One of the main reasons it holds up so well is that the majority of the effects were practical, real locations such as the Shire, real actors in masks and costumes, really large scale models of buildings such as Rivendell, very limited use of CGI.
You caught something that most reaction viewers don't and that was when Bilbo drops the ring, it doesn't bounce and is immensely heavy, this helps drive home the point of the ring being a burden.
Well it’s metaphorically immensely heavy, they used magnets under the floor to keep it from bouncing to portray the emotional weight of the rings corruption
Thousands of years ago, Sauron disguised himself a a beautiful and helpful being who worked with great Elvish craftsmen. He taught them the art of making rings and together they made 9 rings for Men and 7 rings for Dwarves. By then, the Elves had learned enough and they made (by themselves) 3 rings for the Elves. So their rings were never touched by Sauron and remained uncorrupted. But when Sauron made his One Ring and put it on, the Elves became aware of what he had done and took their rings off, for even uncorrupted, their rings were still linked to the evil of Sauron through the craft that he had taught them.
The three are still worn - at the time of the War of the Rings one by Galadriel, one by Elrond, and one by Gandalf. The three were hidden from Sauron, not just taken off.
All the Rings were originally made for the elves, but when Sauron made The One, he tipped them off to his plan and they rejected all of them but three (which were made in secret, exclusively by the elves, with no help from Sauron). Then, Sauron came and did battle with the elves, and killed Celebrimbor, and took the Rings back. Then He alone distributed them to the Men and the Dwarves.
They didn't take their rings off. They worked to magically hide them, partly by never using their power except in passive ways, like concealing their realms and protecting their borders.
The more powerful you are, the more dangerous you are with the ring. Simple folk like hobbits, with purer hearts are less easily corrupted. Thats why Gandalf wont touch it
To be more accurate, the one ring will tempt it's owner with his deepest desires. But hobbits have no such desires, no greed, no lust for power, they just wanna live a simple life. Leaving the ring with next to nothing to exploit
"Here all other powers were subdued". Anyone(most likely) would fall to the corruption of the Ring while bearing it in Mount Doom itself. But it's also implied that Bilbo and Frodo specifically are extraordinary Hobbits; not only in their relationships with the Ring, but in their resilience to it's corruption, compared to the other bumbling fools around them. It's remarked how one of their ancestors "must have taken a fairy wife", and in the Lord of the Rings especially; there's quite a bit of divine intervention going on to help especially Frodo on his journey. So I very much doubt that just any Hobbit could pick it up and go about their days as Bilbo did for 60 years, no matter how 'chill' and unambitious most of them are.
@@Knight-In-Greenwhich is strange cos they both are obviously more prone for adventure then other hobbits hence probably more ambitious and driven. By this logic, the most resilient to the corruption must be Sam, although even get is driven by desire to keep Frodo safe.
@@ЯАга-я4л one of the things that sets them apart is their knowledge, while someone like Sam could resist the ring with little difficulty, it’s the “nobility” of Frodo granted by his living with and being taught by bilbo who has escaped the simple mindset of most hobbits. Wisdom and courage hand in hand is necessary
Answer: where shot?: the ENTIRETY of these movies was shot in New Zealand. And fun fact, they physically built Hobbiton for the movies several times, but the land owner actually had them PERMANENTLY make it the last time they had to film there. So Hobbiton is and actual place you can Airbnb and visit in New Zealand now.
I live 20 minutes from Hobbiton and I've only been once 😂 they have dinner events where you can buy tickets and basically have a party at the green dragon 👌
My dad gave me these books when I was 10 or 11 years old.. A year or two later, 'Fellowship' came out and he took me out of school go go see it at the first showing 🙃 To our surprise, the theatre was PACKED to the brim with mostly 50+ year old dudes; we actually got pretty awful seats in the very front far-left because Dad didn't expect many people to be there. There was this white-haired, bearded sweetie grampa Santa Claus-lookin' fella alone in front of us, and before the movie started he leaned back toward us and said, 'I've waited forty years for this'. ❤ All of our faces were mottled red and swollen from crying afterward. 🙃 It was magical and will forever remain one of my all-time favorite memories, aaand it cemented in me to always try to read the book(s) before seeing a movie! 🙃 ALSO!! Your curiousity about every aspect of Tolkien's world is so exciting to watch. It makes me feel a tad emotional, like how I felt as a kid reading the books for the first time. sooo, thanks -- this was a nice little blip of happy in the otherwise 'blehhh' kind of day I've had. OKIE DOKIE be well, my friend!
Christopher Lee was a MASSIVE lotr fan, he read the books every christmas, and had a lifelong dream of starring as Gandalf in an adaption. He wanted to move away from the villain typecasting, so he didnt want to play Saruman. He had even spoken with Tolkien himself who said that Lee would have made a great Gandalf. Infact, he initially auditioned for the role of Gandalf, but ultimately was offered the role of Saruman. So glad that he was able to fulfil his lifelong dream (partially) before he passed
Bro this is THE fantasy movie this is the one that started it all. Don’t feel ashamed for never watching this trilogy cause tbh allot of people including myself would give ANYTHING to have the ability to watch this trilogy for the first time. Yes it’s that good.
We watch it all over again through. Their eyes. And how they treat these movies tends to make it break channels based on this fact alone. Every single time.
At 20:24, you wonder about the limits of Gandalf's powers as a Wizard. This is the basic dilemma found in all fantasy stories: If Gandalf is so powerful, why doesn't he just teleport the Ring to Mount Doom? Convincing fantasy stories require limits to the supernatural powers of their characters. These powers, exhibited by various of the story's characters, are always limited in their action. Tolkien writes concerning the Wizards, "...they came out of the Far West and were messengers sent to contest the power of Sauron...but they were forbidden to match his power with power, or to seek to dominate Elves or Men by force and fear. They came therefore in the shape of Men, though they were never young and aged only slowly, and they had many powers of mind and hand..."
Indeed, they were to guide and offer counsel, knowledge, and wisdom - not raw power or miracles. Their time in Middle Earth was limited, and if mortal races became too dependent on them, the world would fall into chaos once they're gone. Therefore, it had to be the men, elves, and dwarves who would destroy Sauron. A much more difficult way, but one that wouldn't depend on powers from above.
Here is your explanation and everyone else about this and a brief explanation of the three rings: that was already explained by Tolkien if i understand correctly. Gandalf, Sauron and the wizards all use to live and work with Sauron... who was one of them. They all had gods to teach them. Saurons focus was the dark arts and when his master Melkor became evil so did sauron. So the one god, illuvatar decided to send the demi gods in the form of old men and wizards to assist the other races of middle earth and battling sauron. However he too understood that their powers were to be limited so they could not corrupted by sauron Gandalf is also unique in that when he was sent to and landed in middle earth, the elven ship lord cirdain recognized who he really was and gifted Narya, the elven ring of fire. With its powers According to Unfinished Tales, at the start of the War of the Elves and Sauron, Celebrimbor gave Narya to Círdan, Lord of the Havens of Mithlond, who kept it after Gil-galad's death. In the Third Age Círdan, recognizing Gandalf's true nature as one of the Maiar from Valinor, gave him the ring to aid him in his labors. It was described as having the power to inspire others to resist tyranny, domination, and despair (in other words, evoking hope from others around the wielder), as well as giving resistance to the weariness of time: "Take now this Ring," he said; "for thy labors and thy cares will be heavy, but in all it will support thee and defend thee from weariness. For this is the Ring of Fire, and herewith, maybe, thou shalt rekindle hearts to the valor of old in a world that grows chill" (Círdan the Shipwright to Gandalf). Vilya was the ring of air and dominance. Like narya, both were worn by GIl Galad. After his death, it passed to elrond its powers included the ability to preserve and heal (like he saved frodo from becoming a ringwraith) and potentially the power of foresight, which you see in the two towers and return of the king in a scene... The third ring is my favorite that was Nenya, given by celebrimbor to galadriel. Its powers were preservation, protection and concealment from evil. Galadrial is special as she was born in valinor and knew sauron (the writings even mention he liked her and wanted her to join her as his queen) Galadriel is also a descendant of high power elves and trained by gods of the undying lands.., as for her own powers: Galadriel possessed a tremendous amount of magical powers, and was said to be the greatest of the Ñoldor in that regard after Fëanor. When she still lived in the Undying Lands, she had been a pupil of Yavanna and Aulë, and she later became a friend of Melian the Maia. Hence, it can be deduced that she had learned her powers from these three illustrious personages, though the nature of her magic is still not well-understood. In The Unfinished Tales, it is suggested that her powers of divination and seeing into the minds of others were innate. While the fellowship and frodo were battling in helms deep and minas tirith, galadrial protected lothlorian 6 times from attack and also helped the attack on saurons evil fortress dol guldor with elves, ents, dwarves and thranduils kin (legolas' father). She could only be defeated in battle if sauron himself fought in single combat.. When the ring was destroyed she usd the last of her powers to teleport to the evil fortress and summoned a lightning storm and tornado to destroy the evil presence, and restored the beauty of the forest that was destroyed by evil. fellow ring fans an tolkien experts please correct but i tried to capture the jist of it for common movie lovers to understand.
@@Krobra91 yes make ssense how you explain it ,, i have read most Quora responses too. we read hobbit at grade 8 .. did all 500 questions,,.. still,, i never knew Tolkien wrote family members as demigods ,,, yes you understood it well.
In case @kp reads to learn more about the wizards. there Are different "types" of wizards, you aren't wrong. You'll see in the prequel movies there are some who wear Blue and others wear Green. There is so much lore in the books than the movie (or show) could ever depict.
4 місяці тому
There were 5 wizards, or Maia, sent to Middle Earth. Saruman the white, Gandalf the Grey, Radaghast the Brown and two blue wizards who went far east and weren’t really heard from again.
Excellent reaction! I love when new viewers pay close attention and take the story seriously, giving it and Tolkien the respect deserved. Since you asked for details and history, here is a no spoiler mini-explanation (very simplified) to help fully appreciate The Lord of the Rings. The author is JRR Tolkien, who was an Oxford professor, a linguist/philologist and historian. He literally spent his entire life creating the world of Middle-earth, the novel published in 1954. His purpose was to write a mythology history for England, including a creation story inspired by his devout Catholic faith. The languages heard in the movie were created, completely, by Tolkien. Several dialects of Elvish, the dwarf language, and the Black Speech of Mordor. In Tolkien’s world, Eru Ilúvatar is the Creator. Aiding in fulfilling his purpose are the Valar (think archangels) and Maia (angels). Some (not all) of the Valar and Maia have significant roles through the ages. Also, a few Valar and Maia are evil. The events in LOTR take place in the Third Age, with the forging of the great rings and battle seen in the prologue occurring in the Second Age. In other words, there is a ton of history over thousands of years leading up to this particular story. Sauron, the Dark Lord, is a Maia. Gandalf and Saruman are also Maia, and they (along with three others) were sent by Eru Ilúvatar to Middle-earth to aid in the fight against Sauron. They are called the Istari, or Wizards. Their magical powers are limited but they are still very powerful. The “old man” appearance was to appeal as wise men but does not directly translate to being aged as they are literally ageless beings. They were sent to guide, instruct, and impart wisdom, not to be warriors or solve problems, hence the rare use of "magic". Incidentally, the Balrog is also a Maia (one of the evil ones), which is why Gandalf had to confront it. Elves are immortal. They can be killed in battle, but their souls return to Valinor (the Undying Lands), the dwelling place of the Valar, and are given a new body. Valinor is separated from Middle-earth, reachable only by ships built by the elves at the Grey Havens. You will often see some calling it "heaven" as a simplistic way to describe it, but this is wrong. Valinor is called the Undying Lands because immortal flesh-and-blood elves dwell there in harmony with the Valar, who are spirit beings with a bodily form. Valinor is not an after-death spirit realm like heaven. Valinor is where elves were always meant to permanently reside, not Middle-earth, which is why they are slowly leaving. Aside from a handful of notable exceptions, elves are the only race to ever set foot on Valinor. There have been only two other elf and human unions, so Arwen and Aragorn are very unique. In all cases, the elf maiden had to choose mortality to be with the human man she loved. This is a BIG deal, just keep that in mind. Lord Elrond of Rivendell is the child of one such union. He was also faced with a choice, deciding to be an elf. His twin brother, Elros, chose to be human, becoming the first King of Númenor. Directly from his line came Elendil and Isildur, and then much later Aragorn. Side note: The vial of starlight that Galadriel gave to Frodo is captured light from the star of Earendil (very long story told in The Silmarillion) who was a half-elf and the father of Elrond and Elros. Galadriel is by far the most powerful elf in Middle-earth, and she is wholly good and wise. She was born in Valinor in a time before the sun and moon were created, so is easily 9000 years old, probably much more. She is the keeper of Nenya, one of the three elven rings. It doesn’t come into the movies, but the other two rings are kept by Elrond and Gandalf, who was given his by Cirdan, Lord of the Grey Havens. The daughter of Lady Galadriel and Lord Celeborn married Elrond, so Arwen is her granddaughter. Legolas is an Elven prince, the son of an Elven king from another realm which does not play into this story but does in The Hobbit. He has known Gandalf and Aragorn for a very long time. Elves and Dwarves have thousands of years of bad blood between the races, hence Gimli and Legolas not liking each other in the beginning. I’ll end with the Hobbits. They live normally as long as humans, perhaps a bit more, so Bilbo (who comes from a line of long-lived Hobbits) is old by Hobbit standards but not beyond possibility. What makes him different is that he has barely aged. Bilbo is Frodo's uncle, taken in and named Bilbo's heir when Frodo's parents died. Samwise Gamgee is Frodo and Bilbo’s gardener, so technically he works for the wealthy, upperclass Bagginses, hence the occasional “Mr. Frodo.” There is a slight class structure, as was common in England during Tolkien’s life. Merry (Meriadoc Brandybuck) and Pippin (Peregrin Took) are distantly related to Frodo. Frodo is 50 when he leaves the Shire, Samwise is 38, Merry 36, and Pippin is 26 so still in his “tweens” (Hobbits come of age at 33) which is why he tends to be the most foolish. Give him time! Facts to keep in mind: 1) The Ring has a will of its own and wants to return to the hand of Sauron, who is the only one who can truly control the power. Also, the Ring exerts a powerful evil influence on all who are close to it and evil is drawn to it. 2) Middle-earth is big! The quest lasts just over a year, a vast amount of ground is covered, and the now-splintered fellowship meet a lot of new “people” along the way. Great reaction! You will LOVE this wonderful ride. The next two movies get better and better. As others will surely note in the comments, I strongly recommend the extended versions. And speaking as a Tolkien fan for close to 50 years, what Peter Jackson et al did with these 3 movies is a true masterpiece in every conceivable way. While there was much left out due to time (believe it or not), and obviously changes in pacing, story elements, and so on must be made when adapting to cinema, the movie barely strays from the novel by Tolkien.
Sharon that was one of the best synopsis I've read in forever. I'm glad you mentioned Tolkien's influenced by his Catholic culture for context. ...perhaps a few spoilers... but I very much agree with what you've said.
@@benbrown8258 Thank you, sir! IMO Tolkien's faith is critical to understanding his themes, even if he didn't write a precise allegory. No spoilers for the next two movies is what I mean. I assume reactors have watched FOTR to the end before posting the edited first half. Hopefully. LOL!
Thank you so much for this break down! i LOVE reading but for some reason the way these books are written (at least the first one), i can't get in to it enough to continue reading them (and i REALLY want to), so i love comments like these that give the history of the book, characters and Tolkien as the story is incredible. I desperately wish the books held my interest as i adore the movies
@@rach8683 You are most welcome! I encourage you to keep trying to read the novels. I strongly suggest beginning with The Hobbit. Not only is the story set before the events told in Lord of the Rings, but Tolkien wrote it as a children's book, specifically for his son Christopher. Now, bear in mind that when he wrote this "children's book" (published 1937) children, especially British children were, shall we say kindly, better educated. LOL! Meaning, don't expect anything too simplistic. Nevertheless, it is much more lighthearted and fun. Plus it gives the critical backstory of how Bilbo met Gandalf and then found the One Ring in Gollum's cave. I can almost guarantee that once done with The Hobbit, delving into the trilogy will be easier. Also, I found over the many years of many readings that I could skim over parts, usually depending upon my mood. Tolkien was a brilliant writer but his love of poetry, history, songs, and intense descriptions can be overwhelming until more familiar. In other words, better to skip past portions that bog you down than to give up entirely. That is the beauty of a masterpiece novel: one can reread it dozens of times and always catch something new and precious. Cheers!
@@SharonLathanNovelist knows her stuff. Great overview! The only thing that I’d add is that it is potentially very subtlety mentioned that Gandalf has one of the elven rings when he says he is a “wielder of the flame of Anor” while fighting the Balrog. The flame of Anor can have multiple meanings, but one is potentially that Gandalf wears Narya, the ring of fire, and he could be alluding to that, and other deep lore that the Flame of Anor pertains to.
At 9:44, you wonder about how they made Gandalf so much bigger than Bilbo. The DVD version of the movie came with extensive Making Of videos that as as much fun to watch as the movies themselves. There were two Bag Ends, a small one for Gandalf to bump his head against, and a big one for Bilbo to write his book in. All the furnishings of the two sets were identical, just made to different scales. So with judicious use of green screens, one actor could be composited into the other set. Lots of other tricks were also used, including actors on stilts, scale doubles, and a 7-foot utility actor called "Tall Paul," who made himself useful in a number of scenes. It's fascinating stuff, and some of it is on UA-cam, the last time I looked.
Also the wagon scene at the start. The way they built the wagon and used forced perspective to make the characters height appropriate is one of if not the most impressive movie tricks I've ever seen
Btw Peter Jackson is having a joke with the “weed”. In the books Tolkien makes it clear they smoke tobacco - he uses the word “tobacco” at times, as well as “pipeweed”. Tolkien never calls it our current slang term “weed” - that’s all Peter Jackson.
@@criert135 yes that’s the whole point of my comment. Bilbo calls it “the finest weed in the Southfarthing” and for 23 years people have been chuckling about them smoking cannabis
Yeah “weed” did not mean cannabis when Tolkien wrote this! Pipeweed is tobacco. I read the books in 1969 and none of us thought of weed as anything but tobacco
Fun fact: Actor Sean Bean has a severe fear of flying and that was quite a problem during the filming of Lord of the Rings. Scenes were regularly shot in isolated places. The actors and crew were brought by helicopter, but our Boromir was not seen. When the time came again, he would start a walking tour to the filming location hours in advance and already wearing his costume.
It is SO refreshing to watch someone paying attention to the little details and the story of the movie. I know you already finished the series but I can’t wait to see you wrap it up
Omg I don't believe it!! And I could not be happier!!! 🤗💃 Truly. Dude, it doesn't get any better than Tolkien. And Peter Jackson making it come to life. Intense, meaningful, and beautiful. And a finer cast could not have been chosen. 475 awards won. And 800 nominations. Worldwide. This has not been topped. I'll wager you're about to really love it. Tysm for choosing this. 📚
Actually he didn't possess a human body. He's basically a powerful spirit that can take on a human form, which was required for his journey into Middle Earth to help the people rise up against Sauron.
@@ChrisGrahamkedzuel Correct. This is an important point, because though he appears old, he is as able-bodied as a man in his prime. Very much unlike an old man. Thankfully, you see this during his sword/staff fights, but few people ever notice this.
"Hobbits are basically English people" Yes, spot on. Tolkien created the Lord of the Rings to be the folktales of the common English country folk. A quiet people, who care only for their little corner of the world but when needed would step forth to shake the foundations of the world. Being your first watching, you really got it.
This wasn’t his first movie. First movie as a main character, yes. But he was in Black Hawk Down that technically was supposed be released in October 2001 but was delayed because of 9/11 and ended up being released partially at the same time as fellowship and then widely released in January 2002.
You can see a younger Orlando Bloom portraying a character that ultimately is murdered on screen in a long-running British TV serial “Midsomer Murders.” If I recall correctly it is within the first four seasons but I wouldn’t swear to that.
I believe they say on the behind the scenes videos that accompany the extended version movies that it was his first film. That's why Liv Tyler sort of took him under her wings.
I watch the trilogy at least twice a year and there’s truly no greater joy as a LOTR fan to watch someone enjoy the magic of this film for the first time.
