The Lord of the Rings (film): Difference between revisions

* [[Age Cut]]: Averted in the ''Fellowship Of the Ring'' when Elrond talks to Gandalf about an incident thousands of years in the past. We cut to a shot of Elrond in the past and he looks exactly the same, since [[We Are As Mayflies|elves are immortal]].

* [[Agony of the Feet]]: Sean Astin stepped on a big piece of broken glass when wading into the river, and Viggo broke his toe kicking a helmet (see [[Throw It In]]).

* [[All There in the Manual]]: While not necessary to understand the movies, reading the books can provide valuable background information that just couldn't be fit into the films.

** Particularly ''[[The Hobbit]]'', the events of which are recapped in less than a minute. If you haven't read it, quite a few of the little [[Continuity Nod|continuity nods]] will go right over your head. And seeing an aging Bilbo leaving Middle Earth won't be nearly as emotional.

** With equal parts [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]] AND [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming]] when the new king turns to the hobbits and says [[Kneel Before Frodo|"My friends, you bow to no one."]]

* [[Backed By the Pentagon]]: The New Zealand army in this case. Heck, parts of Mordor were from old mine fields (that were swept beforehand), since they had enough ash to make the look needed.

* [[Badass Army]]:

** The Elven army is implied to be one of these in the films given how disciplined and co-ordinated they are.

** An amusing example: when Boromir is teaching Merry and Pippin how to sword fight, they charge him shouting "For the Shire!"

* [[Battle in The Rain]]: Helm's Deep.

* [[Beauty Is Never Tarnished]]: Frodo is badly stabbed on Weathertop, and later loses a finger, Boromir catches several arrows in his chest, Aragorn spends the whole trilogy bloody, bruised and scraped. Practically all of the cast is harassed by either the Watcher in the Water or a cave troll. But all pretty boy Legolas gets over the course of the trilogy is a bruise and a little smudge of dirt. Éowyn made it through almost the entire Battle of the Pelennor Fields unscathed, with nary a cut or bruise... until the Witch-King smashes her shield with his gigantic flail.

** Théoden also gets a spear in the shoulder during the battle of Helm's Deep. He's not badly injured, due to his armor, but he has to switch his sword to his other hand for a bit.

** There's also a scene in The Two Towers when Merry and Pippin have been abducted and Pippin was about to be eaten by an orc when they were unintentionally rescued by the surprise attack of the Riders of Rohan.

* [[Big Eater]]: All the Hobbits, but especially Pippin.

** He doesn't frighten them off, no, but they're clearly apprehensive until they actually see him.

* [[Black and White Morality]]: For the most part, though {{spoiler|Boromir and Frodo are otherwise good guys who succumb to the evil temptation of the ring without meaning to}}. Aside from that, though, pretty much everyone besides Gollum is either clear-cut good (if they oppose the forces of Mordor and Isengard) or evil (Denethor, Wormtongue, and the leaders and armies of Mordor and Isengard) and {{spoiler|even Gollum falls sqarely into the "evil" category at the end of ''The Two Towers'' and stays there in ''The Return of the King''}}.

* [[Bring Him to Me]]: Alive and unspoiled.

* [[Broken Aesop]]: Narrowly averted in that [[Peter Jackson]] originally wanted simultaneous physical battles between Aragorn and Sauron (in the flesh) and between Frodo and Gollum, with Frodo ''[[Moral Dissonance|pushing Gollum into the fire]]''. He also [[Designated Villain|reverses Frodo and Sam's pity for Gollum]], removing a couple key lines of dialogue, and implies the ''Ring'' was deluding Frodo into feeling that way. Fortunately, this [[Alternate Character Interpretation]] was mostly cut out, even from the extended edition, outside of the odd lembas escapade.

* [[Butt Monkey]]: Gimli in ''The Two Towers'' and ''Return of the King'' (Not so much in ''Fellowship'', and not at all in the book).

** He did have a ''few'' small moments of it in ''Fellowship'' though.

* [[The Film of the Book|The Films Of The Book]]

* [[Final Speech]]: While both Boromir and Theoden had some last dying words in the book, they really spice it up in the films, especially with Boromir's last line to Aragorn: My brother, my captain, my king.

* [[Forced Perspective]]: Used to great effect to help the average-height actors playing hobbits and dwarves seem to-scale with their man and elf co-stars.

** Also used in reverse in one shot from ''The Fellowship of the Ring'': While climbing Caradhras, Frodo falls and drops the Ring. There is a shot of the Ring lying in the snow in the foreground. The filmmakers used a larger model of the Ring in this shot to make it seem closer, while still in-focus. (This is even justifiable in-story, as the Ring does change size several times - how else could it fit on the fingers of a human and a hobbit?)

* [[Groin Attack]]: Happens a couple of times to orcs during battles.

