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[[File:lord_of_the_rings_the_fellowship_of.jpg|
An [[The Film of the Book|adaptation]] of [[J. R. R.
One of the biggest movie projects ever undertaken, the overall budget was around $285 million and principal filming for all three films took place over 18 months in Jackson's native New Zealand. The entire project took eight years, factoring in the early pre-production and the fact that additional pick-ups were filmed in between each films release. The trilogy was a great financial success, with the films being the 19th, 10th, and 3rd (8th, 4th, and 2nd following the third film's release) highest-grossing films of all time, respectively, unadjusted for inflation. The films were critically acclaimed, winning 17 out of 30 [[Academy Award
▲An [[The Film of the Book|adaptation]] of [[J. R. R. Tolkien|JRR Tolkien]]'s ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' into [[Movie Multipack|three films]] (directed by [[Peter Jackson]]) with great commercial and critical success. The movies were filmed together and released one year apart for the holiday seasons 2001-2003.
▲One of the biggest movie projects ever undertaken, the overall budget was around $285 million and principal filming for all three films took place over 18 months in Jackson's native New Zealand. The entire project took eight years, factoring in the early pre-production and the fact that additional pick-ups were filmed in between each films release. The trilogy was a great financial success, with the films being the 19th, 10th, and 3rd (8th, 4th, and 2nd following the third film's release) highest-grossing films of all time, respectively, unadjusted for inflation. The films were critically acclaimed, winning 17 out of 30 [[Academy Award|Academy Awards]] nominated in total, and received wide praise for the cast and for the innovative practical and digital special effects. ''Return of the King'' is the first (and currently only) fantasy movie to ever be awarded the Best Picture Oscar.
The films were remarkably faithful in many respects, though many changes were made due to the many factors involved with adapting such a monumental work. Among the most significant changes (some of which are controversial) include the nature of Saruman's death, the characterization of Faramir, Arwen, Denethor, Gimli and the removal of various subplots to make the story as a whole more appealing to movie audiences or to streamline their remarkably nuanced events from the books. Check out the [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/crowner.php/BiggestComplaint/TheLordOfTheRingsMovies Biggest Complaints] page to see some of the less-popular changes.▼
▲The films were remarkably faithful in many respects, though many changes were made due to the many factors involved with adapting such a monumental work. Among the most significant changes (some of which are controversial) include the nature of Saruman's death, the characterization of Faramir, Arwen, Denethor, Gimli and the removal of various subplots to make the story as a whole more appealing to movie audiences or to streamline their remarkably nuanced events from the books
The theatrical versions were lengthy epics (the first two clocking in around 3 hours and the third 3 1/2 hours), and the Special Editions (released before the succeeding movies) added at least another half-hour to each films running time. Unusual for such a thing, Peter Jackson has stated that the Special Editions are not an actual [[Directors Cut]] but merely a fan-friendly extension to enlarge the world of Middle-Earth and see what things they left out of the faster paced Theatrical Versions.
''[[The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring]]'' was added to the [[National Film Registry]] in 2021.
{{franchisetropes}}
== A through C ==
* [[Absurdly Sharp Blade]]
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*** In the extended edition, there's even a scene of him sharpening his sword while resting in Lothlorien.
* [[Accent Adaptation]]: Jackson gave his Orcs a lower-class English accent. Gimli was given a Scottish accent to mirror what in the text was simply gruff speech. (By John Rhys-Davies, who was raised in England by Welsh parents).
** Of course, by this time the Scottish accent had already been used in countless depictions of
** Almost all hobbits in the movie have some form of an English accent, except for Pippin, for whom Billy Boyd used his native Scottish accent. (He had attempted a more conventional English accent, [[Throw It In|but switched back to the Scottish accent because the English accent ruined his comic timing]].) It was given the justification that, in the story, the Tooks are from a different area of the Shire that is much more hilly, reflecting the terrain of Scotland, as well as the fact that the Tooks invented golf.
* [[Action Bomb]]: In ''The Two Towers'', during the battle at Helm's Deep, the Uruk-hai placed a bomb in the drainage tunnel at Helm's Deep, with an Uruk with a torch blowing himself up to set it off.
** This is actually a [[Shout-Out]] to the [[Sergei Eisenstein]] film ''[[Ivan the Terrible]]'', where Ivan uses a similar device to blow up one of his enemies' walls. If you watch the film, the shot-angles are even similar.
* [[Action Film, Quiet Drama Scene]]: The heartwarming and peaceful scenes of The Shire in ''Fellowship of the Ring'' (especially in the Director's Cut), filled with laughter, friendship and happy children (what a warrior lays down his life to protect) is what makes us actually care whether or not Frodo and the Fellowship defeat [[The Lord of the Rings]] or not.