The song Aragorn sings has huge importance! Here is the full version: “The leaves were long, the grass was green, The hemlock-umbels tall and fair, And in the glade a light was seen; Of stars in shadow shimmering, Tinnúviel was dancing there, To music of a pipe unseen And light of stars was in her hair And in her raiment glimmering There Beren came from mountains cold; And lost he wandered under leaves; And where the Elven-river rolled. He walked alone and sorrowing. He peered between the hemlock-leaves; And saw in wonder flowers of gold Upon her mantle and her sleeves And her hair like shadow following Enchantment healed his weary feet That over hills were doomed to roam And forth he hastened, strong and fleet And grasped at moonbeams glistening Through woven woods in Elvenhome She lightly fled on dancing feet And left him lonely still to roam In the silent forest listening He heard there oft the flying sound Of feet as light as linden-leaves Or music welling underground In hidden hollows quavering Now withered lay the hemlock-sheaves And one by one with sighing sound Whispering fell the beachen leaves In the wintry woodland wavering He sought her ever, wandering far Where leaves of years were thickly strewn By light of moon and ray of star In frosty heavens shivering Her mantle glinted in the moon As on a hill-top high and far She danced, and at her feet was strewn A mist of silver quivering When winter passed, she came again And her song released the sudden spring, Like rising lark, and falling rain And melting water bubbling He saw the elven-flowers spring About her feet, and healed again He longed by her to dance and sing Upon the grass untroubling Again she fled, but swift he came Tinnúviel ! , Tinnúviel ! He called her by her elvish name And there she halted listening One moment stood she, and a spell His voice laid on her: Beren came And doom fell on Tinúviel That in his arms lay glistening As Beren looked into her eyes Within the shadows of her hair The trembling starlight of the skies He saw there mirrored shimmering Tinnúviel the elven-fair Immortal maiden elven-wise About him cast her shadowy hair And arms like silver glimmering Long was the way that fate them bore O'er stony mountains cold and grey Through halls of ireon and darkling door, And woods of nightshade morrowless The Sundering Seas between them lay And yet at last they met once more And long ago they passed away In the forest singing sorrowless” The true elvish version is far greater and so full of beauty & nuanced mournful sadness that’s break the hearts of mortals from its beauty and sadness so the true song has been sort of taboo and the mannish tongues that retell it is stated to only be a shadow beneath the tree of the true story! (A clip of it is in the original definitive version though. Viggo Mortenson who plays Aragorn designed the melody and style himself and wished it to sound Celtic in nature.)
New Zealand is incredibly proud of these films, and their tourism exploded in popularity thanks to these films. It’s been decades but I’m sure that if the cast rocked up to a pub in NZ today, they wouldn’t have to pay. They’re deeply beloved.
* in the book. In the films it was less, otherwise the filmmakers couldn't have introduced Merry and Pippin at the party. A few months, maybe a year at most.
@@zoesumra9152 the party takes place before Frodo gets the ring.. simply introduce them at the party.. Frodo gets the ring.. 17 years pass.. this is the timeframe in the movies as well.. the year Frodo gets the ring and the year the return of the king ends are the same dates books and film
@@zoesumra9152 and for some reason you believe you can’t simply age pippin? The movies already completed changed merry and pippins personalities yet the idea of simply aging one up seems less plausible than changing the timeframe? (Which has been confirmed by PJ) quite literally the movie timeline happens in the same years as the book… 3001(bilbo leaves the shite) 3018(Frodo leaves the shire with the ring) 3021 Frodo leaves middle earth .. I get that you wanna show you read the books and wanna “correct” people to show your knowledge but at least be correct
Sauron is a Maia (synonymous to an angel) The Maiar are immortal spirits that have existed since before time began, and are also incorporeal but can take physical forms. When Sauron created the ring he put a lot of his own power into it, so when it was removed from him it took him time to regain power and take physical form. The Wizards are also Maiar, who were sent to Middle Earth to keep an eye on Sauron and to aid people in resisting him, they took the forms of Men. (The Wizards are also so powerful that they aren’t allowed to use their full power, for risk of doing more harm than good) The reason why Frodo can be seen when he puts on the ring is because he travels to the “unseen” world where incorporeal beings exist, unlike the “Seen” world where incorporeal beings need to adopt a physical form to interact with it.
Frodo is Bilbo's nephew, and Frodo, Merry, and Pippin are all cousins. Sam works for Frodo as his gardener (Sam's father and grandfather both worked for Bilbo as their gardeners). Bilbo, Frodo, Merry, and Pippin are 'landed gentry'; Merry and Pippin are both heirs to the rulers of autonomous regions known as Buckland and Tuckborough, and Bilbo (and so Frodo, his adopted heir) is from a rich family, made richer by Bilbo's adventures as told in The Hobbit. Sam is a servant, in service to the same family for generations. As in England of the early 20th century, a different class. That's why he uses "Mr. Frodo" (he's also much younger than Frodo, who is fifty years old). Hobbits age slower than humans, and come of age at 33, and Pippin is still 28 and called a "tween", so he still acts like a human teenager. Sam and Merry are both mid-30's. As the story progresses they all become closer, but begin the story with that dynamic and it always stays somewhat with humble Sam. Saruman is worse than a sell-out.... he's a sell-out *and* a double-crosser, because he intends on finding the Ring himself and deposing Sauron, hiding his true plans from him as he feigns servitude. He's a shameless (and effective) liar and is trying to play everyone to his own advantage. He used to be Saruman the White, the most powerful wizard sent from the West, but rejected his post and his task (to help the people of Middle Earth defeat Sauron), and declared himself 'Saruman of Many Colours'. The ringwraiths do not love the water and try to avoid it, but they can endure it if they must. They are blind in the sunlight, and rely on their horses to see for them. Living creatures 'form shadows in their minds' so they can roughly track them, and they can smell living blood. Contrary to the impression in the films, neither the wraiths nor Sauron can locate someone when they put on the Ring. However, when Frodo puts on the Ring in their presence (like on Weathertop), they can physically grab him and take him to Sauron. Normally, they are rather weak physically; their biggest weapon is fear (notice the reaction of the dog, and all the bugs... even animals fear them). Most men will flee or fall down in panic when they're near, and it becomes much worse in the dark. Aragorn (and the hobbits) showed real courage facing five wraiths at night on Weathertop.
13:50 It fell like that because Peter wanted it to portray how "heavy" the ring was for the wearer and to get this shot they actually used a very large replica. Small attention to details like this that showed how much the filmmakers respected and understood the source material is why these movies will forever be one of a kind and among the best movies ever made
@@Knight-In-Green Sauron could use his full maiar powers (well until numenors fall) , while all istari were limited, even Saruman the white (So in case you didnt know, @KP The white is highest ranking, more insight and more maiar power possibilities, the grey is second, the brown third and the blue is 4th. The higher up you are the more acces to your maiar power you have)
Concerning the defeat of Sauron in the prologue, he had invested so much of himself in the ring to control all the others, when he was separated from it he couldn’t hold himself together physically. Enjoy the ride, good you’re watching the Extended movies.
Kinda. In the books he gets straight up bodied by Gil-Galad and Earendil, who also die from their wounds. Isildur wanders over and cuts the ring from Saurons hand, where he lays lifeless. So Saurons loses his body, but is able to endure because of how much he put into the ring. I hate to relate it to something more modern but think of it like a Voldemort Horcrux. Sauron isn’t dead, he’s not really alive either. Like a living shadow.
Good point, maybe I’m influenced by PJ’s depiction. Of course, Rawlings incorporated the concept into the horcrux, which was a clever storytelling device.
I actually prefer FOTR regular run, and then extended for the next two (minus the "yes!" scene from Two Towers lmao--i love that scene, but does not fit the tone of the rest of the film.)
“I shall NOT be Dark. (All evil) will despair”, The elves (Galadriel especially is one of the few remaining that existed before the sun & moon. They pre-existed day & night.) How utterly, completely terrifying do you think it would be for your whole world to irrevocably change in a matter of an hour? For the thousands of years of (what you would come to know as twilight to be abruptly ended in a profundity of genuinely painful light and an infinity of colour? Of the joy, wonder and terror of distinguishing the difference between green and blue for the very first time in your whole life?) She is talking about the immediate, majestic sublimity of reality that one experiences in it's totality for the very first time. How on earth could that not be so terrifying as to threaten one's sanity? Galadriel with the ring would be exactly as beautiful and horrifying. I personally would not know whether to weep bitterly and perfectly, or claw my eyes out through the sheer, unutterable terror of her being in such a circumstance. But know this: she was showing Frodo what would happen if someone else got the ring. She wasn’t tempted at all. Gandalf tells. Galadriel shows. See the difference now. Two sides of the same coin. Both were needed. (But yes there was a more fluid beauty full of colour before the rise of the sun. Her uncle, Fingolfin, whilst in middle earth beheld the first rising of the sun and to see this wide field before him in even more definition than before while he was in Middle Earth. This was also the beginning of the dominion of men.) - • “Beautiful & Terrible as the dawn” Galadriel was quite correct to call the morning and night both “beautiful and terrible…”. In truth the physical and metaphysical natures of morning and night were both by turns beautiful and terrible. First the morning. Physically the morning is the result of the golden fruit of Laurëlin, transformed into a vessel by Aulë’s craftsmen, hallowed by Varda and piloted by the fiery Maiarin spirit Arien. The sun was so terrifyingly powerful that its radiance instilled fear even into Melkor’s heart and defied the assault of his minions. She literally gave up her physical form to take her original form and enveloped the sun; becoming its flames we see today. Physically the sun is a beautiful golden orb yet it is simultaneously terrifying in its intensity and cannot be observed directly for more than an instant without pain. Metaphysically the morning is beautiful because it diminishes the evil power of those creatures who haunt the night, gives strength to the righteous and because it illuminates the serene loveliness of Valinor and Middle-earth. Metaphysically the morning is terrible because it obscures the light of the stars and sheds light on the ugly reality of Arda Marred, whose very substance is corrupted by the power of Melkor. Last the night. The night is the Void surrounding the globe of Arda, which existed even before the creation of the Ainur at the beginning of time itself. Physically the beauty of the night lies in the fact . Physically the terror of the night is that it conceals the beauty of Arda and limits the senses of the elves and gives strength to the creatures of evil such as orcs, trolls and the Ringwraiths. Metaphysically the night is beautiful because it is during the hours of darkness that the stars of Varda, the most beloved creations for the elves, shine most brightly. Metaphysically the terror of the night for elves, who are irretrievably bound to the world of Arda, is that the Void represents the interstellar coldness which is the prison of Morgoth. Terrible in its more original archaic form didn’t always mean “bad” (the sun stuff was to move it into a place where Melkor couldn’t go by virtue of how the Valar and Maiar are bound to the world until it’s ending; (which isn’t the true end either. It’s deep stuff. There ends up another song of creation which all kindreds take part in and working with the powers of that long ago past of our world to rebuild everything. Even the Mountains too, healing it after Dagor Dagorath, Also known as the final battle, the worlds ending. Becoming the greater version of the original form before Melkor’s discord into the first music and so forth which dictated eventually what all ended up ensuing when they entered the world the first time which also was interesting because when they entered it after seeing the complete version it hadn’t been done yet so that was millions of years of work which lead to Middle Earth and the other lands being the remnants of it. Including Valinor being the only remnant of an even older world. At that time of building and tending to the world when the world was young.)
((No spoilers)), Saruman never served Sauron nor bent to him at all in the books. The Gandalf locked in the Tower bit is explained ONLY in the Unfinished Tales Book: In [manuscript-C) The Black Riders arrived at the Gate of Isengard while Gandalf was still a prisoner in the tower. In this account, Saruman, in fear & despair, & perceiving the full horror of service to Mordor, resolved suddenly to yield to Gandalf, & to beg for his pardon & help. Temporizing at the Gate, he admitted that he had Gandalf within, & said that he would go & try to discover what he knew; if that were unavailing, he would deliver Gandalf up to them. Then Saruman hastened to the summit of Orthanc - & found Gandalf gone. Away south against the setting moon he saw a great Eagle flying towards Edoras. See, the thing is he was always master of studying the enemy & even being able to think like they do to always know exactly the best ways to handle ever situation and so on, but the thing is he didn't just become the enemy, he at this time in a sense for once actually grew afraid of him, probably Sauron did what Sauron did with Finrod Felagund in the duel of visions, (Galadriel’s elder brother who by the way was the most important in the Legendarium & is the main reason the third age even exists) which basically widdled Saruman with various visions of the past and future until it wore him down, but Saruman(Curumo) was the mostly already becoming weary due to what was called The Long Defeat, magic bleeding out from the lands of middle earth and subsequently certain things become less and less possible and the elves begin to go west. Even the ones who never wished to leave middle earth and many of which were born here by the thousands. So him also being a student and helper of Aulë of the Valar he was going to fight fire with fire and make a bid for the ring just so Sauron could never regain full power and if Saruman found a way to release himself from his power restrictions even by any small margin or worked with Eru in some way it might have worked out in the end if things went differently enough to where such action from him would be needed. Ontop of that he was growing ever jealous of Gandalf for he received the Varya from Círdan and prior to that was chosen by the other Valar, Nienna’s chosen champion to go to middle earth. But Gandalf(Olórin back then) refused over and over and exclaimed his fear of Sauron(Mairon), varya I feel would have kindle the heart of Saruman to stay strong as he had been fighting the evils of the world for a very long time since he had been sent to Middle Earth. And for the is reason Saruman wished to hold the ring at hostage. Keep Sauron from taking back his full strength and basically use it to stave off The Long Defeat. Saruman is very complex. The Hobbit movies actually shows how he was even 60 years ago during Bilbo’s story. He was one of the main forces thwarting Sauron for over 2000 years. The Númenoreans: the high men of the west; gifted Saruman with Orthanc which was of their making. Now known as Isengard. - saruman is actually trying to doublecross sauron. He wants the ring for himself. He thinks he can control it. The little orcs around saruman are from mordor - sauron's orcs sent to help saruman but also to spy on him. The big fighting orcs - the uruk hai - are loyal only to saruman. Orcs are like that. But its why saruman's orders are a bit vague - to avoid sauron's orcs knowing what saruman is doing. The movies dont make this bit of the story very clear. But notice that, while saruman knows where the fellowship is he never lets Sauron Know.
Sauron initially provided knowledge to a great elven smith about how to create the rings while posing as an elf, his alias was Annatar while he was doing this. He used to be able to shapeshift, very very long story but tldr he can't do that anymore. The methods he taught the elf would have rendered rings that he made vulnerable to the eventual creation of the One Ring. Sauron made the rings given to the men and the dwarves himself, and gave them to men and dwarves himself. The elves however, had something go in their favor. Due to the fact that Sauron did not forge the rings, the elven smith created them, the 3 elven ring bearers were able to sense when Sauron first created and wielded the One Ring. They also were able to conceal themselves from him for the same reason. TLDR; Sauron made the One Ring, the 7 Dwarven rings, the 9 Men rings, but did not make the 3 Elven rings. For the 3 Elven rings he only provided instruction on how to craft them.
Galadriel’s Gift To Gimli part 2 - ever wondered how old Galadriel is during the War of the Ring? I have looked in many different sources and depending on where you look, she’s anywhere from 17,000-20,000 elf-years old. 6,000 seems too young as it would make her close in age to Elrond, who I know is much younger than her even though he’s 6000-8000 by the third age, which wouldn’t make sense for her at all even if she was (“690 elf-years older” as some kept repeating on the internet making 6960!)As she was around long before Elrond was even born and time was experience differently to say the LEAST as there is a lot to go into on that subject lol.) She was born during the Years of the Trees & back then the years were something like 9X longer than a solar year so I understand the math is hard, especially since she isn’t given an exact birth year. But it is said that Finarfin, her father, was born in Y.T. 1230, so I would assume she was born sometime within 1000 years of then (being generous). Basically, I’m wondering what the most accurate range is for her age during the events of Lord of the Rings. I’ll also add that Galadriel is was around before the ents even existed (of which Treebeard is 15,000 years old so she’s OLDER than Treebeard/Fangorn) or very close to when they were “created” by Yavannah and probably had much knowledge to do with such things and or direct knowledge of what happened. Probably through an early prototype of her mirror or simply another dream that made her long for middle earth all over again ontop of the yearning she already had to go there and explore. Nothing to do with Fëanor’s oath and all that jazz. (So by this current era in HUMAN solar years she’s like. 150,000 to 180,000 years old. Now that makes more sense if she’s going to be older than the sun and moon. Tolkien was always reiterating his manuscripts with the growing scientific discoveries.) though Treebeard/Fangorn in the deeper writings is older than Galadriel as he was one of first brought into life by Yavanna to help protect nature while it was put into enhanced hibernation by Yavanna to protect them from Morgoth’s Ring (the poisoning of the world itself which caused it to bleed its magic away over the ages called The Long Defeat by the elves.) Just going from the Appendices (and maybe Silmarillion) she would have to be at least 9000+ years older than Elrond, Elrond was born near the end of the First Age, Galadriel was adult before the destruction of the Trees. Actually, more than that: I just checked, and the Second Age ended in SA 3441. So an elf born literally at the end of the First Age (FA 590) is 3441+3018 = 6459 years old when Frodo leaves for Rivendell. Elrond was born in FA 532, so adds 58 years to get 6517. Elves are mature at 100, so Galadriel adds at leas 632 to Elrond's age, to be at least 7149, and possibly quite a bit more (as attested by other comments.) One fic had Maglor(Elrond’s Adoptive Father, Maedhros was also adoptive father alongside Maglor, they were the eldest sons of Fëanor) - One fic had as much older than Galadriel; I wondered how we knew, and it was pointed out to me that Maglor was the second oldest son of the first son of Finwë, while Galadriel is the youngest child of the third son of Finwë. So, yeah. Note that the second age was the LONGEST and again time was experienced very differently back then too aside from the internal clock of elves working very differently, she’s definitely older as far as the world and the other beings that age far faster around her. I also remind you all that she’s older than the sun and the moon and witnessed & most likely even helped in the Valar’s crafting what would be the vessels of the last fruit & flower of the two trees of Valinor. She was the most involved with learning everything possible from them and it was stated that she learned all there was to learn from ALL of the Valar that they could teach and she mastered all at a deep level. (Wow hey?) She’s 25th generation from Tata one of the elven forefathers to wake to the stars. Their birth was rather shrouded in mist. Only those of her grandfathers ilk have a chance of knowing the origins a bit better as they are closer to that culture that stemmed from the beginning. The Years of the Trees were the second of the three great time periods in Arda that followed the Years of the Lamps and preceded the Years of the Sun&Moon. They were known to be comprised of several Ages and lasted in total around 1500 Valian Years or 14,373 solar years. Time flowed differently back then and time flowed differently within them too for the elves live as long as the world does. Epic hey?❤❤ The Dúnedain said that Galadriel’s height was two rangar, or "man-high" - some 6 feet 4 inches (193 cm). However, Galadriel's most striking feature was her beautiful long silver-golden hair. The Elves of Tirion said it captured the radiance of the Two Trees Laurelin and Telperion themselves. Galadriel was said to be the tallest female in Middle Earth, at 6'4”. But then Thingol was the tallest elf ever to live, and he's estimated to be almost 9' (274 cm) Thingol was also a very very prominent figure within the Silmarillion and other books. He’s the great ancestor of Elrond+Arwen and through Aragorn being directly but distantly related to Elronds Twin Brother Elros it makes him loosely connected to Thingol as well. Let’s just say he died a tragic death long long ago. I’m a continent that doesn’t exist anymore. The events I spoke of in my earlier story of Elrond about his fathers deeds, which lead to the Valar helping with putting a Stop to Morgoth for good so to say and that War Of Wrath lasted 80 years straight and it left the landmass torn asunder from the clash of gods and the holy host of Vanyar elves that were closest to the Valar than all other elves so you can imagine what a bunch of mighty elves men and Maiar fighting a bunch of fowl creatures and beings for 80 years would do to a continent. It all fell into the sea. Galadriel barely made it over the mountain before that part of the story officially broke out.
Meta/Deep Lore time: Sauron is in fact a spirit of evil, once subservient to someone known as Morgoth, a name that might spring up here and there, but not super important to the plot. Anyway, Morgoth was dealt with, and now Sauron steps up to rule Middle Earth according to his image. Gandalf knew of *a* magic ring was with Bilbo, but didn't believe that it was the actual One Ring. Bilbo's age wasn't too much of a giveaway, since that family tends to live a relatively long time anyway. More importantly Saruman, who Gandalf trusted, convinced him that the One Ring was lost at sea when Isildur died. Side note: besides being more powerful, Rings of Power tend to be more ornate and glamorous, while a more common magic ring, which Gandalf believed Bilbo had, were simplistic bands; further compounding the misunderstanding. The One Ring was designed to look like a common magic ring to deceive the other races when Sauron rose to power. The wizards' colors are actually pretty important, each having a different role. Wizards in the LoTR are actually angel-like beings, in the form of old men, sent by the celestials to protect Middle Earth. The White is the leader, the Gray is the guardian/diplomat, and so on. I won't go into the plot of why Saruman is how he is, but know that their colors are extremely significant. IMPORTANT: Despite being angelic beings in the forms of old wise men(hence the wizard term), they were instructed to hold back *SEVERELY.* These beings, and their relevant masters, are way too powerful to go all out. In addition, the celestials want the creatures of Middle Earth to be able to govern and protect themselves after Sauron's gone, so the wizard's job is to basically guide mortals through the wars, not directly fight in them. Wringwraiths are badass af. Kids at school went nuts over them growing up. Gondor is one of the last bastions against Mordor, descendant of the Kingdom of Numenor. Rollll credits!
