For fans of 'Rings' movies, one viewing is not enough

By Michael Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer

Elijah Wood, as Frodo, is one reason people keep coming back to theaters. Associated Press • Dec. 12, 2002

Then there are folks like Malia Livingston, a huge fan of the "Lord of the Rings" movie trilogy, and, most recently, tourist to Middle-Earth.

Livingston dropped The Advertiser an e-mail recently from New Zealand, where the trilogy was filmed. The 30-year-old Honolulu resident was finishing up a two-week, "Rings"-themed tour and had caught the world premiere of the final film in the trilogy, "The Return of the King," in Wellington.

But that wasn't enough for the diehard fan. As soon as her visit was over, Livingston high-tailed it back to the Islands to catch Trilogy Tuesday, a 12-hour marathon showing of all three films at Consolidated's Ward 16 theatres.

That was just for starters.

Livingston planned to see the film at least three or four times — in the first week.

Fans like Livingston — hard-core repeat viewers — are exactly what New Line Cinema is counting on to push "The Return of the King" past the $1 billion mark.

The top-grossing film of all time, "Titanic," took in $1.8 billion not just on the breadth of its audience, but the surprising number of times people were willing to see it more than once.

"The major blockbusters are driven by repeat viewings," said Christopher Lee, founding co-director of the University of Hawai'i's cinematic and digital arts program and former president of production for TriStar Pictures.

Director Peter Jackson and company had a ready-made audience for the "Rings" trilogy: four decades of rapt Tolkien fanatics. Once the first movie, "The Fellowship of the Ring" convinced fans that Jackson's vision was true (enough) to the original texts, high volume repeat business was virtually assured.

Corey Hamblen, 44, says he sees new things every time he watches the films again. Hamblen, of Kailua, is a fan of the books and, for the last three years, a big fan of the films.

"(Jackson) is like a god as far as I'm concerned," he said. "That's because it took a god-like effort to create this world just they way Tolkien imagined it."

There's no precise methodology to determine what drives people to see their favorite movies again and again. Why pay $7.50 a showing and share a crowded theatre when you could wait a few months and get repeat viewings on DVD or cable?

For Trina Wong, 18, part of the answer is urgency. She saw "Return of the King" for the fourth time on Monday.

"When you see something that makes you excited, you want to keep that excitement going for as long as you can," Wong said.

"My brother is probably going to get the DVD when it comes out," she said. "But I like to see it on the big screen. It's only in theaters for so long and then it's gone, so I figure, if I have the time, I'm going to go see it as much as I can."

Even people who are closely involved with the movie industry find themselves reviewing their favorites over and over.

Donne Dawson, manager of the Hawai'i Film Office, saw the New Zealand-based indie sleeper "Whale Rider" five times.

"That film had a very unique spirit that kept drawing me back," she said. "Also, when you see something really worthwhile, you want to get other people there, and sometimes the only way to do it is to go with them yourself."

The technical intricacies of the film "Memento" also brought Dawson back for a few viewings.

"I saw it the first time at the Waikiki Twins, and there were about a dozen of us in the parking lot for an hour afterward trying to pick it apart," she said. "I saw that film two or three times. After the first time, I was looking at it from a technical standpoint — how they did certain things."

And though she's a bit reluctant to admit it, Dawson said she also watched "Titanic" more than once.

"It was ridiculous because you knew how it ended from the first time, but it was such a technological feat making that movie that you wanted to see it again to appreciate what an epic production it was," she said.

Still, she said, that film pales in comparison to the "Rings" trilogy. "It's just an unbelievable cinematic achievement," she said.

Lee, whose job requires him to see as many new releases as possible, doesn't normally have time to see a movie more than once. But he recalls seeing "The French Connection" twice with his father at the old Cinerama Theater. He said he used to enjoy watching movie revivals by film societies, though "we're not that society anymore."

For Lee, its the overall imprint of the cinematic experience that counts more than the number of repeat viewings.

"Motion pictures define seminal moments in our lives," he said. "I think that's what people remember most."