The Ultimate Playground Movie!!

Lord of the Rings Analysis

Epic Films are a very interesting type of film. The Lord of the Ring’s is not the only famous epic film. There are many others like Gone with the Wind, Star Wars, and Dances with Wolves. Epic films tend to be very long, have many heroes, one main hero, a large geographical setting, and many super natural forces. The Lord of the Rings trilogy is a very interesting, intense, and confusing movie. Peter Jackson directed an incredible trilogy of movies. There are many different heroic characters and there are also many super natural forces, just to name a couple. Mary and Pippin, Sam, and Frodo are just a couple of the heroic characters. The super natural forces are also an enormous part of this trilogy; there are many different wizards throughout all three movies.

A major part of epic films are the heroic characters. There are many heroic characters in an epic film, but there is always one main hero, the epic hero. An epic hero is a character that has incredible bravery whose actions affect a wide variety of people. There were many heroic characters in the Lord of the Rings, Mary and Pippin, Sam, and Frodo are just a few. Mary and Pippin are two hobbits that are very unlikely heroes. They are always goofing around and very silly little hobbits. They didn’t understand how important this quest was until it came to them to save Frodo. At the end of the first movie the hobbits were put in the position to distract the orks or let Frodo be trampled. Without thinking they both jumped out and drew the orks to them so Frodo and Sam could get away with the ring. Distracting the orks ended in the hobbits being captured and held captive by the orks. Also, at the end of the second movie while they were with the tree they told him to take them into Isengard. They were both worried about it, but they knew it was the thing they had to do. Sam was another great heroic character. Sam survived as Frodo’s guide. He warns Frodo about dangers, he feeds Frodo, and he worries when Frodo doesn’t eat. He is always protecting Frodo from the ring, the many forces that try to over take Frodo, Sam steps in and pulls Frodo back. He promised Gandolph that he would stay with Frodo no matter what. Sam sticks to that promise as well as always being optimistic and loyal. He showed his loyalty in the first movie when Frodo was trying to go away by himself on the river. Sam knew he couldn’t swim, but yet he still went into the river after Frodo. This seen had great screen shots like tracking, close-up, and long shot. In the second movie he showed his loyalty and bravery when Frodo was standing in front of the black rider holding the ring. The ring’s powers were driving Frodo to put it on, but Sam jumped in and saved Frodo from both the black rider and the ring. This ended in Frodo being confused and drawing his sword on Sam, in an incredible downward looking shot. Finally, Frodo the epic hero. Throughout the movies he has done what everyone else can’t. He is caring the ring for everyone else. The powers over take everyone else and turn them evil. He knows he is the only one that can and that is why he volunteered to take it on to Mordore. He has shown bravery and courage throughout both movies. During the first movie a the very beginning of the journey, he showed a lot of courage to keep going although the black riders were already chasing them. He could have easily given up and chickened out. At the end of the second movie when he had the ring and was standing in front of the black rider, there was an incredible close-up screen shot that show the strength the ring had. Frodo has had many challenges thrown at him throughout both movies, but he has withstood everyone of them.

A second major part of the epic films are the supernatural forces. A super natural force is an unnatural force that is out this world. In the Lord of the Rings there were many supernatural forces. There were wizards and trees just for example. The two main wizards were Gandolph and Saramon. Gandolph and Saramon were in both the first and second movie. They had a major part in the first movie that showed their powers. When they were battling. There were multiple tracking shots and close-up shots as they threw each other across the room. Also Gandolph fought the Lathram in the first movie, he had him beat until the end the Lathram grabbed Gandolph with his tail. As the monster and Gandolph were falling it showed an incredible downward angle shot with a lot of framing. The framing involved the ledge and the decreasing size of the hole they were falling into. Gandolph fought the monster all the way up to Saramon’s tower and beat it out. This was an example of literally fighting until the end. Also there are the Elfs are another very important supernatural figure in the movie. The Arwen protected Frodo and carried him to Rivendell to get him help, in the first movie. The black riders chased her the whole way, but she never gave up. She even destroyed them after she crossed the border into Rivendell. This seen showed the elf’s powers. She commanded the river to take them over. This was an amazing screen tracking shot as the river came around the bend. Also the elves sent Legolas to help in protecting the ring on the quest. Legolas was a very powerful character; he is a bow master that never runs out of arrows while fighting. He has saved many people multiple times, because he is so incredibly fast and accurate. Arwen and Legolas are not the only important elves. Their home, Rivendell protected Frodo when he was hurt and recovering from his stab wound in the first movie. If he wouldn’t have been protected in Rivendell he would not have able to carry the ring any further. Rivendell was very important to Frodo’s success. The elves did many things for Frodo and Sam, just to add to the list, the elves gave them each a rope and a cape. Each of them had a special power, the rope releases when you want it to, and the cape is a disappearing cape. Both of these gifts helped them succeed throughout their journey. For example, in the second movie when Frodo, Sam, and Golhom were outside the gate of Mordore, they used the cape to hide from the guards.

The Lord of The Rings was a very complicated movie. People can view this movie in multiple ways. They can just watch is and experience the intense journey, or they can watch it and analyze the heroic characters and supernatural forces, like we did in class. I had never seen this movie before, but it caught my attention and the more we have watched, the more I have become interested in it.