The Lord of the Rings is a live action fantasy epic film series based on British writer J. R. R. Tolkien's three-volume novel of the same title. The trilogy comprises The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Two Towers (2002) and Return of the King (2003). These movies closely follow the classic tale of good versus evil in the world of Middle-earth.

The trilogy features hobbits, wizards, elves, orcs, and many other bizarre creatures who revolve around one very powerful ring. The films were directed, co-produced, and co-written by Peter Jackson. They were distributed by New Line Cinema.

Plot

The Fellowship of the Ring sets up the story of the One Ring and of a hobit, Frodo Baggins, who is on a mission to destroy the powerful ring before it can land into the hands of evil. Soon the young hobbit finds a group of people who promise to help him, creating the Fellowship of the Ring.

The second installment, The Two Towers, shows the group splitting up, dealing with separate obstacles along their dangerous journey. Frodo is accompanied by Sam and the opportunistic and treacherous Gollum.

In Return of the King, Aragorn, the future king of Gondor, and the wizard Gandalf unite the Free Peoples of Middle-earth in a number of battles that culminate in the War of the Ring. They defeat the evil wizard Saruman and Frodo destroys the ring and Dark Lord Sauron, the maker of the ring.

While the trilogy follows the general storyline of Tolkien's book, three films also feature some deviations from and additions to the source material.

Cast

The Lord of the Rings film series has an excellent ensemble cast: Elijah Wood (Frodo), Sean Astin (Samwise Gamgee), Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn), Ian McKellen (Gandalf), Dominic Monaghan (Merry), Billy Boyd (Pippin), Orlando Bloom (Legolas), John Rhys-Davies (Gimli), Sean Bean (Boromir), Hugo Weaving (Elrond), Liv Tyler (Arwen), Ian Holm (Bilbo Baggins), Cate Blanchett (Galadriel), Andy Serkis (Gollum), Christopher Lee (Saruman), and Miranda Otto (Éowyn).

Production

Richard Taylor was responsible for designing the weapons (500 bows and 10,000 arrows), armor (48,000 pieces), creatures, prosthetics/make-up, and miniatures. The Lord of the Rings trilogy was shot in more than a hundred different locations in New Zealand.

The trilogy has a total of 2, 730 special effect shots - 540 in the first film, 799 in the second, and 1,488 in the third. The extended editions have 3,420 special effect shots. Each of the films had one year post-production time before being released. Each had a different editor to avoid pressure. Howard Shore composed the music for the three films.

Critical response

The Lord of the Rings trilogy received favorable reviews from most critics, with Los Angeles Times' Kenneth Turan saying that "the trilogy will not soon, if ever, find its equal". Performances by its actors, the special effects, and the loyalty of the movies to the book also got rave reviews.

The film trilogy won a total of 17 Oscars (30 nominations), making it the most successful trilogy in the history of the Academy Awards. The Fellowship of the Ring won 4 Oscars (13 nominations), The Two Towers won 2 (6 nominations), and The Return of the King won 11 Oscars (11 nominations), including Best Picture and Best Director for Jackson.

Box-office success

Lord of the Rings holds the record of having the highest gross ($2.91 billion) for a film trilogy worldwide, beating The Godfather and the Star Wars original trilogy. It has also outsold contemporary trilogies like the first three Harry Potter films, the Pirates of the Caribbean films, the Star Wars prequels, and the Spider-Man series.