The film saga set in the world of The Lord of the Rings It is made up of 2 trilogies.. That of The Hobbit and of The Lord of the Rings per se. History of cinema (well, those of the Hobbit, no), Peter Jackson successfully brought to the big screen what was thought could not be transferred from the books. Today, we tell you all about the series The Lord of the Rings, including what movies are there and where to see them, actors, trivia and more.
It was said that it could not be done, that it was the impossible book, that any attempt to bring the enormous saga of The Lord of the Rings would fail.
But it was not like that.
Peter Jackson made history with the original trilogy of The Lord of the Rings and then proceeded to blur it with the trilogy of The Hobbit.
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 the Movies: The Books of JRR Tolkien
You know what 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 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 began 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 eyes of the producers after the box office success of the original trilogy.
What is The Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit about?
The plot revolves around the One Ring, a very powerful object that brings doom to those who possess it and seeks to return to its master, Sauron, the evil of the saga.
The adventures to get the ring or destroy it mark the original trilogy. The meeting of the Ring 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 Gandalf, the gray magician who appears in all the movies and one of the most mythical characters in literature.
- Martin Freeman is Bilbo Baggins in the trilogy of Hobbit y Ian Holm it is in the of The Lord of the Rings. A hobbit who finds himself involved in adventures and sees his fate tied to the powerful One Ring.
- Elijah Wood as Frodo Baggins, Bilbo's cousin, bearer of the Ring for his destruction on Mount Doom.
- Sean Astin is Sam, Frodo's faithful hobbit friend who will accompany him until the end.
- Andy Serkis is Gollum, a hobbit corrupted beyond recognition by the power of the One Ring.
- Viggo Mortensen is Aragorn, a loyal Ranger who will have to fulfill his destiny as King of Gondor.
- Liv Tyler isArwen, Aragorn's elven love.
- Orlando Bloom is Legolas, a deadly elf with a bow.
- John Rhys-Davies isGimli, a powerful dwarf and unexpected friend of Legolas.
- Sean Bean isBoromir, heir to the steward of Gondor and a human member of the original Fellowship of the Ring.
- Richard Armitage isThorin bronze shield, leader of the company of dwarves from the trilogy of The Hobbit.
- Christopher Lee isSaruman the White, a corrupted wizard who will ally with Sauron.
Both trilogies are packed with actors and characters that would make an article on their own. And that is missing a huge number of those who 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 What did you read in the books? Perhaps the most magical because you didn't know what to expect and suddenly you knew you had arrived home. To that place where you lived some of your greatest adventures while reading about Frodo, Sam and Gandalf.
A group of lowly hobbits find themselves 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 a multitude of adventures and will be separated at the end of the film, while they try to prevent Sauron, the Dark Lord, from taking 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 to 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 Company, will find some unexpected allies in the Ents, powerful and slow arboreal 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 his aid as Sam and Frodo are about to complete their mission..
In a last desperate stand, 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 be the culmination of a unique saga, which would later revisit Middle-earth with the Hobbit trilogy.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)
Based on a book of barely 300 pages, and with a more childlike tone, they tried to reissue the success of the original trilogy with another one that 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 been able to see, not only the lack of motivation for a new huge company of this type, but exhaustion, lack of time and how Jackson aged ten years in that journey
And you can see it.
The first film still captures some of the magic of the original trilogy and was tried to be sold with 3D (nobody misses it) and a frame rate higher than left a strange feeling.
It leaves you halfway and you leave the cinema with the feeling that it is no longer what it was.
This first film tells 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 shield, they will try to recover the Lonely Mountain from the evil dragon Smaug.
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)
Confirmation that the magic had been lost and too many things had been added, to fill in a trilogy that did not give so 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, agh) for a story that continues the journey to the Lonely Mountain. Smaug the dragon is not easy to fool and flies to Lake Town to destroy it. A cliffhanger which is of little interest.
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 plana. Although it did well at the box office, it left an ashen taste and devalued the franchise.
In what order to watch the movies?
As the Hobbit trilogy narrates events that take place before the first films, the correct chronological order to see the saga de 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 license issues and others are changing, so, at the time of writing this, to see in streaming Lord of the Rings trilogies you 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 Towers, Aragorn kicks an orcish 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 it 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 Gandalf, but it happened because he did not understand anything.
- And already put, Lucy Lawless (Xena) sounded for Galadriel, while Uma Thurman Could be Arwen.
- At first, 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 it came down to New Line, it took the form of three movies.
- The tallest member of the Company of the Ring is... Gimli, or rather its actor, John Rhys Davies.
- Few people remember it, but the voice and movements of the dragon Smaug are courtesy of... Benedict Cumberbatch. Doctor Strange often visited 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 and never dared to ask. Now you can boast of being an expert and know facts about her that almost everyone does not know. It's not like putting it on your resume, but I'm sure you've included worse things.