Yes, Arwen is Liv Tyler, daughter of Steven Tyler from Aerosmith. Fun fact, Steven thought they dubbed his daughter's voice because he couldn't believe that really was her talking.
(Water horse scene explained)), “Nîn o Chithaeglir lasto beth dhaer; Rimmo nîn Bruinen dan in Ulaer” The ‘spell’ that Arwen cries to stop the Ringwraiths from crossing the river. This phrase is from the movies and was not composed by Tolkien. It’s Sindarin! Remaining in Tolkiens spirit! - English : “Waters of the Misty Mountains, hear the word of power; Rush, waters of Bruinen, against the Ringwraiths!” Lady Arwen calls upon the powers of the Misty Mountains and the river Bruinen to rise up as a defense against the evil Ringwraiths. It is a moving reminder of how the Elves once lived in harmony with the lands and waters, able to communicate with spirits of nature. Even now, glimpses remain of their ancient abilities, though fading as the Third Age comes to a close. Thank you for sharing that connection - it is always a delight when lessons in Sindarin reveal deeper insights into the history and cultures of Middle-Earth.
Since you mentioned you are interested in film tricks, they used a great many of them in this trilogy. The lengths they went to insure the hobbits were viewed as very small are unreal, especially when you consider that the majority of them aren't special effects, they're practical. You can see them documented in the behind the scenes footage called the Appendices, which I think do a really good job of showcasing just how much passion everyone working on this series had for what they were doing.
I love that you acknowledge how well the LOTR trilogy has aged, it is the best trilogy ever made imo. Love seeing new reactions to a franchise that has helped shape my childhood.
Y’all do know that the LOTR being a trilogy is only an accident of the needs of Tolkien’s publishers, right? JRRT wanted it published as a single volume but the publishers nixed the idea. Tolkien wrote the story such that it divided into six sections (each named, though with the books published as three separate volumes naming the internal volumes no longer made sense). The notion of F&SF being written as “trilogies” of books became firmly embedded in popular culture, though, and the rest is inadvertent history.
@@joerosenman3480 When I said LOTR trilogy I was exclusively speaking about the films, but neat fact about the literature I don't think I knew that fact!
@@joshray7084Many people came to know and love the LOTR through Jackson’s films. I’m a self-confessed Tolkien nerd; I have all the collected histories and fragments his son collated, edited and published. We walk amongst you! 😮 Some, I’m sorry to say, hold up their noses to the movies because they aren’t perfect representations of the books. And they’re not. But as translations from book to screenplay to film, especially a substantial book, it’s pretty darn good. That’s not to say there aren’t some things I take exception to, there are; I’m especially annoyed at some of the things left out and one fundamental character alteration that violates the underlying world building which Jackson usually respected-but he wanted to correct the male character dominance by replacing an important transient male character that has a deep history with a more significant female character that has a shallower history and has her do things that are impossible for her character. But these are things only us nerds would know; for movie viewers it would be a seamless, invisible change (you probably have no idea what I’m referring to; any fellow nerds know exactly what I’m talking about). Anyway, I wish Jackson had filmed those missing scenes and taken the necessary steps to write the screenplay so an alternate version that was closer to the original could be made. There is probably ten minutes early in the Fellowship before Bree that wasn’t made, some changes in the Two Towers that are more consequential-let’s just say Tolkien wouldn’t be pleased, and in the text Merry & Pippin grew taller making it difficult to film two versions; I think Jackson should just have done it right but I didn’t get a vote. And (spoiler) in the text, Saruman actually died close to the end of the book, violently, in the Shire. And neither Gandalf nor hobbits had a hand in his death. That was part of a dramatic scene only glimpsed In Galadriel’s mirror that actually took place as petty retribution-petty but potent. It also completed the heroes journey, but none of that was shown-or filmed. The bottom line is Jackson’s films are an interpretation of the LOTR and must be judged as such. The gold standard is and must be the original author’s creative work. But given that as an interpretation they will be a derivation and (in all likelihood) a subset of the original Jackson’s LOTR is a stunning achievement, IMO. Now The Hobbit, in contrast, is an abomination. Some of it follows the story but perhaps a third is pure invention, pulled from someone’s nether regions. And we’re all still wondering how Arakeen sandworms got to middle-Earth and are surviving with all that water. Seriously, it’s as if two unrelated books got jumbled together and twisted known characters into impossible shapes. Word is Jackson’s backers wanted another trilogy and there wasn’t enough material in a thinner book for that (there wasn’t!).
Hi, I’m an old lady from Brasil and a big fan of Tolkien specially LOTR and I really love your reaction watching this cus it was MY ON REACTION on the cinema, knowing nothing that was going on the movie and trying understanding or gessing what was going next. God blessed you ❤
At 25:53, the Great Rings were made in the Second Age of the world, over 3000 years ago, by the Elf Celebrimbor of Eregion. He made the Three Rings of the Elves by himself, but in the forging of the Seven and the Nine, he had the assistance of one "Annatar," who was later found to be Sauron in disguise. When Celebrimbor heard Sauron forging the One Ring in the fires of Mount Doom, he hid away the Three Rings, and the following war destroyed Celebrimbor and the realm of Eregion.
The movies throw Isladur under the bus. He kept the ring temporarily to study it, decided it was too dangerous and was on his way to Elrond to ask what to do with it when he was ambushed. The scene where he refuses to throw it in Mt. Doom against Elrond's advice never happened in the books.
At 21:38, after watching the Making Of videos that came with the DVD version of the movies, it is clear to me that of all the people involved in the making of the LOTR movies, the one person who best understood Tolkien's book was Christopher Lee. He was one of those people (like myself) who read the book at least once a year. He would have dearly loved to play the character of Gandalf, but by the time the movies were being planned, he had become too old for the more physically-demanding role of Gandalf. As Saruman, he mostly got to sit on his throne or stroll around Isengard. R.I.P. Christopher Lee.
Your questions are very good, ALL of them are answered in the books and the ultimate lore-bomb "The Silmarillion". I highly recommend the audio books read by Andy Serkis. A delight. As for the process of film creation, this production elevated the standards by miles back then. The additional chapters of the extended version show that in detail and are brilliant to watch.
Gandalf is not human. He is one of 5 wizards. Thousands of years old and send by the Valar to Middle Earth. He is on the same "rank" as Sauron. A direct servant of the Gods.
As someone who was raised on Tolkien, I can say this is the kind of reaction that you dream of! You got so into it, really thought about certain things and you let the story take you away! I'm DEFINITELY subscribing!!
Firstly: All 16 rings were meant to go to the elves ( which lead to 300-500years of his infiltration & deception down the drain.) but Mairon of the Maiar(primordial angelic beings in simple terms as they are sort of beyond angels) disguised as a high elf named Annatar when he came to the elves pretending to be an emissary from Valinor on behalf of the Valar so it makes sense how alluring the ring is and how strong it’s pull on people is. (A bit too instant in the movies though) Galadriel soon saw right through him and especially when after speaking with him regarding not remembering him when in Valinor long ago where she learned from all the Valar thanks to being dominantly Vanyar/Teleri side over her Noldorin side where she gleaned from that encounter that she did not study under Aulë the Vala with any elf named Annatar ! But later named Sauron by the elves meaning deceiver! After all of this, The three elven rings were made in secret without Saurons touch upon them thanks to Celebrimbor! Remember Gandalf before he became Gandalf was the same species of entity Sauron used to be!! Wow hey? The Rings in this case, would have lost their powers eventually due to the lack of the One Ring and possibly because they were designed to defeat evil, & evil in the form of Sauron had been defeated twice already in the past. The Three Elven Rings served their purpose for a long time. Two out of three of them had several different bearers Unlike the other Rings, the main purpose of the Three is to "heal and preserve", as when Galadriel used Nenya to preserve her realm of Lothlórien over long periods. The Elves made the Three Rings to try to halt the passage of time, or as Tolkien had Elrond say, "to preserve all things unstained". I can expand upon this based on any further statements & questions you have for me as a reply to this comment ! ❤ There is problem here with the Rings, the Three were supposed to be never touched by Sauron and that's why they were not corrupting…Sauron had not taken part in their making which made the Three more 'pure' unsullied by his dark power, unlike the Nine and Seven Rings! But Sauron in the show touched the very material they were made of!!! So technically he could have tainted them and corrupted! Even appendices of Lot tell us the order of making the rings, so they didn't even need the righs to more detailed writings in UT or Silmarillion: 1200 Sauron endeavours to seduce the Eldar. Gil-galad refuses to treat with him; but the smiths of Eregion are won over. The Númenoreans begin to make permanent havens. c. 1500 The Elven-smiths instructed by Sauron reach the height of their skill. They begin the forging of the Rings of Power. c. 1590 The Three Rings are completed in Eregion. c. 1600 Sauron forges the One Ring in Orodruin. He completes the Barad-dûr. Kelebrimbor perceives the designs of Sauron. 1693 War of the Elves & Sauron begins. The Three Rings are hidden." 'Did you not hear me, Gloin?' said Elrond. 'The Three were not made by Sauron, nor did he ever touch them. But of them it is not permitted to speak. So much only in this hour of doubt I may now say. They are not idle. But they were not made as weapons of war or conquest: that is not their power. Those who made them did not desire strength or domination or hoarded wealth, but understanding, making, and healing, to preserve all things unstained. These things the Elves of Middle-earth have in some measure gained, though with sorrow. But all that has been wrought by those who wield the Three will turn to their undoing, and their minds and hearts will become revealed to Sauron, if he regains the One." - The 3 Elven Rings are not susceptible to “The One Ring” in any direct way.. They’re only tied by fate to lose their power if Sauron is defeated completely & absolutely. As they were made by the elves and as always they make things for a purpose and pour their literal spirit into things they create. So if Sauron is defeated then the three rings power will fade and basically become almost useless or diminished versions of their original design since by this era magic has bled from the world by a huge degree thanks to Morgoth’s poisoning the world itself with his very essence that he poured into it. Called The Long Defeat By The Elves and The Men Of The West.
Great! Well done, sir! I love that look at the end of the vid that simply screamed "Bruh." TBH for a first time viewer you're picking up on a lot more than other people I've seen have. That says that you're actually paying attention, which many people don't do. So Kudos!! Can't wait to see the next.... 9 hours. :)
Extended scenes at risk of being missed: 1• Frodo/Sam's first meeting with the elves, providing context for Valinor and the elves journey there, as referenced throughout the films and seen at the end of the Return of the King(connects to the passing of the elves in the beginning of their leaving the shire when Frodo and Sam are near the Old Forest by the Shire which leads them to eventually bumping into Merry And Pippin! (An epic scene with Gandalf in Rivendell was also removed as well.) 2. Aragorn singing the Lay of Luthien, providing a parallel between the events of the Beren and Luthien and Aragorn's relationship with Arwen of which every reactor channel I’ve seen makes the connection and it pulls them into a deeper understanding of their relationship every single time. 3. Aragorn kneeling at his mother's grave, giving him some additional backstory for the viewer. 4. Gandalf explaining to Frodo about the corruptive power of the Ring, and how it will strain the Fellowship from the inside, foreshadowing Boromir's downfall. 5. Sam singing a lament for Gandalf, providing more emotional weight to Gandalf's death, referencing the start of the movie and strengthening the connection between him and the Hobbits ( also highlights Tolkien's love of song and poetry in the books). 6. Galadriel giving the gifts to the Fellowship, providing context for their appearance in later films, as well as drawing a parallel between Gimli's gift and the events of the Silmarillion (Fëanor & Galadriel). That’s just the beginning. Including several removed scenes between Aragorn & Galadriel and Aragorn with her husband Celeborn! 7• also the opening explaining Hobbits & their culture to the viewers, so they have a better understanding of these peoples we will be following which also was the direct full chapter called Concerning Hobbits.
Sauron is.... a different class of being. Not man, nor elf, nor dwarf, and certainly not hobbit. He is essentially of an angelic / demonic nature, whose fall to evil happen thousands of years ago. When he made the Rings of Power, he poured in a very large portion of his power, his hatred, and his will to dominate all life into the creation of the One Ring. But this also made him vulnerable when the Ring was severed from him. It did not kill him. Due to the fact that the Ring still existed, he was able to re-form, in time. But that's why he seemed to vaporize / explode when Isildur cut the Ring from him.
This was ALL filmed in New Zealand! Which is absolutely crazy because it has virtually every possible landscape other than rainforests and deserts! Hobbiton, amongst many other things from LOTR, is actually still around in New Zealand and you can go visit. I'm pretty sure LOTR is responsible for A LOT of tourism income in New Zealand 😂.
I love how he brought up the fact that the ring didn't bounce when Bilbo dropped it onto the ground. This was done purposefully to show how the ring held a weight of great power. I love it when these meaningful details get noticed, even if they are not understood, because it took effort to even make the ring not bounce during filming (I think it was done using a magnet, but I can't recall).
This entire series of films was shot in New Zealand because there are no modern things in that area of the world that is tainted with man made structures everywhere, and that makes it fit just perfectly for a Middle Earth scenario
Well there are modern things, just not in the middle of sheep farms and national parks. They did a good job at finding spots! (Also the scenery. Just the scenery omg)
There are a few places they could have filmed it and had a similar effect of scenery and lack of man made structures. Such as Montana USA or Andes Mountains in Peru, Chile etc. But New Zealand was a great choice. :)
@@dhLord64 Word. I live in nz, and 2 hours from where I live i can get to grasslands, forests, mountains, multiple types of coastal areas, rivers and lakes, deserts.......
The song heard when the elves were spotted in the forest by Frodo&Sam near the beginning of the movie: The Elves were singing & chanting a very special Hymn along their journey:(With English translation) * Á Elbereth Gilthoniel “o Elbereth who lit the stars” * silivren penna míriel “from glittering crystal slanting falls with light like jewels” * Ò menel aglar elenath “from heaven on high the glory of the starry host” * na-chaered palan-díriel “to lands remote I have looked afar” ò galadhremmin ennorath “from tree-tangled middle-lands” * Fanuilos, le linnathon “and now to thee, Fanuilos, bright spirit clothed in ever-white, I will ... sing” * nef aear, sí nef aearon “here ... beyond the Sea, beyond the wide and sundering Sea” * Ã Elbereth Gilthoniel² “o Elbereth who lit the stars” * Ò menel palan-diriel “from heaven gazing far” * le nallon sí di’nguruthos “here overwhelmed in dread of Death I cry” * Á tiro nin, Fanuilos “o guard me, Elbereth” (The elvish name given to Varda is Elbereth Gilthoniel is one of the main Valar who are of the main group of entities known as the Ainur who sang the world into being and helped shaped it further from within after some entered into the young world. She is most loved & honoured by the elves for many reasons) It’s very important as regarding the elves history that spanned over 40,000+ years. Because even one of the three high kings within Valinor was 30,000 years old well before the third age. Galadriel is his granddaughter just do you know. Yeah. She’s very important throughout the entire histories. They are passing away with what’s left of their kin to the undying lands. Many thousands had their home in middle earth just like the high kings ancestors that woke to the stars. Their birth is shrouded in mist as is their entire existence itself. That in itself is a whole story. You’d love to react to the immersive and entertaining lore videos like moviejoob & OmarioRPG have done. It’s ever vast and rewarding to let touch your soul.❤❤❤❤ Varda is a Quenya name of Valarin origin meaning "Sublime", "Exalted" or "Lofty" Elentári means queen of the stars in Quenya. Elbereth means queen of the stars in Sindarin. Gilthoniel means kindler of the stars in Sindarin. An original title of Varda, meaning 'the Kindler', and deriving from her making of the first faint stars in ancient times which was to light the dark world which had no sun yet and they loomed over the original Dark Lord (Fallen Valar named Morgoth by the elves) who he feared most above all even as supposedly he was the mightiest and first of all Ainur to ever exist (Ainur is the ultimate race of both Maiar and Valar) When, long afterwards, she used the dews of Telperion, (one of the two sacred trees that predated the Moon of which it birthed later on) to kindle brighter stars still, this honorific name seems to have fallen out of favour. After that time she was called instead Elentári, the Queen of the Stars.
29:43 "Ooh, they can still see him!" Me "Yeah they can really see him now." ... Frodo is in THEIR world when he slips on that ring. You could call it the nether. That Weathertop scene is my fave in FotR. Viggo Mortensen is great as the badass Strider/Aragorn. And the three little Hobbits are fighting their hearts out.
The best way I’ve ever thought of how the one ring corrupts is that it whispers into your subconscious mind like Hannibal Lecter did to the guy in the next cell in the silence of the lambs!
I think you may be my favorite first time reaction. Your interest and excitement to learn more about the world, history, magic system, plot, and film production are so genuine that I was giddy through the whole vid
So so so happy you’re watching these. These films mean so much to me. When I realized you were watching the extended edition, I actually started crying (no judgement, I had a baby 8 weeks ago and am still hormonal and sleep-deprived). I’m kind of envious of you embarking on this journey for the first time, thank you for inviting us along with you for the trip.
Something to bear in mind: Arwen doesn't 'cast a spell' to raise the river and sweep away the Nazgul. She prays to the Valar of the waters and asks him to save her and Frodo. The elves are closer to the Valar than humans or dwarves, so such 'prayers' are more likely to be heard.
I have to say I SO appreciate that you pause and even sometimes rewind the movie. I've never seen another reactor do this, but I do it all the time when I watch stuff to make sure I don't miss anything or that I've understood what was going on. That's when I knew you were legit! Other things that really stood out: the sound effects for curse worse (squeaky toy) and "subscribe" (error pop up window) are HILARIOUS, so good! And as a fellow bookworm and someone who spends a lot of time at the library, it was so funny when you pointed out how there isn't any labeling or organization at the archives Gandalf was at LOLL You're so observant! Looking forward to seeing the rest of your journey with these movies (:
Sauron was the greatest subversive Maia, maker of the One Ring, renowned disciple of Aulë, and chief agent of Morgoth in the Elder Days. After Morgoth's ousting by the Valar, Sauron became the second Dark Lord and sought to conquer most of Arda through guileful trickery, with the Rings of Power or with overwhelming armies.
"the hobbits are just english people" pretty much, tolkien enjoyed relaxing and smoking and he extended that to the hobbits and also the films dont help people not think of weed when they say weed but its tobacco just like tolkien smoked and appreciated
I love the way Tolkien wrote the Hobbits as idealized pastoral English folk. Not particularly wise or beautiful, neither great warriors nor scholars. A humble folk who work the earth and enjoy the simple comforts of life.
A fun fact: Bilbo's birthday is also Frodo's birthday. It's been a while since I read everything, but I think that Frodo turned 33 on that day. There's also a gap of 17 years between Gandalf leaving the party and returning after his journey/research. This would put Frodo at 50 and Bilbo at 128 when they meet back up in Rivendell. This was a great reaction, btw. The fact that you stop to try to piece things together...that's the right way. But there is a lot going on that you won't catch regardless. Either because it's kind of subdued or not explained at all. However, that makes for quite wonderful rewatches, as you'll continually pick up on things you may have missed or misinterpreted before. And you said something in the beginning about losing time because you'll have to read the books. YES. You can never delve too greedily or too deeply into the lore of Tolkien's worlds (to paraphrase a bit from one of my favorite podcasts). And you are pretty close to the mark by saying something like this series is the foundation of modern fiction. There are others, for sure: CS Lewis, Asimov, Lovecraft, HG Welles etc. But Tolkien's works have definitely been more influential over a vast array modern storytelling. So I definitely recommend reading whatever you can get your hands on once you finish the movies. The core works would be The Hobbit, The LotR and the Silmarillion (which functions as a mythical framework explaining the lore of Middle Earth in a very Old Testament kind of Biblical style. And it's AWESOME.) Anyway, welcome to Arda. Enjoy your stay.
i literary just found your channel like 40 min ago cause i was searching for a 300 movie reaction! really looking forward to your lotr reaction, you seem like a good person, cheers!