* [[Action Girl]]: Éowyn aside, Arwen also has [[A Day in the Limelight|a moment in the limelight]] in the first film.
** [[Word of God]] reveals that Arwen was initially slated to appear at Helm's Deep to fight alongside the heroes. It was eventually realized that this may be pushing it a little too far (even Liv Tyler hated the idea), and in the end she was replaced by Haldir.
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** Although never a villain, Faramir was more hostile to the hobbits in the movie than he was in the books, and is tempted by the Ring, until Samwise tells him what the ring did to Boromir.
* [[Adaptation Distillation]]: Many favored aspects of the books were taken up a notch, while much detail was glossed over.
** Most notably, the removal of the [[
** The final chapters of the books, the Scouring of the Shire, were removed entirely. Even if they were somewhat anti-climactic, they gave the book a darker vibe, arguably one of Tolkien's recurrent themes.
* [[Adaptation Dye Job]]: Boromir in ''Fellowship of the Ring'' is described as having dark hair. For the movies they gave him light brown, bordering on blond. Same thing goes for Faramir.
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* [[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.
* [[Always a Bigger Fish]]: In the ''Fellowship of the Ring''. The goblins have the party surrounded in the mines of
* [[And This Is For]]: Samwise Gamgee, the [[Let's Get Dangerous|normally]] non-threatening gardener, even did this, dedicating Orc kills: "This is for Mr. Frodo! (stab) And this is for the Shire! (slice) And this is for my old Gaffer!" (thrust)
* [[The Apple Falls Far]]: When the hobbits almost tumble into a pit in Moria, Boromir drops a torch, which is followed by a long tracking shot of it falling into the abyss.
* [[Armor Is Useless]]: There are many instances of [[
** Aragorn might be wearing leather armor the rest of the time, it's a bit hard to tell. Not the best armor out there, but someone who calls himself a "Ranger" would prefer mobility over protection.
*** Additionally, Legolas may well be be wearing mithril below his clothing, since he IS an elf.
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** Gimli has a [[Big No]] when he discovers the tomb of Balin, which dissolves into mournful blubbering.
** Frodo also has one upon Gandalf's "death."
** Aragorn's scream upon thinking Merry and Pippin are dead in the second film (when he kicks them helmet) isn't quite distinct, but seems to be a [[Big No]]. [[Reality Subtext|Interestingly]], Viggo Mortensen's tremendous howl of anguish here was actually due in part to the fact that when he kicked the helmet, he broke his
** Right at the climax of the third film, {{spoiler|when Frodo succumbs to the lure of the One Ring while standing on the edge of the Crack of Doom.}} It's actually two smaller "no"s, then followed by what might be the biggest "NOOOOOOOOOOO!" ever heard {{spoiler|as Frodo puts on the Ring, alerting the [[Big Bad]] to his presence.}}
** Another in the third film is screamed twice by Eomer upon the discovery of {{spoiler|his uncle King Theoden dead and his sister Eowyn almost dead on the battlefield.}} Here it is one of the rare effective moments of [[Big No]].
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* [[Blood From the Mouth]]
* [[Bloodless Carnage]]: Okay, some blood, but with all the hacking and slashing, they had to keep the rating from being too high.
* [[Bow and Sword
** The Orcs of Moria too.
* [[Boxed Set]]
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* [[Catapult Nightmare]]: Aragorn had one of these in ROTK.
* [[Cavalier Consumption]]: Denethor is more interested in eating his chicken and tomatoes than he is in Faramir's safety.
* [[The Cavalry]]: Minas Tirith is about to be overwhelmed by an enormous horde of
* [[Chekhov's Gun]]: The small glass vial containing the Light of Eärendil, given to Frodo by Galadriel in the first film. [[It May Help You on Your Quest|It comes in handy]] in the third film, when {{spoiler|Frodo is lost in Shelob's lair}}. The elven rope given to Sam also comes in handy, though it's only given a bit of relevance in the extended edition. Given the length of time between the release of the film in theaters, this turned into a bit of a [[Brick Joke]].
** In the book ''all items'' received by the Fellowship in Lothlorien fit this trope (most notably the Elven cloaks and brooches). She even gives Sam a [[It May Help You on Your Quest|box of dirt]]. The movie keeps most of them with the exception of Boromir's belt (in the book it served to help Faramir realize that he indeed saw his dead brother and not just a vision).
** In the beginning of the second film, Saruman instructs his [[
** If counting where Bilbo and Frodo's sword, Sting, received its name in [[The Hobbit]] {{spoiler|killing the giant spiders of Mirkwood as they attacked the ensnared dwarves}}, it's perhaps one of these or a [[Brick Joke]] that Samwise uses Sting to kill Shelob.
