I probably missed out on something as a kid by not reading JRR Tolkien’s Rings fantasy series. Truth is, I’m not much of a fantasy fan. I’ve read some, but honestly, it’s a genre I can take or leave, and I usually leave.
However, if you haven’t seen the Rings movies, you’ve missed out on some fantastic film making. Starting in 2001 and finally finishing up (so we thought, more on that in a minute) in 2014 at the end of the Hobbit trilogy, they contain some of the most spectacular special effects of their time. All movies were directed by Peter Jackson, and he became the first director in movie history to direct 3 major motion pictures at the same time with the Rings movies. The first trilogy of movies received an impressive number of awards. The second trilogy, based on The Hobbit, wasn’t as well received and failed to garner any major awards. I haven’t seen it, so I can’t say much about it.
Special effects company Weta Digital was responsible all three Rings movies. Various special effects types were used, including CGI. In a time when CGI was still a new technology, Weta really pushed the digital envelope. Some of the effects have held up well and others look pretty bad when compared to the 2022 state of the art.
Now, about that “We thought it was over” thing. Oh no, it isn’t over until it’s over, and it’s not over. In 2022 a TV series, The Rings of Power, will appear on Amazon’s Prime video service. Slated for a minimum 5 year run, it’s set some thousands of years before the Rings movies. If you’re interested, so can see the trailer at IMDB.
