The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn's Quest Mountains is to go under them, via the dwarven mines of Moria. Upon entering Moria, Gimli is devastated to learn rumors regarding Balin and the dwarves are true; they have been wiped out by orcs. The fellowship fight their way to the Chamber of Mazarbul, where they find the tomb of Balin, and a record of how the mines were lost. Fighting their way through a hoard of orcs and trolls, they are attacked by a Balrog. They flee, reaching the Bridge of Khazad-dûm, where Gandalf defeats the Balrog by destroying the bridge as it stands on it. However, as
Principal photography of The Lord of the Rings film series Principal photography of The Lord of the Rings film series Principal photography for "The Lord of the Rings" film trilogy was conducted concurrently in New Zealand for 438 days from October 11, 1999 through to December 22, 2000. Pick-up shoots were conducted annually from 2001 to 2003. The trilogy was shot at over 150 different locations, with seven different units shooting, as well as soundstages around Wellington and Queenstown. Peter Jackson directed the whole production, while other unit directors included Alun Bollinger, John Mahaffie, Geoff Murphy, Fran Walsh, Barrie Osborne, and Rick Porras. Jackson monitored these units with live satellite