy one may be, "if a man has got no education, he has got nothing".

tag: p

text: As decades pass, Thornton is shown opening his first "Tall and Fat" clothing store and eventually becoming a corporate giant, complete with a TV commercial in which he asks:

text: Are you a large person? Pleasantly plump? A little on the hefty side, perhaps? Well, let's face it: are you fat? When you go jogging, do you leave potholes? When you make love, do you have to give directions? At the zoo, do elephants throw you peanuts? Do you look at a menu and say, 'Okay'?

text: He also has changed his last name to "Melon" (from the original "Meloni").

text: After his college-student son Jason (Keith Gordon) cancels a visit, Thornton goes home to Vanessa (Adrienne Barbeau), his second wife. Thornton is a widower and Vanessa is a social climbing gold digger, unable to bear her crude husband. Upon agreeing to a divorce, he threatens to expose her adulterous affairs (showing her Polaroids of her with other men, including a midget) after she threatens to sue him for half of his net worth.

text: Thornton tells his friend, chauffeur and bodyguard Lou (Burt Young) to drive him to Jason's college. It turns out Jason has been keeping secrets from his father. He is not on the Grand Lakes diving team, but instead works as a towel boy, treated badly by star diver Chas Osborn (William Zabka). Jason has only his best friend Derek Lutz (Robert Downey, Jr.) for support and intends to drop out. Thornton pleads with him, offering to go to college with his son if he'll stay, and also tells Jason that he has no reason to be ashamed of his failures, considering Thornton's early mediocre life.

text: Possessing neither a high school diploma nor any transcripts or SAT scores, Thornton’s efforts seem to be stalled. But when the university's "Dean" Martin — a play on the crooner Dean Martin — played by Ned Beatty, asks how he can possibly admit an unqualified student, the next scene cuts to a groundbreaking of the university's new Thornton Melon School of Business.

text: Thornton's bribery earns him the wrath of Dr. Philip Barbay (Paxton Whitehead), dean of the business school. The wrath is further exacerbated when Dr. Barbay's ivory tower ways are at odds with Thornton's knowledge of business gained from actual experience. Thornton promptly strikes up a romance with Dr. Diane Turner (Sally Kellerman), an attractive literature professor and free spirit, who is dating Barbay.

text: At the same time, Jason begins to attract the interest of Valerie Desmond (Terry Farrell), a girl that Chas has been trying to impress. Jason's popularity on campus also increases thanks to his father’s generosity and party-throwing. Jason even earns a spot on the diving team as well after Thornton — who claims to have once been a spectacular diver himself — talks the Grand Lakes coach (M. Emmet Walsh) into giving the kid another look.

text: As a student, even though Diane is inspiring a deeper appreciation of literature, Thornton prefers partying to studying. He hires a team of professionals to complete his assignments, including author Kurt Vonnegut, to write a paper on Kurt Vonnegut for literature class. To Thornton's surprise, a disappointed Diane, recognizing the fraud, gives Thornton an F on his paper, telling him that she will not accept work from him that was written by someone else, and adding that whoever did write the paper doesn't know the first thing about Kurt Vonnegut. Meanwhile, Jason is fed up with his father, his school, his status and his own failures. At his dad's big party, he gets drunk, punches Chas and disappears.

text: Thornton’s fraud is further exposed by Dr. Barbay, who challenges him before Dean Martin to pass an oral examination from all of his professors. If Thornton fails any part of it, he will be expelled. Not believing that he will be able to pass that oral exam, Thornton packs up and prepares to leave, knowing that he can't be expelled if he drops out. But Jason stops him and reminds him of how he wanted to drop out, too, but Thornton talked him out of it. Jason believes that Thornton can do it and says that they'll help him. Thornton then decides that he's up to the challenge.

text: With limited time to prepare, Thornton crams for exams with help from Jason, Derek, Lou and Diane. When the big day comes, Barbay begins by telling Thornton that he has only one question, "...in 27 parts." Thornton seems to falter, but is inspired to answer the question with the screaming assistance of crazed Contemporary American History professor (and as revealed earlier, a Vietnam vet), Terguson (Sam Kinison). He passes, nevertheless, after Dr. Turner inspires him by having him recite Dylan Thomas' poem "Do not go gentle into that good night."

text: At the championship dive meet, father and son patch things up and, with a little distraction, Derek fouls up the opposing team’s dives, while Chas gives a lackluster effort, followed by a near-perfect performance from Jason. Chas fakes a cramp out of spite in an effort to make the team lose. This gives the coach an inspiration. He calls upon Thornton, who comes out of the grandstand to perform an “impossible” dive, the legendary “Triple Lindy," to win the meet.

