20 Years On, Lord Of The Rings Will Never Be Equalled
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- Опубликовано: 17 дек 2023
- After talking with MauLer, Gary and Disparu about Lord of the Rings on stream the other night, I was hit by a sad realisation - we'll probably never see anything this good again. This was it - this was the peak of mainstream cinema. Join me for this retrospective as I explain why.
Don’t forget that Jackson and Tolkien portrayed strong women WITHOUT trampling the strong male characters. Eowyn, Galadriel, and Arwen are examples of noble, beautiful, feminine, and respected characters.
2000: "I knew Tolkien personally, I'm here to carefully, respectfully depict his work"
Honestly, the greatest trilogy of all time. I’ll never budge on that.
Remember Galadriel (the real one)'s scene in Fellowship of the Ring where Frodo offers her the Ring? We see her power where the Ring combined with her innate strength could make her a Dark Queen who could overthrow Sauron, her vulnerability where her temptation for the Ring could destroy all that she and her allies have been working for millennia to preserve, and the final triumph of good over evil within herself where she "passes the test" and declines the Ring.
“Hollywood used to depict heroic actions. Now they can only see heroic identities.” Well stated.
“Evil cannot create anything new, but can only corrupt and ruin what good forces have invented or made.” -Tolkien
Handmaking chainmail has got to be one of the most insane costume design endeavors in cinema history.
My dad and I went to the midnight show for the 3rd film. Probably one of the only times he's truly shown me who he is, just a lonely kid who needed a friend to enjoy something he did. We got A&W burgers at 4am and I still think of that night when I watch LOTR every few months. ✨💜🗡️🛡️
My wife just died due to her illness and after she got diagnosed more than 5 years ago she prepared notes about how her funeral should be like. She said that these were her favorite movies even as a child and as she struggled with her illness she was captured by the way all of the characters in the movies fight so bravely against the dark which reminded her of herself. She noted that even tough not everyone could celebrate victory in this realm, good prevailed because of this bravery. Her favorite quote was the conversation between Gandalf and Pippin:
"My friends, you bow to no one." Not only does that make me cry every time, but it succinctly sums up the entire LOTR trilogy. Truly the apex of filmmaking.
I remember being absolutely spellbound by liv Tyler’s portrayal of Arwen. (Yes she’s an elf) but gosh what a woman. Strong and brave, yet beautifully feminine. Shame that’s no longer in movies.
Even if only one person reads this, its worth it.
"Hollywood used to depict heroic actions, now they can only see heroic identities." - Drinker, 2023
To the creators of Lord of the Rings Trilogy... My friends, you bow to no one!
I was 7 in the theater with my cousins watching the two towers. Afterwards we went home and played LOTR and defended helms deep in the treehouse my mom built. That was peak 2000s childhood, and what a time it was.
As a Kiwi, involved in the same industry I've met so may people over the last 20 years who worked on all aspects of these films, all of them speak with a sense of pride at what they achieved.
You know what’s stood out to me recently regarding the LOTR trilogy versus many modern movies and TV shows? How dirty the cast is while filming. Viggo Mortensen would live in his costume, go fishing in it, wearing it in and looking like a man who has been in the bush his whole life. Sean Bean would hike up the mountains in full costume to film early in the morning because he was afraid of flying. So when they got to filming, the actors were covered in grit and sweat, and you could see their blood was pumping in the way a long camping trip will do to you.
"We were not interested in putting our message into it. We were focused on putting Tolkien's message into it."-Peter Jackson
"I go to my fathers, in whose mighty company I shall not now feel ashamed." Breaks me every time.
Another important thing worth mentioning when talking about the success of LOtR movies: if you watch the end credits to the extended cuts, you'll see a seemingly endless wall of names to thank all members of various LOtR fanclubs from all over the world for their contribution in terms of consultation. So, the director actually cared to make this thing work and asked the right people for help.