Your insights and ability to comprehend what’s going on scene by scene, with only a first time viewing, is majorly impressive! Most recent example for me, watching the Council of Elrond, you’re like “Man Frodo is tied to the Ring, he’s bonded…no wait, this is the influence of the Ring and only Frodo is resistant to it, this is what is does to people” like how do you just get that right away? Super mad props. Also, hearing you relentlessly compare Hobbits to the English because of their love for food and drink, hysterical! And my favorite line of all - “It’s like the orcs are having a competition for who’s the ugliest and they’re All winning.” Incredible ❤️ Can’t wait for Pt. 2!
8:47 oh i LOVE that you immediately hit on this! They had to use SO many different practical effects to get the character scales right in every shot. i highly recommend looking into it, it's genuinely fascinating!
The current ages of the characters: Frodo Baggins is 53. Samwise Gamgee is 38. Meriadoc Brandybuck (Merry) is 36. Peregrin Took (Pippin) is 28. Gandalf (Olòrin) - is 15,000 (in his current form. Aragorn is (won’t say, you’ll find out). Legolas is 2,931. Gimli is 139. Boromir son of Denethor II is 41! Elves aged differently than men and dwarves. They did not suffer from old age or disease, and their lives were not limited by a fixed number of years. Instead, they aged very slowly, remaining youthful and vigorous for much longer than mortals. Though they could voluntarily leave their bodies and the ultimate thing that can kill them is grief or Sorrow that’s palpable enough for them to just not wish to live anymore. Here are the ages of some of the main Elves of the Third Age, as of the War of the Ring: 1. Elrond Half-elven - over 8,586 while his daughter is 3,777 old! 2. Galadriel - around 20,000(180.000 in solar human years [1 elf year is one lifetime of man] but time is counted, felt & experienced very differently before the birth of the sun and moon. ❤) 3. Celeborn - 20,000; (he may have been alive before her birth or around the same time as his lineage that he lived amongst his forefathers and kin might suggest he is older but they are both very ancient.) 4. Glorfindel (replaced scenes with Arwen in the movies but it helped prop up Aragorn’s Film character progression. I still think they could have incorporated them both in the scenes somehow and included the other important stuff that went on in that forest meeting Glorfindel and his company of elves)- he’s over 2,000 (although he had been re-embodied after dying in the First Age which means his Fëa {spirit} is far older than 2000.) 5. Thranduil - over 8000, (as he was born in the First Age and lived in Doriath with his father Oropher; Thranduil is also the father of Legolas. (As Haldir mentioned him when speaking to Legolas in Lothlòrien during the first movie’s extended scene. He shares the same kindred elven clan as to Celeborn(Galadriel’s husband). It's worth noting that Elves could choose to die voluntarily, usually when they grew weary of life or when they had fulfilled their purpose in the world. However, their spirits would then depart to the Halls of Mandos and could eventually be re-embodied in a new body I meant to add that Frodo was 51 when he left due to the whole Gandalf coming back to the shire after many years. that explains why his youthful appearance didn’t change much throughout the entire film!
I waited for part 2 before i watch this and i love how open you are to it and how much you immediately caught and the kinds of questions you are asking really show how invested you are :)
Youi have to know that Sir Christopher Lee was the only person involved with the movies who had met J.R.R. Tolkien in the flesh, and who made it a personal tradition to reade the entire trilogy each and every year.
in later years interviews he seemed to have some alzheimer like stuff going on (forgetting the question that was asked) but he could clearly remember everything Tolkien book related!
Glad you're watching the extended version. It's the only version! They used many different tricks to sell the tall/small aspect of the characters: blue screen (rare), forced perspective, scale doubles (both small and large) and more.
Bilbo Walking Song: “Roads go ever ever on, Over rock and under tree, By caves where never sun has shone, By streams that never find the sea; Over snow by winter sown, And through the merry flowers of June,Over grass and over stone, And under mountains in the moon. Roads go ever ever on Under cloud and under star, Yet feet that wandering have gone Turn at last to home afar. Eyes that fire and sword have seen And horror in the halls of stone Look at last on meadows green And trees and hills they long have known” The original version of the song is recited by Bilbo in the last chapter of The Hobbit, at the end of his journey back to the Shire. Coming to the top of a rise he sees his home in the distance, and stops and essentially sings what I shared above! There are three versions of this walking song in The Lord of the Rings. The first is sung by Bilbo when he leaves the Shire and is setting off to visit Rivendell: “The Road goes ever on and on, Down from the door where it began. Now far ahead the Road has gone, And I must follow, if I can, Pursuing it with eager feet, Until it joins some larger way Where many paths and errands meet. And whither then? I cannot say.” The second version is identical except for changing the word "eager" to "weary" in the fifth line. It is spoken aloud, slowly, by Frodo, as he and his companions pause on their way to Crickhollow, looking beyond to lands that some of them have never seen before. The third version is spoken by Bilbo in Rivendell after the hobbits have returned from their journey. Bilbo is now an old, sleepy hobbit, who murmurs the verse and then falls asleep. “The Road goes ever on and on Out from the door where it began. Now far ahead the Road has gone, Let others follow it who can! Let them a journey new begin, But I at last with weary feet Will turn towards the lighted inn, My evening-rest and sleep to meet.” 1977: The Hobbit (1977 film): Sections of the poem are sung during the trip through Mirkwood. It appears on the soundtrack titled "Roads". 1980: The Return of the King (1980 film): A song inspired by the poem is sung at the end of the film called "Roads Go Ever, Ever On". 1981: The Lord of the Rings (1981 radio series): Bilbo sings the song as he leaves Bag End. It is sung by John Le Mesurier to a tune by Stephen Oliver. 1997: An Evening in Rivendell: The Tolkien Ensemble adapted an original melody to the song, composed by Caspar Reiff. 2001: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring: Parts of the song are sung by Gandalf in his first appearance, and also by Bilbo as he leaves Bag End. 2006: The Lord of the Rings Musical: The poem is the basis of the song "The Road Goes On" sung by Sam, Frodo, Merry, and Pippin in the first act. 2014: The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies: Lines of the poem partially make up the lyrics of The Last Goodbye, performed by Billy Boyd(Pippin) for the credits of the film. This is just stuff to know when you see the next films. Maybe seeing this will spark something you read here or in other people’s comments via future reactions to the other 2 films as well as the 3 The Hobbit movies!
If u listen to audiobooks when ur driving around or whenever, get the LOTR audio books narrated by Andy Serkis. Learning the true depths of this lore is rewarding beyond imagination, and Serkis narrates it beautifully. Regarding who forged the One ring and the rings of power: Sauron was a Maia, an angel-like creature and the same order of Gandalf and the Balrog, studied under the "god" of Smithing, Aule, becoming very skilled in crafting and was regarded the strongest Maia. He was, however, corrupted and recruited by the first Dark Lord, Melkor/Morgoth, who taught Sauron the dark arts, including necromancy and shapeshifting. After Morgoth's eventual defeat, Sauron escaped and decided to take position as the Dark Lord of Middle Earth. His biggest foes were the elves, so he infiltrated the elves in disguise and taught them incredible knowledge of smithing and forging, tricking them into making the Rings of Power primarily to deceive the elves and other races in order and to gain domination over them. Sauron made the One ring alone, in the furnaces of Mount Doom, with the ability to manipulate and dominate anyone who wore a lesser ring of power that he tainted.
Dude I’m so glad you’re taking your time to listen and digest the scenes and dialogue, so many just speed past it and then end up not understanding or remembering anything. I really enjoyed your reaction and I cannot wait for part 2 and the other two films, they only get better and better. The best trilogy ever made and after 20+ years it all holds up extremely well, incredible film making.
So much fun to rewatch for the “first time” with you. After seeing this movie a 100 times over it brings back that first time excitement watching the reaction. Thanks for sharing!
“I shall NOT be dark, all EVIL will despair” part 2 - All creatures whose flesh are nourished by the matter of Arda have a tendency towards Melkor AKA Morgoth, for greater or lesser. Since Melkor poured his evil power into the very existence and essence of the world(Morgoth’s Ring” book explains a lot including how and when he put a portion of his remaining power into the earth itself. Sure, Galadriel was born in the Undying Lands where there was supposed to be no evil (souls of the Elves are greatly less subject to making faulty decisions), but Galadriel & the rest of her father's kin were directly targeted by the Evil Lord himself. Melkor corrupted a decent portion of the Noldor, basically telling them things along the lines of “My Valarin kin are cooping you all up in Valinor.”, which wasn’t their ancestral homeland to begin with, like Middle Earth was, Some were affected little, most were affected to greater degrees, and Galadriel was the least affected woman by the lies of Melkor, which were “sweet but poisoned honey" as she’d call his words. Her natural pious tendency towards goodness & kindness as shown by her ability to read the hearts of everyone and all living beings around her which aids her to provide what anyone truly needs. Due to the magic bleeding from the world as the ages went on; thanks to Morgoth’s Ring poisoning the earth long ago; lead to a what if scenario in her mind as she’d be the only living creature left with the skills & power to even use the ring. She didn’t need her ring at all to block him out of her realm telepathically as well as read his mind from afar without him knowing. But there is a difference between good people who are a bit morally challenged and the evil people. The evil folk act upon their impulses and unlawful desires, while the good folk overcome such flaws within themselves (and for some not always they can masterfully do this). Galadriel WOULD NEVER listen to Melkor and tread the path of toxic pride and ambition. Galadriel has a Fëa spirit that’s only grown larger as the ages passed on and on. Enough to channel into an effect that threw down fortress walls, without tiring her at all. And with that much Fëa, she is capable of holding her own against Maiar for a good long while, much like her brother Finrod did against Sauron, or her uncle Fëanor did against Balrogs. Fëanor effectively lost all claim to the crown when he rebelled and dragged his entire house to Middle Earth. Where he promptly died a heroic death after slaying several Balrogs at the Dagor-nuin-Giliath; The Elves first encountered Lord Of Balrogs named Gothmog in the Dagor-nuin-Giliath; (meaning “the battle fought under stars”) before the first rising of the Moon. In that battle, Fëanor's fury had caused him to draw forward of the main force of the Noldor, and so he came upon Gothmog with only a small guard left around him that rushed so deep into enemy territory. Fëanor slayed 2 or 3 balrogs at once & Gothmog slayed him after one bound him suddenly with its primordial flame whip when he was supposed to have an uninterrupted “one on one” duel with Gothmog but one wasn’t wanting to play fair. But he was fatally wounded and so his sons and host moved him away to a safe place where his body burned up from the fires of his own spirit. Even with a lesser ring like Nenya, Galadriel had enough of a boost in her Fëa(spirit) , that she could sustain an unassailable magical realm against Maiar and virtually anything on Middle-Earth. Only problem was when Sauron wore the one ring, she had to take off Nenya, and had to lose that Maia level Fëa spirit from the modernly termed “boosted power up” With the one ring, Galadriel would have such a boost in her Fëa spirit, that she’d literally become stronger than the foundations of the Earth. Due to Galadriel’s immense native Fëa, she was prone to a super healthy pride and a small lust for dominion/ but not domination, her goodness kept this pride from going over to the dark side. Galadriel at heart was extremely good so she’s definitely not evil. She never once is called queen or desires to be called such a thing, she and her husband Celeborn became the wiseman and wisewoman of that realm; after the previous elven lord Amroth died and his wife Nimrodel disappeared ontop of the fact Amroth’s Successor later died as well in the “Last Alliance”, (same battle shown in the prologue to Fellowship Of The Ring), All Evil Despairs at her presence let alone hearing her name on the wind. The Nazgûl themselves avoid her realm every chance they get to the point of choosing to go the long way around for over 100 miles just to avoid her. (So she’s definitely scary to foul entities that have turned away from Eru Îlluvatar the one AllFather.) She’s a totally good character. Aragorn even says to the Fellowship as they enter Lothlórien, “There is in her and this land no evil, unless a man bring it hither himself. Then let him beware!” If you’re going by her portrayal in the movies, you might think she has an evil element to her character, but that came from Peter Jackson’s portrayal of the addictive, coercive power of the Ring. When Frodo offered her the Ring, it presented her with visions of herself as the all-powerful Goddess of Middle-Earth. Luckily, she was smart & intuitive enough to realize that the Ring was totally evil, and despite the best of intentions, it would have turned her evil in the end-but she still would have appeared to be beautiful and good. I don’t agree with Jackson’s “drowned Galadriel” portrayal of her being tempted by the Ring-I think she’d have appeared as a supernatural being of divine beauty, and her regular appearance was close to that already, but how do you show that in a movie? Apparently, in her youth in Valinor, she was somewhat of a rebel, but that’s not necessarily evil. She certainly could have fallen into the same trap as her uncle Fëanor did, of thinking that everyone was entitled to her opinion-but she kept her ego in check. (If you’re not sure what I’m referring to there; please read The Silmarillion and “Unfinished Tales”.) No matter how noble her reason was to use the ring as a last resort, especially if said fellowship fell off the “edge of the knife” as she called it. she had a change of heart which happened in the middle of talking to Frodo. Galadriel left Valinor(The Undying Lands) for a reason - and it was different from most of the other elves. She wasn’t with her uncle Fëanor, who wished to make war against Morgoth and retrieve the Silmarils - she was not wishing to go to war, and had no interest in the Silmarils in which Melkor stole from Fëanor which was the surviving light of the two trees of Valinor within them that the only Fëanor; the master of all elven smiths could have accomplished but it could not be done a second time as is any pure creation of one’s heart, especially in regards to the elves and Valar alike. Though she traveled with her other uncle, Fingolfin, her goals were not aligned completely with his either despite her full support of her noble and regal uncle Fingolfin in general. - They both wished to keep an eye on Fëanor and make sure the Noldor were in good hands - Galadriel wasn’t interested in Fëanor and wanted her own realm. After spending some time in Doriath, Galadriel and her husband Celeborn passed to the east out of Beleriand and passed eastward through Eriador and over the Misty Mountains; to where she founded her own realm in what became renamed as Lothlórien. Her motivation and goal was to preserve her realm, possibly at any means necessary. With Sauron’s return in the Third Age, Galadriel was forced to ask herself how far she would go to preserve her realm. If Frodo failed, she must forsake her own ring & her realm. If he succeeds, her ring will lose power and her realm will fade. Would she seize the ring, taking Sauron’s power for her own, to save her realm? She decided she would not. She had decided to “test” the Fellowship, to find some flaw that would allow her to justify seizing the ring, and she did find a flaw - in herself. She stated to Frodo, that by telling her that he would offer her the ring if she asked, that she had come to test his heart, but found that he was testing hers. She had a change of heart, she would pass into the West, and remain Galadriel. Which one is better? Being born completely good and living your whole life without any evil inside, or having a character growth ?
Gandalf is what is known as a Maia, a celestial being that has existed before time itself. He and some other Maia were ordered to to assist the peoples of Middle Earth in their fight against Sauron (who used to be like them, and was thought to be one of if not the strongest Maia, but got corrupted by another, more powerful being). They are not allowed to use their full strength for fear of what it could do to the world around them, and are forced to take the forms of old men. They are not allowed to fight Sauron directly, so they act more like guides and advisors. The balrog was also a Maia
It goes beyond “not allowed.” In becoming Gandalf/Mithrandir, most of his angelic powers were locked away. His spirit was placed into that of a seemingly old human man that aged slowly-that shared the needs and pains of humanity (he ate, slept, pained and could be killed). This so he could be act *as* one with humanity because his task was to help, inspire, rally all free peoples in the coming fight against Sauron (which makes Saruman’s obdurate insistence that the One was forever lost all the more dishonest but I digress). While the wizards had some of their native powers the impression we are left with is that it is a mere fraction; and we’re given no basis to judge or compare. We know (from other events-spoilers) that in Tolkien’s universe a being has a physical nature and a spiritual essence (aka soul) that can operate separately and have different destinies. Maia *have* no fixed physical nature-they create (and destroy) them as suits them. Their spiritual essence is effectively their presence. But the wizards, by being placed into fixed physical forms, were restricted… Of course Gandalf had a substantial secondary boost but that, too, is a spoiler. 🔥 🧙♀️💥
This trilogy is a beautiful showcase of storytelling in film. It is loaded with dialogue and lore. But so much of the story is portrayed visually and musically that you could still follow it even without the words.
Sorry i had to make the footage audio a bit echoe-y. Otherwise UA-cam literally wouldn’t let it pass (no pun intend)
Actually I lied, that pun was 100% intentional
Welcome to tge world of trying to Post a LotR reaction.
They are straight nasty about it
One of the main reasons it holds up so well is that the majority of the effects were practical, real locations such as the Shire, real actors in masks and costumes, really large scale models of buildings such as Rivendell, very limited use of CGI.
Please react to the Rankin Bass version of The Hobbit.
@@jonathonfrazier6622🎶The Greatest Adventure
Is what lies ahead for Lemmywinks🎶
One can never watch the LOTR too late or too early; one watches the LOTR precisely when they need to.
Need this on a shirt
Dito for the books
One does not simply watch the first movie without watching the other two.
You know of what i speak... A great film, flawless, wreathed in praise.
[...]
I have seen it.
@@MrMcbear I would buy that shirt. 😂
You caught something that most reaction viewers don't and that was when Bilbo drops the ring, it doesn't bounce and is immensely heavy, this helps drive home the point of the ring being a burden.
Well it’s metaphorically immensely heavy, they used magnets under the floor to keep it from bouncing to portray the emotional weight of the rings corruption
@@Sleeeeepy_D yeeeeeeah
@@Sleeeeepy_Dwhere DLO at
@@Sleeeeepy_Dwhere DLO at?
It's cool how they did it too. They made a giant ring prop and put magnets in the floor to ensure it hit hard but didn't bounce.
Fun fact: Christopher Lee was the ONLY cast/crew member that had actually met Tolkien. (Realize Christopher Lee fought in WWII, he was old) RIP ❤
Plus Christopher Lee was involved in the ungentmanly warfare of WW ll.
Looking forward to his biography!! RIP
He also starred as Count Dooku in Star Wars
@@Samurai9901
And is the only sw cast member that actually met an alien
"fought in WWII" well that's an understatement...
Thousands of years ago, Sauron disguised himself a a beautiful and helpful being who worked with great Elvish craftsmen. He taught them the art of making rings and together they made 9 rings for Men and 7 rings for Dwarves. By then, the Elves had learned enough and they made (by themselves) 3 rings for the Elves. So their rings were never touched by Sauron and remained uncorrupted. But when Sauron made his One Ring and put it on, the Elves became aware of what he had done and took their rings off, for even uncorrupted, their rings were still linked to the evil of Sauron through the craft that he had taught them.
His name is Mairon "The Admirable". Sauron is one of the many derogatory names given to him (and Gorthu, Gorthaur). Annatar was but a disguise.
The three are still worn - at the time of the War of the Rings one by Galadriel, one by Elrond, and one by Gandalf. The three were hidden from Sauron, not just taken off.
All the Rings were originally made for the elves, but when Sauron made The One, he tipped them off to his plan and they rejected all of them but three (which were made in secret, exclusively by the elves, with no help from Sauron). Then, Sauron came and did battle with the elves, and killed Celebrimbor, and took the Rings back. Then He alone distributed them to the Men and the Dwarves.
They didn't take their rings off. They worked to magically hide them, partly by never using their power except in passive ways, like concealing their realms and protecting their borders.
The DM notes right there which only Gandalf and Aragon read while the rest of the party struggled with making a character sheet lol
The more powerful you are, the more dangerous you are with the ring. Simple folk like hobbits, with purer hearts are less easily corrupted. Thats why Gandalf wont touch it
To be more accurate, the one ring will tempt it's owner with his deepest desires. But hobbits have no such desires, no greed, no lust for power, they just wanna live a simple life. Leaving the ring with next to nothing to exploit
@@zaer-ezart Hobbits are harder to corrupt but even they give in in the end. Nobody can resist it fully except Tom Bombadil.
"Here all other powers were subdued".
Anyone(most likely) would fall to the corruption of the Ring while bearing it in Mount Doom itself. But it's also implied that Bilbo and Frodo specifically are extraordinary Hobbits; not only in their relationships with the Ring, but in their resilience to it's corruption, compared to the other bumbling fools around them. It's remarked how one of their ancestors "must have taken a fairy wife", and in the Lord of the Rings especially; there's quite a bit of divine intervention going on to help especially Frodo on his journey. So I very much doubt that just any Hobbit could pick it up and go about their days as Bilbo did for 60 years, no matter how 'chill' and unambitious most of them are.
