The Lord of the Rings

The Motion Picture Trilogy

Various Editions in Regions 1,2 and 4

Reviewer: Michelle Taylor

The Lord of the Rings are three of the most cherished novels of all time (along with The Hobbit) and I was absolutely stunned when New Line Cinema announced that they were going to make them into a movie trilogy. For decades most people believed that The Lord of the Rings could never ever be made into a movie, it was too long, complex and epic to do justice to the books in such a limited and populous media as film. Peter Jackson the maverick Kiwi director who pushed to have the films made has proven the doubters wrong making a film trilogy that does do fair justice to Tolkien's timeless and sweeping fantasy masterpiece. As books that have defined the fantasy genre almost as a whole they have never been equaled or surpassed in depth, vision or eloquence. The adventures, trials and tribulations of the halflings Frodo Baggins, Sam Gamgee, Merry and Pippin have inspired generations of people and The Lord of the Rings has consistently been voted the most popular novel of all time by readers in polls around the world. When the films were being made in New Zealand I avidly followed their progress on The Lord of the Rings website, looking at it daily. Which in itself was quite an amazing multimedia experience offering a wide range of clips, interviews, advanced information and previews. I don't think I have ever been as excited about the production of films as with The Lord of The Rings and I waited with baited breath for the day I could finally go to see the first movie at my local cinema.

Peter Jackson was an unlikely person to make these high fantasy novels into films having made schlock horror films for most of his early career, but on reflection he has proved his salt as a talented movie director with flying colours. His choice to make the films in his homeland of New Zealand was brave and daring, being so distant and isolated from the major centres of film production. One of his best decisions was to hire the fantasy illustrators Alan Lee and John Howe as concept artists, for these two men have defined how the works of Tolkien should look more than any other illustrators. They gave to the film an artistic and literary credibility and feel it would not have had otherwise, Mr. Jackson is indeed a wise man. Two strokes of genius when it came to the choice of casting was Elijah Wood as the sensitive Frodo Baggins and Brad Dourif as the conniving Wormtounge. As the character of Gandalf goes Ian Mckellen plays him with wit and grace and the noble and reserved character of Aragorn is perfect for Vigo Mortensen, and Christopher Lee plays the malevolent character of Saruman with relish, as one would expect from someone with such a villainous film reputation! Orlando Bloom is graceful as the elfin character of Legolas and John Rhys-Davies as Gimli the dwarf is stalwart and funny. The three lead female characters (played by Miranda Otto as Eowyn, Liv Tyler as Arwen and Kate Blanchett as Galadriel) are all strong and beautiful if not a bit two dimensional, but Tolkien himself was not very good at writing female characters anyway. The voice acting and motion capture of the performance of Andy Serkis as the tortured Gollum is amazing to say the least, his character seems so real. There are too many other talented actors in this film to mention here but nearly every one of them was well chosen to play their respective roles in these breathtaking movies. The special effects are extraordinary and believable with some revolutionary CGI that had never been tried or tested before. The beautiful, moving and haunting score by the Canadian film composer Howard Shore is memorable and only serves to enhance the viewing experience.

The first film in the trilogy: The Fellowship of the Ring follows the hobbits on the beginning of their quest to destroy "the one ring". It is quite faithful to the novel and with the omission of their fortunate meeting with Tom Bombadil and their narrow escape from the barrow-wights is exceptionally enjoyable and enchanting. I think it proved to the viewing public the validity of making The Lord of the Rings into a movie trilogy and set the stage for the next two films to be screened over the following two Christmas holidays. I'd give this the first film five out of five stars!

The second film in the trilogy: The Two Towers is to me less successful... for Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh made some drastic changes to the story-arc of the book that in the end don't seem to make much sense. For instance the elves arriving at Helms Deep to the desperate aid of our heroes in their battle with the orcs does not happen in the book at all. In addition, the Wargs don't appear in The Lord of the Rings at all and they certainly don't look like rabid hyenas! (They do appear in The Hobbit, as large wolves). I have a couple of other minor criticisms but mainly the two listed above are the chief problems I see with the film which while the least successful movie in the trilogy is still extremely entertaining and marvelous to watch. I'd give the second film four out of five stars!

The third film in the trilogy: The Return of the King is to say the least, magnificent; it is produced on an epic scale and like the first film is quite faithful to the novel. In this film Frodo and Sam journey into the heart of darkness (Mordor) after a long and gruelling journey through Middle Earth and the fellowship has long since disbanded with the rest of the group going their own ways.

As a conclusion to the story and the trilogy it ties all the loose strands together, one could not ask for a more brilliant film. The Return of the King is much darker, tragic and sadder in tone than the first two films being an ending to all things... and a beginning. I'd give the third film five out of five stars!

I do understand that when making such a voluminous novel into a film on cannot include all characters and all that passes, one has to make hard decisions about what to append, what to omit and what to alter. This stunning film trilogy is an exhilarating and grand cinematic experience that has to be viewed again and again to be fully appreciated. The Lord of the Rings motion picture trilogy is cinema on an epic and grandiose scale that will stun its viewers with its mytho-poetic overtones and will stand the test of time.

When purchasing the films I suggest you buy the special extended editions, they include hours worth of extra footage that was cut from the cinema release movies giving more of a complete story. And the special features extend over six discs (two for each film) making twelve discs in whole, offering hours of enthralling entertainment and a thorough and deep understanding of the film-making process. Hopefully it will inspire people to go out and actually read J. R. R. Tolkien's enduring, romantic and poetic novels; I promise you will completely enjoy them all.

It has recently been reported that Peter Jackson is on board to not only direct The Hobbit but a further bridging film between the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. If this eventuates this will be an amazing addition to the Tolkien cinematic canon.