The Lord of the Ringsis one of the most acclaimed movie trilogies of all-time, with every single installment now regarded as an all-time classic. The work ofJ.R.R. Tolkienhas been endlessly debated, studied, and beloved by readers and fans alike for decades, and there was certainly a time in which the thought of adapting his magnum opus seemed like an impossible task. While a 1978 animated film managed to combine elements of the first two novels in the trilogy into a halfway decent adaptation, it was evident that Tolkien’s most defining work deserved to be depicted as a massive epic.Peter Jacksonmay not have been the first name that came to mind, as his background was primarily in low-budget horror films likeMeet the FeeblesandBad Taste. However, Jackson ended up being the perfect storyteller to bringthe unique heroes ofThe Lord of the Ringssaga to life.
The Lord of the Ringsis among the highest grossing film franchises of all-time, and received multiple victories at the Academy Awards. As with every adaptation,The Lord of the Ringswas forced to makesome deviations from the source materialin order to condense the narrative into a digestible series of feature films. There are certainly many deleted scenes that were restored in the Extended Editions that make the films more fleshed out, but even then there are several major characters and events that are absent, as well as others that were entirely invented. Here is everyThe Lord of the Ringsmovie, ranked by book accuracy.
3‘The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King’ (2003)
Directed by Peter Jackson
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the Kingwas tasked with concluding one of the most massive productions of all-time, and runs at over 4 hours long in its Extended Edition. Although the film itself ended up receiving some criticism for its multiple endings, the truth is thatThe Lord of the Rings: The Return of the Kinghad to cut out a lot of book content in order to keep the narrative more focused. Most critical is the “retaking of the Shire” storyline, in which Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood), Samwise Gamgee (Sean Astin), Merry (Dominic Monaghan), and Pippin (Billy Boyd) return to their homeafter Sauron has been defeated,and Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) has been hailed as the new king of Gondor.
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the Kingchanges the order of events, with the death of the Dark Wizard Saruman (Christopher Lee) moved to the beginning of the story after his Citadel at Isengard has been sacked by the Ents. Other additions were made to flesh out the characters; Arwen is given more struggle in deciding whether to remain with Aragorn, Gollum (Andy Serkis) is ironically killed after fighting with Frodo to take the One Ring, Sam ends up getting separated during the quest to reach the top of Mount Doom, and Bilbo Baggins (Ian Holm) hilariously forgets all the events that led up to the discovery of the ring and his adventures with Gandalf (Ian McKellen). While none of these changes preventedThe Lord of the Rings: The Return of the Kingfromwinning the Academy Award for Best Pictureand grossing over $1 billion at the global box office, it may have stung some hardcore fans of Tolkien’s work that were hoping for a more complete adaptation.
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Gandalf and Aragorn lead the World of Men against Sauron’s army to draw his gaze from Frodo and Sam as they approach Mount Doom with the One Ring.
Watch on Max
2‘The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring’ (2001)
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ringis easily the most structurally succinct installment of Jackson’s trilogy, as unlike the other two films, the events of the story are presented in the same order as they appear in the novel. Jackson’s film did have to reduce much of the exposition that Tolkien spent a lot of time developing into an opening montage, which featured Galadriel (Cate Blanchett) explaining how Sauron first rose to powerduring the Second Age,and how the One Ring eventually escaped destruction after failing to be destroyed by Isildur. However, Jackson did make several other changes to the timespan; the time between Frodo and Bilbos’ respective exits from The Shire are advanced, and the film entirely deletes a segment in which Gandalf searches for Gollum before returning to Hobbiton. Bilbo’s obsession with the Ring is also expanded within the film version to focus on its corrupting influence; while in the film, Bilbo’s party trick of disappearing comes as a complete shock to everyone in attendance, the book depicts both Gandalf and Frodo as being in on the deceit and helping to cover for it.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ringdid spark some backlash from fansbecause of a significant portion of the story that is cut out between the Hobbits’ initial departure from the Shire and their initial meeting with Aragorn (who at the time they known only as “Strider”) at the Prancing Pony. Several chapters involving their adventures in the woods are taken out, perhaps because Jackson wanted to keep the pace moving so that there wasn’t a moment in which the film would ever drag;even the Extended Editionwasn’t able to incorporate all the details from the longest novel in Tolkien’s trilogy. That being said, the character of Tom Bombadil was a fan-favorite whose absence is sorely missed in the final cut; Bombadil is one of the most important characters in Tolkien’s universe, as his ambiguous relationship to the magical creatures has long since been debated. More recently,Rory Kinnearmade an appearance as Bombadil of the Amazon Prime seriesThe Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, but the show’s willingness to change some of the other Tolkien iconography has similarly been contested among the fanbase. The film also inserted Arwen (Liv Tyler) as the one that saves Frodo after he is stabbed, and leads directly to the Council of Elrond (Hugo Weaving). It is mildly disappointing that some of these intriguing moments were removed, either for the sake of time or pacing. However,The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ringhas the responsibility of appealing to both book fans and new viewers, and in that sense, it’s hard to view it as anything other than a complete success.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
A meek Hobbit from the Shire and eight companions set out on a journey to destroy the powerful One Ring and save Middle-earth from the Dark Lord Sauron.
1‘The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers’ (2002)
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towersis by no means a straightforward adaptation, as it chooses to “shuffle” the two divergent storylines by cutting in between them. Tolkien’s novel is organized into two different segments; one follows Sam and Frodo as they venture toward Mount Doom with Gollum as their reluctant guide, while the other follows Aragorn, Gimli (John Rhys Davies), and Legolas (Orlando Bloom) as they gather forces in the west, and eventually reunite with Gandalf the White. There are certainly some liberties that are taken; Aragorn’s near death experience after being attacked during the cliff siege did not happen in the book, Eomer (Karl Urban) is never banished, and Gimli’s musings about dwarf women were actually lifted from Tolkien’s appendices, which could be found at the end ofThe Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. There was also a concentrated effort to incorporate more details about the female characters; while Tolkien’s novels did not feature a significant number of female heroes, the role of Eowyn (Mirando Otto) is expanded, specifically when it comes to her knowledge about Aragorn’s true age. That being said,The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towersdoes deal with a lot of themilitary strategy that is critical within the novel, particularly when it comes to the conflicting views between Aragorn and King Theoden (Bernard Hill) when it comes to the movement of innocent people.
The most significant character change inThe Lord of the Rings: The Two Towersis that of Faramir, the younger brother of Boromir (Sean Bean) who is portrayed byDavid Wenham. The film exploresmore of the familial dysfunctionthat plagued the heart of the Gondor royal lineage, as Faramir is depicted as being much more conflicted about whether or not to claim the One Ring for himself so that he can win the approval of his father, King Denethor (John Noble). The book’s version of Faramir never orders his men to attack Gollum, and has much less conflict with Frodo. While purists may have reacted negatively to the alteration, the result is a far more engaging character arc that ends up turning Faramir into an empowering hero who is able to escape the tarnished legacy of his family; his leadership, and eventual romance with Eowyn, becomes one of the most exciting aspects ofThe Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
While Frodo and Sam edge closer to Mordor with the help of the shifty Gollum, the divided fellowship makes a stand against Sauron’s new ally, Saruman, and his hordes of Isengard.
KEEP READING:10 Underrated Action Movies With a Cult Following, Ranked
