Review by James McDonald
The future of civilization rests in the fate of the One Ring, which has been lost for centuries. Powerful forces are unrelenting in their search for it. But fate has placed it in the hands of a young Hobbit named Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood), who inherits the Ring and steps into legend. A daunting task lies ahead for Frodo when he becomes the Ringbearer – to destroy the One Ring in the fires of Mount Doom where it was forged.
When “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” was released on December 19th, 2001, I don’t think audiences, including die-hard J.R.R. Tolkien fans, knew what they were in for. I know I didn’t know what to expect but that’s because I had never read any of Tolkien’s works before. I’ve never been much of a book reader, and those books I do read from time to time, are typically about the film industry; film directors, autobiographies, etc. After having watched the first film in a planned trilogy, I was literally blown away. Jackson’s recreation of Tolkien’s Middle-earth was breathtaking, and that is putting it mildly. Because he shot most of The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy throughout New Zealand, it was hard not to be astounded and overwhelmed by that country’s natural, rugged beauty.
While Jackson most certainly utilized CGI, unlike George Lucas and his Star Wars prequels, which were being filmed at the same time in Australia, and which were dominated by computer graphics, giving them more of a simulated ambiance than a real-world feel, Jackson used CGI sparingly and as a way to expand Middle-earth, not create entire locales and surroundings that were shot entirely on a sound stage using greenscreen backgrounds. Naturally, there were some exceptions but for the majority of the trilogy, the cast and crew trekked all across New Zealand, shooting as much practical footage and in-camera special effects as humanly possible, and the final result shows. Jackson incorporated CGI into his trilogy to fill in the visual blanks that could not be realized with practical effects and I think if more filmmakers followed this rule (cough, cough, Michael Bay), we’d have better-looking films that would feel more authentic and less fabricated.
“The Lord of the Rings” trilogy centers on Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood), a hobbit who is about half the height of regular humans and lives in the Shire, an inland area settled exclusively by hobbits. They keep to themselves and desire nothing but food and drink and peace. Middle-earth is the central continent of the Earth and is inhabited by all types of various peoples and races such as Elves, Men, Dwarves, Hobbits, Ents, Orcs, and Trolls. The wizard Gandalf the Grey (Ian McKellan), visits the shire to join in the birthday celebration of Bilbo Baggins (Ian Holm), Frodo’s uncle, who is turning 111. During the celebration, Bilbo gives a farewell speech and then mysteriously disappears into thin air, a feat that shocks and surprises even Gandalf. When Bilbo returns to his small house to gather his belongings to head out into the world for one final adventure, Gandalf appears and questions his method of magic. Bilbo explains that he found a gold ring many years ago and it has given him an unusually long life and that he plans to leave it, as well as his house and personal belongings, to Frodo.
He leaves the Shire but Gandalf decides to do research on the ring and that is when his worst fears are realized. The ring, known as the One Ring, was forged by the Dark Lord Sauron many years ago, to control rings of power that were bestowed to the lords of Elves, Dwarves, and Men, a ring that could conquer Middle-earth and destroy anything, and anyone, that stands in its way. Gandalf quickly returns to the Shire and informs Frodo of his findings and tells him that he must leave the Shire immediately and that he will meet him in the village of Bree in a few days. Before he leaves, Gandalf hears Frodo’s best friend Samwise Gamgee (Sean Astin) lurking in the bushes outside the window and pulls him inside, asking him what he overheard. He mentions the ring and Sauron and Gandalf instruct him that he is to accompany Frodo on his mission to Bree. Both hobbits leave and along the way, they encounter two more hobbits, Merry Brandybuck (Dominic Monaghan) and Pippin Took (Billy Boyd), who join them on their journey.
When they arrive in Bree however, Gandalf is nowhere to be found, and the hobbits are intercepted by a Ranger named Strider (Viggo Mortensen), who tells them that he knows who they are and what their quest is. When he saves them from being killed by the Nazgûl, Ringwraiths who serve Sauron, they accompany him on the way to Rivendell, home of the Elves but along the way, they are ambushed by the Nazgûl, and Frodo is stabbed by one of their blades. As he slowly dies, Strider’s one true love Arwen (Liv Tyler), an elf, appears and takes him on horseback to her home of Rivendell, whereby using their powers, the elves restore him to full health. There, he meets up with Gandalf and his friends from the Shire and his uncle Bilbo. He asks Gandalf why he never turned up in Bree and he tells Frodo that when he returned to Isengard to meet with his old friend, the wizard Saruman (Christopher Lee), and to inform him about the ring, he realized much too late that Saruman had joined forces with the Dark Lord Sauron and was building an army for him with the intent of conquering all of Middle-earth, and destroying anybody who stood in their way.
