Movie legend, this is everything you need to know about the movie saga based on the world of The Lord of the rings.
The Origin of Movies: The Books of JRR Tolkien
You know that Peter Jackson wanted to do The Hobbit before The Lord of the rings, but there was no way. The saga of books impossible to adapt by JRR Tolkien, at least in theory, was left in the hands of a Jackson who, until then, was a cult director among all those geeks that we adored his beastly gore and his very particular style.
At the end of the 90s, the interest in making the real image version of the books finally crystallized in a project that started shooting in 1999. Also as a curiosity, something very unusual was done, shoot the first three films at the same time for 438 days.
it turned out that The Lord of the rings yes, it could be adapted and, in total, the original trilogy (based on the volumes The Fellowship of the Ring (1954), The two Towers (1954) and The return of the King (1955)), won 17 Oscars and a place in the heart of every fan. Without a doubt, the best saga of cinematography for many reasons.
then came The Hobbit -based on the book of the same name- more than 10 years later. The reason? The dollar sign appeared in the producers’ eyes after the box office success of the original trilogy.
What are The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit about?
The plot revolves around the One Ringa very powerful object that brings doom to those who possess it and seeks to return to its master, Sauron, the villain of the saga.
The adventures to get the ring or destroy it mark the original trilogy. The Ring’s encounter with its first hobbit bearer, Bilbo Baggins, is an important part of the second trilogy.
Cast and main characters
Some of the main characters are:
- Ian McKellen is Gandalfthe gray wizard who appears in all the movies and one of the most mythical characters in literature.
- Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins in the trilogy of Hobbit Y Ian Holm it is in the The Lord of the rings. A hobbit who finds himself involved in adventures and sees his destiny tied to the mighty One Ring.
- Elijah Wood is Frodo BagginsBilbo’s cousin, bearer of the Ring for its destruction on Mount Doom.
- Sean Astin is Samthe hobbit faithful friend of Frodo that will accompany him until the end.
- Andy Serkis is Golluma hobbit corrupted by the power of the One Ring beyond recognition.
- Viggo Mortensen is Aragorna loyal Ranger who will have to fulfill his destiny as King of Gondor.
- Liv Tyler isArwenAragorn’s elven love.
- Orlando Bloom as Legolasa deadly elf with the bow.
- John Rhys-Davies as Gimlia powerful dwarf and unlikely friend of Legolas.
- Sean Bean as Boromirheir to the Steward of Gondor and a human member of the original Fellowship of the Ring.
- Richard Armitage is Thorin bronze shieldleader of the company of dwarves of the trilogy of The Hobbit.
- Christopher Lee as Saruman the White, a corrupted wizard who will ally himself with Sauron.
Both trilogies are full of actors and characters that would give for an article by themselves. And that is missing a huge number of those that appear in the books.
All Lord of the Rings movies
In total there are six movies based on the world of The Lord of the rings. We begin the review by the order in which the films were released.
The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
From the second one, you can clearly feel yourself in that world that you read in the books. Perhaps the most magical because you did not know what to expect and suddenly you knew that you had arrived home. To that place where you had some of your greatest adventures while reading about Frodo, Sam and Gandalf.
A group of lowly hobbits find themselves swept up in the adventure of a lifetime when they are tasked with destroying the One Ring.
Accompanied by the wizard Gandalf, the elf Legolas, the humans Boromir and Aragorn and the dwarf Gimli, they will have to overcome many adventures and will be separated at the end of the film, while trying to prevent Sauron, the Dark Lord, from taking over the ring. .
The Two Towers (2002)
Saruman, the White Wizard, has allied himself with Sauron and tries to dominate and destroy Rohan, the human kingdom allied with Gondor and a key player in the War of the Ring. Sam and Frodo continue their adventure entering the land of Mordor to destroy the ring in the company of Gollum (an ancient hobbit corrupted by the ring), while the rest of the company lives a thousand adventures.
Gandalf the Gray will return as Gandalf the White. Rohan will fight for his survival against Saruman in the Battle of Helm’s Deep. and Merry and Pippin, the other two hobbits of the Fellowship, will find unexpected allies in the Ents, powerful and slow-moving tree beings.
The Return of the King (2003)
Aragorn will try to fulfill his destiny and lead the resistance against Sauron, who attacks Minas Tirith, the capital of Gondor, the main human kingdom that opposes him. In the epic battle Rohan comes to their aid as Sam and Frodo are about to complete their mission..
