10 Movies That Had A Bigger Impact Than You Realise

3. Shooting Movies Back To Back - The Lord Of The Rings

What it's known for: The Lord Of The Rings stands as testament to the fact that the word "unfilmable" really only means "just needs to wait for the right director". J.R.R. Tolkien's massive fantasy tome that is as descriptive as it is epic had been optioned for the big screen many times since its initial publication, with Ralph Bakshi coming close to doing it justice, delivering a solid, if greatly condensed, animated take on the first two books of the trilogy. But it was only when Peter Jackson came along that the films the book deserved got made. The defining movies for a generation, The Lord Of The Rings reignited the fantasy genre, making the domain of geeks cool. What it also changed: The number of films Jackson was going to turn the books into varied a lot through pre-production (for a long time it was just going to be two). One constant through the whole process, however, was that they were going to be shot back-to-back; the story runs through all the movies to an extent where to do it any other way would lead to a disjointed outcome. A year long stint in New Zealand saw footage for all three films shot at once allowing for more freedom in the extensive post-production process. Other films have since adopted this model, but, rather than coming from a creative avenue, its just so more movies can be churned out quicker (look at Avatar prepping three back-to-back sequels).