The Lord of the Rings

The Books

The Lord of the Rings is J.R.R. Tolkien's epic tale of the War of the Ring at the end of the third age in fictional Middle-Earth. Told in three volumes, The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King, it was named the book of the century in numerous polls a couple of years ago. J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973) was an English professor at Oxford University. He published The Hobbit in 1937 and The Lord of the Rings in 1954-55. His works have since gone on to sell over 100 million copies worldwide.

The Lord of the Rings tells how the hobbit, Frodo Baggins, inherits the One Ring from his cousin Bilbo. The One Ring is a ring of power that rules all the other rings of power. It was forged by the Dark Lord, Sauron, in the second age and he poured much of his power into it. It was lost after Sauron was defeated by the Last Alliance of elves and men at the end of the second age and passed out of memory. The creature Gollum found the One Ring and took it into the caves beneath the Misty Mountains for over 500 years. But Sauron's power began to grow again, and hearing its Master's call, the Ring slipped away from Gollum and was picked up by Bilbo Baggins. Sauron continues to gain power and if he ever regains the One Ring, there will be nothing that can stop him from conquering all of Middle-Earth. Frodo accepts the quest to destroy the Ring in the fires of Mount Doom where it was created, in Sauron's stronghold of Mordor. He sets out with eight companions on the quest to destroy the Ring, while Sauron prepares to wage war on all of Middle-Earth.

The Fellowship of the Ring tells how Frodo inherited the Ring and the wizard Gandalf the Grey discovered that it was indeed the One Ring. It recounts Frodo's flight from his home in the Shire along with his friends Sam, Merry, and Pippen, pursued by the terrifying Ringwraiths, to the elven stronghold of Rivendell and how they met the ranger Aragorn along the way. In Rivendell, the Council of Elrond decided to destroy the Ring and a fellowship of nine companions was chosen to accomplish this, with Frodo as the Ringbearer. The other companions were Sam, Merry, Pippen, Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas the elf, Gimli the dwarf, and Boromir the human from Gondor.

At the end of the Fellowship of the Ring, the fellowship is scattered. The Two Towers continues the tale of each part of the fellowship. It tells of Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli's search for Merry and Pippen in the land of Rohan, the treason of the wizard Saruman, and the huge battle at Helm's Deep. Meanwhile, Frodo and Sam continue on their way to Mordor now guided by the creature Gollum.

The Return of the King tells of the War of the Ring and the return of Aragorn, heir to the throne of Gondor, to its capital city of Minas Tirith which is beseiged by Sauron. It recounts the opposing strategies of Gandalf and Sauron and follows Frodo and Sam as they approach their ultimate goal.

The Movies

Director Peter Jackson finally brings the greatest book of all time to the screen in a trilogy of movies to be released Christmas 2001, 2002, and 2003 saying that film making technology has finally caught up with Tolkien's imagination. The three movies were all filmed at once, the first time anything like this had ever been attempted. They were filmed over 18 months in New Zealand with a record budget of $280 million. The first film, The Fellowship of the Ring shattered box office records in theaters worldwide and won numerous awards. The Two Towers is released on December 18, and has received amazing reviews so far.

Coming in at just under three hours, the first movie does an amazing job of bringing Tolkien's world to life. It can't possibly fit everything in the books in due to length but Peter Jackson does a great job of presenting the story in a different media. The casting is perfect and the acting top notch. The scenery and special effects are breathtaking and groundbreaking. And the action scenes are unbelievable. The only problem is its too short at 3 hours, but the extended edition DVD contains additional footage put back into the movie. Jackson does a great job of making the movie easy to follow for those who haven't (yet) read the books while including a lot of details that Tolkien fans can pick up on, such as the stone trolls in the background in the scene where Arwen appears, and the eleven chapter titles from the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings that are mentioned in the dialogue (A Long Expected Party, Riddles in the Dark, A Shortcut to Mushrooms, etc.).