In one last desperate battle, members of the Fellowship and their allies will try to buy time for the two hobbits to destroy the One Ring in the fires of Mount Doom.
Would the culmination of a unique sagawho would later revisit Middle-earth with the Hobbit trilogy.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)
Based on a book of just 300 pages, and with a more childlike tone, they tried to reissue the success of the original trilogy with another would impossibly stretch the material of the novel The Hobbit.
Guillermo del Toro was going to be in charge, but he left without ceremony for Peter Jackson to enter again.
If you have seen the extras on the DVDs you will have seen, not only the lack of motivation for such a huge new venture, but tiredness, lack of time and how Jackson aged ten years on that journey.
And you can see it.
The first film still captures some of the magic of the original trilogy and was tried to sell with 3D (nobody misses that) and a frame rate higher that left a weird feeling.
It leaves something half done and you leave the cinema with the feeling that it is no longer what it was.
This first film has the story of bilbo, a Hobbit who lives in a hole and goes on an adventure in the company of Gandalf and a group of dwarves. Led by Thorin oak shieldthey will try to take back the Lonely Mountain from the evil dragon Smaug.
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)
Confirmation that the magic had been lost and too much had been added, to fill in a trilogy that did not give much. Some of the material is not bad, because it is collected from Tolkien’s appendices and books, anticipating what will happen in the original trilogy.
But others… Others are unnecessary, like the inclusion of Legolas and a romantic arc between the elf Tauriel and one of the dwarves.
Festival of meaningless effects and scenes with the worst essence of George Lucas (the escape from the barrels, ugh) for a story that continues the journey to the Lonely Mountain. The dragon Smaug is not easy to fool and flies to the Lake City to destroy it. A cliffhanger which is rather uninteresting.
The Hobbit: The Battle of the 5 Armies (2014)
The culmination of reluctance comes with the clash of the 5 armies. Bilbo and the dwarves are forced to fight against a series of factions and prevent the Lonely Mountain from falling into the hands of darkness.
Orcs, dwarves, elves, humans… They all prepare for war that culminates in a battle without the epic of the original trilogy. In the end, it is a parade of giant goats made with special effects and various nonsense that no longer matter, because they make the characters not relevant either.
In short, it is not a bad trilogy, but yes flat. Although it performed well at the box office, it left an ashy aftertaste and devalued the franchise.
In what order to watch the movies?
As the Hobbit trilogy narrates events that happen before the first films, the correct chronological order to see the saga from The Lord of the rings would:
- An unexpected Journey.
- The desolation of Smaug.
- The battle of the 5 armies.
- The Fellowship of the Ring.
- The two Towers.
- The return of the King.
Where to watch the Lord of the Rings movies
As always, the mandatory notice that licensing issues and others are changing, with what, at the time of writing this, to see in streaming The Lord of the Rings trilogies have these options:
- You can see the first trilogy on HBO Max.
- You can see the hobbit trilogy on netflix.
Some curiosities of the Lord of the Rings saga
To finish touring Middle Earth, here are some curiosities and secrets of the Trilogies.
- An easy one. When in The two TowersAragorn kicks an orc helmet and then yells, he’s not acting at all, because broke a toe. It would not be the only accident he would have.
- Nicolas Cage was going to be Aragorn, too Russell Crowe and Daniel Day Lewis they were there But Viggo Mortensen took it.
- Sean Connery was going to be Gandalfbut it happened because he did not understand anything.
- And already put, Lucy Lawless (Xena) sounded for Galadriel, while umma thurman could be Arwen.
- In the beginning, the plan for the original trilogy was to make two movies. In fact, one of the first producers, Bob Weinstein, thought of a 2-hour movie without the battle of Helm’s Deep. When the thing fell to New Line, it took the form of three movies.
- The tallest member of the Fellowship of the Ring is… Gimlior rather his actor, John Rhys Davies.
- Few people remember it, but the voice and movements of the dragon Smaug courtesy of… Benedict Cumberbatch. Doctor Strange often visited the London Zoo to study the movements of reptiles.
So, there you have it, everything about the Lord of the Rings franchise that you always wanted to know but never dared to ask. Now you can brag about being an expert and know facts about her that almost everyone doesn’t know. It’s not like putting it on your resume, but surely you’ve included worse things.
