The Lord of The Rings – #3 Reggie’s Take Movie Franchise Countdown

By Reggie's Take on May 15, 2017

The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy is set in the fictional world of Middle-earth, based on a novel, directed by Peter Jackson and it lands at number three in my movie franchise countdown.

Considered one of the biggest and ambitious movie projects taken at the time with all three movies for The Lord of the Rings filmed simultaneously in New Zealand with an estimated budget of $281 million.

Set in Middle-earth the three films follow Frodo Baggins a hobbit who sets out on a quest to destroy the one ring. Before The Lord of the Rings was a successful movie franchise it was originally a novel written by the author J. R. R. Tolkien as a sequel to his 1937 fantasy novel The Hobbit.

Tolkien wrote the novel between 1937 and 1949. Published over the course of three volumes from July of 1954 to October of 1955 and would become one of the best-selling novels of all time, with over 150 million copies sold and translated into 38 languages.

Peter Jackson began story boarding for all three movies in August of 1997 as well as assigning his production crew to begin designing Middle-earth. Jackson’s wanted realism for the films and attempted to make the world believable. Construction of the outdoor sets where the Hobbit’s lived began well in advance so plants and such could have time to grow.

Principal photography for all three films took place between October of 1999 and December of 2000, 438 days in total. Jackson used a different editor for each movie to lessen the pressure and between the three films there were over 2,700 effects shots used just for the theatrical versions of the movies.

Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring was released in December of 2001, with The Two Towers following in December of 2002 and The Return of the King in December of 2003.

By the time all three movies ended their theatrical runs The Lord of the Rings trilogy had become the highest-grossing film trilogy, beating out the original Star Wars trilogy, earning $2.91 billion world wide. The Return of the King would also set a record by winning all eleven Oscar awards it was nominated for.

Reggie’s Take:
The Lord of the Rings trilogy is one of high achievement and will be considered one of the top movie trilogies for decades to come. Peter Jackson was able to take a beloved book the world over and not only make The Lord of the Rings trilogy his own, but still stay very true for the most part to, what Tolkien wrote in his novel.

When it comes to the actors who brought these characters to life up on the big screen the stand out character at least for me was more the role of Samwise Gamgee played by Sean Astin. Although Frodo has the ring it was Samwise who kept Frodo from failing in his mission to return the ring.

Even though “Gollum”, really only appears in the last two movies, Andy Serkis’s performance has taken motion capture to new heights that Serkis even today is still seeing the benefits from. His role as “Cesar” in the new Planet of the Apes and Snoke in Star Wars are two prime examples. Serkis was able to give a believe-ability and realism to Gollum that may not of been there if not for his talents as an actor.

Even after watching the Lord of the Rings movies they are not my favorite movies in the world, but that being said I feel the number three ranking in my movie franchise countdown is well deserved and appropriate. The imagination and skill of Peter Jackson as a director helped take what Tolkien put on paper and bring it to life up on the big screen in a way most thought would never be possible.

Some may not agree with the ranking, but what ever your opinion is The Lord of the Rings trilogy will be one of those trilogies that will be talked about for years and should stand the test of time.

Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

In the first part of J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic, The Lord of the Rings, a shy young hobbit named Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood) inherits a simple gold ring. He knows the ring has power, but not that he alone holds the secret to the survival — or enslavement — of the entire world. Now Frodo, accompanied by a wizard, an elf, a dwarf, two men and three loyal hobbit friends, must become the greatest hero the world has ever known to save the land and the people he loves.

Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

In the second part of The Lord of the Rings, Frodo Baggins and the other members of the Fellowship continue on their sacred quest to destroy the One Ring — but on separate paths. Their destinies lie at two towers — Orthanc Tower in Isengard, where the corrupt wizard Saruman awaits, and Sauron’s fortress at Barad-dur, deep within the dark lands of Mordor.

Lord of the Rings: Return of the King

In the conclusion to The Lord of the Rings, as armies mass for a final battle that will decide the fate of the world — and powerful, ancient forces of Light and Dark compete to determine the outcome — one member of the Fellowship of the Ring is revealed as the noble heir to the throne of the Kings of Men. Yet, the sole hope for triumph over evil lies with a brave hobbit, Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood), who, accompanied only by his loyal friend Sam and the hiddeous, wretched Gollum, ventures deep into the very dark heart of Mordor on his seemingly impossible quest to destroy the Ring.