The second movie is also just under three hours long and just as good as the first one. Just like the first one, it is much too short at only three hours. The new characters are again perfectly cast and the scenery and special effects amazing. Gollum is unbelievable! If you didn't know no one could look like that, you'd swear they went out and got the real Gollum to play the part. The ents, oliphaunts, and wargs are amazing too. And there is even more footage restored (43 min worth) for this extended DVD than the Fellowship, including several noticeable lines from trailers that don't make the theatrical movie (Gandalf: "Sauron is not so powerful yet that he is above fear. He fears you, Aragorn. He fears what you may become."). The tone of the movie, like the book, is very different from the Fellowship. The movie manages somehow to be both darker and funnier than the first one. I would rate them as equal, but The Return of the King promises to be the best of the three.

However, the third movie does not quite deliver on that promise. Running 3 hours and 20 minutes, it contains many of the most spectacular moments of the entire trilogy, but unfortunately departs from the book more than the first two movies, with many of the changes inexplicable and untrue to the way the characters were portrayed in the first two movies (at one point, Gollum actually convinces Frodo to turn on Sam and send him home--and Sam, who would rather drown than leave Frodo in FotR, actually starts to go before turning back to save Frodo from Shelob). Aside from the changes, the pacing is off as well, but that should be rectified by the extended edition DVD, which should top 4 hours and 15 minutes this time. The battle scenes are unbelievable (although the battle of the Pelennor fields ends abruptly). The charge of the Rohirrim and Eowyn confronting the Witch-King are two of the best moments from the entire Trilogy. The scenes at Mount Doom are simply awesome (with the exception of Gollum's strange nod to the end of Terminator 2). I would rate this as the worst of the three, but still one of the best movies ever made. Actually, having been at Trilogy Tuesday, I'd say it is the last chapter in the greatest movie ever made, an 11-hour epic.

Confirmed News
  • The Scouring of the Shire is OUT. Peter Jackson decided it wouldn't work in the movie as the main story arc is about Frodo's quest to destroy the ring. The scene in the mirror of Galadriel is his way of paying homage to the scouring.
  • Saruman's death scene will be in RotK EE DVD. He is thrown out of Orthanc by Wormtongue and impaled on a spiked wheel. Legolas kills Wormtongue with an arrow.
  • The Houses of Healing scene will be in RotK EE DVD.

Cast

Elijah Wood ... Frodo Baggins
Ian McKellen ... Gandalf the Grey aka Mithrandir
Viggo Mortensen ... Aragorn aka Strider, Elessar
Sean Astin ... Samwise "Sam" Gamgee
Dominic Monaghan ... Meriadoc "Merry" Brandybuck
Billy Boyd ... Peregrin "Pippen" Took
Orlando Bloom ... Legolas Greenleaf
John Rhys-Davies ... Gimli
Treebeard (voice)
Sean Bean ... Boromir
Ian Holm ... Bilbo Baggins
Cate Blanchett ... Lady Galadriel
Liv Tyler ... Arwen Undomiel
Hugo Weaving ... Elrond Half-elven
Miranda Otto ... Eowyn
Bernard Hill ... Theoden, King of Rohan
Karl Urban ... Eomer
David Wenham ... Faramir
Brad Dourif ... Grima Wormtongue
John Noble ... Denethor, Steward of Gondor
Andy Serkis ... Gollum aka Smeagol (voice, motion capture)

Box Office Data

The Fellowship of the Ring: The Two Towers: The Return of the King:
Week Dates Weekend Gross % Change Rank Tot Domestic Weekend Int. Rank Tot International Tot Worldwide

