Slovak fans of the cult books by J.R.Tolkien Lord of the Ring and the movies could feel like in the Middle Earth during the sci-fi and fantasy festival Istrocon Martini in Bratislava. The biggest star was a real elf, Haladir - Craig Parker from New Zealand. PHOTO – TASR

LONDON - The „Lord of the Rings“ creators last week laid bare the high-tech movie tricks that earned them a string of Oscars. The special effects were hailed as the most advanced ever seen on the silver screen and are now starring in their own right at London‘s Science Museum. The show, which mixes animatronics and interactive technology, is already the most successful in the museum‘s history with 14,000 advance tickets sold before its opening to the public last Tuesday.

„Without a doubt it was the biggest challenge of my career,“ said New Zealander Richard Taylor, the special effects wizard whose vision was rewarded with two Academy Awards. Make-up alone for the ghoulish stars took up to ten hours each and up to 15,000 extras were needed to bring author J.R.R

Tolkien‘s vision to life. Taylor, speaking to Reuters at a press preview, was quick to pay tribute to other science fiction fantasies like Star Wars and Star Trek. „We are proud to be considered in the same league. We learnt from them, we grew up with them, we were challenged by them,“ he said. „The advances in technology have allowed us to realise a world that comes closer to Tolkien‘s immense vision. That would have been difficult to achieve 10 to 15 years earlier,“ he said of the films which have so far won a total of six Oscars.

From Hobbit feet to Orc teeth, the exhibition shows how Taylor‘s army of specialists helped to win millions of new fans around the world for the classic tale of good and evil in fantastical Middle Earth.

The last film is being released worldwide in mid-December which Taylor confessed would be a bittersweet moment for him after seven years working on the movies. „I will feel great sadness as we have been on a great journey,“ he said. The films, one of the most ambitious projects in cinema history, were made back to back by director Peter Jackson in his native New Zealand with a budget of $300 million. The orcs, goblins and other weird creatures populating Tolkien‘s eerie world are the stars of the exhibition which runs in London until January before moving on to Singapore, Boston and Sydney. Taylor is convinced they made a film that will stand the test of time, saying: „This will be watched by grandparents with grandchildren on their knees 60 years from now.“

Reuters