J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings is my very favorite movie trilogy and one of my favorite book series. I know that technically it’s three movies, but I see it as a whole and always try to watch it that way. My family and I attempt to watch it every year around the holidays and this year we succeeded in watching every episode one day after the other for the first time. Even though I’ve watched these movies probably around 5+ times each, I still spotted things I hadn’t before and saw the movie in a new way. Why am I writing about The Lord of the Rings, you may be asking, eight years after the last movie was shown in cinemas? (Wow! Eight years already?) The first of the two-part movie, The Hobbit is currently being worked on to be released in 2012. The Hobbit is Bilbo’s story and includes him finding The Ring. The same director for The Lord of the Rings Peter Jackson will direct The Hobbit and Ian McKellen will play Gandalf again so, let’s just say… I can’t wait!

My favorite type of books are fantasy fiction such as The Lord of the Rings. I read these books after reading The Hobbit in seventh grade. I remember being upset with The Fellowship of the Ring’s ending because it revealed the beginning of The Two Towers which I hadn’t read yet at the time. I don’t think a single movie has surprised me and surpassed my expectations as much as The Lord of the Rings. I’ve watched all of the making-of videos for each part. I wish every movie had this much precision and heart put into it. I remember watching a particular making-of clip that showed those who made the armor costumes worked their thumbs so much so that their fingerprints wore off. It’s still hard for me to believe that under every disgusting, terrifying orc is a completely normal human being. The behind-the-scenes team and the film cast were superb and extremely talented individuals.

Something that I paid far more attention to this time around while watching the film was the scenery. I’ve always noticed that the movie is shot in beautiful places, but this time I realized “hey, this is New Zealand and it’s real and it’s breathtaking!” It almost felt like I was watching a documentary film showing off the nature of New Zealand. I’ve wanted to visit New Zealand ever since I first heard that there was such a place, but The Lord of the Rings has moved it far up my list of places to go to. There are so many different landscapes in this movie and it’s all filmed in the same country. Amazing mountains followed by enchanted forests and gorgeous waterfalls are all in the movie. Many protests broke out when there was consideration to film The Hobbit elsewhere. No worries, though, they’re back to filming in New Zealand.

I may have had quite a few critiques about the film version of The Lord of the Rings in the past, but today I only have one: my favorite part of The Fellowship of the Ring book was not included in the movie. That part happens to be about Tom Bombadil:

Old Tom Bombadil is a merry fellow;
Bright blue his jacket is, and his boots are yellow.

Oh, sorry… I must add one other complaint. This probably goes for the book, too. The lack of credit Sam gets really bothers me. Sam, in my eyes, is the hero of the story. He is one of the most amazing characters I’ve ever “met”. I suppose that’s just the reality of life, though.

I could commend The Lord of the Rings for hours and hours or explain to you who exactly Tom Bombadil is instead of having you go off in search of the book or even go into a soundtrack review for each movie (yes, I have all of them and listen to them frequently, especially the song Concerning Hobbits), but for now I’ll leave you with some beautiful photos of New Zealand…

(Image clickable straight to source: pixdaus.com)

(Above four images clickable straight to source: X POSE/Rhonda Taylor on flickr)

(Above four images clickable straight to source: altinell on flickr)

What did you think of The Lord of the Rings? Did you read the books? Do you wish Tom Bombadil had been a part of the movie? Are you looking forward to The Hobbit?