Lord Of The Exhibitions

There's no doubt that the two Lord Of The Rings movies so far have captured the imagination of more people than anyone would have ever thought possible.

There's a very good reason why people get so passionate about LOTR - everyone working on the movie trilogy is passionate about the books.

From the man who put the whole thing together - Peter Jackson - through to the man who put the make up on the Urak-Hai's feet, the production was a labour of love for all involved.

Money-maker

So it's little wonder that, alongside the films, books, DVDs, action figures, lunch boxes and myriad other marketing tools, there's now an exhibition where you can check out the production close up.

New Zealand-based Ta Paa, which brought the exhibition to England, admit it wasn't easy. "We spent two years having meetings with the people from New Line, having meetings all over the world trying to convince them that this was worth doing," says director of communications, Paul Brewer.

"Eventually they agreed and we put it together back in Wellington. Two hundred thousand came to see it - in a city of just 300,000 people, that's pretty good going!"

Indeed, if the exhibition got that much interest - two-thirds of the population -from each city it visits, the exhibition would make as much money as each movie. After London, they're off to Singapore, Boston and Sydney.

Darker side

Upon entering the doors flanked by the Argonath statues, you find yourself immersed not so much in the world of Tolkien, but in the world of New Line Cinema. The room is not designed to be a fantasy trip into another world - it's the science museum, so it's a case of seeing how those worlds were created physically.

The vast array of props are held in individual glass cases, largely with televisions that have video clips of the stars and SFX guys that you can view at your leisure, with props ranging from swords and armour through to the very crowns worn by the ring-bearers.

Some of the more impressive parts of the display include the full suit worn by Sauron himself in the opening prologue of The Fellowship Of The Ring and a small-scale, yet still quite large, model of the troll from the Mines Of Moriah. You also get the chance to test out how the Forced Perspective filming system works - by being placed on a camera and shrunk down to the size of a hobbit, while a friend gazes down at you in giant form.

While it's quite exciting to be seeing props and costumes worn by Frodo, Elron et al, it's really the darker side of the film props that are the most interesting. The full-size ring-bearer costume looks down on you in its dark glory, while the real-life chief of the Uruk-Hai, Lawrence Makoare, walks around in his full Lurtz get-up, looking every bit as scary in real life as on film.

Lifted from DVD

But, on the negative side, the display is a tad small. For films of this magnitude - the trilogy took up to six years to come together - you'd be forgiven for expecting a little more.

The One Ring in its display case is surprisingly un-striking, in a pitch-black room, and the television explanations and interviews by each display contain footage and clips lifted directly from the four-disc DVD set.

In fact there's very little to be learnt here that can't be found in the very popular DVD box sets. Richard Taylor, who was one of the most important figures in effects company WETA, says visiting kids are surprisingly up-to-date and don't find Lurtz as scary as expected - probably because they HAVE seen the DVD, and therefore know exactly what the SFX people have to say on the subject.

On the whole this is a fascinating insight into the world of the Lord Of The Rings movies, although the name Tolkien is rarely mentioned in comparison to WETA and New Line. If you've already spent the best part of £30 on the DVDs then the entrance fee will sting a little when you walk out.