@@Knight-In-Greenwhich is strange cos they both are obviously more prone for adventure then other hobbits hence probably more ambitious and driven. By this logic, the most resilient to the corruption must be Sam, although even get is driven by desire to keep Frodo safe.
@@ЯАга-я4л one of the things that sets them apart is their knowledge, while someone like Sam could resist the ring with little difficulty, it’s the “nobility” of Frodo granted by his living with and being taught by bilbo who has escaped the simple mindset of most hobbits.
Wisdom and courage hand in hand is necessary
actually laughed out loud at the 'so the hobbits are basically just traditional English people'. Yes, yes they are 😆
Yup, lol
yup. Tolkien LITERALLY made a myth for England because it never had one that was purely English.
Answer: where shot?: the ENTIRETY of these movies was shot in New Zealand. And fun fact, they physically built Hobbiton for the movies several times, but the land owner actually had them PERMANENTLY make it the last time they had to film there.
So Hobbiton is and actual place you can Airbnb and visit in New Zealand now.
Friend of mine recently went and had drinks in the Green Dragon tavern. Just imagine.
I live 20 minutes from Hobbiton and I've only been once 😂 they have dinner events where you can buy tickets and basically have a party at the green dragon 👌
And the first time they built it, they gave it a solid year for plant life to grow and make everything look settled before filming started.
My dad gave me these books when I was 10 or 11 years old.. A year or two later, 'Fellowship' came out and he took me out of school go go see it at the first showing 🙃 To our surprise, the theatre was PACKED to the brim with mostly 50+ year old dudes; we actually got pretty awful seats in the very front far-left because Dad didn't expect many people to be there. There was this white-haired, bearded sweetie grampa Santa Claus-lookin' fella alone in front of us, and before the movie started he leaned back toward us and said, 'I've waited forty years for this'. ❤ All of our faces were mottled red and swollen from crying afterward. 🙃 It was magical and will forever remain one of my all-time favorite memories, aaand it cemented in me to always try to read the book(s) before seeing a movie! 🙃
ALSO!! Your curiousity about every aspect of Tolkien's world is so exciting to watch. It makes me feel a tad emotional, like how I felt as a kid reading the books for the first time. sooo, thanks -- this was a nice little blip of happy in the otherwise 'blehhh' kind of day I've had. OKIE DOKIE be well, my friend!
That theatre experience sounds incredible.
Thanks for articulating why this video is so good.
Do you have instagram by any chance neighbor?
I never had the luxury of seeing it in theatres. 😮💨 I did however, end up going on a LOTR watch marathon when all 3 movies came out on BLURAY.
That's beautiful, and thankfully the movie adaptions were such masterpieces.
Watching people realize this is where that meme comes from gives me so much joy. LOL
Same! It happens all the time and every single time I giggle about it.
😅😅😂😂😂 I love it so much! Each realization is so much gold🎉🎉
- which meme?
- yes
Christopher Lee was a MASSIVE lotr fan, he read the books every christmas, and had a lifelong dream of starring as Gandalf in an adaption. He wanted to move away from the villain typecasting, so he didnt want to play Saruman. He had even spoken with Tolkien himself who said that Lee would have made a great Gandalf. Infact, he initially auditioned for the role of Gandalf, but ultimately was offered the role of Saruman. So glad that he was able to fulfil his lifelong dream (partially) before he passed
Bro this is THE fantasy movie this is the one that started it all. Don’t feel ashamed for never watching this trilogy cause tbh allot of people including myself would give ANYTHING to have the ability to watch this trilogy for the first time. Yes it’s that good.
Damn right, I would give anything to be little me again watching it on the big screen
It's why I enjoy watching these first time reaction videos. I can almost relive it through their reactions. 😊😊
I can relate, but I think watching it as a fan who hasn't seen it in a while is an equally good experience. Oh, and with a really good sound system.
I think he ruined it for himself by pausing every 30 seconds.
We watch it all over again through. Their eyes. And how they treat these movies tends to make it break channels based on this fact alone. Every single time.
At 20:24, you wonder about the limits of Gandalf's powers as a Wizard. This is the basic dilemma found in all fantasy stories: If Gandalf is so powerful, why doesn't he just teleport the Ring to Mount Doom? Convincing fantasy stories require limits to the supernatural powers of their characters. These powers, exhibited by various of the story's characters, are always limited in their action. Tolkien writes concerning the Wizards, "...they came out of the Far West and were messengers sent to contest the power of Sauron...but they were forbidden to match his power with power, or to seek to dominate Elves or Men by force and fear. They came therefore in the shape of Men, though they were never young and aged only slowly, and they had many powers of mind and hand..."
Indeed, they were to guide and offer counsel, knowledge, and wisdom - not raw power or miracles. Their time in Middle Earth was limited, and if mortal races became too dependent on them, the world would fall into chaos once they're gone. Therefore, it had to be the men, elves, and dwarves who would destroy Sauron. A much more difficult way, but one that wouldn't depend on powers from above.
Here is your explanation and everyone else about this and a brief explanation of the three rings:
that was already explained by Tolkien if i understand correctly. Gandalf, Sauron and the wizards all use to live and work with Sauron... who was one of them. They all had gods to teach them. Saurons focus was the dark arts and when his master Melkor became evil so did sauron. So the one god, illuvatar decided to send the demi gods in the form of old men and wizards to assist the other races of middle earth and battling sauron. However he too understood that their powers were to be limited so they could not corrupted by sauron
Gandalf is also unique in that when he was sent to and landed in middle earth, the elven ship lord cirdain recognized who he really was and gifted Narya, the elven ring of fire. With its powers According to Unfinished Tales, at the start of the War of the Elves and Sauron, Celebrimbor gave Narya to Círdan, Lord of the Havens of Mithlond, who kept it after Gil-galad's death. In the Third Age Círdan, recognizing Gandalf's true nature as one of the Maiar from Valinor, gave him the ring to aid him in his labors. It was described as having the power to inspire others to resist tyranny, domination, and despair (in other words, evoking hope from others around the wielder), as well as giving resistance to the weariness of time:
"Take now this Ring," he said; "for thy labors and thy cares will be heavy, but in all it will support thee and defend thee from weariness. For this is the Ring of Fire, and herewith, maybe, thou shalt rekindle hearts to the valor of old in a world that grows chill" (Círdan the Shipwright to Gandalf).
Vilya was the ring of air and dominance. Like narya, both were worn by GIl Galad. After his death, it passed to elrond its powers included the ability to preserve and heal (like he saved frodo from becoming a ringwraith) and potentially the power of foresight, which you see in the two towers and return of the king in a scene...
The third ring is my favorite that was Nenya, given by celebrimbor to galadriel. Its powers were preservation, protection and concealment from evil. Galadrial is special as she was born in valinor and knew sauron (the writings even mention he liked her and wanted her to join her as his queen) Galadriel is also a descendant of high power elves and trained by gods of the undying lands.., as for her own powers: Galadriel possessed a tremendous amount of magical powers, and was said to be the greatest of the Ñoldor in that regard after Fëanor. When she still lived in the Undying Lands, she had been a pupil of Yavanna and Aulë, and she later became a friend of Melian the Maia. Hence, it can be deduced that she had learned her powers from these three illustrious personages, though the nature of her magic is still not well-understood. In The Unfinished Tales, it is suggested that her powers of divination and seeing into the minds of others were innate.
While the fellowship and frodo were battling in helms deep and minas tirith, galadrial protected lothlorian 6 times from attack and also helped the attack on saurons evil fortress dol guldor with elves, ents, dwarves and thranduils kin (legolas' father). She could only be defeated in battle if sauron himself fought in single combat.. When the ring was destroyed she usd the last of her powers to teleport to the evil fortress and summoned a lightning storm and tornado to destroy the evil presence, and restored the beauty of the forest that was destroyed by evil.
fellow ring fans an tolkien experts please correct but i tried to capture the jist of it for common movie lovers to understand.
@@Krobra91 yes make ssense how you explain it ,, i have read most Quora responses too. we read hobbit at grade 8 .. did all 500 questions,,.. still,, i never knew Tolkien wrote family members as demigods ,,, yes you understood it well.
In case @kp reads to learn more about the wizards. there Are different "types" of wizards, you aren't wrong. You'll see in the prequel movies there are some who wear Blue and others wear Green. There is so much lore in the books than the movie (or show) could ever depict.
There were 5 wizards, or Maia, sent to Middle Earth. Saruman the white, Gandalf the Grey, Radaghast the Brown and two blue wizards who went far east and weren’t really heard from again.
Excellent reaction! I love when new viewers pay close attention and take the story seriously, giving it and Tolkien the respect deserved. Since you asked for details and history, here is a no spoiler mini-explanation (very simplified) to help fully appreciate The Lord of the Rings.
The author is JRR Tolkien, who was an Oxford professor, a linguist/philologist and historian. He literally spent his entire life creating the world of Middle-earth, the novel published in 1954. His purpose was to write a mythology history for England, including a creation story inspired by his devout Catholic faith. The languages heard in the movie were created, completely, by Tolkien. Several dialects of Elvish, the dwarf language, and the Black Speech of Mordor.
In Tolkien’s world, Eru Ilúvatar is the Creator. Aiding in fulfilling his purpose are the Valar (think archangels) and Maia (angels). Some (not all) of the Valar and Maia have significant roles through the ages. Also, a few Valar and Maia are evil. The events in LOTR take place in the Third Age, with the forging of the great rings and battle seen in the prologue occurring in the Second Age. In other words, there is a ton of history over thousands of years leading up to this particular story.
Sauron, the Dark Lord, is a Maia. Gandalf and Saruman are also Maia, and they (along with three others) were sent by Eru Ilúvatar to Middle-earth to aid in the fight against Sauron. They are called the Istari, or Wizards. Their magical powers are limited but they are still very powerful. The “old man” appearance was to appeal as wise men but does not directly translate to being aged as they are literally ageless beings. They were sent to guide, instruct, and impart wisdom, not to be warriors or solve problems, hence the rare use of "magic". Incidentally, the Balrog is also a Maia (one of the evil ones), which is why Gandalf had to confront it.
Elves are immortal. They can be killed in battle, but their souls return to Valinor (the Undying Lands), the dwelling place of the Valar, and are given a new body. Valinor is separated from Middle-earth, reachable only by ships built by the elves at the Grey Havens. You will often see some calling it "heaven" as a simplistic way to describe it, but this is wrong. Valinor is called the Undying Lands because immortal flesh-and-blood elves dwell there in harmony with the Valar, who are spirit beings with a bodily form. Valinor is not an after-death spirit realm like heaven. Valinor is where elves were always meant to permanently reside, not Middle-earth, which is why they are slowly leaving. Aside from a handful of notable exceptions, elves are the only race to ever set foot on Valinor.
There have been only two other elf and human unions, so Arwen and Aragorn are very unique. In all cases, the elf maiden had to choose mortality to be with the human man she loved. This is a BIG deal, just keep that in mind. Lord Elrond of Rivendell is the child of one such union. He was also faced with a choice, deciding to be an elf. His twin brother, Elros, chose to be human, becoming the first King of Númenor. Directly from his line came Elendil and Isildur, and then much later Aragorn.
Side note: The vial of starlight that Galadriel gave to Frodo is captured light from the star of Earendil (very long story told in The Silmarillion) who was a half-elf and the father of Elrond and Elros.
Galadriel is by far the most powerful elf in Middle-earth, and she is wholly good and wise. She was born in Valinor in a time before the sun and moon were created, so is easily 9000 years old, probably much more. She is the keeper of Nenya, one of the three elven rings. It doesn’t come into the movies, but the other two rings are kept by Elrond and Gandalf, who was given his by Cirdan, Lord of the Grey Havens. The daughter of Lady Galadriel and Lord Celeborn married Elrond, so Arwen is her granddaughter.
Legolas is an Elven prince, the son of an Elven king from another realm which does not play into this story but does in The Hobbit. He has known Gandalf and Aragorn for a very long time. Elves and Dwarves have thousands of years of bad blood between the races, hence Gimli and Legolas not liking each other in the beginning.
I’ll end with the Hobbits. They live normally as long as humans, perhaps a bit more, so Bilbo (who comes from a line of long-lived Hobbits) is old by Hobbit standards but not beyond possibility. What makes him different is that he has barely aged. Bilbo is Frodo's uncle, taken in and named Bilbo's heir when Frodo's parents died. Samwise Gamgee is Frodo and Bilbo’s gardener, so technically he works for the wealthy, upperclass Bagginses, hence the occasional “Mr. Frodo.” There is a slight class structure, as was common in England during Tolkien’s life. Merry (Meriadoc Brandybuck) and Pippin (Peregrin Took) are distantly related to Frodo. Frodo is 50 when he leaves the Shire, Samwise is 38, Merry 36, and Pippin is 26 so still in his “tweens” (Hobbits come of age at 33) which is why he tends to be the most foolish. Give him time!
Facts to keep in mind:
1) The Ring has a will of its own and wants to return to the hand of Sauron, who is the only one who can truly control the power. Also, the Ring exerts a powerful evil influence on all who are close to it and evil is drawn to it.
2) Middle-earth is big! The quest lasts just over a year, a vast amount of ground is covered, and the now-splintered fellowship meet a lot of new “people” along the way.
Great reaction! You will LOVE this wonderful ride. The next two movies get better and better. As others will surely note in the comments, I strongly recommend the extended versions. And speaking as a Tolkien fan for close to 50 years, what Peter Jackson et al did with these 3 movies is a true masterpiece in every conceivable way. While there was much left out due to time (believe it or not), and obviously changes in pacing, story elements, and so on must be made when adapting to cinema, the movie barely strays from the novel by Tolkien.
Sharon that was one of the best synopsis I've read in forever. I'm glad you mentioned Tolkien's influenced by his Catholic culture for context. ...perhaps a few spoilers... but I very much agree with what you've said.
@@benbrown8258 Thank you, sir! IMO Tolkien's faith is critical to understanding his themes, even if he didn't write a precise allegory.
No spoilers for the next two movies is what I mean. I assume reactors have watched FOTR to the end before posting the edited first half. Hopefully. LOL!
Thank you so much for this break down! i LOVE reading but for some reason the way these books are written (at least the first one), i can't get in to it enough to continue reading them (and i REALLY want to), so i love comments like these that give the history of the book, characters and Tolkien as the story is incredible. I desperately wish the books held my interest as i adore the movies
@@rach8683 You are most welcome! I encourage you to keep trying to read the novels. I strongly suggest beginning with The Hobbit. Not only is the story set before the events told in Lord of the Rings, but Tolkien wrote it as a children's book, specifically for his son Christopher. Now, bear in mind that when he wrote this "children's book" (published 1937) children, especially British children were, shall we say kindly, better educated. LOL! Meaning, don't expect anything too simplistic. Nevertheless, it is much more lighthearted and fun. Plus it gives the critical backstory of how Bilbo met Gandalf and then found the One Ring in Gollum's cave. I can almost guarantee that once done with The Hobbit, delving into the trilogy will be easier. Also, I found over the many years of many readings that I could skim over parts, usually depending upon my mood. Tolkien was a brilliant writer but his love of poetry, history, songs, and intense descriptions can be overwhelming until more familiar. In other words, better to skip past portions that bog you down than to give up entirely. That is the beauty of a masterpiece novel: one can reread it dozens of times and always catch something new and precious. Cheers!
@@SharonLathanNovelist knows her stuff. Great overview!
The only thing that I’d add is that it is potentially very subtlety mentioned that Gandalf has one of the elven rings when he says he is a “wielder of the flame of Anor” while fighting the Balrog.
The flame of Anor can have multiple meanings, but one is potentially that Gandalf wears Narya, the ring of fire, and he could be alluding to that, and other deep lore that the Flame of Anor pertains to.
Another of the main cast has recently passed. 😔 Bernard Hill, only nine days ago. I lost a few tears fr. 😢 (you'll see him soon)
May his spirit find it's way to the halls of his fathers.
😢
He shall rest in their mighty company and shall not be ashamed
@@ay2257 Oh my heart, that line!!! ♥ 💔 ♥
Yes, me as well. RIP
At 9:44, you wonder about how they made Gandalf so much bigger than Bilbo. The DVD version of the movie came with extensive Making Of videos that as as much fun to watch as the movies themselves. There were two Bag Ends, a small one for Gandalf to bump his head against, and a big one for Bilbo to write his book in. All the furnishings of the two sets were identical, just made to different scales. So with judicious use of green screens, one actor could be composited into the other set. Lots of other tricks were also used, including actors on stilts, scale doubles, and a 7-foot utility actor called "Tall Paul," who made himself useful in a number of scenes. It's fascinating stuff, and some of it is on UA-cam, the last time I looked.
Also the wagon scene at the start. The way they built the wagon and used forced perspective to make the characters height appropriate is one of if not the most impressive movie tricks I've ever seen
Btw Peter Jackson is having a joke with the “weed”. In the books Tolkien makes it clear they smoke tobacco - he uses the word “tobacco” at times, as well as “pipeweed”. Tolkien never calls it our current slang term “weed” - that’s all Peter Jackson.
Does it ever get referred to as “weed” in the films? I don’t remember it being. Only ‘pipeweed’
@@criert135when Gandalf and bilbo are smoking together bilbo calls it “the finest weed…”
@@criert135 yes that’s the whole point of my comment. Bilbo calls it “the finest weed in the Southfarthing” and for 23 years people have been chuckling about them smoking cannabis
Yeah “weed” did not mean cannabis when Tolkien wrote this! Pipeweed is tobacco. I read the books in 1969 and none of us thought of weed as anything but tobacco
gandalf is smoking mad trees bruh what do you mean man big doinks
Noticing that the Ring is sentient happens so rarely among reactors, im so delighted kmg
Many have. I’ve seen and archived at least 50 channels.
Fun fact: Actor Sean Bean has a severe fear of flying and that was quite a problem during the filming of Lord of the Rings. Scenes were regularly shot in isolated places. The actors and crew were brought by helicopter, but our Boromir was not seen. When the time came again, he would start a walking tour to the filming location hours in advance and already wearing his costume.
Imagine if you were just a regular tourist and you see a man clad in Saxon-like armour with a sword and shield, you’d be weirded out.
LOVE that you chose the EXTENDED EDITIONS!! They do not disappoint. They also allow for more depth into the characters.
Liv Tyler has one of the most beautiful speaking voices of any human in history.
She actually deepened her voice for Arwen.
The version is extended. My viewing is expected.
It is SO refreshing to watch someone paying attention to the little details and the story of the movie. I know you already finished the series but I can’t wait to see you wrap it up
Omg I don't believe it!! And I could not be happier!!! 🤗💃 Truly.
Dude, it doesn't get any better than Tolkien. And Peter Jackson making it come to life. Intense, meaningful, and beautiful. And a finer cast could not have been chosen.
475 awards won. And 800 nominations. Worldwide. This has not been topped.
I'll wager you're about to really love it. Tysm for choosing this. 📚
Gandalf is not a human. He is just in possession of a human body. Gandalf is the same sort of being as Sauron, which is an angel.
Maiar
@@marcusfridh8489 Same thing.
Actually he didn't possess a human body. He's basically a powerful spirit that can take on a human form, which was required for his journey into Middle Earth to help the people rise up against Sauron.
@@ChrisGrahamkedzuel Correct. This is an important point, because though he appears old, he is as able-bodied as a man in his prime. Very much unlike an old man. Thankfully, you see this during his sword/staff fights, but few people ever notice this.
@@ChrisGrahamkedzuel He has a human body and therefore possesses a human body. I own a car. Therefore I possess a car. You see how that works?
"Hobbits are basically English people"
Yes, spot on. Tolkien created the Lord of the Rings to be the folktales of the common English country folk. A quiet people, who care only for their little corner of the world but when needed would step forth to shake the foundations of the world. Being your first watching, you really got it.
Yes, that is Orlando Bloom and can you believe this was his FIRST movie? What a film to debut in ...
This wasn’t his first movie. First movie as a main character, yes. But he was in Black Hawk Down that technically was supposed be released in October 2001 but was delayed because of 9/11 and ended up being released partially at the same time as fellowship and then widely released in January 2002.
You can see a younger Orlando Bloom portraying a character that ultimately is murdered on screen in a long-running British TV serial “Midsomer Murders.” If I recall correctly it is within the first four seasons but I wouldn’t swear to that.
I believe they say on the behind the scenes videos that accompany the extended version movies that it was his first film. That's why Liv Tyler sort of took him under her wings.
@@joerosenman3480 Well that's all the push I need to rewatch the whole Tom Barnaby part of Midsommer.
