Lord of the Rings

I have heard Lord of the Rings references for as long as I can remember. Whenever I say I haven't seen them, people stare at me all wide-eyed, shocked that I don't know the story. Even before watching it, I feel like Lord of the Rings has always had a huge presence in my life, just a presence I did not understand. After watching the movie, I understand where all the well-deserved hype comes from. And while only Fellowship on the Ring made it onto AFI's 100 best movies list (ranked at #50), all three deserve to be up there, and it is hard to say which of the three is the best, since they are all so stunning and captivating.

 The Fellowship of the Ring starts with  the story of the one ring, the ring to rule them all. Bilbo Baggins finds the ring in a cave after Gollum loses it. He keeps it in his pocket for 60 years, until setting off on his final adventure and leaving the ring behind with Frodo. Sauron was the creator of the ring, forging it in Mount Doom. He was defeated thousands of years earlier by Isildur. However, instead of destroying the ring, Isildur kept the ring. The ring was lost until Gollum found it, and then when Bilbo found it. Gollum whispered two words when interrogated about the rings whereabouts: Shire and Baggins. Looking for the ring, the ring wraiths started hunting Frodo and his friend Samwise Gamgee, who was there to help him. His goal was to get the ring to Rivendell, where the elves lived. Along the way, we are introduced to characters like Aragorn, heir to Isildur and rightful king of Gondor, Gandalf the grey, and Saruman, the bad white wizard who joins Sauron's army. We also meet Arwen, an elf that is in love with Aragorn who helps them get to Rivendell. At Rviendell, the Fellowship is formed. It consists of Frodo, Sam, Gandalf, Boromir, Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Peregrin Took, and Meriadoc Brandybuck. The Fellowship starts out on the way to Mordor, in order to destroy the ring in Mount Doom where it was created. The first movie ends with Boromir dead, Peregrin and Meriadoc in the hands of orcs, Sam and Frodo taking the journey to Mordor alone, and the rest of the group going to say Peregrin and Meriadoc from the orcs.

Two Towers starts out where The Fellowship left off. That was only the briefest overviews of the first movie and it was still really long. There is so much that goes on so honestly, my writing an overview of the movies is simply not worth it. The movies cover so much ground and the storytelling is so amazing that you simply have to watch them for yourself.

Tolkien is a genius. The whole story is so incredible, and he pays amazing attention to detail. He even made up a full elfin language. His characters are vibrant and full of depth, each with a unique back story that shapes who they are. Even besides the story, the cinematography is beautiful. There is one scene when they are lighting the torches to alert people of the trouble in Gondor, and each torch is lit amidst mountain ranges. 
The footage then keeps zooming out so you see more and more of the torches being lit. There is also another scene when Aragorn releases the dead from their bonds and they all can finally die in peace.
Watching the dead army essentially save Gondor and then fulfill their debt and fade away is simply an amazing scene. Those are only two examples of some of the beautiful scenes throughout all three movies.

I now understand the shock when people heard I had never seen the movies. They are incredible, and if you have never seen them, you need to get on that right now. I loved them, and they deserve all the hype they have been given.