As we near the release of 'The Hobbit:
An Unexpected Journey', the first in a new trilogy of films based off
of J.R.R. Tolkien's famous novel 'The Hobbit', it's the perfect to
take a look back on the other trilogy that was based off of Tolkien's
other iconic story, the 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy. While there were
earlier adaptations of the trilogy, including a 1978 animated film by
Ralph Bakshi and a 1980 TV special from Rankin-Bass based on the
third entry, 'Return of the King', what is certainly the most famous
adaptation to date of The Lord of the Rings is the live-action film
trilogy directed by Peter Jackson which came out from 2001 to 2003.
Now, I was originally planning on reviewing each film one at a time
but I realized that I would be just saying the same thing over and
over again.
First off, a little run-through of the
plot. The series begins with the creation of the One Ring of Power by
the Dark Lord Sauron in the land of Mordor. It is a ring so powerful
that it corrupts the mind of whoever wears it and it could be used to
conquer Middle-Earth. However, in battle against a last alliance of
men and elves, Sauron is defeated by Isildur, son of the King of
Gondor, and he takes the ring for himself. When he is later ambushed
and killed, the Ring is lost for over 2000 years until it is found by
the creature known as Gollum (portrayed through motion capture by
Andy Serkis). He eventually loses the Ring as well, which he refers
to as 'his precious', and it is found by Bilbo Baggins (Ian Holm), a
Hobbit from the Shire.
When he reaches his 111th
birthday, Bilbo leaves the Ring to his nephew Frodo (Elijah Wood).
When Bilbo's wizard friend Gandalf the Grey (Ian McKellen) realizes
that the Ring once belonged to Sauron, he instructs Frodo to take it
away from the Shire, as Sauron's forces are now on their way to
retrieve the Ring. Along with his friends Samwise Gamgee (Sean
Astin), Meriadoc 'Merry' Brandybuck (Dominic Monaghan), and Peregrin
'Pippin' Took (Billy Boyd), Frodo sets off on a journey to destroy
the Ring in the fires of Mount Doom, the very same place where Sauron
first crafted the Ring. Along the way, they are joined by the ranger
Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), who is also heir to the throne of Gondor,
elf archer Legolas (Orlando Bloom), and dwarf warrior Gimli (John
Rhys-Davies) who join them on their journey to take down Sauron and
his army once and for all.
To put it simply, Jackson's Lord of the
Rings trilogy is one of the best film trilogies of all time, as all
three films are exceptional fantasy epics. I'll openly admit, as
embarrassing as it is, that it was only recently when I finally saw
these films for the first time and the reason why that is was that I
feared I could never get into them, being that I have always been a
Harry Potter fan. But, that's part of the beauty of these films in
that they immediately draw you in. You become immersed in this
universe and the characters' journey to destroy the Ring. Sure, each
movie may be at least three hours long (don't even get me started on
the 'Extended Editions') but they are never boring. Even if you never
read the books, like me, they are actually really easy to get into.
On top of that, the film is perfectly
cast with a compelling set of characters to follow, from Ian McKellen
as the bad-ass wizard Gandalf the Grey (later Gandalf the White in
'The Two Towers' and 'The Return of the King') to Viggo Mortensen as
Aragorn, the Ranger conflicted with his destiny of becoming the
future king of Middle-Earth. But the winner for the best character in
the series would have to be Gollum, the mysterious creature that
offers his help to Frodo and Sam when they first meet him in 'The Two
Towers', but is conflicted by his lust for the Ring. The motion
capture visuals are so great that sometimes you forget he's mostly
just a visual effect and the scene where he is contemplating whether
he should kill Frodo and Sam is probably one of the best film moments
of the last few years because of how it is shot and edited.
So which one is the best of the three
films? Well, to answer that I'll have to go with 'The Two Towers',
primarily for the introduction of Gollum and the final battle at
Helms' Deep. This gives it a slight edge over 'The Fellowship of the
Ring', which is still great for how it sets up the story and
characters. As for 'Return of the King', I do have one problem with
it in that the ending goes on for a bit too long. I understand that
this is the way it is so that everything could be wrapped up, but
they could have wrapped it up just a bit faster because when they
destroy the Ring for good, there is still about half an hour left in
the film. Still, there's no arguing against this grand finale to the
trilogy, which has the best fight scenes in the entire trilogy. These
three movies are a must-see, not just for fantasy buffs but for any
film fan in general. Quite frankly, if you haven't seen them yet, I
suggest you do so right away.
RATINGS:
Fellowship of the Ring:
5/5!
The
Two Towers: 5/5!
Return
of the King: 4.5/5
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