@@lorismith1722 black hawk down starts filming in March 2001, LOTR starts filming in October 1999, so who is first? 1999 or 2001?
I watch the trilogy at least twice a year and there’s truly no greater joy as a LOTR fan to watch someone enjoy the magic of this film for the first time.
The song Aragorn sings has huge importance! Here is the full version: “The leaves were long, the grass was green, The hemlock-umbels tall and fair, And in the glade a light was seen; Of stars in shadow shimmering, Tinnúviel was dancing there, To music of a pipe unseen
And light of stars was in her hair
And in her raiment glimmering
There Beren came from mountains cold; And lost he wandered under leaves; And where the Elven-river rolled. He walked alone and sorrowing. He peered between the hemlock-leaves; And saw in wonder flowers of gold
Upon her mantle and her sleeves
And her hair like shadow following
Enchantment healed his weary feet
That over hills were doomed to roam
And forth he hastened, strong and fleet
And grasped at moonbeams glistening
Through woven woods in Elvenhome
She lightly fled on dancing feet
And left him lonely still to roam
In the silent forest listening
He heard there oft the flying sound
Of feet as light as linden-leaves
Or music welling underground
In hidden hollows quavering
Now withered lay the hemlock-sheaves
And one by one with sighing sound
Whispering fell the beachen leaves
In the wintry woodland wavering
He sought her ever, wandering far
Where leaves of years were thickly strewn
By light of moon and ray of star
In frosty heavens shivering
Her mantle glinted in the moon
As on a hill-top high and far
She danced, and at her feet was strewn
A mist of silver quivering
When winter passed, she came again
And her song released the sudden spring,
Like rising lark, and falling rain
And melting water bubbling
He saw the elven-flowers spring
About her feet, and healed again
He longed by her to dance and sing
Upon the grass untroubling
Again she fled, but swift he came
Tinnúviel ! , Tinnúviel !
He called her by her elvish name
And there she halted listening
One moment stood she, and a spell
His voice laid on her: Beren came
And doom fell on Tinúviel
That in his arms lay glistening
As Beren looked into her eyes
Within the shadows of her hair
The trembling starlight of the skies
He saw there mirrored shimmering
Tinnúviel the elven-fair
Immortal maiden elven-wise
About him cast her shadowy hair
And arms like silver glimmering
Long was the way that fate them bore
O'er stony mountains cold and grey
Through halls of ireon and darkling door,
And woods of nightshade morrowless
The Sundering Seas between them lay
And yet at last they met once more
And long ago they passed away
In the forest singing sorrowless”
The true elvish version is far greater and so full of beauty & nuanced mournful sadness that’s break the hearts of mortals from its beauty and sadness so the true song has been sort of taboo and the mannish tongues that retell it is stated to only be a shadow beneath the tree of the true story!
(A clip of it is in the original definitive version though. Viggo Mortenson who plays Aragorn designed the melody and style himself and wished it to sound Celtic in nature.)
This entire series was filmed in New Zealand. U can, to this day, still visit the shire. I would LOVE to live in a hobbit hole! They look so cozy!
New Zealand is incredibly proud of these films, and their tourism exploded in popularity thanks to these films. It’s been decades but I’m sure that if the cast rocked up to a pub in NZ today, they wouldn’t have to pay. They’re deeply beloved.
Fun fact when Gandalf first gives Frodo the ring, the time gap between that and when they first embark on the journey is 17 years
* in the book. In the films it was less, otherwise the filmmakers couldn't have introduced Merry and Pippin at the party. A few months, maybe a year at most.
@@zoesumra9152 the party takes place before Frodo gets the ring.. simply introduce them at the party.. Frodo gets the ring.. 17 years pass.. this is the timeframe in the movies as well.. the year Frodo gets the ring and the year the return of the king ends are the same dates books and film
@seveng1147 If the 17 year time skip happened, Pippin would have been about 9 at the party, not in his late tweens already.
@@zoesumra9152 and for some reason you believe you can’t simply age pippin? The movies already completed changed merry and pippins personalities yet the idea of simply aging one up seems less plausible than changing the timeframe? (Which has been confirmed by PJ) quite literally the movie timeline happens in the same years as the book… 3001(bilbo leaves the shite) 3018(Frodo leaves the shire with the ring) 3021 Frodo leaves middle earth .. I get that you wanna show you read the books and wanna “correct” people to show your knowledge but at least be correct
@seveng1147 I'm going with Occam's Razor. By far the simplest explanation is that the time jump is much less than 17 years.
Sauron is a Maia (synonymous to an angel) The Maiar are immortal spirits that have existed since before time began, and are also incorporeal but can take physical forms. When Sauron created the ring he put a lot of his own power into it, so when it was removed from him it took him time to regain power and take physical form. The Wizards are also Maiar, who were sent to Middle Earth to keep an eye on Sauron and to aid people in resisting him, they took the forms of Men. (The Wizards are also so powerful that they aren’t allowed to use their full power, for risk of doing more harm than good) The reason why Frodo can be seen when he puts on the ring is because he travels to the “unseen” world where incorporeal beings exist, unlike the “Seen” world where incorporeal beings need to adopt a physical form to interact with it.
Frodo is Bilbo's nephew, and Frodo, Merry, and Pippin are all cousins. Sam works for Frodo as his gardener (Sam's father and grandfather both worked for Bilbo as their gardeners). Bilbo, Frodo, Merry, and Pippin are 'landed gentry'; Merry and Pippin are both heirs to the rulers of autonomous regions known as Buckland and Tuckborough, and Bilbo (and so Frodo, his adopted heir) is from a rich family, made richer by Bilbo's adventures as told in The Hobbit. Sam is a servant, in service to the same family for generations. As in England of the early 20th century, a different class. That's why he uses "Mr. Frodo" (he's also much younger than Frodo, who is fifty years old). Hobbits age slower than humans, and come of age at 33, and Pippin is still 28 and called a "tween", so he still acts like a human teenager. Sam and Merry are both mid-30's. As the story progresses they all become closer, but begin the story with that dynamic and it always stays somewhat with humble Sam.
Saruman is worse than a sell-out.... he's a sell-out *and* a double-crosser, because he intends on finding the Ring himself and deposing Sauron, hiding his true plans from him as he feigns servitude. He's a shameless (and effective) liar and is trying to play everyone to his own advantage. He used to be Saruman the White, the most powerful wizard sent from the West, but rejected his post and his task (to help the people of Middle Earth defeat Sauron), and declared himself 'Saruman of Many Colours'.
The ringwraiths do not love the water and try to avoid it, but they can endure it if they must. They are blind in the sunlight, and rely on their horses to see for them. Living creatures 'form shadows in their minds' so they can roughly track them, and they can smell living blood. Contrary to the impression in the films, neither the wraiths nor Sauron can locate someone when they put on the Ring. However, when Frodo puts on the Ring in their presence (like on Weathertop), they can physically grab him and take him to Sauron. Normally, they are rather weak physically; their biggest weapon is fear (notice the reaction of the dog, and all the bugs... even animals fear them). Most men will flee or fall down in panic when they're near, and it becomes much worse in the dark. Aragorn (and the hobbits) showed real courage facing five wraiths at night on Weathertop.
13:50 It fell like that because Peter wanted it to portray how "heavy" the ring was for the wearer and to get this shot they actually used a very large replica. Small attention to details like this that showed how much the filmmakers respected and understood the source material is why these movies will forever be one of a kind and among the best movies ever made
Gandalf is actually a divine creature that takes form as a human called The Maiar. Sauron was as well.
And Saruman. And the Balrog. Basically all the same tier of creature.
@@LethalOwl True, except some sang in Manwë’s chorus and some in Melchor’s.
@@Knight-In-Green Sauron could use his full maiar powers (well until numenors fall) , while all istari were limited, even Saruman the white (So in case you didnt know, @KP The white is highest ranking, more insight and more maiar power possibilities, the grey is second, the brown third and the blue is 4th. The higher up you are the more acces to your maiar power you have)
"Maiar" is plural. If you're talking about just one of them, it's "Maia".
Concerning the defeat of Sauron in the prologue, he had invested so much of himself in the ring to control all the others, when he was separated from it he couldn’t hold himself together physically. Enjoy the ride, good you’re watching the Extended movies.
Kinda. In the books he gets straight up bodied by Gil-Galad and Earendil, who also die from their wounds. Isildur wanders over and cuts the ring from Saurons hand, where he lays lifeless. So Saurons loses his body, but is able to endure because of how much he put into the ring. I hate to relate it to something more modern but think of it like a Voldemort Horcrux. Sauron isn’t dead, he’s not really alive either. Like a living shadow.
Good point, maybe I’m influenced by PJ’s depiction. Of course, Rawlings incorporated the concept into the horcrux, which was a clever storytelling device.
I actually prefer FOTR regular run, and then extended for the next two (minus the "yes!" scene from Two Towers lmao--i love that scene, but does not fit the tone of the rest of the film.)
@@drlca6601the extra ghost army scenes on ROFK are really cringe. Theatrical cut for me
“I shall NOT be Dark. (All evil) will despair”, The elves (Galadriel especially is one of the few remaining that existed before the sun & moon. They pre-existed day & night.) How utterly, completely terrifying do you think it would be for your whole world to irrevocably change in a matter of an hour? For the thousands of years of (what you would come to know as twilight to be abruptly ended in a profundity of genuinely painful light and an infinity of colour? Of the joy, wonder and terror of distinguishing the difference between green and blue for the very first time in your whole life?)
She is talking about the immediate, majestic sublimity of reality that one experiences in it's totality for the very first time. How on earth could that not be so terrifying as to threaten one's sanity?
Galadriel with the ring would be exactly as beautiful and horrifying. I personally would not know whether to weep bitterly and perfectly, or claw my eyes out through the sheer, unutterable terror of her being in such a circumstance.
But know this: she was showing Frodo what would happen if someone else got the ring. She wasn’t tempted at all. Gandalf tells. Galadriel shows. See the difference now. Two sides of the same coin. Both were needed.
(But yes there was a more fluid beauty full of colour before the rise of the sun. Her uncle, Fingolfin, whilst in middle earth beheld the first rising of the sun and to see this wide field before him in even more definition than before while he was in Middle Earth. This was also the beginning of the dominion of men.)
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“Beautiful & Terrible as the dawn” Galadriel was quite correct to call the morning and night both “beautiful and terrible…”. In truth the physical and metaphysical natures of morning and night were both by turns beautiful and terrible.
First the morning. Physically the morning is the result of the golden fruit of Laurëlin, transformed into a vessel by Aulë’s craftsmen, hallowed by Varda and piloted by the fiery Maiarin spirit Arien. The sun was so terrifyingly powerful that its radiance instilled fear even into Melkor’s heart and defied the assault of his minions. She literally gave up her physical form to take her original form and enveloped the sun; becoming its flames we see today.
Physically the sun is a beautiful golden orb yet it is simultaneously terrifying in its intensity and cannot be observed directly for more than an instant without pain. Metaphysically the morning is beautiful because it diminishes the evil power of those creatures who haunt the night, gives strength to the righteous and because it illuminates the serene loveliness of Valinor and Middle-earth. Metaphysically the morning is terrible because it obscures the light of the stars and sheds light on the ugly reality of Arda Marred, whose very substance is corrupted by the power of Melkor.
Last the night. The night is the Void surrounding the globe of Arda, which existed even before the creation of the Ainur at the beginning of time itself. Physically the beauty of the night lies in the fact . Physically the terror of the night is that it conceals the beauty of Arda and limits the senses of the elves and gives strength to the creatures of evil such as orcs, trolls and the Ringwraiths.
Metaphysically the night is beautiful because it is during the hours of darkness that the stars of Varda, the most beloved creations for the elves, shine most brightly. Metaphysically the terror of the night for elves, who are irretrievably bound to the world of Arda, is that the Void represents the interstellar coldness which is the prison of Morgoth.
Terrible in its more original archaic form didn’t always mean “bad”
(the sun stuff was to move it into a place where Melkor couldn’t go by virtue of how the Valar and Maiar are bound to the world until it’s ending; (which isn’t the true end either. It’s deep stuff. There ends up another song of creation which all kindreds take part in and working with the powers of that long ago past of our world to rebuild everything. Even the Mountains too, healing it after Dagor Dagorath, Also known as the final battle, the worlds ending.
Becoming the greater version of the original form before Melkor’s discord into the first music and so forth which dictated eventually what all ended up ensuing when they entered the world the first time which also was interesting because when they entered it after seeing the complete version it hadn’t been done yet so that was millions of years of work which lead to Middle Earth and the other lands being the remnants of it. Including Valinor being the only remnant of an even older world. At that time of building and tending to the world when the world was young.)
((No spoilers)), Saruman never served Sauron nor bent to him at all in the books. The Gandalf locked in the Tower bit is explained ONLY in the Unfinished Tales Book: In [manuscript-C) The Black Riders arrived at the Gate of Isengard while Gandalf was still a prisoner in the tower. In this account, Saruman, in fear & despair, & perceiving the full horror of service to Mordor, resolved suddenly to yield to Gandalf, & to beg for his pardon & help. Temporizing at the Gate, he admitted that he had Gandalf within, & said that he would go & try to discover what he knew; if that were unavailing, he would deliver Gandalf up to them.
Then Saruman hastened to the summit of Orthanc - & found Gandalf gone. Away south against the setting moon he saw a great Eagle flying towards Edoras.
See, the thing is he was always master of studying the enemy & even being able to think like they do to always know exactly the best ways to handle ever situation and so on, but the thing is he didn't just become the enemy, he at this time in a sense for once actually grew afraid of him, probably Sauron did what Sauron did with Finrod Felagund in the duel of visions, (Galadriel’s elder brother who by the way was the most important in the Legendarium & is the main reason the third age even exists) which basically widdled Saruman with various visions of the past and future until it wore him down, but Saruman(Curumo) was the mostly already becoming weary due to what was called The Long Defeat, magic bleeding out from the lands of middle earth and subsequently certain things become less and less possible and the elves begin to go west.
Even the ones who never wished to leave middle earth and many of which were born here by the thousands.
So him also being a student and helper of Aulë of the Valar he was going to fight fire with fire and make a bid for the ring just so Sauron could never regain full power and if Saruman found a way to release himself from his power restrictions even by any small margin or worked with Eru in some way it might have worked out in the end if things went differently enough to where such action from him would be needed.
Ontop of that he was growing ever jealous of Gandalf for he received the Varya from Círdan and prior to that was chosen by the other Valar, Nienna’s chosen champion to go to middle earth. But Gandalf(Olórin back then) refused over and over and exclaimed his fear of Sauron(Mairon), varya I feel would have kindle the heart of Saruman to stay strong as he had been fighting the evils of the world for a very long time since he had been sent to Middle Earth.
And for the is reason Saruman wished to hold the ring at hostage. Keep Sauron from taking back his full strength and basically use it to stave off The Long Defeat.
Saruman is very complex. The Hobbit movies actually shows how he was even 60 years ago during Bilbo’s story. He was one of the main forces thwarting Sauron for over 2000 years. The Númenoreans: the high men of the west; gifted Saruman with Orthanc which was of their making. Now known as Isengard.
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saruman is actually trying to doublecross sauron. He wants the ring for himself. He thinks he can control it. The little orcs around saruman are from mordor - sauron's orcs sent to help saruman but also to spy on him. The big fighting orcs - the uruk hai - are loyal only to saruman.
Orcs are like that. But its why saruman's orders are a bit vague - to avoid sauron's orcs knowing what saruman is doing. The movies dont make this bit of the story very clear. But notice that, while saruman knows where the fellowship is he never lets Sauron Know.
"This is a 'Who is the ugliest orc competition', and they're all winning." I like it.
Sauron initially provided knowledge to a great elven smith about how to create the rings while posing as an elf, his alias was Annatar while he was doing this. He used to be able to shapeshift, very very long story but tldr he can't do that anymore. The methods he taught the elf would have rendered rings that he made vulnerable to the eventual creation of the One Ring. Sauron made the rings given to the men and the dwarves himself, and gave them to men and dwarves himself. The elves however, had something go in their favor. Due to the fact that Sauron did not forge the rings, the elven smith created them, the 3 elven ring bearers were able to sense when Sauron first created and wielded the One Ring. They also were able to conceal themselves from him for the same reason.
TLDR; Sauron made the One Ring, the 7 Dwarven rings, the 9 Men rings, but did not make the 3 Elven rings. For the 3 Elven rings he only provided instruction on how to craft them.
Galadriel’s Gift To Gimli part 2 - ever wondered how old Galadriel is during the War of the Ring? I have looked in many different sources and depending on where you look, she’s anywhere from 17,000-20,000 elf-years old. 6,000 seems too young as it would make her close in age to Elrond, who I know is much younger than her even though he’s 6000-8000 by the third age, which wouldn’t make sense for her at all even if she was (“690 elf-years older” as some kept repeating on the internet making 6960!)As she was around long before Elrond was even born and time was experience differently to say the LEAST as there is a lot to go into on that subject lol.)
She was born during the Years of the Trees & back then the years were something like 9X longer than a solar year so I understand the math is hard, especially since she isn’t given an exact birth year. But it is said that Finarfin, her father, was born in Y.T. 1230, so I would assume she was born sometime within 1000 years of then (being generous).
Basically, I’m wondering what the most accurate range is for her age during the events of Lord of the Rings.
I’ll also add that Galadriel is was around before the ents even existed (of which Treebeard is 15,000 years old so she’s OLDER than Treebeard/Fangorn) or very close to when they were “created” by Yavannah and probably had much knowledge to do with such things and or direct knowledge of what happened. Probably through an early prototype of her mirror or simply another dream that made her long for middle earth all over again ontop of the yearning she already had to go there and explore. Nothing to do with Fëanor’s oath and all that jazz.
(So by this current era in HUMAN solar years she’s like. 150,000 to 180,000 years old. Now that makes more sense if she’s going to be older than the sun and moon. Tolkien was always reiterating his manuscripts with the growing scientific discoveries.)
though Treebeard/Fangorn in the deeper writings is older than Galadriel as he was one of first brought into life by Yavanna to help protect nature while it was put into enhanced hibernation by Yavanna to protect them from Morgoth’s Ring (the poisoning of the world itself which caused it to bleed its magic away over the ages called The Long Defeat by the elves.)
Just going from the Appendices (and maybe Silmarillion) she would have to be at least 9000+ years older than Elrond, Elrond was born near the end of the First Age, Galadriel was adult before the destruction of the Trees.
Actually, more than that: I just checked, and the Second Age ended in SA 3441. So an elf born literally at the end of the First Age (FA 590) is 3441+3018 = 6459 years old when Frodo leaves for Rivendell. Elrond was born in FA 532, so adds 58 years to get 6517. Elves are mature at 100, so Galadriel adds at leas 632 to Elrond's age, to be at least 7149, and possibly quite a bit more (as attested by other comments.)
One fic had Maglor(Elrond’s Adoptive Father, Maedhros was also adoptive father alongside Maglor, they were the eldest sons of Fëanor) - One fic had as much older than Galadriel; I wondered how we knew, and it was pointed out to me that Maglor was the second oldest son of the first son of Finwë, while Galadriel is the youngest child of the third son of Finwë. So, yeah.
Note that the second age was the LONGEST and again time was experienced very differently back then too aside from the internal clock of elves working very differently, she’s definitely older as far as the world and the other beings that age far faster around her.
I also remind you all that she’s older than the sun and the moon and witnessed & most likely even helped in the Valar’s crafting what would be the vessels of the last fruit & flower of the two trees of Valinor. She was the most involved with learning everything possible from them and it was stated that she learned all there was to learn from ALL of the Valar that they could teach and she mastered all at a deep level. (Wow hey?)
She’s 25th generation from Tata one of the elven forefathers to wake to the stars. Their birth was rather shrouded in mist. Only those of her grandfathers ilk have a chance of knowing the origins a bit better as they are closer to that culture that stemmed from the beginning.
The Years of the Trees were the second of the three great time periods in Arda that followed the Years of the Lamps and preceded the Years of the Sun&Moon. They were known to be comprised of several Ages and lasted in total around 1500 Valian Years or 14,373 solar years.