At Rivendell, Lord Elrond (Hugo Weaving) realizes that Saruman and Sauron will be coming for the ring and will destroy Rivendell in the process so he holds a council of Elves, Men, and Dwarves, and informs everyone of their predicament. When he states that the only way for the ring to be destroyed, is by throwing it into the fires of Mount Doom, where it was originally forged, nobody is willing to take on the dangerous undertaking but once again, Frodo volunteers to do the job. Samwise, Merry, and Pippin stand by him, as does Gandalf and Strider, who we eventually discover is Aragorn, Isildur’s heir and the rightful King of Gondor, and three more agree to join them, the Elf Legolas (Orlando Bloom), the Dwarf Gimli (John Rhys-Davies), and Boromir of Gondor (Sean Bean), the man who is the heir of Denethor II, the ruling steward of Gondor. Elrond dubs them the Fellowship of the Ring, and all nine head off on their voyage. Along the way, the Fellowship faces all sorts of enemies and dangers, and as they eventually fall apart, Frodo comes to the realization that he must complete the task alone but Sam insists on staying with him, and they both leave the group. When Aragorn comprehends what Frodo is doing, he and Legolas and Gimli take off on their own quest, to rescue Merry and Pippin, who were taken captive by Saruman’s army. Over the course of all three films, the characters will come face-to-face with new enemies and new allies, with the overall objective remaining steadfast: to get the One Ring to Mount Doom, where it will be destroyed, once and for all.
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has done a fantastic job with the release of “The Lord Of The Rings” motion picture trilogy on 4K Ultra HD. Included are “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring,” “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers,” and “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King,” which won Academy Awards® for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay. The trilogy will also include Digital copies of both versions of each film.
The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray discs of “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy features Dolby Vision HDR that dramatically expands the color palette and contrast range and uses dynamic metadata to automatically optimize the picture for every screen, frame by frame. The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray discs also feature a Dolby Atmos® soundtrack remixed specifically for the home theater environment to place and move audio anywhere in the room, including overhead. To experience Dolby Atmos at home, a Dolby Atmos enabled AV receiver and additional speakers are required, or a Dolby Atmos-enabled soundbar. Dolby Atmos soundtracks are also fully backward compatible with traditional audio configurations and legacy home entertainment equipment.
Review by Alex Saveliev
Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) lives a simple life with his fellow hobbits in the shire, until the wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen), arrives and convinces him to join a group of dwarves on a quest to reclaim the kingdom of Erebor. The journey takes Bilbo on a path through treacherous lands swarming with orcs, goblins, and other dangers, not the least of which is an encounter with Gollum (Andy Serkis) and a simple gold ring that is tied to the fate of Middle Earth in ways Bilbo cannot even fathom.
Peter Jackson’s decision to split J.R.R. Tolkien’s slim classic “The Hobbit” into three gargantuan epic movies caused a furor of sorts at the time of its release. That’s a mere three hundred pages expanded into almost nine hours of celluloid. Fans regarded it with cynicism; they saw a cash grab, claiming that Jackson was piggybacking off the success of his “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, rather than being guided by inspired creative decisions. Three films equal three times the profit, after all… or at least that’s the daring bet the filmmaker placed when filming all three chapters back-to-back (good thing he didn’t follow suit with the box-office bomb “Mortal Engines, which he wrote and produced).
Said “furor” did not stop the trilogy from banking almost $3B at the worldwide box office. Pissed as they may have been, fans clearly craved to delve back into Middle-earth, albeit with fading enthusiasm. I personally attribute that dwindling of passion to the diminishing returns of the trilogy. As “The Hobbit” grew more epic, and distanced itself from what made it so special in the first place — namely, its titular protagonist, Bilbo Baggins, perfectly played by the wonderful Martin Freeman — it lost its sense of wonder and discovery, of true inspiration and vision, resorting instead to bombastic action and — Jackson’s curse — a series of sentimental endings heaped upon each other.