text: Thornton learns that he has passed all his classes with D's, except from Diane, who has given him an A. The movie closes with Thornton lecturing the graduating class that the real world is hard, so: "Move back in with your parents... let them worry about it!" and "Look out for Number One, but don't step in Number Two!"[4]

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Rodney Dangerfield as Thornton Melon
Sally Kellerman as Dr. Diane Turner
Burt Young as Lou
Keith Gordon as Jason Melon
Robert Downey, Jr. as Derek Lutz
Paxton Whitehead as Dr. Phillip Barbay
Sam Kinison as Professor Terguson (a.k.a. Turgeson)
Terry Farrell as Valerie Desmond
M. Emmet Walsh as Coach Turnbull
Adrienne Barbeau as Vanessa Melon
William Zabka as Chas Osborne
Ned Beatty as "Dean" David Martin
Severn Darden as Dr. Borozini
Robert Picardo as Giorgio
Jason Hervey as Young Thornton
Edie McClurg as Marge Sweetwater
Kurt Vonnegut as Himself (cameo)

tag: ul

text: Reception[edit]

text: The film received mainly positive reviews from critics, and is the 6th highest-grossing film of 1986, as well as the second highest grossing comedy film of the year, behind "Crocodile" Dundee (records state that in addition to the rental and theatrical gross it received, it went on to gross $108,634,920 globally). Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times noted that "Dangerfield seems to be setting the film's brisk pace and flawless timing himself."[5] Nina Darnton wrote in The New York Times that "the film is a good-natured potpourri of gags, funny bits, populist sentiment and anti-intellectualism."[6] Rotten Tomatoes' Tomatometer shows that 85% of 33 critics' reviews were positive.[7] Roger Ebert's Chicago Sun-Times review read: "This is exactly the sort of plot Marx or Fields could have appeared in. Dangerfield brings it something they might also have brought along: a certain pathos."[8]

text: Soundtrack[edit]

text:
Back to School

Soundtrack album by Various Artists

Released
1986

Genre
Pop, Rock, Soul

Length
35:34

Label
MCA

text: The soundtrack was released on MCA, available in LP or Cassette (no CD), but cues from the score were released that year with selections from the score of Pee-wee's Big Adventure (both re-recordings made in London) on CD. Original film recordings were issued in 2010 on The Danny Elfman & Tim Burton 25th Anniversary Music Box.

text: Track listing (soundtrack)[edit]

text:
No.
Title
Writer(s)
Performer(s)
Length

1.
"Back to School"
Richard Wolf & Mark Leonard
Jude Cole
4:16

2.
"Educated Girl"

Bobby Caldwell
4:07

3.
"Learnin' and Livin'"

Tyson & Schwartz
3:25

4.
"Everybody's Crazy" (from Everybody's Crazy, 1985)
Bolton
Michael Bolton
4:37

5.
"I'll Never Forget Your Face"
Wolf
Phillip Ingram
4:07

6.
"Twist and Shout" (Isley Brothers cover, original 1962)
Phil Medley, Bert Russell
Rodney Dangerfield
2:51

7.
"Dead Man's Party" (from Dead Man's Party, 1985)
Danny Elfman
Oingo Boingo
6:17

8.
"On My Way"

Tyson & Schwartz
3:30

9.
"Respect" (from I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You, 1967)
Otis Redding
Aretha Franklin
2:24


document_title: American game show winnings records

question_text: who has won the most money on a game show

text: American game show winnings records

text: Daytime game shows[edit]

text: Most daytime game show top prizes were limited to $25,000 during the 1960s and 1970s, a restriction made for both budgetary concerns and to assuage criticism from scandals that arose surrounding prime-time game shows in the 1950s. The single day record for shows in daytime television was set by Michael Larson in 1984, who won $110,237 (equivalent to $260,000 in 2017)[1] on Press Your Luck. Larson achieved his record by memorizing the show's board patterns. He repeatedly hit the board's squares that awarded contestants money and an additional spin. That spin would in turn replace the spin he had just used, effectively allowing him to spin the board in the second round as long as wanted. Because of this, his game had to be split into two episodes (which aired June 8 and June 11, 1984), as his turn caused the game to go well over the show's half-hour allotted time. At the time of the show's airing, CBS only allowed contestants to win up to $50,000 on a game show (contestants would retire after winning $25,000); the winnings limit increased to $75,000 in November of that year, and would increase to $100,000 (and later $125,000) before being eliminated in 2006. In 2003, Game Show Network produced a documentary about the event.[2]

