The Lord of the Rings

         We began by watching The Fellowship of the Ring because of its place on the AFI top 100 list, however you cannot just watch one Lord of the Rings when you are as sucked in by the first as we were. I grew up watching The Lord of the Rings trilogy, so it was not new to me in any way. However I had not seen it in several years and neither of my project partners had ever seen it. As soon as we began we were pulled so deep into Middle Earth that it took movies two and three to pull us out.

         All three movies are amazing cinematic feats; the special effects really do bring you into another world, not to mention the stunning location. Beautiful sweeping shots of mountains and fields and landscapes from all over the world are sewn together so seamlessly it creates a world as real as downtown Boston. The cinematography was planned so perfectly that each shot holds more meaning than appears, but in an incredibly subtle manner. Simply making the Hobbits look smaller than everyone else took impressive camera maneuvering. The camera always seemed to be in the right place at the right moment to absorb every detail with maximum impact. There is a perfect balance and variety of scenes: travel, battle, and everything in between, there is never a static, lagging, or dragging moment.

         Perhaps it is because my adrenaline is still pumping, but everything in all three movies lines up to make an absolutely flawless trilogy. Fellowship might be the only one on the AFI top 100, but each one, especially together, is absurdly amazing. From cinematography, to music, to casting, to plot progression, everything was executed perfectly in the making of The Lord of the Rings movies. The score was born of genius: inspiring, elevating, and exciting, it draws audiences in so effectively it is as though they are caught in Shilab’s web. Each character was carefully developed and honed by each actor, also perfectly suited to play their role. Each movie deserves a place on the AFI in a much higher ranking than The Fellowship currently holds.