** Particularly to an Uruk-Hai at Helm's Deep, Gimli hits him with an axe.

* [[Heartbeat Soundtrack]]: Deagol's death in the third movie.

* [[He Didn't Make It]]: ''The Two Towers'' has a strange example because that scene was filmed before the script was totally ironed out, the director wasn't sure what actually did happen to Aragorn, so decided to keep the dialogue vague to save time.

'''Gimli:''' He fell. }}

* [[Helmets Are Hardly Heroic]]: Unless you are a Rider of Rohan, or an Elf soldier, or a Dwarf, or a soldier of Gondor.

** It seems Sharpe has traded in his rifle for a sword and shield.

** Seems like somebody went from Flipper to carrying the [[Soul Jar]] of the [[Big Bad]].

** Which surprisingly makes sense. The last thing any army expects is for the enemy to go straight to their most heavily protected base. For a Hobbit (small and subtle) like Pippin, it's a plausible strategy. For an Ent like Treebeard (that can be seen from a mile away), its nearly impossible.

*** In the book, this was the whole point of having the fellowship ''walk'' to Mordor.

* [[Ironic Echo]]: Gandalf finds a record of Isildur's journal, accounting the finding of the One Ring.

{{quote| '''Isildur''': "I will risk no harm to the ring. It is '''precious''' to me."}}

** The "Isengard Theme," played with heavy brass and percussion in the Caverns of Isengard or when the Uruk-hai are on the move. Unlike other themes, which are in more conventional timing, Isengard's theme is done in 5/4 time, which sounds a little bit off or unnatural (as most music these days is done in 4/4 or 2/4 time), to reflect the twisting of nature and industrial methods of Saruman.

*** The percussion in question is actually ''banging an opened piano's wires with chains.''

** "The History of the Ring," representing the power of the One Ring, especially when it changes hands or when someone tries to take it -- plays under the title card of each movie, so easily mistaken for the theme to the trilogy itself -- or perhaps it is, in a way.

** Eowyn's theme (the only theme other than Gollum's associated with one character), played usually whenever she's standing at the front of the Golden Hall.

* [[Million Mook March]]: Saruman's army in ''The Two Towers''.

** And Sauron's outside the gates of Minas Tirith in ''The Return of the King''.

** Only Uruk-Hai are shown to spawn from mud pits.

** In the books Orcs are said to "breed after the fashion of the Children of Iluvatar" (elves and men) but only males are seen.

* [[Mr. Fanservice]]: Most of the Fellowship as well as some secondary characters were targets of the [[Estrogen Brigade]] even before the books were adapted for screen. Having the characters played by [[Even the Guys Want Him|delectable-looking actors]] merely made this trope more prominent.

** From about 1969 to 1971, there was a movement among fans of [[Leonard Nimoy]] to cast him as Aragorn in a live-action film version (this is long before Bakshi). The official fan club was quite serious about this, especially after Nimoy was cast as a romantic, dramatic stage magician and master of disguise in ''[[Mission Impossible]]''.

** Grima seems to believe that Saruman is biting off more than he can chew and that he might be able to play both sides against the middle - right up until Saruman shows him the magically frenzied 30,000 superhumans in plate armor. The look on his face is priceless.

 

* [[Natural Spotlight]]

* [[Never Tell Me the Odds]]: In ''The Return Of The King'', when Aragorn suggests that Gondor march against Mordor as a diversion, Gimli comments, "Certainty of death, small chance of success... What are we waiting for?"

* [[Nice Job Breaking It Rivals]]: How the Ring gets destroyed.

* [[Nightmare Face]]: In ''Fellowship of the Ring'', when Bilbo wants to take a look at the One Ring. [[Jump Scare|Holy crap]]!

** Legolas gets a pretty good [[Oh Crap]] look in Moria when he realizes there's a Balrog down there.

** The collective expressions of the entire Mordor army when they realize their master Sauron has been defeated.

** When Arwen summoned a tidal wave to beat the Nazgûl. Granted, they don't have faces...

** Merry, Aragorn and Gandalf's faces turn from triumph to horror when they see Mt. Doom implode.

** This is a bit better explained in the extended edition, where it shows Bilbo spending some time packing up for his journey after returning from the party; Gandalf simply shows up while Bilbo is getting ready to leave.

* [[Off With His Head]]: Done several times, including to the Mouth of Sauron instead of the [[Death Glare]] from the book.

** Justified. Flowing water canonically disorients and confuses them almost to the point of helplessness. Only the presence of the One Ring combined with the will of their Captain managed to get them in the stream in the first place, and after that their horses were the ones in control.

* [[One Way Visor]]: The Mouth of Sauron in the return of the King Extended Edition.

* [[Onrushing Army]]: The orcs ''love'' to charge. As do any humans fighting with them. Aragorn and his army do it too at the climax of ''Return Of The King''.

