The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
The Two Towers (2002)
The Return of the King (2003)
Director: Peter Jackson
Writers: Jackson, Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens
Actors: Sean Bean, Cate Blanchett, Orlando Bloom, Billy Boyd, Ian Holm, Ian McKellen, Dominic Monaghan, Viggo Mortensen, Mirando Otto, John Rhys-Davies, Andy Serkis, Liv Tyler, Karl Urban, Hugo Weaving, Elijah Wood, David Wenham, Brad Dourif, and so on and so forth …
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) The Two Towers (2002) The Return of the King (2003) Director: Peter Jackson Writers: Jackson, Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens Actors: Sean Bean, Cate Blanchett, Orlando Bloom, Billy Boyd, Ian Holm, Ian McKellen, Dominic Monaghan, Viggo Mortensen, Mirando Otto, John Rhys-Davies, Andy Serkis, Liv Tyler, Karl Urban, Hugo Weaving, Elijah Wood, David Wenham, Brad Dourif, and so on and so forth …
It would be pretty difficult to over-estimate the amount of time my wife and I have spent with these movies in the past 8 years. In fact, if you add the time we’ve spent with the books, as a result of bring driven back to them once The Fellowship of the Rings had left us speechless, and the time we spent playing the Official Lord of the Rings Trading Card Game (stop laughing), and the amount of time we’ve spent watching all the DVD extras on the three different of them we’ve purchased, and the time we’ve invested in re-watching the entire extended trilogy 6 or 7 times, I’d have to say it would be nearly impossible to over-estimate that amount.
Not since Star Wars has a series of movies captured our imagination, and I’m using the royal We here, meaning all of us. I don’t think I know anyone who just skipped over these films completely (yes, that’s your cue to speak up, friends). Even the Oscars were compelled to recognize the achievement.
Has ever a work of literature been brought to the screen more faithfully? With as much obvious love for the matter? Has ever so much money and effort put towards entertainment been so clearly justified by the end result? Has anyone ever been so perfectly cast as Ian McKellan or Viggo Mortenson? So many movies this decade have completely failed to live up to the buzz, have disappointed in such brutal and heart-reding ways. And though the Lord of the Rings has some flaws (I’ll be happy to document each of the 37 in another post), percentage-wise, it maybe the most wisely-made movie of the decade.