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mt. victoria lord of the rings

Back in the Wellington tourism office I picked up a brochure about the filming of The Lord of the Rings, all of which was done in New Zealand. Lots of it happened in and around Wellington, and yesterday we hiked Mt. Victoria. Here's an article about it. It's where they filmed the scene when the Nazgul (black riders) were pursuing the Hobbits, who were running from the Shire for Brie. Here are my pictures from the day.

Then, at 5pm yesterday, we went and saw the movie (my third viewing, after about 8 readings over the past 8 years!) at the Embassy Theatre, where the New Zealand premiere was. The lady at the ticket counter told me it's Peter Jackson's (the director of the series) favorite theatre in the world, and that he picked out and bought them a brand new sound system a few years ago while they were filming. I believe her- we were shaking in our seats from the audio of the tiniest little action- Sauron's severed yet still-ringed finger hitting the ground in the opening scene in front of Isildur, Bilbo dropping the ring on the floor of Bag End. The screams of the Nazgul were especially piercing, and Gollum.... Preciousssssss..... :)