text: In 2006, Larson was succeeded by Vickyann Chrobak-Sadowski, who set the record by winning $147,517 (equivalent to $179,000 in 2017)[1] on the 35th season premiere of The Price Is Right in 2006.[3] Chrobak-Sadowski's record was later broken by Sheree Heil from her appearance on The Price Is Right in 2013. She won $170,345 in cash and prizes on the episode that aired December 30, 2013, including an Audi R8 won in the pricing game "Gas Money", $10,000 cash, and Prada shoes.[3][4][5]

text: On the October 28, 2016 episode of The Price Is Right, which aired during Big Money Week, Christen Freeman won $210,000 in cash during a playing of Cliff Hangers. During the episode, game rules were modified to offer a top prize of $250,000, which was reduced by $10,000 for every step the mountain climber took. In addition to her One Bid prize and an additional $1,000 won during the Showcase Showdown, Freeman's grand total was $212,879, setting a new daytime record.[6]

text: Overall winnings record[edit]

text: While the 1950s had multiple big winners (Herb Stempel and Charles Van Doren of Twenty One being two of the most notable),[7][8] Teddy Nadler set the overall record during the 1956–57 television season, who set a record that would stand for the next two decades by winning $264,000 (equivalent to $2,376,000 in 2017)[1] on The $64,000 Challenge.[9] The quiz show scandals of 1958 and 1959 prompted the cancellation of most of the big-budget game shows and the imposition of strict limits on prize amounts, which meant that through the 1960s and 1970s, game show contestants could not match their 1950s counterparts.

text: It was not until 1980 that Nadler's record fell. During the summer of that year, a U.S. Naval officer named Thom McKee began a run on Tic-Tac-Dough that carried over into the following season. Since champions on Tic Tac Dough played until they were defeated, and games on the show could end in ties with the pot carrying over, McKee was able to keep building his total as long as he kept playing and winning. McKee won $312,700 (equivalent to $929,000 in 2017)[1] in cash and prizes in 43 games, which included eight cars (on Tic Tac Dough and its sister show, The Joker's Wild, a contestant automatically won a car after every fifth game they won).[10]

text: While McKee was the biggest solo winner until 1999, nine couples on The $1,000,000 Chance of a Lifetime won the show's top prize of $1,000,000 (equivalent to $2,154,000 in 2017),[1] in a combination of prizes and a long-term annuity, during the show's run in syndication from January 1986 to September 1987.[11] However, this program had no solo players.

text: 1999–2004: The million-dollar game show boom[edit]

text: In 1999, McKee was passed by Michael Shutterly, who was the biggest winner in the first airing of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire in the United States. Shutterly was the first contestant on the show to get to the 15th and final question, but elected to walk instead with $500,000 (equivalent to $735,000 in 2017),[1] which made him the biggest winner in American game show history at the time. Shutterly had previously won $49,200 as a 4 day champion on Jeopardy! in 1988, making his career winnings total $549,200. [12]

text: During the second season of Millionaire in the United States, the show crowned its first million-dollar winner. On November 19, 1999, John Carpenter won the show's top prize without using any lifelines, save for a phone call on the final question to tell his father he was going to win the million dollars. After Carpenter answered the final question, which concerned Richard Nixon's appearance on Laugh-In in 1968,[13] host Regis Philbin proclaimed Carpenter the show's (and worldwide format's) first top prize winner.

text: Carpenter's record remained intact until the following year. In early 2000, Rahim Oberholtzer, a contestant on the revival of Twenty One, won four games in his appearances on the show, along with $120,000 in the show's "Perfect 21" bonus round, for a total of $1,120,000.[14] For surpassing Carpenter's mark, host Maury Povich proclaimed Oberholtzer "the TV Game Show King."[15]

text: Late in its run, the Fox show Greed brought back some of its previous winners to try for an extra $1,000,000. Curtis Warren, who was part of the first team to win $1,000,000 on the show (of which his share was $400,000, plus $10,000 for winning a terminator round), was one of the contestants brought back to do so on February 11, 2000.[16] Warren was given a question about TV shows that had been made into movies, with eight choices (of which he had to identify the four correct answers). He successfully did so, giving himself $1,410,000 (equivalent to $2,004,000 in 2017)[1] and the record for the time being.[16]

text: Warren's record was even shorter lived than Oberholtzer's had been, lasting only four days. Three days before Warren's win, David Legler, who also appeared on NBC's Twenty One, began a run as champion on the show. Four days after Warren's win, the run continued, with Legler having earned a grand total of $1,765,000 (equivalent to $2,508,000 in 2017)[1] in six wins to surpass Warren's record and become the third contestant in two months to top $1,000,000 on a game show.[17]

