100 Movies Every Catholic Should See #50: The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (2001-2003)

Directed by Peter Jackson. Based on the novels by JRR Tolkien. Starring Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Bean, Orlando Bloom, John Rhys-Davies, Christopher Lee, Andy Serkis

It is hard to overstate the immense cinematic achievement of The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy. Peter Jackson managed to revolutionize the movie industry through the vast scope of these films and his innovative VFX techniques while at the same time hewing closely to the best traditions of the previous century of Hollywood cinema. If that wasn’t enough, Jackson’s films are about as faithful to Tolkien’s classic novels as a cinematic adaptation could be (a few peccadillos notwithstanding). They are widely acclaimed as the best films of the twenty-first century, influencing all blockbuster cinema which came after (for good and for ill) and influencing the taste of thousands of young cinephiles, myself included.

Although many, many things have been and could be said about The Lord of the Rings trilogy, I’d like to focus on three topics for this review: first, the merits of a faithful film adaptation of a classic novel; second, the amazing technical innovation of these films; and finally, how these films express truth, goodness, and beauty in a truly transcendental way.

First, I think that sometimes we don’t appreciate the fact that The Lord of the Rings trilogy is as faithful as it is to Tolkien’s novels. It’s become a bit of a cliché among Catholic Tolkien enthusiasts to roll one’s eyes at Jackson’s films. I’ve heard every argument, every nitpick, every complaint that the book purists have ever brought up against the films. Some people are upset that some of their favorite parts have been excised from the film; never mind that a visit to Tom Bombadil would completely destroy cinematic pacing, or that The Return of the King has enough post-climactic material without the Scouring of the Shire. Some complain that a good deal of the depth and nobility of Tolkien’s language and mythology are lost in the films, and this is indeed a fair point; but to expect these sorts of details to translate perfectly from one medium to another is folly. Another fair point is the changes made to certain characters; Aragorn is given less nobility and self-assurance at the beginning of the films, Arwen is turned into a warrior princess, and Faramir’s character is downright assassinated. However, all of these changes (except Faramir’s, which is Jackson’s one unforgivable sin) are necessary to follow the conventions of the cinematic art form. Whatever changes are made are minor and do not detract from the nobility of Tolkien’s story and only serve to make the story more cinematic.

The films are, in fact, quite faithful to Tolkien’s magnificent novels. The nobility and grandeur of Tolkien’s mythology are well-translated to the screen by Jackson and his team. Studios often try to replicate the success of The Lord of the Rings by latching on to franchises or “IP” (the bane of modern Hollywood) but what makes these films so great is that they were Peter Jackson’s passion projects. He and his wife, Fran Walsh, pitched these films for years to various Hollywood studios, co-wrote the films, and worked tirelessly to put their love for Tolkien’s work on the screen. This true love and understanding of the source material translates to films which are remarkably faithful to Tolkien’s works; rather than being directed by corporate-approved journeymen, the film trilogy is a love letter to the novels from true Tolkien fans.

The films do, indeed, adequately and admirably communicate the nobility, virtue, and beauty of Tolkien’s work. I will be the first to admit that the books are better, but taking into account the capabilities of the medium of film, these movies are as close as possible to perfect adaptations. The main themes of the books: the struggle between good and evil; the power of virtue, goodness, loyalty, and perseverance; the seductive lure of evil and the necessity of resisting it; the nobility of tradition and kingship; the overwhelming grace of the eucatastrophe and triumph of the good. All of these essential (and Catholic) themes of Tolkien are well-translated into the cinematic medium. The script is noble and elevated (for the most part) and is always earnest and real, never cynical or sarcastic. Jackson’s films take themselves seriously, if lightly at times, and never pause to wink at the audience or undercut their drama and nobility with a cheap quip. They treat Tolkien with dignity and respect, and as such introduce a very wide audience to Middle Earth. How many people have discovered the books thanks to being enchanted by the movies? The fact that so many have been drawn further up and further in (to borrow Tolkien’s friend CS Lewis’s phrase) from the movies to the books and Tolkien’s greater mythology is a great point in the films’ favor.