Up until that slide in focus — which starts to happen towards the end of the second chapter, “The Desolation of Smaug,” and accelerates (read: spirals downwards, hard) through “The Battle of Five Armies” — Jackson perfectly conveys Tolkien’s spirit, not to mention the imagery the author evoked and the characters he described. I like the fact that Jackson doesn’t rush through it, allowing us to experience the setting (which he knows and loves so much, better than anyone else on Earth, or Middle-earth, for that matter), and taking his time with the introductions.
As such, the first chapter, “An Unexpected Journey,” which marks the beginning of Bilbo’s quest to the Lonely Mountain, is pure cinematic joy: enchanting, gorgeously shot, with a cast of characters both familiar (Ian McKellen’s Gandalf, Ian Holm’s Old Bilbo, Hugo Weaving’s Elrond, Cate Blanchett’s Galadriel — even Elijah Wood’s Frodo makes an appearance!) and fresh (James Nesbitt’s Bofur, Richard Armitage’s Thorin, among many others).
As Bilbo embarks on his quest — assigned to him by Gandalf (Ian McKellen) himself — to help a group of boisterous Dwarves get their home (and gold) back from Smaug, an ancient dragon, he encounters trolls, the wizard Radagast the Brown (Sylvester McCoy), Orcs, Stone Giants, Goblins — and, of course, the film’s highlight: Gollum, once again voiced by the one-and-only Andy Serkis. The scene where Frodo engages in a battle of wits with the infamous former Stoor Hobbit and ends up getting THE RING, sparks with pure cinematic inspiration.
Martin Freeman is a revelation as Bilbo. It’s the rare case of “seemingly off-kilter but in fact perfect casting.” From rapping with Ali G to making fun of his boss in the original “The Office” to crushing it as the hapless hero of FX’s series “Fargo” (not to mention his memorable appearances in Marvel films), the actor’s displayed impressive range, but as it turns out, he was born to play this part. His performance blends naivety, bravery, and what can only be described as a mixture of forlornness and snuggly charm. He’s eminently likable and easy to root for.
This makes it that much more disappointing when Jackson & Co. veer away from him a little in the second part of the trilogy, “The Desolation of Smaug.” This is where Jackson’s forceful extension of the succinct book is first truly felt. Much attention is spent on Elves, Gandalf, Thorin, the Orc leader Azog (Manu Bennett), and The Necromancer, who ends up defeating Gandalf. Our heroes’ quest becomes a tad protracted, with Bilbo and his team tumbling in barrels through rivers and getting acquainted with the citizens of Esgaroth. Luckily, there’s Benedict Cumberbatch’s awe-inspiring, but also cheeky, dragon Smaug to make up for Freeman’s absences. The finale makes all the blemishes worth it.
Things fall apart in part three, “The Battle of the Five Armies.” Bogged down in, yes, protracted battles, heavy exposition, and what seems like a hundred extended finales, the concluding chapter delegates Bilbo further to the background. Big mistake. It’s all impressive and spectacularly produced, but the soul is gone.
While not quite reaching the heights of “The Lord of the Rings,” “The Hobbit” trilogy is a gorgeous-but-flawed achievement, an example of storytelling at the grandest, most epic scale imaginable — and so much more than a mere cash-grab. Would it have made a better, more concise standalone film? Perhaps. But only a few directors can pull this off these days: put so much heart and intimate sentiment into something so grand (Spielberg, del Toro, Nolan, Jackson) … With COVID-19 having decimated Hollywood productions at the level/scale, this is a great opportunity to revisit a trilogy that seems to have jumped straight from the source onto the screen… with every footnote and annotation included.
Middle-Earth Ultimate Collector’s Edition contains the following special features:
• Cannes Film Festival Presentation Reel
• Alamo Drafthouse Cast Reunion
• “The Fellowship of the Ring” – RT: 39:38 (with Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Sean Astin, and Elijah Wood)
• “The Two Towers” – RT: 32:24 (with Cate Blanchett, Orlando Bloom, Liv Tyler, and Viggo Mortenson)
• “The Return of the King” – RT: 29:48 (with Ian McKellan, Andy Serkis, and Peter Jackson)
The “Middle-Earth Ultimate Collector’s Edition” is now available in unique
“Puzzle Box” Collectible Packaging on 4K Ultra HD