text: Legler held the record for well over a year. As 2000 ended and 2001 began, the producers of Millionaire decided that it had been too long (71 games over a five-month period) since their top prize had been won, and instituted an accumulating jackpot which added $10,000 to the grand prize amount for each game it was not won. Kevin Olmstead claimed the top prize on April 10, 2001, winning a jackpot of $2,180,000 (equivalent to $3,013,000 in 2017)[1]. Olmstead became the first contestant to top $2,000,000 in total winnings on a game show and supplanted Legler as the all-time leader.[18]

text: In 2004, ABC launched an ultra high-stakes version of Millionaire entitled Who Wants to Be a Super Millionaire, with a $10,000,000 top prize. Two separate Super Millionaire series aired, one in February and one in May of that year. However, despite the higher stakes and the potential for someone to top the all-time record for winnings, the largest prize awarded was $1,000,000 (equivalent to $1,296,000 in 2017)[1] won by Robert Essig.[19]

text: 2004–present: Jennings vs. Rutter[edit]

text: One week after Super Millionaire came to an end, Ken Jennings of Salt Lake City, Utah, became the new champion on Jeopardy! The episode, broadcast on June 2, 2004, was the first in a long winning streak for the software engineer, made possible due to a change at the beginning of that season (the show's twentieth on air in syndication), eliminating the longstanding rule limiting consecutive appearances for a champion to five. With no limit to his appearances, Jennings began to break many game show records. As his streak continued deeper into the 21st season, Jennings was inching closer and closer to Olmstead's record. Jennings topped Olmstead's Millionaire winnings with his 65th consecutive win, finishing the day with $45,099 and a new cumulative total of $2,197,000.[20]

text: Jennings won nine more games before his streak came to an end on November 30, 2004. He had extended his record total to $2,520,700 at the time of his defeat, after which he was awarded an additional $2,000 for finishing in second place per Jeopardy! rules.[21] Shortly after Jennings' defeat, Jeopardy! decided to see how he would fare in tournament play. On February 9, 2005, the show launched its Ultimate Tournament of Champions, inviting back 144 other past champions to compete over the next three months in a five-round single-elimination tournament with a $2,000,000 grand prize. The field included the highest-winning five-time champions and winners of some previous tournaments, though not all invitees were able to participate. Jennings received a bye into the finals of the tournament, where he faced semi-final winners Jerome Vered and Brad Rutter in a three-game, cumulative total match. Vered had set a single-day scoring record during his appearance on the show in 1992,[22] while Rutter had won the 2001 Tournament of Champions[23] and the 2002 Million Dollar Masters tournament and was the show's highest-earning contestant of all-time before Jennings.[24]

text: In the tournament's three-day final, Rutter defeated Jennings and Vered to win the tournament and $2,000,000, and in the process he supplanted Jennings as the winningest all time American game show contestant. Including the $1.18 million he had won in his previous Jeopardy! appearances (five regular season games, a Tournament of Champions win, the Million Dollar Masters win, and three matches in the earlier rounds of the Ultimate Tournament of Champions), Rutter's total stood at $3,255,102,[25] while Jennings was now second with $3,022,700 having gained an additional $500,000 for his second-place finish in the tournament.

text: Jennings slowly began to chip away at Rutter's record, first by winning $714.29 in 2006 as part of the Mob on NBC's 1 vs. 100.[26] A year later, Jennings won the Grand Slam tournament on Game Show Network and the $100,000 top prize by defeating Ogi Ogas in the final round.[27] Finally, on October 10, 2008, Jennings passed Rutter by winning $500,000 on Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?.[28] He extended the record by winning $300,000 in The IBM Challenge, where he and Rutter took on IBM supercomputer Watson in a special 2011 Jeopardy! event. Rutter won $200,000 in the challenge, in which both he and Jennings pledged half of their winnings to charity.[29] He then added $100,000 more later in 2011 when he appeared on Million Dollar Mind Game,[30] raising his total to $3,555,102, second only to Jennings' $3,923,414.29.