* [[Chewing the Scenery]]: The lure of the One Ring apparently encourages elves from Valinor to do this, if Galadriel is any indication.
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** [[Fridge Horror]]: Where are they at the end of the battle? As well as all the elves that went to help them. We see ''how'' many people ride out at the end?
*** Supposedly, they all had death scenes filmed, although the battle scenes are too dark to tell.
* [[Climb, Slip, Hang, Climb]]: When Frodo and Sam are following Gollum to Shelob's lair.
* [[Collapsing Lair]]: Barad-dûr, when Sauron is finally defeated. See [[Keystone Army]].
* [[Color Wash]]: Especially noticeable in day-for-night scenes. There's even a scene in ''Return of the King'' where Pippin is searching for Merry, that appears as a daylight scene in the theatrical version but was regraded to night for the extended version.
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* [[Come with Me If You Want to Live]]: Aragorn gets introduced this way in Bree, as a wilderness expert who can outrun the Nazgûl. More so in the film, since they set out that very morning after they outwit the Nazgûl ambush. Film-Aragorn fits the trope to a T:
{{quote|'''Frodo:''' Where are you taking us?
'''Aragorn:''' [[Scarily Competent Tracker|Into the wild]].
'''Merry:''' How do we know this Strider is a friend of Gandalf?
'''Frodo:''' We have no choice but to trust him. }}
* [[Convection, Schmonvection]] The lava pours out of Mount Doom within feet of Sam and Frodo at the end of the movie. Then {{spoiler|the eagles swoop down and pick them up}}.
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* [[Fade to White]]: Peter Jackson enjoys doing this, ''especially'' at the end of the third film.
* [[Fate Worse Than Death]]: The heroes (and the unfamiliar reader) assume Frodo suffered such a fate. Subverted, somehow, as Aragorn deduced the messenger was lying.
{{quote|'''Mouth of Sauron:''' [[To the Pain|Who could have thought one so small could endure so much pain?]] [[Ass in Ambassador|And he did, Gandalf. He did.]]
'''Aragorn''': (smirks, strolls up to the Mouth of Sauron, and cuts of his head) I do not believe it. ''I will not.'' }}
** In the book, the Witch-King [[Offscreen Moment of Awesome|specifies what will happen to Eowyn]] if she "comes between a Nazgûl and his prey." Specifically:
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'''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.
* [[The High Queen]]: Galadriel. In a case of [[Meta Casting]], she is played by [[Cate Blanchett]], famous for portraying [[Elizabeth I (miniseries)|Elizabeth I]], a [[Trope Codifier]] of High Queendom.
* [[Hilarious Outtakes]]: While Jackson and company are saving the gag reel for the high definition [[Limited Special Collectors' Ultimate Edition]], a few bloopers have surfaced. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkNWF_75dWM&feature=related Sean Astin just wants a close-up].
* [[Hoist by His Own Petard]]: Sauron's demise becomes a [[Karmic Death]] when you realise it was his corruption and degradation of the innocent hobbits Smeagol and Frodo and their resulting conflict over the ring in Mount Doom that causes it to fall into the fire.
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* [[Kneel Before Frodo]]: Aragorn and a courtyard full of people bow to the hobbits during his own coronation.
* [[Lampshade Hanging]]: Performed by Sam in one of the Osgiliath scenes in ''The Two Towers'' when he whines to Frodo that "by all rights, we shouldn't even ''be'' here!" - referencing the fact that the two characters never go to Osgiliath in the book.
* [[Large Ham]]: Gandalf gets lines like "I will draw you Saruman, as poison is drawn from a wound!" and "[[
* [[Leave No Survivors]]: In the films both Saruman and the Witch-king tell their minions to kill everyone in Helm's Deep and Minas Tirith, respectively.
* [[Leeroy Jenkins]]: a number of Internet parodies compared this to [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9F0yUhLJUaY Aragorn's final charge].
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*** The percussion in question is actually ''banging an opened piano's wires with chains.''
** The theme for the elves, or at least Galadriel's elves, is first heard as an ethereal, dreamy piece with generous amounts of [[Cherubic Choir]] and [[One-Woman Wail]]. In the second movie, though, it gets transformed into a [[Badass]] military march during the scene where the elven army comes to the rescue at Helm's Deep.
** "The History of the Ring," representing the power of the One Ring, especially when it changes hands or when someone tries to take
** 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.
** The March of the Ents/General Badassery about to Happen theme (can be heard [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePIXwrL2-dE here]).
