Lord of the Rings Movies

Choice is one thing that all of us always have. In Arwen’s case, this was a choice between mortality and immortality, a choice to be made for love. As the Elven princess, she had the opportunity to be able to live forever in the company of her friends and family. But she chose to be human in order to be with the man she loved, Aragorn. In a way, she chose death, because all human beings must eventually die. But because she made this sacrifice for love, Arwen has chosen a more noble path, an din turn, faces a lifetime of genuine happiness with Aragorn, the king of Gondor, and their future child.

Who best to exemplify the ring of power’s vast evil but one of the creatures it had most consumed? Gollum, the former Hobbit Smeagol, was the living example of how extreme desire and greed for the ring could transform a creature into something despicable and vile. While fishing, his companion finds the One Ring of power, and Smeagol killed him in order to get it for himself. Since then, possessing the ring became the only purpose for Gollum’s life, and eventually turned him into the appalling creature that he had become. His life is a cautionary tale of how greed and covetousness could seep into one’s being and how it could take full control of one’s life.

No, this is not Gandalf, nor is it Aragorn or Legolas. Frodo’s protector, his loyal companion and guide during his journey to Mount Doom, is the simple Hobbit named Sam. He was indispensable to Frodo during the trials and difficult times they went through, and stayed true to his vow to never leave his friend no matter how hard their travels could be. There came a time, when they were already close to Mount Doom, that Frodo was too exhausted to even walk. Sam literally gives him a ride on his back and carries him up the mountain. Always faithful and unceasingly dependable, Sam exemplifies the power of friendship and the strength that it can provide.

Of all the characters in LOTR, Boromir was the one who was most consumed by the yearning to possess the One Ring of power. He covets the ring so badly that this pushes him to betray his comrades and help Sauron in his efforts to locate the ring and steal it from the fellowship. He tried to make for his disloyalty by helping fight the armed forces of Uruk-Hai. He perishes in this battle, but his death was not in vain. Boromir, in his death, was able to buy some time for the fellowship and managed to give them a chance to survive.

The due sovereign of Gondor, Aragorn was the only one whom The One Ring could not seduce. He, of all his comrades, was the only one whose heart’s desire was incapable of being fulfilled by the vast power of the ring. Aragorn was in love with Arwen, and this fact made him invulnerable to the ring’s call. He does his best to protect the princess, even if he has to put himself at risk for it. He proves that love is one of the most powerful forces that can be possessed, which can defeat greed, power and longing for things which are not rightfully one’s own.

From his camera-donning days as a kid trying to film Kingkong with cardboard boxes, Peter Jackson has certainly come a long way. This genius of a film maker has brought the Lord of the Rings back to mainstream consciousness, and he did it in a brilliantly spectacular way. The LOTR Trilogy had broken the one-million-dollar barrier at the box office (a tall standard previously established by the Titanic movie), and has also won 11 Oscar awards. From his B-grade horror films to his amazing feat of turning one Tolkien’s masterpieces into live-action art, nobody can contend that Peter Jackson is already a master of his craft.

Frodo Baggins, the 111-year old son of Drodo Baggins and Primula Brandybuck, had been tasked in the movie with carrying the One Ring to Mount Doom in Mordor in order for it to be destroyed. On the way, he was extremely tempted to wear the ring in order to experience its tremendous power, but he bravely fought it off. If a Hobbit like Frodo can resist this kind of temptation with the actual object within his grasp, why can’t actual people do it too? Maybe we should take a leaf out of Frodo’s book. Evil is a thing we choose, it is not who we are, as the diminuitive Frodo Baggins showed.

Having thrice won Oscar awards for his movies, Peter Jackson, the brilliant director behind the Lord of the Rings trilogy, is reputedly planning to someday make a museum from memorabilia collected from all of his movies. And to all die hard LOTR fans out there, this is certainly incredible news. If completed, this museum could very well be an LOTR fan’s idea of paradise, where actual stuff from the movies could be seen first hand, and, hopefully, even touched. Legolas’ crossbow, Aragorn’s sword, and who knows, maybe even Frodo Baggins’ fake Hobbit feet could someday be the newest addition in one of the coolest (future)museums around!