So I just did a trilogy rewatch over the past week or so, and man, they're just as good as ever. No matter how many times I watch them, they never get old.

Anyway, since we have an ongoing Star Wars thread, and with the LOTR series coming up in the next few years, I figured I'd start up an official LOTR thread for any uber-nerds like me who can discuss this series at all times, regardless of the news cycle.

And for my first post, I'll leave this here. (Such a small change for Tolkien and yet a defining moment in literary history...)

And just because, still some of the most epic movie scenes ever.

Lastly, my favorite LOTR meme from the past few months.

My son's favorite scene

Something interesting I actually hadn't noticed until recently. That melody for the Last March of the Ents (which recurs during the Charge of the Rohirrim or whenever Eagles appear) was meant to be a theme for nature. Never made that connection. (Learned this from the official music book by Doug Adams.)

Always loved how Howard Shore created themes for cultures, objects (the One Ring), and relationships (the Fellowship), rather than traditional character leitmotifs like most other movies.

Some of my favorite LOTR material is in the Appendices pertaining to Numenor, realms in exile and Elendil's line (histories of Anarion's kingdom and the Isildur's kingdom).

So much great historical background there that supplement LOTR and The Hobbit. Same goes for the collected snippets in Unfinished Tales.

I've been trying to tackle the Silmarrilion for probably 25 years and still don't care for it.

For any fans out there, this Middle Earth atlas is incredible: https://www.amazon.com/Atlas-Middle-Earth-Revised-Karen-Fonstad/dp/0618126996

One of the first things I googled after my recent rewatch was any writings about the rule of Aragon II Elessar, and of his son Eldarion after him.

There's a bit on Aragorn's rule, but virtually nothing on Eldarion's.

https://lotr.fandom.com/wiki/Aragorn_II_Elessar

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Upon Sauron's defeat, Aragorn was crowned as King Elessar, a name given to him by Galadriel. He became the twenty-sixth King of Arnor, thirty-fifth King of Gondor and the first High King of the Reunited Kingdom, though it would be several years before his authority was firmly reestablished in Arnor. His line was referred to as the House of Telcontar (Telcontar being Quenya for "Strider"). Aragorn married Arwen shortly afterwards, and ruled the Kingdom of Gondor and Arnor until 120 of the Fourth Age. His reign was marked by great harmony and prosperity within Gondor and Arnor, and by a great renewal of cooperation and communication among Men, Elves, and Dwarves, fostered by his vigorous rebuilding campaign following the war. Aragorn led the forces of the Reunited Kingdom on military campaigns against some Easterlings and Haradrim, re-establishing rule over much territory that Gondor had lost in previous centuries.

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https://lotr.fandom.com/wiki/Eldarion

I think a series picking up during the rule of Eldarion would be pretty awesome. (With Merry and Pippin still around as really old Hobbits spending their last few years in Gondor before they are buried next to Aragorn.)

I might qualify as an uber-nerd to participate in this thread.

In high school for my Latin term project I translated the Battle of Pelennor Fields into Latin. I still have that paper somewhere which I actually typed out on an actual typewriter...

I've done the Weta tour in Wellington. Very cool with some incredible examples of movie armor and models and artwork.

And I drove all over NZ stopping at every LOTR filming site I could. The NZ road map that I bought actually had filming sites as marked attractions on the road map so that was cool.

And I hosted Sean Astin on a short visit to College Station. Got a picture of him in Rudder tower. Should have done the dou selfie thing but oh well.

I'm all in on this thread! LOTR is a great book and the trilogy was everything I hoped it would be and more.

Brian Earl Spilner said:

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And just because, still some of the most epic movie scenes ever.

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And yet, as epic as each scene is, I can honestly say the books did it better.

In for the greatest trilogy ever written or filmed.

Finally we have this thread. Love this story.

Also, I consider John Williams the GOAT in terms of musical scores, but nothing beats the score for the LOTR films.

If you're in this thread you probably already know about this, but just in case, Sir Ian McKellen recently released his journal writings from his time filming LOTOR. I've been reading through them when I have time and it's really cool to see behind the scenes and also to read about the reverence he had for the character he was playing.

https://mckellen.com/cinema/lotr/journal.htm

Solo Tetherball Champ said:

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Brian Earl Spilner said:

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And just because, still some of the most epic movie scenes ever.

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And yet, as epic as each scene is, I can honestly say the books did it better.

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This scene in particular... gives me goosebumps every time I read it.

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In rode the Lord of the Nazgl. A great black shape against the fires beyond he loomed up, grown to a vast menace of despair. In rode the Lord of the Nazgl, under the archway that no enemy ever yet had passed, and all fled before his face.

All save one. There waiting, silent and still in the space before the Gate, sat Gandalf upon Shadowfax: Shadowfax who alone among the free horses of the earth endured the terror, unmoving, steadfast as a graven image in Rath Dnen.
"You cannot enter here," said Gandalf, and the huge shadow halted. "Go back to the abyss prepared for you! Go back! Fall into the nothingness that awaits you and your Master. Go!"
The Black Rider flung back his hood, and behold! he had a kingly crown; and yet upon no head visible was it set. The red fires shone between it and the mantled shoulders vast and dark. From a mouth unseen there came a deadly laughter.
"Old fool!" he said. "Old fool! This is my hour. Do you not know Death when you see it? Die now and curse in vain!" And with that he lifted high his sword and flames ran down the blade.

