Lord of the Rings Reigns Supreme

It all began with the forging of the Great Rings. Three were given to the Elves; immortal, wisest and fairest of all beings. Seven, to the Dwarf Lords, great miners and craftsmen of the mountain halls. And nine, nine rings were gifted to the race of Men, who above all else desire power. For within these rings was bound the strength and the will to govern over each race. But they were all of them deceived, for another ring was made. In the land of Mordor, in the fires of Mount Doom, the Dark Lord Sauron forged in secret, a master ring, to control all others. And into this ring he poured all his cruelty, his malice and his will to dominate all life. One ring to rule them all.

Now, if this opening quote from the movie didn’t make you feel giddy with excitement then you need to sit down and watch this amazing trilogy and the prequel trilogy. (The Hobbit which we’ll get to later on). I'll even go as far as to add this video for you to watch! I'll wait, and you shall not pass until you’ve done so!

Now, hoping that you watched the video above from the opening scene of LOTR: The Fellowship of the Ring, I want you to reflect and ask yourself, "Wasn't that awesome?", "How did that make me feel?" and, "Doesn't that make me want to see more?" (Shoutout to Lady Galadriel for voice narration!)

I know for sure, there are a bunch of LOTR and The Hobbit die hard fans that have grown up with the franchise, played all the games relating to the Middle-Earth realm and no other fantasy comes close to pulling off the amazing world J.R.R Tolkien created and Peter Jackson brought to life.

It brings all the immersive action, with a great storyline, plot, and amazing in depth characters (with equally amazing casting) that add fuel to the fire of the masterpiece, which is truly precious (no pun intended)! I remember watching this when I was a child like how have people not watched these movies?!

Let me save you the trouble and tell you that this is one franchise that you will not regret watching or investing time into it. Much like some other franchises, cough cough, Game of Thrones series, it won’t leave you with a gut wrenching feeling of disappointment after hyping and leading on their audience to believe that the last season was going to be a spectacular ending. Like come on, if the actors playing the role are disappointed you know you messed up! But hey, it’s okay, GOT was amazing on its own for 8 seasons, however, LOTR and the Hobbit only have to prove that their even better in six movies!

That begs the question, what makes the franchise and their fantasy so great and better than the others? It goes deeper than the different creatures, races and beautiful imagery that is displayed.

Obvious spoilers ahead:

For one, we see Aragon also known as Strider and the heir of Isildur, who was the previous King of Gondor. As the movies progress his relationship with his friends grows even more from the moment he joins the Fellowship (the group created to destroy the one-ring) and how he defends his friends with his life. He becomes emotionally distraught even so much as crying when his friend Boromir dies in his arm after an Uruk-hai (a horrid strong breed of creatures of orcs and goblin men) ambush, and even fights to avenge Frodo who was taken and believed to be killed at the hands of his captors and suffered greatly. (Whom he had oh so graciously beheaded at the enemies gate!)

He endures through a lot and travels a long way to find his friends that he has lost while continuing to fight against Sauron’s threat to destroy Middle Earth. In doing so, he is accompanied by the elf Prince Legolas, and the dwarf Gimli who share this love/hate friendship which is more than amusing. They all have their separate struggles that they must endure not only with each other but the people around them and their origins. They come together despite their differences, and they know they would not have made it where they were if it weren’t for each other.

It also portrays masculinity in a good light without the toxicity and the usual, “Grrr only men could fight in battle,” which is the opposite of the truth. It shows, how a man could be a man without the negative stigma. There is an amazing selection of characters for heroes and villains alike but we must not forget the importance women play not only in our main protagonists lives but other characters as well. We mustn’t forget Aragorn’s beautiful romantic interest the Lady of Rivendell, Arwen. Not only had she proven she could fight and protect another from physical threats, she was a symbol of motivation for him to return to and she does this in a badass way, all while having the elvish ability to heal others!

We see this once again in the the prequel The Hobbit, with an elf named Tauriel who was strong, ambitious and passionate for other races besides her own people. Unfortunately, unlike Aragorn and Arwen who become King and Queen and marry one another, Tauriel doesn’t end up with the one she loves because of his untimely death. She fought hard, and even though she fell in love with a dwarf, it shows that our differences could make us stronger especially when the people we love are right beside us. We fight for those we care and go to war to protect the ones we love to ensure they have a future.

Last but not least, if the action, love and plot didn’t convince you we have to bring up the most important people that made it possible for the people of Middle Earth to continue to live happy lives. They signify and are the epitome of loyalty, courage and bravery, that made all the difference to ensure the safety and sanity of their world. The hobbits reminds us how that even people who seem like they can't help make a big difference could become a hero.

From The Hobbit to the Lord of the Rings, Bilbo Baggins, Frodo Baggins, Samwise Gamgee, and even Merry and Pippin made a significant effort to help their friends and because of their undying loyalty they persevere their way through orcs, goblins, trolls, dragons, Black Riders (Nazgul), Fellbeast and even growing and learning from one another. We can’t forget Gandalf the Grey’s transformation and temporary rebirth into the Gandalf the White who also fought valiantly and had faith in the young hobbits to restore peace.

He has been around for so long and even was there when Bilbo helped the dwarves retake the lands and home they lost to Smaug the Terrible, Smaug the Tremendous, Smaug the Chiefest and Greatest of Calamities, Smaug the Mighty, Smaug the- okay, you get it now! Smaug was feared throughout the lands and no one dared face him besides Bilbo who’s quick thinking temporarily saved him from being toasted!

Of course, there are other amazing characters and storylines that make LOTR and the Hobbit the wonderful masterpiece it is. Especially Gollum/Smeagol’s villainous downfall of greed that makes a debut in both trilogies, and causes grief for the Baggins. Which is irnonic since he was once a Hobbit himself but fate changed him into something more evil. But that’s a story for another day!

Even though it was a short recap with a sprinkle of spoilers, watching the films and even the books will feed and inspire that fantasy that had been created surounding Middle-Earth. Ranging from creativity, originality (that money people have tried to mimic and come up short), immersion into a incredible story and of course the audience that stood by and supported every franchise created in its name and lore.

So if my words don’t convince you...trust me watch the movies. Fall in love with characters, plot, everything but just don’t succumbed to the darkness. You will come to find out why Lord of the Rings reigns supreme and is the best fanasty world. You won’t regret it one bit, my precious!