text: In 2014, Jennings and Rutter were both invited to play in the Jeopardy! Battle of the Decades, a tournament conducted by the producers of Jeopardy! to celebrate its thirtieth season in syndication. Both men advanced to the two-day tournament final with Roger Craig filling the third position. Needing a win to reclaim his record, Rutter took the top prize in the tournament after Jennings, who needed to answer the second day's Final Jeopardy clue correctly to win (after making a sufficient wager), failed to do so. Rutter won the top prize of $1,000,000 while Jennings won the $100,000 second prize.[31]

text: Jennings later appeared on Millionaire in November 2014. Winning the top prize was the only way he could have reclaimed the record from Rutter; however, Jennings finished with only $100,000, leaving him in second place.[32] Jennings later appeared on the ABC prime time show 500 Questions in 2016; however, as he only lasted four questions, he was unable to add to his total.[33]

text: Top ten winnings list[edit]

text:
Rank
Name
Total winnings
Show(s)
Notes

1
Brad Rutter
$4,555,102
Jeopardy!, $4,455,102[31][34]
Rutter's total includes $55,102 during his initial appearance on Jeopardy! in 2001, $100,000 in 2002's Tournament of Champions, two separate $1,000,000 prizes (one for winning the Million Dollar Masters tournament in 2002 and one for winning the Battle of the Decades in 2014), $2,100,000 during the Ultimate Tournament of Champions in 2005, and $200,000 ($100,000 of which was donated to charity) for finishing third in the 2011 Jeopardy! IBM Challenge.

Million Dollar Mind Game, $100,000[30]

2
Ken Jennings
$4,123,414.29
Jeopardy!, $3,422,700[21][29][31][35]
Jennings won $2,522,700 in his original run on Jeopardy!,[21] $500,000 for his second-place finish in the Ultimate Tournament of Champions,[35] $300,000 ($150,000 of which was donated to charity) in the 2011 IBM Challenge,[29] and $100,000 for finishing second in the Battle of the Decades.[31] In addition to his appearances on other shows, Jennings also competed on 500 Questions in 2016; however, he did not add to his total, lasting only four questions.[33]

Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?, $500,000[28]

Grand Slam, $100,000[27]

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, $100,000[32]

1 vs. 100, $714.29[26]

3
Andrew Kravis
$2,656,550
The Million Second Quiz, $2,600,000[36]
Kravis won $326,346 in the main competition as one of the top four finalists, then won a $2,000,000 grand prize plus an additional $273,654 as champion to bring his total to $2.6 million, surpassing the amount of money won by Jennings during his original run on Jeopardy!.

Wheel of Fortune, $50,550[37]

Jeopardy!, $5,000[38]

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, $1,000[39]

4
Kevin Olmstead
$2,207,000
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, $2,180,000[40]
Olmstead's primary win occurred during the progressive jackpot shows on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? in 2001. Following this win, Olmstead held the record as the biggest winner in American television for over three years until it was broken by Ken Jennings. He also held the record as the biggest winner on a primetime game show in U.S. television history for over twelve years until it was broken by Andrew Kravis on September 19, 2013.

Jeopardy!, $27,000[40]

5
Ed Toutant
$1,871,401
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, $1,860,000[40]
Toutant was another contestant during the progressive jackpot shows on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? in 2001. After missing a question which was later revealed to be flawed, Toutant was invited back to continue playing for the jackpot at the same level he was playing for during his original appearance. Toutant was able to complete the remaining questions and win a jackpot of $1.86 million.

Jeopardy!, $11,401[40]

6
Ashlee Register
$1,795,000
Duel, $1,795,000[41]
Register won $75,000 plus an accumulating $1,720,000 jackpot, giving her the record for most winnings by a female contestant on a game show in U.S. television history (equivalent to $2,119,000 in 2017) and the record for the most money won by an American who has only ever appeared on one game show.

7
David Legler
$1,765,000
Twenty One, $1,765,000[17]
Legler won $1,765,000 over six wins on the 2000 revival of Twenty One, making him the show's biggest winner.

8
Curtis Warren
$1,546,988
Greed, $1,410,000[16]
Warren's then-record-setting win came in a Million Dollar Moment on Greed, bringing his total winnings on the show to $1,410,000. Warren also appeared on Sale of the Century, Win Ben Stein's Money, and Jeopardy!, although he failed to win any money while competing on the latter program.[42]

Sale of the Century, $136,288[43]

Win Ben Stein's Money, $700[44]

9
John Carpenter
$1,250,000
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, $1,250,000[45]
Carpenter's winnings include $1,000,000 as first ever top prize winner on the show, and $250,000 ($125,000 of which was donated to charity) in the champions edition of the show.

10
Adam Rose
$1,153,908
The Price Is Right, $1,153,908[3][46]
Rose's total was achieved on a $1,000,000 Spectacular special episode, winning $153,903 in cash and prizes including both of that evening's Showcases, which earned him a $1,000,000 cash bonus.