1

Dec 19-21

$72,629,713

-

1

$124,100,534

$125,949,789

1

$125,949,789

$250,050,323

2

Dec 26-28

$50,598,104

-30%

1

$222,268,708

$83,000,000

1

$268,400,000

$490,668,708

3

Jan 2-4

$28,180,378

-44%

1

$290,410,961

$72,600,000

1

$390,400,000

$680,410,961

4

Jan 9-11

$14,209,098

-50%

1

$312,320,936

$35,200,000

1

$454,951,776

$767,272,708

5

Jan 16-18

$10,219,470

-28%

3

$326,812,102

$23,100,000

2

$496,780,187

$823,592,289

6

Jan 23-25

$6,786,756

-34%

5

$337,817,998

$28,700,000

2

$538,718,365

$876,536,363

Detailed Country by Country Comparison of FotR vs. TTT
All-time Box Office Records in Selected Countries

The Fellowship of the Ring The Two Towers The Return of the King
Country Total Gross Rank Weeks #1 Total Gross Rank Weeks #1 Total Gross Rank Weeks #1
Me

13 times

13 times

4 times
Domestic

$314,776,170

#12

4

$341,786,758

#7

3

$137,100,000

#141

1
United Kingdom

$89,479,251

#3

5

$92,041,188

#4

4

$25,887,297

#104

1
Japan

$68,132,622

NA

5

$64,966,781

7
Germany

$70,782,617

#2

4

$80,260,000

#4

4

$22,565,549

#

1
France

$35,584,073

#24

3

$40,454,944

#19

3

$14,008,027

#

1
Canada

$32,000,000

#2

5

$32,340,000

#4

6

$

1
Spain

$28,150,000

#2

4

$33,010,000

#3

4

$9,966,990

1
Australia

$24,024,519

#3

4

$26,815,326

#4

2

$

1
South Korea

$20,881,175

#12

NA

$30,090,640

#3

5

$7,996,462

1
Italy

$18,771,442

NA

2

$26,893,408

2

$

1
Sweden

$16,857,122

#1

6

$18,017,278

5

$4,663,042

1
Mexico

$15,695,070

NA

3

$15,998,901

2

$4,428,021

1
The Netherlands

$12,480,625

NA

12

$13,838,335

3

$2,684,908

1
Denmark

$11,100,000

#1

8

$11,873,386

2

$3,941,108

1
Brazil

$10,400,000

NA

4

$7,411,781

1

$

1
Norway

$8,164,008

#3

8

$10,170,827

5

$3,358,242

1
Switzerland

$8,100,000

NA

NA

$8,794,309

1

$2,670,836

1
Poland

$7,800,000

NA

2

$6,543,498

3

$

1
Taiwan

$7,470,060

NA

2

$9,471,700

3

$3,366,899

1
Russia

$7,179,854

#1

3

$8,844,293

#2

2

$

1
Austria

$6,820,234

NA

3

$8,180,669

2

$3,228,434

1
China

$6,800,000

NA

2

$1,405,832

$

1
New Zealand

$6,494,104

#1

10

$6,540,024

#3

5

$1,669,114

1
Belgium

$5,900,000

NA

NA

$7,224,640

1

$2,132,894

1
Finland

$5,098,389

NA

7

$5,161,956

5

$1,420,492

1
Singapore

$3,800,000

NA

NA

$2,716,470

2

$1,167,561

1
Hong Kong

$3,200,000

NA

NA

$3,444,259

2

$1,055,236

1
Argentina

$3,163,293

NA

2

$2,757,326

5

$

1
Colombia

$3,000,000

NA

NA

$2,398,631

$

1
Portugal

$2,900,000

NA

NA

$3,202,512

$776,517

1
Israel

$2,700,000

NA

NA

$2,524,320

$643,645

1
Czech Republic

$2,617,422

NA

5

$2,224,556

3

$

1
Chile

$2,483,981

NA

NA

$2,255,766

5

$695,808

1
Venezuela

$2,300,000

NA

NA

$613,869

$

1
Thailand

$2,200,000

NA

NA

$3,034,959

$1,706,903

1
South Africa

$1,862,836

NA

2

$2,353,998

1

$1,225,423

1
The Philippines

$1,400,000

NA

NA

$1,494,590

$

1
Peru

$1,239,965

NA

NA

$1,212,010

$420,552

1
Puerto Rico

$1,100,000

NA

NA

$1,447,338

2

$700,906

1
Hungary

$1,096,274

NA

4

$1,290,545

3

$

1
Malaysia

$1,000,000

NA

NA

$1,850,289

2

$513,098

1
India

$874,459

NA

NA

$625,835

$

1
Croatia

$696,519

NA

NA

$876,777

1

$

1
Serbia

$664,120

NA

NA

$580,143

NA

NA

$

1
Iceland

$659,728

#2?

NA

$828,901

$

1
Indonesia

$596,859

NA

NA

$770,728

$

1
Slovenia

$453,579

NA

NA

$463,988

$