Time flowed differently back then and time flowed differently within them too for the elves live as long as the world does. Epic hey?❤❤
The Dúnedain said that Galadriel’s height was two rangar, or "man-high" - some 6 feet 4 inches (193 cm). However, Galadriel's most striking feature was her beautiful long silver-golden hair. The Elves of Tirion said it captured the radiance of the Two Trees Laurelin and Telperion themselves. Galadriel was said to be the tallest female in Middle Earth, at 6'4”. But then Thingol was the tallest elf ever to live, and he's estimated to be almost 9' (274 cm)
Thingol was also a very very prominent figure within the Silmarillion and other books. He’s the great ancestor of Elrond+Arwen and through Aragorn being directly but distantly related to Elronds Twin Brother Elros it makes him loosely connected to Thingol as well. Let’s just say he died a tragic death long long ago. I’m a continent that doesn’t exist anymore. The events I spoke of in my earlier story of Elrond about his fathers deeds, which lead to the Valar helping with putting a Stop to Morgoth for good so to say and that War Of Wrath lasted 80 years straight and it left the landmass torn asunder from the clash of gods and the holy host of Vanyar elves that were closest to the Valar than all other elves so you can imagine what a bunch of mighty elves men and Maiar fighting a bunch of fowl creatures and beings for 80 years would do to a continent. It all fell into the sea. Galadriel barely made it over the mountain before that part of the story officially broke out.
Meta/Deep Lore time:
Sauron is in fact a spirit of evil, once subservient to someone known as Morgoth, a name that might spring up here and there, but not super important to the plot. Anyway, Morgoth was dealt with, and now Sauron steps up to rule Middle Earth according to his image.
Gandalf knew of *a* magic ring was with Bilbo, but didn't believe that it was the actual One Ring. Bilbo's age wasn't too much of a giveaway, since that family tends to live a relatively long time anyway. More importantly Saruman, who Gandalf trusted, convinced him that the One Ring was lost at sea when Isildur died. Side note: besides being more powerful, Rings of Power tend to be more ornate and glamorous, while a more common magic ring, which Gandalf believed Bilbo had, were simplistic bands; further compounding the misunderstanding. The One Ring was designed to look like a common magic ring to deceive the other races when Sauron rose to power.
The wizards' colors are actually pretty important, each having a different role. Wizards in the LoTR are actually angel-like beings, in the form of old men, sent by the celestials to protect Middle Earth. The White is the leader, the Gray is the guardian/diplomat, and so on. I won't go into the plot of why Saruman is how he is, but know that their colors are extremely significant. IMPORTANT: Despite being angelic beings in the forms of old wise men(hence the wizard term), they were instructed to hold back *SEVERELY.* These beings, and their relevant masters, are way too powerful to go all out. In addition, the celestials want the creatures of Middle Earth to be able to govern and protect themselves after Sauron's gone, so the wizard's job is to basically guide mortals through the wars, not directly fight in them.
Wringwraiths are badass af. Kids at school went nuts over them growing up.
Gondor is one of the last bastions against Mordor, descendant of the Kingdom of Numenor.
Rollll credits!
Being an orc actor in these movies must've been so much fun.
Not if you had to face Gimli. John never bothered to learn the choreo, he would just start swinging.
Mostly played by black belt Martial Arts fighters
If I'd only I hadn't been an infant at the time 😂 I was in the country and the right height now
@@marcusfridh8489 they literally grabbed everybody they could just for the numbers, they had stunt actors for the fighting though
Yes, Arwen is Liv Tyler, daughter of Steven Tyler from Aerosmith. Fun fact, Steven thought they dubbed his daughter's voice because he couldn't believe that really was her talking.
(Water horse scene explained)), “Nîn o Chithaeglir lasto beth dhaer; Rimmo nîn Bruinen dan in Ulaer” The ‘spell’ that Arwen cries to stop the Ringwraiths from crossing the river. This phrase is from the movies and was not composed by Tolkien.
It’s Sindarin! Remaining in Tolkiens spirit! - English : “Waters of the Misty Mountains, hear the word of power; Rush, waters of Bruinen, against the Ringwraiths!”
Lady Arwen calls upon the powers of the Misty Mountains and the river Bruinen to rise up as a defense against the evil Ringwraiths. It is a moving reminder of how the Elves once lived in harmony with the lands and waters, able to communicate with spirits of nature.
Even now, glimpses remain of their ancient abilities, though fading as the Third Age comes to a close. Thank you for sharing that connection - it is always a delight when lessons in Sindarin reveal deeper insights into the history and cultures of Middle-Earth.
I love how you really appreciate every aspect of this movie. Can't wait for the next reactions!
31:06 I had to stop the video I was laughing so hard. “And they’re all winning” just sent me omg. Thanks for that
that got me too, hahaha.
I have watch a lot of reactions to this movie and you by far have really picked up on the small details the best. Great reaction!!
Fun fact, Frodo is 33. Your 30's hobbits call your "tweens" or "in between years" which I have always found absolutely amazing
You aren't a proper settled man till you got some years on ya. Gotta say...from what I have seen. They right
According to the books Frodo was 33 at the party THEN 17 years pass before the Fellowship. So Frodo was 50 during the war of the ring.
Since you mentioned you are interested in film tricks, they used a great many of them in this trilogy. The lengths they went to insure the hobbits were viewed as very small are unreal, especially when you consider that the majority of them aren't special effects, they're practical. You can see them documented in the behind the scenes footage called the Appendices, which I think do a really good job of showcasing just how much passion everyone working on this series had for what they were doing.
I love that you acknowledge how well the LOTR trilogy has aged, it is the best trilogy ever made imo. Love seeing new reactions to a franchise that has helped shape my childhood.
Y’all do know that the LOTR being a trilogy is only an accident of the needs of Tolkien’s publishers, right? JRRT wanted it published as a single volume but the publishers nixed the idea. Tolkien wrote the story such that it divided into six sections (each named, though with the books published as three separate volumes naming the internal volumes no longer made sense). The notion of F&SF being written as “trilogies” of books became firmly embedded in popular culture, though, and the rest is inadvertent history.
@@joerosenman3480 When I said LOTR trilogy I was exclusively speaking about the films, but neat fact about the literature I don't think I knew that fact!
@@joshray7084Many people came to know and love the LOTR through Jackson’s films. I’m a self-confessed Tolkien nerd; I have all the collected histories and fragments his son collated, edited and published. We walk amongst you! 😮 Some, I’m sorry to say, hold up their noses to the movies because they aren’t perfect representations of the books. And they’re not. But as translations from book to screenplay to film, especially a substantial book, it’s pretty darn good. That’s not to say there aren’t some things I take exception to, there are; I’m especially annoyed at some of the things left out and one fundamental character alteration that violates the underlying world building which Jackson usually respected-but he wanted to correct the male character dominance by replacing an important transient male character that has a deep history with a more significant female character that has a shallower history and has her do things that are impossible for her character. But these are things only us nerds would know; for movie viewers it would be a seamless, invisible change (you probably have no idea what I’m referring to; any fellow nerds know exactly what I’m talking about).
Anyway, I wish Jackson had filmed those missing scenes and taken the necessary steps to write the screenplay so an alternate version that was closer to the original could be made. There is probably ten minutes early in the Fellowship before Bree that wasn’t made, some changes in the Two Towers that are more consequential-let’s just say Tolkien wouldn’t be pleased, and in the text Merry & Pippin grew taller making it difficult to film two versions; I think Jackson should just have done it right but I didn’t get a vote. And (spoiler) in the text, Saruman actually died close to the end of the book, violently, in the Shire. And neither Gandalf nor hobbits had a hand in his death. That was part of a dramatic scene only glimpsed In Galadriel’s mirror that actually took place as petty retribution-petty but potent. It also completed the heroes journey, but none of that was shown-or filmed.
The bottom line is Jackson’s films are an interpretation of the LOTR and must be judged as such. The gold standard is and must be the original author’s creative work. But given that as an interpretation they will be a derivation and (in all likelihood) a subset of the original Jackson’s LOTR is a stunning achievement, IMO.
Now The Hobbit, in contrast, is an abomination. Some of it follows the story but perhaps a third is pure invention, pulled from someone’s nether regions. And we’re all still wondering how Arakeen sandworms got to middle-Earth and are surviving with all that water. Seriously, it’s as if two unrelated books got jumbled together and twisted known characters into impossible shapes.
Word is Jackson’s backers wanted another trilogy and there wasn’t enough material in a thinner book for that (there wasn’t!).
Hi, I’m an old lady from Brasil and a big fan of Tolkien specially LOTR and I really love your reaction watching this cus it was MY ON REACTION on the cinema, knowing nothing that was going on the movie and trying understanding or gessing what was going next. God blessed you ❤
At 25:53, the Great Rings were made in the Second Age of the world, over 3000 years ago, by the Elf Celebrimbor of Eregion. He made the Three Rings of the Elves by himself, but in the forging of the Seven and the Nine, he had the assistance of one "Annatar," who was later found to be Sauron in disguise. When Celebrimbor heard Sauron forging the One Ring in the fires of Mount Doom, he hid away the Three Rings, and the following war destroyed Celebrimbor and the realm of Eregion.
The movies throw Isladur under the bus. He kept the ring temporarily to study it, decided it was too dangerous and was on his way to Elrond to ask what to do with it when he was ambushed. The scene where he refuses to throw it in Mt. Doom against Elrond's advice never happened in the books.
At 21:38, after watching the Making Of videos that came with the DVD version of the movies, it is clear to me that of all the people involved in the making of the LOTR movies, the one person who best understood Tolkien's book was Christopher Lee. He was one of those people (like myself) who read the book at least once a year. He would have dearly loved to play the character of Gandalf, but by the time the movies were being planned, he had become too old for the more physically-demanding role of Gandalf. As Saruman, he mostly got to sit on his throne or stroll around Isengard. R.I.P. Christopher Lee.
Your questions are very good, ALL of them are answered in the books and the ultimate lore-bomb "The Silmarillion".
I highly recommend the audio books read by Andy Serkis. A delight.
As for the process of film creation, this production elevated the standards by miles back then. The additional chapters of the extended version show that in detail and are brilliant to watch.
Gandalf is not human. He is one of 5 wizards. Thousands of years old and send by the Valar to Middle Earth. He is on the same "rank" as Sauron. A direct servant of the Gods.
Yes, they are Maiar. The group sent disguised as wizards were the Istari.
As someone who was raised on Tolkien, I can say this is the kind of reaction that you dream of! You got so into it, really thought about certain things and you let the story take you away! I'm DEFINITELY subscribing!!
Firstly: All 16 rings were meant to go to the elves ( which lead to 300-500years of his infiltration & deception down the drain.) but Mairon of the Maiar(primordial angelic beings in simple terms as they are sort of beyond angels) disguised as a high elf named Annatar when he came to the elves pretending to be an emissary from Valinor on behalf of the Valar so it makes sense how alluring the ring is and how strong it’s pull on people is. (A bit too instant in the movies though) Galadriel soon saw right through him and especially when after speaking with him regarding not remembering him when in Valinor long ago where she learned from all the Valar thanks to being dominantly Vanyar/Teleri side over her Noldorin side where she gleaned from that encounter that she did not study under Aulë the Vala with any elf named Annatar ! But later named Sauron by the elves meaning deceiver! After all of this, The three elven rings were made in secret without Saurons touch upon them thanks to Celebrimbor! Remember Gandalf before he became Gandalf was the same species of entity Sauron used to be!! Wow hey?
The Rings in this case, would have lost their powers eventually due to the lack of the One Ring and possibly because they were designed to defeat evil, & evil in the form of Sauron had been defeated twice already in the past.
The Three Elven Rings served their purpose for a long time. Two out of three of them had several different bearers Unlike the other Rings, the main purpose of the Three is to "heal and preserve", as when Galadriel used Nenya to preserve her realm of Lothlórien over long periods. The Elves made the Three Rings to try to halt the passage of time, or as Tolkien had Elrond say, "to preserve all things unstained". I can expand upon this based on any further statements & questions you have for me as a reply to this comment ! ❤
There is problem here with the Rings, the Three were supposed to be never touched by Sauron and that's why they were not corrupting…Sauron had not taken part in their making which made the Three more 'pure' unsullied by his dark power, unlike the Nine and Seven Rings! But Sauron in the show touched the very material they were made of!!! So technically he could have tainted them and corrupted!
Even appendices of Lot tell us the order of making the rings, so they didn't even need the righs to more detailed writings in UT or Silmarillion:
1200
Sauron endeavours to seduce the Eldar. Gil-galad refuses to treat with him; but the smiths of Eregion are won over. The Númenoreans begin to make permanent havens.
c. 1500
The Elven-smiths instructed by
Sauron reach the height of their skill.
They begin the forging of the Rings of Power.
c. 1590
The Three Rings are completed in Eregion.
c. 1600
Sauron forges the One Ring in
Orodruin. He completes the Barad-dûr. Kelebrimbor perceives the designs of Sauron.
1693
War of the Elves & Sauron begins.
The Three Rings are hidden."
'Did you not hear me, Gloin?' said Elrond. 'The Three were not made by Sauron, nor did he ever touch them.
But of them it is not permitted to speak. So much only in this hour of doubt I may now say. They are not idle. But they were not made as weapons of war or conquest: that is not their power. Those who made them did not desire strength or domination or hoarded wealth, but understanding, making, and healing, to preserve all things unstained.
These things the Elves of Middle-earth have in some measure gained, though with sorrow. But all that has been wrought by those who wield the Three will turn to their undoing, and their minds and hearts will become revealed to Sauron, if he regains the One."
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The 3 Elven Rings are not susceptible to “The One Ring” in any direct way.. They’re only tied by fate to lose their power if Sauron is defeated completely & absolutely. As they were made by the elves and as always they make things for a purpose and pour their literal spirit into things they create. So if Sauron is defeated then the three rings power will fade and basically become almost useless or diminished versions of their original design since by this era magic has bled from the world by a huge degree thanks to Morgoth’s poisoning the world itself with his very essence that he poured into it. Called The Long Defeat By The Elves and The Men Of The West.
Great! Well done, sir! I love that look at the end of the vid that simply screamed "Bruh."
TBH for a first time viewer you're picking up on a lot more than other people I've seen have. That says that you're actually paying attention, which many people don't do. So Kudos!! Can't wait to see the next.... 9 hours. :)
Extended scenes at risk of being missed: 1• Frodo/Sam's first meeting with the elves, providing context for Valinor and the elves journey there, as referenced throughout the films and seen at the end of the Return of the King(connects to the passing of the elves in the beginning of their leaving the shire when Frodo and Sam are near the Old Forest by the Shire which leads them to eventually bumping into Merry And Pippin!
(An epic scene with Gandalf in Rivendell was also removed as well.)
2. Aragorn singing the Lay of Luthien, providing a parallel between the events of the Beren and Luthien and Aragorn's relationship with Arwen of which every reactor channel I’ve seen makes the connection and it pulls them into a deeper understanding of their relationship every single time.
3. Aragorn kneeling at his mother's grave, giving him some additional backstory for the viewer.
4. Gandalf explaining to Frodo about the corruptive power of the Ring, and how it will strain the Fellowship from the inside, foreshadowing Boromir's downfall.
5. Sam singing a lament for Gandalf, providing more emotional weight to Gandalf's death, referencing the start of the movie and strengthening the connection between him and the Hobbits ( also highlights Tolkien's love of song and poetry in the books).
6. Galadriel giving the gifts to the Fellowship, providing context for their appearance in later films, as well as drawing a parallel between Gimli's gift and the events of the Silmarillion (Fëanor & Galadriel).
That’s just the beginning. Including several removed scenes between Aragorn & Galadriel and Aragorn with her husband Celeborn!
7• also the opening explaining Hobbits & their culture to the viewers, so they have a better understanding of these peoples we will be following which also was the direct full chapter called Concerning Hobbits.
I love that you chose the extended edition for your first viewing, that's awesome!!
If you love maps in fantasy, by all means read the books with the maps next to you (shire and middle earth).
Watching people react to lotr for the first time is my favourite content on YT right now. Thanks for doing this
5:50 "What is Gollum? Is that a Gollum or is that his name?" GLORIOUS! Yeah maybe he's both, it's an interesting thought!
Love the reaction so far, you're catching things a lot of people miss. Can't wait for Part 2!
Sauron is.... a different class of being. Not man, nor elf, nor dwarf, and certainly not hobbit. He is essentially of an angelic / demonic nature, whose fall to evil happen thousands of years ago. When he made the Rings of Power, he poured in a very large portion of his power, his hatred, and his will to dominate all life into the creation of the One Ring. But this also made him vulnerable when the Ring was severed from him. It did not kill him. Due to the fact that the Ring still existed, he was able to re-form, in time. But that's why he seemed to vaporize / explode when Isildur cut the Ring from him.
This was ALL filmed in New Zealand! Which is absolutely crazy because it has virtually every possible landscape other than rainforests and deserts!
Hobbiton, amongst many other things from LOTR, is actually still around in New Zealand and you can go visit. I'm pretty sure LOTR is responsible for A LOT of tourism income in New Zealand 😂.
I love how he brought up the fact that the ring didn't bounce when Bilbo dropped it onto the ground. This was done purposefully to show how the ring held a weight of great power. I love it when these meaningful details get noticed, even if they are not understood, because it took effort to even make the ring not bounce during filming (I think it was done using a magnet, but I can't recall).
This entire series of films was shot in New Zealand because there are no modern things in that area of the world that is tainted with man made structures everywhere, and that makes it fit just perfectly for a Middle Earth scenario
Well there are modern things, just not in the middle of sheep farms and national parks. They did a good job at finding spots! (Also the scenery. Just the scenery omg)
There are a few places they could have filmed it and had a similar effect of scenery and lack of man made structures. Such as Montana USA or Andes Mountains in Peru, Chile etc. But New Zealand was a great choice. :)
@@benjaminroe311ify New Zealand has almost every landscape you could want. It's like a video game map as a country lol.
@@dhLord64 Word. I live in nz, and 2 hours from where I live i can get to grasslands, forests, mountains, multiple types of coastal areas, rivers and lakes, deserts.......
And it was close to home for PJ
The song heard when the elves were spotted in the forest by Frodo&Sam near the beginning of the movie: The Elves were singing & chanting a very special Hymn along their journey:(With English translation)
* Á Elbereth Gilthoniel
“o Elbereth who lit the stars”
* silivren penna míriel
“from glittering crystal slanting falls with light like jewels”
* Ò menel aglar elenath
“from heaven on high the glory of the starry host”
* na-chaered palan-díriel
“to lands remote I have looked afar”
ò galadhremmin ennorath
“from tree-tangled middle-lands”
* Fanuilos, le linnathon
“and now to thee, Fanuilos, bright spirit clothed in ever-white, I will ... sing”
* nef aear, sí nef aearon
“here ... beyond the Sea, beyond the wide and sundering Sea”
* Ã Elbereth Gilthoniel²
“o Elbereth who lit the stars”
* Ò menel palan-diriel
“from heaven gazing far”
* le nallon sí di’nguruthos
“here overwhelmed in dread of Death I cry”
* Á tiro nin, Fanuilos
“o guard me, Elbereth”
(The elvish name given to Varda is Elbereth Gilthoniel is one of the main Valar who are of the main group of entities known as the Ainur who sang the world into being and helped shaped it further from within after some entered into the young world. She is most loved & honoured by the elves for many reasons)
It’s very important as regarding the elves history that spanned over 40,000+ years. Because even one of the three high kings within Valinor was 30,000 years old well before the third age. Galadriel is his granddaughter just do you know. Yeah. She’s very important throughout the entire histories. They are passing away with what’s left of their kin to the undying lands. Many thousands had their home in middle earth just like the high kings ancestors that woke to the stars. Their birth is shrouded in mist as is their entire existence itself. That in itself is a whole story. You’d love to react to the immersive and entertaining lore videos like moviejoob & OmarioRPG have done. It’s ever vast and rewarding to let touch your soul.❤❤❤❤
Varda is a Quenya name of Valarin origin meaning "Sublime", "Exalted" or "Lofty"
Elentári means queen of the stars in Quenya. Elbereth means queen of the stars in Sindarin. Gilthoniel means kindler of the stars in Sindarin.
An original title of Varda, meaning 'the Kindler', and deriving from her making of the first faint stars in ancient times which was to light the dark world which had no sun yet and they loomed over the original Dark Lord (Fallen Valar named Morgoth by the elves) who he feared most above all even as supposedly he was the mightiest and first of all Ainur to ever exist (Ainur is the ultimate race of both Maiar and Valar)
When, long afterwards, she used the dews of Telperion, (one of the two sacred trees that predated the Moon of which it birthed later on) to kindle brighter stars still, this honorific name seems to have fallen out of favour. After that time she was called instead Elentári, the Queen of the Stars.
29:43 "Ooh, they can still see him!"
Me "Yeah they can really see him now." ... Frodo is in THEIR world when he slips on that ring. You could call it the nether.
That Weathertop scene is my fave in FotR. Viggo Mortensen is great as the badass Strider/Aragorn. And the three little Hobbits are fighting their hearts out.
