Before writer George R.R. Martin concocted his Song of Fire and Ice, about a future king in a medieval world of sorcery and dragons, which would eventually be adapted into HBO's Game of Thrones, author J.R.R. Tolkien dreamed up his The Lord of the Rings, about a future king in a medieval world of sorcery and dragons. Tolkien's first book, The Hobbit, was adapted into an animated film and so was The Lord of the Rings. Director Peter Jackson would go on to adapt the Middle Earth saga into six live-action big screen features, resulting in loads of awards and box office gold. Here they are in order of quality:
8. An Unexpected Journey
The first Hobbit movie's $1 billion gross proves the power of brand recognition. This prequel to the Lord of the Rings trilogy has exactly two great scenes. The first comes at the very beginning of the movie (Smaug the dragon's takeover of the dwarf mountain) and the other is the finale (Smaug opening his eye). Almost everything in between is a snooze-fest (although the rock-giant war isn't bad).
7. The Two Towers
The only thing that makes The Two Towers compelling is the tragic relationship between Denethor and his son Faramir.
6. The Return of the King
The Return of the King made history as the first fantasy film to win the Oscar for Best Picture, paving the way for The Shape of Water's 2018 win. So thanks for that, Peter Jackson (#foreheadslap).
5. The Lord of the Rings
This obvious inspiration for 2001's The Fellowship of the Ring is characterized by awesome visuals and impressive performances. Rings covers the events of both Tolkien's The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers. Its one and only drawback is its glacially slow start.
4. The Desolation of Smaug
Like its predecessor, The Hobbit, The Desolation of Smaug isn't that great until the dragon shows up -- but when he (the best cinematic depiction of a dragon in history, by the way) does show up the entire movie gets lit and doesn't let up until the credits roll. Desolation is the middle of the Hobbit trilogy (the prequels to The Lord of the Rings trilogy) and fulfills the previous movie's teases of the fire-breathing monster (only Smaug's feet and left eye were visible in The Hobbit).
3. The Hobbit
2. The Fellowship of the Ring
The Fellowship of the Ring kicks off the Lord of the Rings trilogy with a bang. And the movie itself begins with a bang, showcasing the villain and titular ring lord Sauron at his most powerful in one of the few glimpses we get of his physical form.
1. Battle of the Five Armies
The final Hobbit movie (and 2nd-highest grossing film of 2014 worldwide) boasts a refreshingly dark and mostly serious tone (there is one jarringly out-of-place and embarrassingly cheesy joke late in the film - not one person in the theater laughed), which is in stark contrast to most of the goings-on in the previous two installments of the trilogy. I only liked the scenes involving the dragon in the first two movies (which amounted to much less than half of the running time in both cases), so suffice it to say my appreciation of this film was something of a revelation. In scope, sincerity, excitement and maturity The Battle of the Five Armies is actually more on par with the decade-old The Lord of the Rings trilogy than the Hobbit trilogy to which it belongs.
The Five Armies picks up precisely where last year's The Desolation of Smaug ended: with the dragon Smaug leaving the Lonely Mountain after decades of occupation in order to exact retribution for Bilbo and the Dwarves' attempt to reclaim the treasure that he strong-armed from Thorin Oakenshield's royal grandfather long ago.
Director and co-writer Peter Jackson has received criticism for ultimately deciding to film a trilogy instead of the two-part series that he originally envisioned, the argument being that author J.R.R. Tolkien only devoted a small part of the book to the titular battle -- which is not enough to warrant so much time onscreen. Those who take this position overlook the fact that film is a VISUAL medium, which lends itself to action sequences (such as battles) much more readily than do books. Reading about a fight pales in comparison to watching one. Which is not to say that Five Armies doesn't have it's quiet moments. Funny enough, the one piece of the Hobbit collection named after an involved battle features the most introspection. As great as the Rings trilogy is, Bilbo, Thorin and the others face much more dire consequences and higher stakes in Five Armies than Frodo and the members of this fellowship in those films.
Be sure to be on time at the theater. Not only does the Middle Earth saga go out with quite a bang, the final film begins with one as well.
Originally Posted 5/21/20
Terrible list
ReplyDeleteI couldn't disagree more. The list is perfect.
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