1
Slovakia

$334,578

NA

NA

$

$

Bulgaria

$347,112

NA

4

$369,512

2

$

1
Bolivia

$300,226

NA

4

$222,791

$

1
Lebanon/UAE

$857,532

NA

NA

$389,084

$

1
Romania

$163,014

NA

NA

$168,657

$

1
Estonia

NA

NA

NA

$294,445

3

$

1
Latvia

NA

NA

NA

$161,443

3

$

1
Turkey

$4,100,000

#5

NA

$3,629,377

3

$1,150,134

1
Greece

$4,384,000

NA

NA

$6,059,436

2

$1,905,740

1
North America

$360,806,434

$

$

South America

$22,547,274

$

$

Europe

$334,358,365

$

$

Asia

$129,942,881

$

$

Australia, NZ

$30,518,623

$

$

Africa

$2,058,590

$

$

International

$552,900,000

#7

7

$582,986,784

#4

7

$125,949,789

#183

1
Worldwide

$867,676,170

#7

7

$924,773,542

#4

6

$263,650,789

#151

1
Continent totals represent just the sum of all countries in that continent listed above. Only North America and Australia/NZ are complete.

Awards

The Fellowship of the Ring: The Two Towers:

The book vs. the movie

It is tough to compare the two, since they are such different forms of media. The movie was forced to cut out several parts due to length, so you only get the full story in the book. This is a clear advantage to the book and a good reason why everyone should read the book. However, just as the book is the greatest book of all time, the movie is also the best movie of all time. Watching the movie allows you to visualize everything in a different way than the book and gives you an even greater appreciation of the settings as well as the action sequences. So at least for FotR and TTT, its really not a matter of one or the other, as they both complement each other well. For RotK though, I will say that the book is flat out better in every way. The movie is awesome, but everyone should also read the book.

The changes made to the movie are too many to list all of them here, but the main ones in the Fellowship of the Ring concerened the following:

The journey to Rivendell was shortened up a lot. Tom Bombadil, the Old Forrest, and Barrow Wight sequence were removed. Arwen replaces Glorfindel and calls the flood instead of Elrond. Frodo leaves right away and with Merry and Pippen by chance. In the book, its 17 years after Bilbo's party, and Frodo leaves months after Gandalf's last visit. Merry and Pippen plan to come along. Gandalf battles the Nine on Weathertop in the book, and lightning from the battle is seen by Aragorn and the hobbits from the marshes. Frodo stabs the Ringwraith on Weathertop when he gets wounded. Bill Ferny and a lot of what happened at Bree were changed or cut. The Council of Elrond and selection of the fellowship is different. In the book, they are attacked by wolves after Caradhras and Saruman is not responsible for the weather. Gandalf suggests Moria against Aragorn's advice in the book. In the movie, Gimli suggests it, for some reason thinking Balin is alive and well. Pippen knocks a skeleton in the well instead of tossing a pebble in. Sam also looks into the mirror of Galadriel in the book. Gollum is following them down the river on a log in the book. Frodo hear's a voice (Gandalf) in his head saying "Take it off you fool" when he puts the ring on at the high seat on Amon Hen. Frodo leaves secretly and is invisible when Sam catches up to him in the book; in the movie, he tells Aragorn he's leaving and he's visible. The death of Boromir was shifted from the 1st chapter of the Two Towers to the end of the 1st movie.