* [[The Other Darrin]]: A very odd instance of this trope, as Andy Serkis plays Gollum in all three films, but the CG model used for the first film has quite a different face from that used in the other two. As Gollum is only seen in long shots (and very dark lighting) in the first film, it's not glaringly obvious, but it is noticeable.

* [[The Other Marty]]: Stuart Townsend was cast as Aragorn, but was replaced by Viggo Mortensen a few days before filming supposedly for [[Word of God|being too young]].

* [[Pretty in Mink]]: Furs would obviously be worn by the royalty and high nobility.

* [[Prodigal Hero]]: As the related trope of [[Rightful King Returns]] would suggest, Aragorn is an example of this, having fled from his duty and being forced to take on his destined responsibility as king.

 

 

* [[Red Sky Take Warning]]: ''[[Captain Obvious|"The Red sun rises. Blood has been spilled this night!"]]''

* [[Rebel Prince]] is Aragorn.

* [[Relationship Compression]]: Éowyn/Faramir

* [[Retired Badass]]: Bilbo's primary role.

* [[Scenery Porn]]: Some shots just gush over the scenery, like the mountains in the opening of the second movie, and the [[Gondor Calls for Aid|beacons of Gondor]] lighting up. The movie has been referred to as the "the New Zealand tourism board's best ad".

** [[Scenery Gorn]]: Mordor. The mines of Moria. All those skeletons (shudder). Also the destruction of Isengard.

* [[Serkis Folk]]: Gollum. The [[Trope Namer]].

* [[Shield Surf]]: Legolas does this down some stone stairs during the battle for Helm's Deep, blazing a trail for shield surfers everywhere.

** Then he surfs down the trunk of an Oliphaunt in the third film.

* [[Shout Out]]: Off the top of my head: To the Ralph Bakshi animated ''Lord Of The Rings'' (the Nazgûl emerging from the tree as the four Hobbits hide in the roots), ''Shaka Zulu'' (the pre-Battle Of Helms Deep build-up), ''[[Gladiator]]'' (Aragorn's dazed horse ride to Helm's Deep; Frodo being carried by the Eagles <ref>actually, that's more of a shout-out to The Road Warrior; come to think of it, the Mumakil are more like Road Warrior battle cars than war elephants</ref>)

* [[Shown Their Work]]: ''Six DVDs worth''.

* [[Simple Score of Sadness]]: The solo hardanger fiddle version of the Rohan theme.

* [[Skeleton Government]]

** Lawrence Makoare has a scene between himself as Gothmog and himself as the Witch King.

** The Gollum & Smeagol conversations are sort of this trope.

* [[Technicolor Death]]: Although it's right in the prologue rather than the end of the movie, death for Sauron basically means becoming the exploding man.

* [[Tempting Fate]]: "Is this it? Is this all you can conjure, Saruman?"

** Gandalf whispers '''Riddles in the Dark,''' as he wonders if that chapter of [[The Hobbit]] might not be entirely true.

** "There is only one '''Lord of the Ring''', only one who can bend it to his will. And he does not share power!"

* [[Trailers Always Spoil]]: Gandalf returns in the second film, although anyone who read the book would spoil that anyway.

* [[Translation Convention]]: The movies made a point of having characters speak in Tolkien's invented languages when appropriate, with English (Common) subtitles for the 99.9% of viewers who don't speak Elvish. However, when native speakers were talking among themselves, they reverted to Common (or Westron). Thus Galadriel speaks to Elrond in Common rather than Sindarin; the Witch-king addresses his orc minions in Common rather than [[Black Speech]]; et cetera.

*** Merge Rohan and Gondor with Eowyn as Boromir's sister

*** As well as having Ents prevent the Uruk-hai kidnapping Merry and Pippin. Jesus.

*** There was also another take that was true to the book - namely, that Gollum, while celebrating getting the ring back, slips and falls off the edge. They decided to [[Take a Third Option]] and go with the take that's in the movie.

** There was going to be a river rapids scene in the first film when the Fellowship was traveling by boat. However, [[Real Life Writes the Plot|real life wrote the plot]] when the equipment the crew was going to use was washed away or ruined by flood waters.

** Sean Connery was originally offered the role of Gandalf, but turned it down because he didn't like the first script. (Another version of this says he "didn't understand the story".) Russell Crowe was another actor who turned down a role from this movie (as Aragorn) because he didn't like the shooting schedule.

** [[Christopher Lee]] originally auditioned for the role of Gandalf.

** The supplementary book "The Lord of the Rings: Weapons and Warfare" states that they died to a man.

** Saruman and Wormtongue's unexplained disappearance in the theatrical cut of ''RotK'' is another example. Rectified in the extended cut.

** Wargs look nothing like wolves, because killing wolves is no longer the acceptable behavior it was when Tolkien wrote the books.

*** Of course, they are still referred to as "Wolves of Isengard" at one point.