And in that very moment, away behind in some courtyard of the city, a cock crowed. Shrill and clear he crowed, recking nothing of war nor of wizardry, welcoming only the morning that in the sky far above the shadows of death was coming with the dawn.
And as if in answer there came from far away another note. Horns, horns, horns, in dark Mindolluin's sides they dimly echoed. Great horns of the north wildly blowing. Rohan had come at last.

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And that is why I translated that chapter into Latin. Great stuff.

These are easily my favorite movies ever, and they have aged incredibly well for having been filmed nearly 20 years ago. Truly awesome.

Most fun I ever had in movie theater was probably watching Fellowship of the Ring for the very first time. Such a well-built story and film from prologue to finish. The Two Towers had the chess pieces scattered about in many locations and was much more dark and violent. The only blemish I could give the series is that Return of the King couldnt decide when credits needed to roll (and yet I could keep watching most anything they wanted to put up on screen without a care in the world).

these movies are great. the story is even greater.

i grew up with these. my dad's girlfriend bought them for me and i read them on a dinky old sailboat with them, cruising around the carribbean all summer when I was 6. they were the first books i had ever read, other than some history stuff and basic learning stuff in kindergarten, and 'the hobbit'

i'll never forget that. i made all my friends read it, or try, and we would tape foam and ducttape around sticks and make shields and kick the **** out of each other.

i probably re-read them 3 times, and then that 70's movie came out, which was awesome, but they never finished it. i read it more times.

i read it again in college.

i've read them again since the movies.

even the movies bring back good memories. I was stuck alone in france at a ski resort for nearly a month when FOTR came out, and i watched it a few times in french... i knew it well enough to follow it, even in that ungodly gibberish language.

bottom line, they are true genius. and honestly, the movie storyline is probably a tad better even than the books. they really put thought into the minor changes they made.

and to think - written in 1937, and honestly no fantasy tale every written since, of the literally millions of attempts, has ever equaled it.

cool thread.

You read LOTR at age 6? Impressive.

FOTR is my favorite of the three and here's why: It takes it time and tells you the story, not giving a sheet about the general movie audience.

The opening tour of the Shire when Gandalf is on his way in, really showing how gorgeous it is, the fireworks, the feast, Bilbo's speech, the look of Rivendell, passing the Argonath statues on the river, those are things that most movies would cut to get them on the road and fighting fighting fighting.

If I remember correctly, Ian McKellen got nominated for an Oscar, but I'd favor that Ian Holm should have as well. If you've ever suffered from an addiction (guilty), his difficulty in getting rid of the Ring before he leaves on his journey is edge of your seat stuff. Same for when he sees it again at Rivendell and tries to take it by force from Frodo.

My favorite two characters in LOTR are Boromir and Thoden. Sean Bean plays Boromir so well. In the viewpoint of the warrior that he is, the only thing that makes sense is taking the ring and using it to take the fight to Sauron. Who destroys the ultimate weapon? When he saves Merry and Pippin from the Uruk Hai, if you've read the books you know what's coming, but it doesn't make it any worse when he is killed. And I love the look on Legolas' face when he sees him die - you suspect as a Elf, he's probably never seen anyone he knows personally die before.

Bernard Hill as Thoden is the best casting of all time ever. His transformation back to Thoden King is the best combo of music and muted special effects ever.

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And I love the look on Legolas' face when he sees him die - you suspect as a Elf, he's probably never seen anyone he knows personally die before.

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This moment always stands out to me as well. So much nuance in that two-second glance. Fantastic acting.

And Ian McKellen is honestly overlooked by most people when it comes to his performance as Gandalf. Taken for granted, in a way. Myself included. But as I've gotten older I've really come to appreciate his performance so much more, and I think he deserved to win the Oscar he was nominated for.

This video does a great job explaining why.



That look of relief on Gandalf's face when Frodo says he will take the ring to Mordor... Superb.

And if you can watch this scene without tearing up, you're a stronger man than me.



Finally, this is probably my favorite dialogue from the trilogy.

Dont sleep on Andy Serkis. This may have been one of my favorite scenes in the trilogy.

So many choices and everyone would be correct in choosing their own favorite, but I've always been partial to the Rohan theme.

I really got hooked on Tolkien and all things Middle Earth from my 6th grade English teacher Mr. Bo. We read The Hobbit as a class and he would read parts of the book to us in class and had different voices for the characters. I can vividly remember when we got to Riddles in the Dark and his voice for Gollum and just being on the edge of my seat listening and following along. This was just before FOTR came out, so even with as amazing as Andy Serkis is as Gollum, I still hear Mr. Bo's voice every time I read that character.

Ok. Let's play this game.

Who is your favorite character from the books? (Mine is Eomer)
Who is your favorite character from the movie? (Mine is Theodin)

Who do you think is most underrated? (I think Merry/Pippen might be the most underrated)

What is your favorite quote?
I think this is mine (it ever changes!):
Sam: Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back only they didn't. Because they were holding on to something.
Frodo: What are we holding on to, Sam?
Sam : That there's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo. And it's worth fighting for.

Who is your favorite character from the books?
Boromir

Who is your favorite character from the movie?
Aragorn. An obvious choice, but can't pretend it's not the truth. The ultimate badass.

Who do you think is most underrated?
Samwise. I think Sean Astin is often overlooked as well. Should've won Best Supporting Actor for ROTK.

What is your favorite quote?
Movies:
"So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us."

Books:
"All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king."