The Two Towers also had many changes from the book, so again I will only list the biggest ones. Faramir is much different in the movie than in the book. In the book, he says he wouldn't take the Ring if he found it lying on the side of the road. He gives Frodo and Sam extra provisions and lets them go their way with Gollum. In the movie, he decides to make them goto Gondor to give the Ring to his father to use in the war. They get as far as Osgilliath before he has a change of heart after a lecture by Sam and a Nazgul almost getting the Ring from Frodo. The Nazgul episode is new for the movie too. Frodo, under of the spell of the Ring, walks to the Nazgul and is about to slip the Ring on before Sam stops him. This does not occur in the book. Arwen is never mentioned in The Two Towers in the book and elves do not come to help out at Helm's Deep (and Haldir thus does not die). Huorns (Ents that have become treeish or vice versa) show up with Gandalf and the orcs that run into that "forest" are never seen again. Eomer is with Theoden at Helm's Deep. Gandalf shows up with Erkenbrand. Entmoot takes several days and Merry and Pippen spend the time with the ent Quickbeam instead of at the moot. They decide to goto war with Isengard at entmoot. The warg battle does not happen in the book (although one does occur in the Fellowship between Caradhras and Moria). The movie ends much earlier than the book. The movie ends on March 9 for Frodo/Sam and March 4 for everyone else. The book ends on March 13 for Frodo/Sam and March 5 for everyone else. Gandalf confronting Saruman and Shelob have been moved to Return of the King for the movies.

The Return of the King has the most changes from the book, many of them inexplicable. First, Gollum never turns Frodo against Sam. This is completely untrue to the characters as portrayed in both book and movie. Even if Frodo told Sam to go home, Sam would never have gone: at the end of FotR, he was ready to drown before leaving Frodo. Second, why would Sam suddenly turn back when he finds the lembas? He already knows that he didn't eat it. He didn't need any confirmation that Gollum was lying. Third, why would Gollum even risk it. Frodo could have sided with Sam instead, and his plan all along was to have Shelob kill them both. He would not think that Sam there would change anything. Denethor is completely different in the books. He is a noble and wise man. He is a jackass to Faramir, but he had his city prepared for battle. And it is a travesty to reduce Gandalf to the point of assulting the Steward of Gondor. Gandalf would never do that. He only used his powers for defense, never offense. Denethor was convinced that Sauron would win because he had been using the palantir of Minas Tirith. Sauron could not corrupt him, but showed him only what he wanted Denethor to see. He only went insane after he believed Faramir was dying and burned on the pyre with the palantir (instead of jumping off a cliff). One of the best scenes in the entire trilogy was omitted: a confrontation between Gandalf and the Witch-King as the first gate of Minas Tirith is broken, right before the charge of the Rohirrim. Aragorn (who also his many kinsmen and Elrond's sons with him) only take the army of the dead to Umbar where they defeat the Corsairs and take their ships. That allows reinforcements to come with Aragorn from the southern cities and fiefs in Gondor. As the ships arrive, a black fleet, Gondor despairs and the enemies cheer, but then the lead ship unfurls the standard of the king of Gondor, which Arwen made for Aragorn and had not been displayed since the last king nearly 1000 years earlier (Earnur). The ending is much shortened. In the book, the hobbits return to find the Shire under marhall law in the control of thugs who are working for Saruman. Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippen rouse the hobbits of the Shire and a great battle is fought in which they defeat the big men. Wormtongue kills Saruman and is shot by hobbit archers. There are many more changes, but to list them all would take too long. One final thing bears mentioning though: when Sam marries Rose, they come to live with Frodo at Bag End. When Frodo leaves from the Grey Havens, he leaves Bag End to Sam and Rose.

