Tolkien showed his manuscript to his publishers Allen and Unwin, their first impression was concern over the size and length of the story. They doubted very much whether such a book would ever become profitable, but they decided to go ahead splitting the story up into six different books. Their initial concerns were soon diminished and Lord of the Rings went onto become the most popular book of all time. Although generally known to readers as a trilogy, the work was initially intended by Tolkien to be one volume of a two-volume set, the other to be The Silmarillion, but this idea was dismissed by his publisher.
For economic reasons, The Lord of the Rings was published in three volumes over the course of a year from 29 July to 20 October Structurally, the novel is divided internally into six books, two per volume, with several appendices of background material included at the end. Some editions combine the entire work into a single volume. The Lord of the Rings has since been reprinted numerous times and translated into 38 languages.
Although a major work in itself, the story was only the last movement of a larger epic Tolkien had worked on since , in a process he described as mythopoeia. The Lord of the Rings has inspired, and continues to inspire, artwork, music, films and television, video games, board games, and subsequent literature. Award-winning adaptations of The Lord of the Rings have been made for the radio, theatre, and film.
There are some amazing fantasy books and book series out there, and then there is Lord of the Rings. We will tell you below what are, in our opinion, and opinion of the people around the net, the reasons why the Lord of the Rings trilogy is so popular. What makes the Lord of the Rings so epic and beautiful is the creation itself as well as the mastery of its creator. The trilogy, as it is often pointed out, is nothing but a small fraction of the whole story.
There are probably many reasons that the Lord of the Rings story is so popular, even in The answers as to why might be as diverse as the fan base itself. It's so popular, in fact, that Amazon is set to make a show based on Middle Earth. Of course, it's unlikely that the series will reach the heights of the movies. Even if it doesn't, its existence proves that Lord of the Rings is still popular.
Some fans —and some people who aren't fans— might wonder why. Luckily, there is an answer to this question. Or rather, answers. Several factors go into its popularity. The Lord of the Rings is a popular tale for several reasons definitely. But there are three that stand out. Firstly, there's the escapism element. Reading or watching a story that takes place in a world both like and unlike our own allows audiences to escape truly.
To relax and imagine that they're in that magical world. The world of Lord of the Rings is not without its struggles, of course.
When you add up all three extended editions, they end up adding over two hours to the original length of the theatrical versions — which already stood at over nine hours of glorious entertainment. Providing access to over minutes of fully edited and produced bonus material is a treat, to say the least. Even better is the fact that the extended editions are essential to rounding out the story as a whole.
From showcasing life in the Shire to providing some ugly closure for Saruman Christopher Lee to introducing characters like the Mouth of Sauron who had been completely cut from the theatrical version , the extended editions do wonders when it comes to providing a more comprehensive story.
Without an extended treatment like this — which makes The Return of the King alone a four-hour-plus viewing — it's difficult for any fantasy franchise to compete in either the quantity of material or the quality of the tale it tells. With limited CGI and massive world-building requirements, it's no surprise that Jackson and company had to put in some pretty hefty legwork when it came to the sets.
Sure, they had the gorgeous backdrop of New Zealand to help, but majestic mountains and undulating hills aren't quite enough all on their own. In order to bring iconic Middle-earth locations like Hobbiton , Rivendell, and Minas Tirith to life, the production crew had to build — a lot.
From carving out habitable Hobbit holes to literally building significant portions of places like Helm's Deep and Edoras, the construction efforts that took place on The Lord of the Rings sets were bonkers, to say the least. Sure, CGI was used to help fill in certain spots, but it doesn't change the fact that walls, towers, houses, and palaces were literally constructed from scratch on such a massive scale that the feat has hardly ever been reproduced before or since.
It's such an impressive achievement that it automatically gets the trilogy on the shortlist of all-time great fantasy films. When you're dealing with multiple films or seasons of a story, continuity is key. Maintaining a constant and unbroken delivery of a multi-part narrative can make or break the fantasy experience.
The Chronicles of Narnia suffered from this when the seven-part story petered out after three movies had been released in inconsistent intervals and from different production companies. Even Game of Thrones experienced some continuity issues as it ran out of source material and had to find a way to tie up the story in an unsatisfactory manner , no less.
This is an area where Peter Jackson's films had a clear edge. The director was working with a definitive trilogy that already started, developed, and concluded in a complete story. In other words, it was a known entity that allowed the filmmaker to plan ahead, create thorough scripts, and film all three movies concurrently. Critically, it also meant that the movies were released three Decembers in a row, from to From consistent spacing in the releases to stability in the visuals, music, scenery, props, and so on, The Lord of the Rings was able to cash in on the continuity factor like few multi-movie fantasy epics have done before or since.
There are countless inherent reasons that The Lord of the Rings is the best cinematic fantasy epic of them all. Most of these reasons relate to the films themselves, from their epic vision and source material to their staggering production efforts, incredible runtime, and perfect continuity. No matter how you look at it, there is more than enough evidence of their worth embedded right in the films themselves without the need to drag any forms of external approval into the equation.
Nevertheless, there's one factor outside of the films themselves that is worth bringing up, especially when it comes to making the case for LOTR 's dominance in the fantasy genre: the Oscar count. How many other fantasy films managed to rack up 30 Academy Award nominations over the span of three films? Better yet, how many fantasy movies out there have actually, you know, won over half of their nominations? Jackson's team ultimately walked away with 17 Oscars.
All three films won awards, with The Return of the King sweeping all 11 of its nominations. While there are plenty of reasons why The Lord of the Rings are the best fantasy films of all times, perhaps the most compelling one of all is the sheer number of accolades that they locked up during their three-year theatrical run. The awards stand as a final, compelling testament to the utterly impressive fantasy creation that is The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy. With The Lord of the Rings, ambition is everything.
The movies have great source material to lean on. It really helps to create the epic nature that is so important to the LOTR world. Add the music in and it really becomes something inspiring which really helps to flesh out all those long walking and running scenes. The music is so emotional and makes full use of a large orchestra and choir to set up the tone of the series.
There are a number of memorable themes, such as the ones used for the Ring, the Shire and for both Rohan and Gondor. There are so many of them that they even got the New Zealand army to help flesh them out with some extra computer animation on the side! There are a number of highs and lows and a dramatic ending that creates the first bit of hope for the forces of good. The battle of Minas Tirith is even larger in scope, with many more men and orcs, fiery catapults, a wolf-headed battering ram, giant elephants and trolls and a dramatic one-on-one between the Witch King and Eowyn.
It finishes with a dramatic intervention from the forces of Rohan and an even more dramatic intervention from Aragorn and his army of the dead. Finally, the number one reason why the Lord of The Rings is so good and why it continues to stand the test of time is because of the relatable themes that run throughout. Hobbits are thought of as irrelevant and cowardly, but throughout the movies, our main four hobbits grow in strength and character to prove that even though they are short in stature, they are large in character and bravery.
One of the most moving scenes in all of the films is when the newly crowned Aragorn and the combined forces of good all bow to the hobbits in thanks for their deeds. Sacrifice for the greater good and the value of friendship are themes that occur over and over throughout the films.
Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli form a bond of friendship and commitment that supersedes their different races. So there you have it! Will we ever see another epic trilogy of movies like this again?
So what do you think? Will Lord of the Rings stand the test of time? Let us know what your thoughts are! You must be logged in to post a comment.
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