Second, The Lord of the Rings trilogy is a technological milestone in the history of filmmaking. To truly understand the history of American filmmaking, you have to be familiar with The Lord of the Rings. Many of us will be familiar with the glorious 4-disk extended edition box sets of each of these films, with two whole disks of behind the scenes material to pour over and marvel at. Indeed, it was these behind the scenes specials which sparked my interest in the filmmaking process and film as an artform. Seeing the creativity and innovation that it took to adequately tell these stories on screen is astounding, especially if you know what sorts of technologies were available at the time. One of the great things about this trilogy is that it was made on the cusp of the CGI revolution in cinematic visual effects. Indeed, it drove that revolution in many ways. Lots of the creatures were created by Weta Digital using cutting edge computer technology, but since CGI was such a new (and imperfect) technique at the time, Jackson creatively used practical VFX to accomplish his vision. The thousands of prosthetics, the innovative makeup and costuming techniques, the actual handmade swords and chainmail armor, the gigantic puppet Treebeard and the sprawling miniature sets: all of these give a feeling of reality to these films that modern CGI-heavy films like the Marvel Cinematic Universe simply lack. The passion and artistry evident in these films elevate it to legendary status in the history of film.

However, The Lord of the Rings’ greatest innovation was unquestionably its use of CGI. They developed many new techniques and programs for these films that were replicated in thousands of films that came after. They had to create whole digital sets and environments for certain scenes; they created a new program to generate entire armies for the sweeping, epic battle scenes; and most notably, they created entirely digital characters which interacted in a realistic and believable way with the actors on set. For the creature Gollum, digital artists teamed up with a phenomenal on-set performance by Andy Serkis to create something which had never been seen before: a realistic lead character completely generated by computers. Beyond their value as great stories and excellent films, The Lord of the Rings movies are important for us to watch to understand the history of film and the technical innovations they brought to the medium, as well as being an interesting study in the restrained use of CGI and the blending of practical and digital visual effects.

Third, and perhaps most importantly, these films are good, true, and beautiful. All the technological innovation in the world and total faithfulness to the source material would be completely fruitless if the films themselves were not good. Luckily for us, these films are perhaps the most beautiful and effective cinematic epics of the past 50 years. The cinematography is excellent; the man-made sets, props, and costumes are well-made and beautiful; the natural scenery of Peter Jackson’s native New Zealand give Middle Earth an ethereal beauty; the acting is (mostly) excellent and well-suited to the dramatic material; the musical score is top three of all time; the script is noble and elevated in a way that most modern films have struggled to replicate. Jackson’s script retains the nobility of Tolkien’s work and portrays much of the goodness and truth which permeates every page of the original novels. Virtue is rewarded and vice punished; good triumphs over evil and the heroes struggle but overcome the Ring and the Dark Lord, even if at their darkest moment it looks like they will succumb to temptation. These films fire the imagination and spark a love for truth, virtue, and beauty. The sacrifice of Frodo, the loyalty of Samwise, the wisdom of Gandalf, the majestic beauty of Galadriel, the courage and nobility of Aragorn, the lordliness of Theoden: all of these are fully and strikingly present in the films. The truth, goodness, and beauty of these films is evident in every scene and makes watching through the trilogy well worth the time (9 and a half hours, or 11 and a half if you get the excellent extended editions) of any human being, and especially any Catholic.

The Lord of the Rings are beloved classics, and I am sure that most of our readers have seen them many times. However, for those who haven’t, or those who are inclined to look down on them as inferior to the books, I suggest you give them a try in good faith. These are amazing cinematic accomplishments which are very faithful in the essentials to the masterworks of one of the greatest Catholic writers of the twentieth century. Do not let the limitations of the medium of film distract you from the glory and beauty of these movies; rather, let the visual and emotive capabilities of the films sweep you away to Middle Earth.

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