Hello all and welcome back to Cinema of Sorcery!
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy has recently been re-released in theaters and I was able to watch all three on the big screen - Fellowship and Two Towers for the first time!
I’ve wanted to return to this series — Cinema of Sorcery — and this felt like a great way back to it!
Let’s get to it!
Details
The Fellowship of the Ring
Director: Peter Jackson
Screenplay: Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson
Producers: Barrie M. Osborne, Fran Walsh, Peter Jackson, Tim Sanders
Cinematography: Andrew Lesnie
Editing: John Gilbert
Music: Howard Shore
Select Cast: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Cate Blanchett, John Rhys-Davies, Orlando Bloom, Christopher Lee, Hugo Weaving, Sean Bean, Ian Holm
Runtime: 179 mins (Extended Edition: 228 min)
Country of Origin: New Zealand, USA
US Release: December 19, 2001Young hobbit Frodo Baggins, after inheriting a mysterious ring from his uncle Bilbo, must leave his home in order to keep it from falling into the hands of its evil creator. Along the way, a fellowship is formed to protect the ringbearer and make sure that the ring arrives at its final destination: Mt. Doom, the only place where it can be destroyed.1
The Two Towers
Editing: Michael Horton
Select Cast: Liv Tyler, Andy Serkis, Bernard Hill, Miranda Otto, David Wenham, Brad Dourif, Karl Urban, Craig Parker
Runtime: 179 mins (Extended Edition: 235 min)
US Release: December 18, 2002Frodo Baggins and the other members of the Fellowship continue on their sacred quest to destroy the One Ring--but on separate paths. Their destinies lie at two towers--Orthanc Tower in Isengard, where the corrupt wizard Saruman awaits, and Sauron's fortress at Barad-dur, deep within the dark lands of Mordor. Frodo and Sam are trekking to Mordor to destroy the One Ring of Power while Gimli, Legolas and Aragorn search for the orc-captured Merry and Pippin. All along, nefarious wizard Saruman awaits the Fellowship members at the Orthanc Tower in Isengard.2
The Return of the King
Editing: Jamie Selkirk
Select Cast: John Noble
Runtime: 201 mins (Extended Edition: 251 min)
Country of Origin: New Zealand, USA
US Release: December 17, 2003As armies mass for a final battle that will decide the fate of the world--and powerful, ancient forces of Light and Dark compete to determine the outcome--one member of the Fellowship of the Ring is revealed as the noble heir to the throne of the Kings of Men. Yet, the sole hope for triumph over evil lies with a brave hobbit, Frodo, who, accompanied by his loyal friend Sam and the hideous, wretched Gollum, ventures deep into the very dark heart of Mordor on his seemingly impossible quest to destroy the Ring of Power.3
Thoughts (Spoiler Alert)
Fellowship starts it all with a bang! From the opening frames, you can feel something different is going on here. There’s an assurance in the filmmaking that is as palpable as Cate Blanchett’s Galadriel — who the audience doesn’t even know yet, but still feels great! — spins a tale about the One Ring and the history of its place in Middle-earth.
The trust Peter Jackson gives the audience is something that will be present throughout all of these films — and something sorely missing from many blockbusters nowadays. We might not be aware of what the names and places being said are yet, but he doesn’t stop the story to over-explain.
I find that with most fantasy stories, it feels better to have a little mystery in the world — paralleling our own world’s unknowable mysteries.
In Fellowship, we are also assured that this won’t be a continuation of the 80s/90s fantasy cheesiness audiences were no stranger to at this time. No. This would be taken with a seriousness that elevated it above that ilk — though not deadly serious which would be too far in the other direction.
Part of what makes these movies great is the awe-inducing amount of attention and detail that went into every aspect of production. The well-documented creation of these films4 is just as legendary as the films themselves. I know for myself, seeing the documentation of making these movies just reminds me how impressive it all is when I watch them now. It’s a peek into the amount of sheer will it takes to make a movie, let alone three blockbuster epics.
As we move from Fellowship’s audience-assuring start, we get to Two Towers’ one-two punch of The Battle for Helm’s Deep and more screen time for an impressive bit of technology — Gollum.
We’ll start with Gollum.