The best way I’ve ever thought of how the one ring corrupts is that it whispers into your subconscious mind like Hannibal Lecter did to the guy in the next cell in the silence of the lambs!
"She looks familiar." Liv Tyler baby. Hell yeah...😉
She was considered the most famous person on the cast at the time
I think you may be my favorite first time reaction. Your interest and excitement to learn more about the world, history, magic system, plot, and film production are so genuine that I was giddy through the whole vid
So so so happy you’re watching these. These films mean so much to me. When I realized you were watching the extended edition, I actually started crying (no judgement, I had a baby 8 weeks ago and am still hormonal and sleep-deprived). I’m kind of envious of you embarking on this journey for the first time, thank you for inviting us along with you for the trip.
Congratulations, and you're doing awesome, my friend❤ (I cry at the drop of a hat, no bebe necessary!)
Your a really good reactor.
You take time to assess and try understand the story and plot. Its very refreshing.
Hope you continue this series
Something to bear in mind:
Arwen doesn't 'cast a spell' to raise the river and sweep away the Nazgul. She prays to the Valar of the waters and asks him to save her and Frodo. The elves are closer to the Valar than humans or dwarves, so such 'prayers' are more likely to be heard.
Though in the books, it was actually Elron, her father and Gandolf, who sent the water defence
I have to say I SO appreciate that you pause and even sometimes rewind the movie. I've never seen another reactor do this, but I do it all the time when I watch stuff to make sure I don't miss anything or that I've understood what was going on. That's when I knew you were legit!
Other things that really stood out: the sound effects for curse worse (squeaky toy) and "subscribe" (error pop up window) are HILARIOUS, so good! And as a fellow bookworm and someone who spends a lot of time at the library, it was so funny when you pointed out how there isn't any labeling or organization at the archives Gandalf was at LOLL You're so observant! Looking forward to seeing the rest of your journey with these movies (:
Tolkien wrote LotR in the 1940s. “Pipe weed” is an in-world term for “tobacco.”
Sauron was the greatest subversive Maia, maker of the One Ring, renowned disciple of Aulë, and chief agent of Morgoth in the Elder Days. After Morgoth's ousting by the Valar, Sauron became the second Dark Lord and sought to conquer most of Arda through guileful trickery, with the Rings of Power or with overwhelming armies.
"the hobbits are just english people" pretty much, tolkien enjoyed relaxing and smoking and he extended that to the hobbits
and also the films dont help people not think of weed when they say weed but its tobacco just like tolkien smoked and appreciated
I love the way Tolkien wrote the Hobbits as idealized pastoral English folk. Not particularly wise or beautiful, neither great warriors nor scholars. A humble folk who work the earth and enjoy the simple comforts of life.
A fun fact: Bilbo's birthday is also Frodo's birthday. It's been a while since I read everything, but I think that Frodo turned 33 on that day. There's also a gap of 17 years between Gandalf leaving the party and returning after his journey/research. This would put Frodo at 50 and Bilbo at 128 when they meet back up in Rivendell.
This was a great reaction, btw. The fact that you stop to try to piece things together...that's the right way. But there is a lot going on that you won't catch regardless. Either because it's kind of subdued or not explained at all. However, that makes for quite wonderful rewatches, as you'll continually pick up on things you may have missed or misinterpreted before. And you said something in the beginning about losing time because you'll have to read the books. YES. You can never delve too greedily or too deeply into the lore of Tolkien's worlds (to paraphrase a bit from one of my favorite podcasts). And you are pretty close to the mark by saying something like this series is the foundation of modern fiction. There are others, for sure: CS Lewis, Asimov, Lovecraft, HG Welles etc. But Tolkien's works have definitely been more influential over a vast array modern storytelling. So I definitely recommend reading whatever you can get your hands on once you finish the movies. The core works would be The Hobbit, The LotR and the Silmarillion (which functions as a mythical framework explaining the lore of Middle Earth in a very Old Testament kind of Biblical style. And it's AWESOME.)
Anyway, welcome to Arda. Enjoy your stay.
i literary just found your channel like 40 min ago cause i was searching for a 300 movie reaction! really looking forward to your lotr reaction, you seem like a good person, cheers!
Your insights and ability to comprehend what’s going on scene by scene, with only a first time viewing, is majorly impressive! Most recent example for me, watching the Council of Elrond, you’re like “Man Frodo is tied to the Ring, he’s bonded…no wait, this is the influence of the Ring and only Frodo is resistant to it, this is what is does to people” like how do you just get that right away? Super mad props.
Also, hearing you relentlessly compare Hobbits to the English because of their love for food and drink, hysterical! And my favorite line of all - “It’s like the orcs are having a competition for who’s the ugliest and they’re All winning.” Incredible ❤️ Can’t wait for Pt. 2!
The wraiths arent scared of water, they are wearing armour :)
8:47 oh i LOVE that you immediately hit on this! They had to use SO many different practical effects to get the character scales right in every shot. i highly recommend looking into it, it's genuinely fascinating!
The current ages of the characters: Frodo Baggins is 53. Samwise Gamgee is 38. Meriadoc Brandybuck (Merry) is 36. Peregrin Took (Pippin) is 28. Gandalf (Olòrin) - is 15,000 (in his current form. Aragorn is (won’t say, you’ll find out). Legolas is 2,931. Gimli is 139. Boromir son of Denethor II is 41!
Elves aged differently than men and dwarves. They did not suffer from old age or disease, and their lives were not limited by a fixed number of years. Instead, they aged very slowly, remaining youthful and vigorous for much longer than mortals. Though they could voluntarily leave their bodies and the ultimate thing that can kill them is grief or Sorrow that’s palpable enough for them to just not wish to live anymore.
Here are the ages of some of the main Elves of the Third Age, as of the War of the Ring:
1. Elrond Half-elven - over 8,586 while his daughter is 3,777 old!
2. Galadriel - around 20,000(180.000 in solar human years [1 elf year is one lifetime of man] but time is counted, felt & experienced very differently before the birth of the sun and moon. ❤)
3. Celeborn - 20,000; (he may have been alive before her birth or around the same time as his lineage that he lived amongst his forefathers and kin might suggest he is older but they are both very ancient.)
4. Glorfindel (replaced scenes with Arwen in the movies but it helped prop up Aragorn’s Film character progression. I still think they could have incorporated them both in the scenes somehow and included the other important stuff that went on in that forest meeting Glorfindel and his company of elves)- he’s over 2,000 (although he had been re-embodied after dying in the First Age which means his Fëa {spirit} is far older than 2000.)
5. Thranduil - over 8000, (as he was born in the First Age and lived in Doriath with his father Oropher; Thranduil is also the father of Legolas. (As Haldir mentioned him when speaking to Legolas in Lothlòrien during the first movie’s extended scene. He shares the same kindred elven clan as to Celeborn(Galadriel’s husband).
It's worth noting that Elves could choose to die voluntarily, usually when they grew weary of life or when they had fulfilled their purpose in the world. However, their spirits would then depart to the Halls of Mandos and could eventually be re-embodied in a new
body
I meant to add that Frodo was 51 when he left due to the whole Gandalf coming back to the shire after many years. that explains why his youthful appearance didn’t change much throughout the entire film!
I waited for part 2 before i watch this and i love how open you are to it and how much you immediately caught and the kinds of questions you are asking really show how invested you are :)
Youi have to know that Sir Christopher Lee was the only person involved with the movies who had met J.R.R. Tolkien in the flesh, and who made it a personal tradition to reade the entire trilogy each and every year.
Tolkien personally gave Mr Lee permission to play Gandalf.
in later years interviews he seemed to have some alzheimer like stuff going on (forgetting the question that was asked) but he could clearly remember everything Tolkien book related!
Glad you're watching the extended version. It's the only version!
They used many different tricks to sell the tall/small aspect of the characters: blue screen (rare), forced perspective, scale doubles (both small and large) and more.
Bilbo Walking Song: “Roads go ever ever on, Over rock and under tree, By caves where never sun has shone, By streams that never find the sea; Over snow by winter sown, And through the merry flowers of June,Over grass and over stone,
And under mountains in the moon.
Roads go ever ever on
Under cloud and under star,
Yet feet that wandering have gone
Turn at last to home afar.
Eyes that fire and sword have seen
And horror in the halls of stone
Look at last on meadows green
And trees and hills they long have known”
The original version of the song is recited by Bilbo in the last chapter of The Hobbit, at the end of his journey back to the Shire. Coming to the top of a rise he sees his home in the distance, and stops and essentially sings what I shared above!
There are three versions of this walking song in The Lord of the Rings.
The first is sung by Bilbo when he leaves the Shire and is setting off to visit Rivendell:
“The Road goes ever on and on,
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say.”
The second version is identical except for changing the word "eager" to "weary" in the fifth line. It is spoken aloud, slowly, by Frodo, as he and his companions pause on their way to Crickhollow, looking beyond to lands that some of them have never seen before.
The third version is spoken by Bilbo in Rivendell after the hobbits have returned from their journey. Bilbo is now an old, sleepy hobbit, who murmurs the verse and then falls asleep.
“The Road goes ever on and on
Out from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
Let others follow it who can!
Let them a journey new begin,
But I at last with weary feet
Will turn towards the lighted inn,
My evening-rest and sleep to meet.”
1977: The Hobbit (1977 film): Sections of the poem are sung during the trip through Mirkwood. It appears on the soundtrack titled "Roads".
1980: The Return of the King (1980 film):
A song inspired by the poem is sung at the end of the film called "Roads Go Ever, Ever On".
1981: The Lord of the Rings (1981 radio series):
Bilbo sings the song as he leaves Bag End. It is sung by John Le Mesurier to a tune by Stephen Oliver.
1997: An Evening in Rivendell:
The Tolkien Ensemble adapted an original melody to the song, composed by Caspar Reiff.
2001: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring:
Parts of the song are sung by Gandalf in his first appearance, and also by Bilbo as he leaves Bag End.
2006: The Lord of the Rings Musical:
The poem is the basis of the song "The Road Goes On" sung by Sam, Frodo, Merry, and Pippin in the first act.
2014: The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies:
Lines of the poem partially make up the lyrics of The Last Goodbye, performed by Billy Boyd(Pippin) for the credits of the film.
This is just stuff to know when you see the next films. Maybe seeing this will spark something you read here or in other people’s comments via future reactions to the other 2 films as well as the 3 The Hobbit movies!
If u listen to audiobooks when ur driving around or whenever, get the LOTR audio books narrated by Andy Serkis. Learning the true depths of this lore is rewarding beyond imagination, and Serkis narrates it beautifully.
Regarding who forged the One ring and the rings of power:
Sauron was a Maia, an angel-like creature and the same order of Gandalf and the Balrog, studied under the "god" of Smithing, Aule, becoming very skilled in crafting and was regarded the strongest Maia. He was, however, corrupted and recruited by the first Dark Lord, Melkor/Morgoth, who taught Sauron the dark arts, including necromancy and shapeshifting. After Morgoth's eventual defeat, Sauron escaped and decided to take position as the Dark Lord of Middle Earth. His biggest foes were the elves, so he infiltrated the elves in disguise and taught them incredible knowledge of smithing and forging, tricking them into making the Rings of Power primarily to deceive the elves and other races in order and to gain domination over them. Sauron made the One ring alone, in the furnaces of Mount Doom, with the ability to manipulate and dominate anyone who wore a lesser ring of power that he tainted.
Dude I’m so glad you’re taking your time to listen and digest the scenes and dialogue, so many just speed past it and then end up not understanding or remembering anything. I really enjoyed your reaction and I cannot wait for part 2 and the other two films, they only get better and better. The best trilogy ever made and after 20+ years it all holds up extremely well, incredible film making.
So much fun to rewatch for the “first time” with you. After seeing this movie a 100 times over it brings back that first time excitement watching the reaction. Thanks for sharing!
“I shall NOT be dark, all EVIL will despair” part 2 - All creatures whose flesh are nourished by the matter of Arda have a tendency towards Melkor AKA Morgoth, for greater or lesser. Since Melkor poured his evil power into the very existence and essence of the world(Morgoth’s Ring” book explains a lot including how and when he put a portion of his remaining power into the earth itself.
Sure, Galadriel was born in the Undying Lands where there was supposed to be no evil (souls of the Elves are greatly less subject to making faulty decisions), but Galadriel & the rest of her father's kin were directly targeted by the Evil Lord himself. Melkor corrupted a decent portion of the Noldor, basically telling them things along the lines of “My Valarin kin are cooping you all up in Valinor.”, which wasn’t their ancestral homeland to begin with, like Middle Earth was, Some were affected little, most were affected to greater degrees, and Galadriel was the least affected woman by the lies of Melkor, which were “sweet but poisoned honey" as she’d call his words.
Her natural pious tendency towards goodness & kindness as shown by her ability to read the hearts of everyone and all living beings around her which aids her to provide what anyone truly needs. Due to the magic bleeding from the world as the ages went on; thanks to Morgoth’s Ring poisoning the earth long ago; lead to a what if scenario in her mind as she’d be the only living creature left with the skills & power to even use the ring.
She didn’t need her ring at all to block him out of her realm telepathically as well as read his mind from afar without him knowing. But there is a difference between good people who are a bit morally challenged and the evil people.
The evil folk act upon their impulses and unlawful desires, while the good folk overcome such flaws within themselves (and for some not always they can masterfully do this). Galadriel WOULD NEVER listen to Melkor and tread the path of toxic pride and ambition.
Galadriel has a Fëa spirit that’s only grown larger as the ages passed on and on. Enough to channel into an effect that threw down fortress walls, without tiring her at all. And with that much Fëa, she is capable of holding her own against Maiar for a good long while, much like her brother Finrod did against Sauron, or her uncle Fëanor did against Balrogs.
Fëanor effectively lost all claim to the crown when he rebelled and dragged his entire house to Middle Earth. Where he promptly died a heroic death after slaying several Balrogs at the Dagor-nuin-Giliath; The Elves first encountered Lord Of Balrogs named Gothmog in the Dagor-nuin-Giliath; (meaning “the battle fought under stars”) before the first rising of the Moon.
In that battle, Fëanor's fury had caused him to draw forward of the main force of the Noldor, and so he came upon Gothmog with only a small guard left around him that rushed so deep into enemy territory.
Fëanor slayed 2 or 3 balrogs at once & Gothmog slayed him after one bound him suddenly with its primordial flame whip when he was supposed to have an uninterrupted “one on one” duel with Gothmog but one wasn’t wanting to play fair. But he was fatally wounded and so his sons and host moved him away to a safe place where his body burned up from the fires of his own spirit.
Even with a lesser ring like Nenya, Galadriel had enough of a boost in her Fëa(spirit) , that she could sustain an unassailable magical realm against Maiar and virtually anything on Middle-Earth. Only problem was when Sauron wore the one ring, she had to take off Nenya, and had to lose that Maia level Fëa spirit from the modernly termed “boosted power up”
With the one ring, Galadriel would have such a boost in her Fëa spirit, that she’d literally become stronger than the foundations of the Earth.
Due to Galadriel’s immense native Fëa, she was prone to a super healthy pride and a small lust for dominion/ but not domination, her goodness kept this pride from going over to the dark side. Galadriel at heart was extremely good so she’s definitely not evil. She never once is called queen or desires to be called such a thing, she and her husband Celeborn became the wiseman and wisewoman of that realm; after the previous elven lord Amroth died and his wife Nimrodel disappeared ontop of the fact Amroth’s Successor later died as well in the “Last Alliance”, (same battle shown in the prologue to Fellowship Of The Ring), All Evil Despairs at her presence let alone hearing her name on the wind.
The Nazgûl themselves avoid her realm every chance they get to the point of choosing to go the long way around for over 100 miles just to avoid her. (So she’s definitely scary to foul entities that have turned away from Eru Îlluvatar the one AllFather.)
She’s a totally good character. Aragorn even says to the Fellowship as they enter Lothlórien, “There is in her and this land no evil, unless a man bring it hither himself. Then let him beware!” If you’re going by her portrayal in the movies, you might think she has an evil element to her character, but that came from Peter Jackson’s portrayal of the addictive, coercive power of the Ring. When Frodo offered her the Ring, it presented her with visions of herself as the all-powerful Goddess of Middle-Earth.
Luckily, she was smart & intuitive enough to realize that the Ring was totally evil, and despite the best of intentions, it would have turned her evil in the end-but she still would have appeared to be beautiful and good. I don’t agree with Jackson’s “drowned Galadriel” portrayal of her being tempted by the Ring-I think she’d have appeared as a supernatural being of divine beauty, and her regular appearance was close to that already, but how do you show that in a movie? Apparently, in her youth in Valinor, she was somewhat of a rebel, but that’s not necessarily evil.
She certainly could have fallen into the same trap as her uncle Fëanor did, of thinking that everyone was entitled to her opinion-but she kept her ego in check. (If you’re not sure what I’m referring to there; please read The Silmarillion and “Unfinished Tales”.)
No matter how noble her reason was to use the ring as a last resort, especially if said fellowship fell off the “edge of the knife” as she called it. she had a change of heart which happened in the middle of talking to Frodo.
Galadriel left Valinor(The Undying Lands) for a reason - and it was different from most of the other elves.
She wasn’t with her uncle Fëanor, who wished to make war against Morgoth and retrieve the Silmarils - she was not wishing to go to war, and had no interest in the Silmarils in which Melkor stole from Fëanor which was the surviving light of the two trees of Valinor within them that the only Fëanor; the master of all elven smiths could have accomplished but it could not be done a second time as is any pure creation of one’s heart, especially in regards to the elves and Valar alike.
Though she traveled with her other uncle, Fingolfin, her goals were not aligned completely with his either despite her full support of her noble and regal uncle Fingolfin in general.
- They both wished to keep an eye on Fëanor and make sure the Noldor were in good hands -
Galadriel wasn’t interested in Fëanor and wanted her own realm. After spending some time in Doriath, Galadriel and her husband Celeborn passed to the east out of Beleriand and passed eastward through Eriador and over the Misty Mountains; to where she founded her own realm in what became renamed as Lothlórien. Her motivation and goal was to preserve her realm, possibly at any means necessary.
With Sauron’s return in the Third Age, Galadriel was forced to ask herself how far she would go to preserve her realm. If Frodo failed, she must forsake her own ring & her realm. If he succeeds, her ring will lose power and her realm will fade. Would she seize the ring, taking Sauron’s power for her own, to save her realm? She decided she would not. She had decided to “test” the Fellowship, to find some flaw that would allow her to justify seizing the ring, and she did find a flaw - in herself. She stated to Frodo, that by telling her that he would offer her the ring if she asked, that she had come to test his heart, but found that he was testing hers.
She had a change of heart, she would pass into the West, and remain Galadriel.
Which one is better? Being born completely good and living your whole life without any evil inside, or having a character growth ?
This is just precious, I love people sharing seeing this masterpiece for the first time. Welcome 💜
Gandalf is what is known as a Maia, a celestial being that has existed before time itself. He and some other Maia were ordered to to assist the peoples of Middle Earth in their fight against Sauron (who used to be like them, and was thought to be one of if not the strongest Maia, but got corrupted by another, more powerful being). They are not allowed to use their full strength for fear of what it could do to the world around them, and are forced to take the forms of old men. They are not allowed to fight Sauron directly, so they act more like guides and advisors. The balrog was also a Maia
It goes beyond “not allowed.” In becoming Gandalf/Mithrandir, most of his angelic powers were locked away. His spirit was placed into that of a seemingly old human man that aged slowly-that shared the needs and pains of humanity (he ate, slept, pained and could be killed). This so he could be act *as* one with humanity because his task was to help, inspire, rally all free peoples in the coming fight against Sauron (which makes Saruman’s obdurate insistence that the One was forever lost all the more dishonest but I digress).
While the wizards had some of their native powers the impression we are left with is that it is a mere fraction; and we’re given no basis to judge or compare. We know (from other events-spoilers) that in Tolkien’s universe a being has a physical nature and a spiritual essence (aka soul) that can operate separately and have different destinies. Maia *have* no fixed physical nature-they create (and destroy) them as suits them. Their spiritual essence is effectively their presence. But the wizards, by being placed into fixed physical forms, were restricted…
Of course Gandalf had a substantial secondary boost but that, too, is a spoiler. 🔥 🧙♀️💥
This trilogy is a beautiful showcase of storytelling in film. It is loaded with dialogue and lore. But so much of the story is portrayed visually and musically that you could still follow it even without the words.
Unlike the Weasley twins in HP, Merry and Pippin are not brothers. They are cousins, as is Frodo.