The CHIEF May 2024

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy

Movie Review

By: Tyler Drechsel

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy is the one of the greatest epics to ever grace the screen, and may have even been the peak of cinema. For those who don’t know, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy takes place a long, long time ago within the fictional lands of Middle Earth. The entire story begins with the creation of the great rings. Three of them were given to the race of elves, who are not only immortal, but the wisest and fairest of all other races. Seven were given to the dwarf lords, who are incredible miners and craftsmen. Finally, nine were given to the race of men, who have an intense desire for nothing but power. Every ring contained the power of will and strength for each race to be governed by. However, there was one problem. Unbeknownst to each race, but known to us, there was another ring made in secret within the land of Mordor, in the fires of Mount Doom, by the dark lord Sauron. This ring has the power to control all other rings of power, and within this ring, Sauron implants his malice, cruelty, and will to dominate all life. One by one, the many lands of Middle Earth fall to the power of the one ring. However, some resist, and gather in large numbers to attack Sauron and his forces. They nearly lose the battle, until Isildur takes his father’s sword and swings it at Sauron, cutting off the finger that he wore the ring upon. And with that, Sauron is defeated. However, Isildur takes the ring and becomes corrupted by its power. The ring uses its power to betray Isildur, killing him. Two and a half thousand years go by, and the ring is forgotten about. Until the creature Gollum finds the ring and becomes absolutely obsessed with it. When Gollum loses the ring, it is found by a hobbit named Bilbo Baggins, who keeps it for himself. Many years pass, when the ring is brought to the attention of the great wizard Gandalf, who knows that the ring must be destroyed. In order to keep himself from getting corrupted by the evil of the ring, Gandalf gives the young hobbit Frodo Baggins the quest of taking the one ring to the land of Mordor, where it can only be destroyed within the fires where it was originally forged. During this epic journey, Frodo must face many obstacles such as the evil forces of Sauron, the creature Gollum, and the temptations from the one ring, which could destroy all of Middle Earth if obtained by the dark lord Sauron. Everyone who was a part of this movie had a true passion for bringing Tolkien’s fictional world from the books to life. The result of this, is an absolute epic adventure with incredible threats, thrills, and world building. The way in which the story is told and portrayed makes you feel as if you’re discovering different parts of Middle Earth yourself. The acting is impeccable and very believable, with Elijah Wood giving an incredible performance, and Andy Serkis giving the best voice performance of all time as Gollum. The world itself is very believable too. With every scene being shot on location, the lands of Middle Earth feel like real places. The creature effects are really good as well. A large majority of the effects in this movie are done practically, and CGI is only used to enhance things like models of towers. Unlike today where CGI is used for everything, the team behind The Lord of the Rings only used CGI when there was absolutely no other way to pull something off. Finally, this trilogy is very entertaining. The film hooks the viewer with suspense and thrill as the main characters have to deal with many threats on their journey such as the Nazgûl, Gollum, trolls, and the temptations of evil. The battle scenes in this film are also very epic as the viewers are thrown right in the middle of the battlefield and witness the action from the point of view of the soldiers. My favorite film in the trilogy is The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King . The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers is my second favorite film in the trilogy, and The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring is my third. While The Fellowship of the Ring is the only one I’d give a 9/10, the entire trilogy as a whole is a 10/10.