Air New Zealand has been having fun with its home country's connection to Peter Jackson's Hobbit movies for a while now, including using elements from the films in the onboard safety videos. Today, the airline released its latest such video--presumably the last one, unless new movies based on J.R.R. Tolkein's books are released and filmed in New Zealand--with appearances from Elijah Wood, Sylvester McCoy and Jackson himself. Appropriately, the video is called The Most Epic Safety Video Ever Made, and it's hard to argue that it earns the title.
We hear the safety video was shot over six days across a number of New Zealand’s Middle-earth locations, including Hobbiton and Central Otago, both of which appear in The Hobbit Trilogy. Creative talent from the films was also involved in the production of the video, including Weta Workshop, which supplied costumes and more than 150 make-up prosthetics, and Weta Digital, which created the visual effects.
Air New Zealand has also incorporated design elements from the movies in the planes themselves--while we're still waiting for circular doors, one plane was decorated with decals of reptilian antagonist Smaug last year, giving fans the chance to brag that yes, they had flown on a dragon.
Around the same time, the airline released an advertisement celebrating its connections to New Zealand and New Zealand's connections to the films. No celebs spotted in this one, but the effects are fun to watch:
The final Hobbit movie will be released in December.