The Characters:

The Races

  • Hobbits: Hobbits are halflings. They are the most like humans of any of the other races but much shorter. They are usually 3 to 4 feet tall and have hairy feet with leathery soles so they do not wear shoes. Hobbits are a peace loving and rural people. They live mostly in holes in the ground or burrowed into hills. They love to eat, drink beer and tea, and sleep. As a rule, they like to stay as far away from adventure as possible.
  • Elves: Elves are the elder of the children of Illuvitar. They live forever unless killed in battle. They are very skilled fighters and powerful in magic. They are also wise and learned. Elves are permitted to sail into the far West and dwell within sight of Aman, the home of the Valar. All elves are good, as they are not easily corrupted like humans.
  • Dwarves: Dwarves are skilled in crafts and mining. They are short, not much taller than hobbits, but strong and fierce warriors. They have long beards and usually live in mines underground. They care little for matters that don't directly concern them and love weath. However they are hard to corrupt and hated enemies of orcs and goblins. They live several times longer than humans but will do die mortal deaths of old age.
  • Humans: The most notable of humans are the decendents of the Numenoreans. The Numenoreans were the people of Elros, Elrond's brother and were gifted with lives nearly thrice that of normal people. Their decendents were the kings of Gondor and Arnor and later the Dunedain or rangers. The Rohirrim (or horse lords) were another people that inhabited Rohan and were allies of Gondor. The people of Harad and Khand were under Sauron's influence and fought for him in the war.
  • Ents: Ents are shepards of trees. They are ancient beings who closely resemble trees and are extremely tall (up to 14 feet). They have tremendous power when aroused, but are slow to anger, and just about everything else.
  • Orcs: Orcs were originally perversions of elves that Morgoth created. They are ugly and generally dumb but strong warriors and slaves of Sauron. They hate all free peoples of Middle-Earth. The Uruk-hai orcs that Saruman created can travel by daylight unlike most orcs. Orcs (also called goblins sometimes) usually dwell in dark places like caves.
  • Trolls: Trolls are perversions of ents made by Morgoth. They are very tall and strong but dumb. Daylight will turn trolls to stone.
  • Istari (wizards): The Istari were maiar sent from the far West to help the people of Middle-Earth defeat Sauron. Saruman the White was their chief, followed by Gandalf the Grey, Radagast the Brown, and the two blue wizards. Only Gandalf held true to his mission.
  • Valar: Angelic beings that were the offspring of Illuvitar's thought and were with him before aught else was made. The Valar prepared the world for elves and men, the children of Illuvitar. They dwell in Aman, the blessed land, in the far West. Melkor the Morgoth was one of the Valar who rebelled and desired more power for his own. The other 14 Valar overthrew him at the end of the first age and imprisoned him outside of the world.
  • Maiar: Beings of the same type as the Valar, but of lesser degree. They are the servants of the Valar and also dwell in Aman.

    • The Places of Middle-Earth

      Other books by Tolkien

    • The Hobbit: The enchanting prelude to the Lord of the Rings, the Hobbit tells of Bilbo Baggins's great adventure. It tells how the wizard Gandalf set up Bilbo to go with Thorin Oakenshield and 12 other dwarves try to recapture their ancient home of the Lonely Mountain from the dragon Smaug. Along the way, Bilbo finds a magic ring...
    • The Silmarillion: The Silmarillion is the epic history of the elves and the first age. Be warned, due to the enormous number of names and places, the Silmarillion is harder to read than the Hobbit or Lord of the Rings, but well worth it. It tells of the creation of the world, the fall of Melkor the Morgoth into evil and his wars with the elves and men.
    • Unfinished Tales: If the Silmarillion still isn't enough, Unfinished Tales provides many fragments of stories written by Tolkien about Galadriel, the Second Age, how Bilbo's adventure came about, the Istari, the Palantiri, and more with comments by Christopher Tolkien.
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