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** The Theme of the Gray Havens. Introduced rather late into ''Return'', during the most desperate moment of the siege of Gondor, when Pippin believes all is lost. "I didn't think it would end this way," he says to Gandalf. Gandalf tells him "The journey doesn't end here." Then the theme enters, soaring, majestic, and utterly beautiful, providing the musical accompiantment to Gandalf's description of the Heaven of Middle Earth. "White shores. A far, green country, with a swift sunrise." Comes to its full fruition when the last of the Elves {{spoiler|and Frodo}} leave Middle Earth for the Gray Havens.
* [[Legend Fades to Myth]]: According to the prologue, this is why things came to be as they were at the end of the Third Age: people forgot about past threats, and grew complacent. Sauron exploited that.
* [[Lethal Chef]]: Eowyn, as seen in the extended edition. She provides Aragorn with a bowl of
* [[Light Is Good]] / [[Dark Is Evil]]:Subverted and played straight.
* [[Limited Special Collectors' Ultimate Edition]]: Arguably the most infamous example.
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* [[Mr. Exposition]]: Legolas when he's not being [[Captain Obvious]]
* [[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]]''.
* [[My God, What Have I Done?]]: Several, ranging from Boromir realizing he was seduced by the Ring to Wormtongue coming to understand that Saruman's gambit isn't overthrow of Rohan (possibly involving him getting Eowyn), it's absolute genocide ''of the human race.''
** 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.
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* [[Nightmare Face]]: In ''Fellowship of the Ring'', when Bilbo wants to take a look at the One Ring. [[Jump Scare|Holy crap]]!
** This may be a shout-out to Jackson's past as a maker of films that make fun of horror movies. In the book, Bilbo appears briefly to turn into a Gollum-like figure.
* [[Noodle Incident]]: The [[The Hobbit (novel)|"incident with the dragon"]] is this to anyone who hasn't read the books.
* [[Notable Original Music]]: ''Lord Of The Rings'' gave certain cultures and factions their own distinctive, powerful theme that has made the music of the trilogy as much an identifying mark as anything.
** Particularly the themes that went along with Rohan, which involved a Norwegian spike fiddle for its distinctive sound.
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*** In a subversion, the orc army gets a [[Oh Crap]] when Gimli, Legolas and Aragorn get off the boats and charge at them. They [[Oh Crap]] BEFORE seeing that these three dudes brought an army of ghosts with them, at which point they simply panic.
*** Similarly:
{{quote|'''Corsair''': Boarded?! By [[You and What Army?|you and whose army?]]
'''Aragorn''': ''This'' army. }}
** And then there's Gandalf giving a big speech to the Gondorians about how they can fight whatever comes through the gate. When the first thing through is three huge trolls, Gandalf gets a look on his face like, "Well, I wasn't expecting ''that''."
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* [[Phosphor Essence]]: Galadriel glows with a bluish-white light when she explains how powerful and terrible she would become were she to accept the Ring.
* [[Plot-Mandated Friendship Failure]]: Inverted. Just when he needs him most, Frodo ''sends'' ''Sam'' away due to Gollum's ploy. Moments later {{spoiler|he's paralyzed by Shelob}}. Luckily, [[The Power of Friendship]] prevails. (In the book, they're just separated in the maze of caves.)
* [[Pragmatic Adaptation]]: The removal of [[
** [[Peter Jackson]] himself invoked this in his explanation as to his complete rewrite of the meetings of Faramir and Frodo's group: in the books, he lets them go free after learning of their quest and agreeing with it; in the film, he keeps them captive in order to take The Ring. Jackson said specifically this was because after the first book, the Ring's power to corrupt became an [[Informed Ability]] until it surfaced again at the tail-end of Return; in order to remind the viewer that it was basically evil incarnate, and keep with the rules Tolkien himself set, he had to have Faramir be tempted by the ring.
*** The Osgiliath detour even gets a [[Continuity Nod]]:
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{{reflist}}
{{Tolkien's legendarium}}
[[Category:WETA]]▼
{{Academy Award Best Picture}}
[[Category:Fantasy Films]]▼
{{BAFTA Best Film}}
[[Category:Seiun Award]]▼
{{Golden Globe Award Best Motion Picture Drama}}
[[Category:Academy Award]]▼
{{Best in Film: The Greatest Movies of Our Time}}
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:Epic Movie]]
▲[[Category:Fantasy Films]]
[[Category:Films Based on Novels]]
[[Category:Films With Recuts]]
[[Category:Films of the 2000s]]
[[Category:Hugo Award]]
[[Category:The Lord of the Rings]]
[[Category:
[[Category:Works by Peter Jackson]]
▲[[Category:Seiun Award]]
[[Category:Weta Workshop]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lord of the Rings (film), The}}
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