Before The Lord of the Rings CGI creatures were just that — creatures. Gollum had to be an actor within the scene, with all the nuances that Andy Serkis was bringing to the set. Weta Digital was building the technology to create Gollum as they were actively shooting, which given how challenging that is, makes how great Gollum is on screen even more impressive.5
The Two Towers is the movie where we get to see Gollum properly for the first time — he’s relegated to the shadows in Fellowship. I find myself in awe that this came out in 2001 every time I watch it. Recently, I rewatched 1999’s The Mummy and, while I still love it, the CGI effects were definitely of the time, i.e. rough. There are some moments in The Lord of the Rings that look like modern films. Gollum is one of those effects that truly leaves me stunned.
The Battle for Helm’s Deep is one of my favorite action sequences in film ever — easily in my top ten if not top five. One of my favorite YouTubers, Nerdwriter, has an excellent video on why this sequence is so good. Instead of rambling on about it, I’ll let him speak to its greatness:
If you didn’t watch (I don’t see why you wouldn’t, though, this is good stuff!), the way that Jackson and his team tell the story through action and the epic visuals employed make for one hell of a sequence. It’s filmmaking at some of its finest.
Two Towers is also where I think we see just how great the cast is as well. Again, unlike its fantasy predecessors, The Lord of the Rings wants the dialogue delivered like it was Shakespeare-levels of beauty. So you have to hire great performers to capture that and if Fellowship didn’t convince you that they had succeeded in that regard, Two Towers will.
Bernard Hill (RIP my king) alone can take the language of Tolkien and the movie’s trio of writers and make it pitch-perfect. I’m reminded of a Shakespearean sonnet with how he delivers this speech:
Where now are the horse and the rider? Where is the horn that was blowing?
Where is the helm and the hauberk, and the bright hair flowing?
Where is the harp on the harpstring, and the red fire glowing?
Where is the spring and the harvest and the tall corn growing?
They have passed like rain on the mountain, like a wind in the meadow;
The days have gone down in the West behind the hills into shadow.
Who shall gather the smoke of the deadwood burning,
Or behold the flowing years from the Sea returning?
All of the performers are in synch that this is to be treated reverently and with the respect a scholar like Tolkien deserves, leading to rich, textured performances.
As we move to Return of the King, we see this team taking a well-earned victory lap.
All of the technical innovations come to a head here, and it pays off. Once again, I’m floored by how good it all looks considering it’s 2003.
I’m also very emotionally moved by Return as characters complete their story arcs. Much like we can get invested in TV show characters because of the amount of time we spend with them, the epic scale and long runtimes of these films let us feel close to our heroes and their triumphs feel very personal — at least for me they are.
Much like knowing the amount of work and craft that went into making these movies heightens them for me, thinking about the personal bonds of the actors playing these parts affects me.
I remember always being a little sad when school ended for summer because the people I had connected with from being around them so often would disappear for a few months. Even if I knew I’d see them again in a couple of months, I always felt a little melancholy at summer’s start.
I have that feeling when a production I’m acting in comes to a close as well. You spend weeks and months getting to know people very intensely and closely and then — it just goes away. I can’t imagine what spending 14 consecutive months and then ending it would feel like. It feels like a real-world equivalent to the ending of the fellowship shown in Return.
One of my favorite lines that captures this feeling is given by Frodo in Return:
How do you pick up the threads of an old life? How do you go on... when in your heart you begin to understand... there is no going back?
Honestly, it’s hard to write about something I love as much as these movies. My interest in filmcraft stems from how into the behind-the-scenes features I got. My love of fantasy books is rooted in The Lord of the Rings. The masculinity shown in these movies informs a bit of how I want to be a man in this world. I never got into film scores until this movie. It’s a touchstone for so much of who I am.
It feels so intensely personal that I can’t help but think trying to put it into words or text is a futile exercise. Even as I finish writing this, I can’t help but know there’s still so much I want to say.
I do hope if you haven’t seen these, you’ll check them out (and I’m always 100% down to talk about them if you want help getting into it or need someone to geek out about them with) or if it’s been a minute, you’ll see them again soon!
Thanks for reading, I appreciate it!
‘Til next time.
— Colton
The Extended Edition home releases had six supplemental discs: From Book to Vision, From Vision to Reality, The Battle for Middle-earth Begins, The War of the Ring, The Passing of an Age