The Unmatched Brilliance of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy

A video analysis of what makes the Lord of the Rings trilogy (and Lord of the Rings in general) brilliant, and why almost no media since has matched up to it. From its story, to its characters, to its soundtrack, to its core themes and inspiration - what makes the Lord of the Rings a masterpiece?

With the new Amazon Rings of Power series coming out later this year, now's a better time than ever to look back and answer this question.

0:00 Intro
2:18 Tolkien's Influence
4:18 The Production Process
9:04 The European Inspiration of the Story
13:44 The Christian Elements of the Story
24:50 Middle Earth - A World in Decline
30:00 Conclusion

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#LordoftheRings #LordoftheRingsTrilogy #Tolkien

Aragorn
Boromir
Legolas
Gimli
Frodo
Samwise
Gandalf
Gollum
Merry
Pippin
Middle Earth
Orcs
Goblins
Trolls
Gondor
Rohan
Video essay
Theoden
Galadriel
Epic
Catholic

[spencerfrankclayton]

I feel bad for Peter Jackson when it comes to the Hobbit films. The studio interfered with nearly everything PJ wanted to do. You can thank studio executives for the flaws in that trilogy.

[TheDooChess]

“I wish it need not have happened in my time, ” said Frodo.

“So do I, ” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”

Gandalf knew these times would come again..

Phenomenal video, Pax. BRB starting the trilogy over again.

[Benjamin-jsjp]

"I go to my fathers, in whose mighty company I shall not now feel ashamed." I tear up every time I watch this scene. These are words to live by, we should all honor our ancestors through living righteously. We stand on the shoulders of giants. Excellent video.

[TJSaw]

The Lord of the Rings will forever remain a cultural milestone in the history of mankind. Yes, the movies are that epic. Flawless.

[ferninthewild]

Im an archaeologist, and one major reason I love studying ancient peoples is because they were truly amazing and don’t receive the credit they should. I don’t like the present very much and our future doesn’t necessarily look too bright either. Ive loved these movies since I was a child and they’re my escape truly when it gets ugly out there.

Awesome video dude! Your analysis is spot on.

[ilostthreeaccountstoyoutub]

LOTR is the proverbial diamond in the ruble amongst the sewage of Hollywood.

[ForgeofAule]

One of my favorite lines from Tolkien and a perfect example of Aragorn as a Christ-like figure is the line, "The hands of the King are the hands of a healer" in regards to his ability to heal the Black sickness that no one else knew how to cure.

[MrHellknightimp]

"Can't name all 4 grandparents" hit me hard. My dad is adopted, so down 2 for me, and on top of that my dad's adopted mother committed suicide when he was 10, so we just never really ever talked about it.

What J.R.R. Tolkien did for inspiring the sprit of western man cannot be understated. His legacy continues to live on forever

[marinazinovic]

He keeps getting more and more based.
Lotr is certanily the modern Iliad

[gretslie]

There were so many beneficial "coincidences" in the making of those films, that I truly believe God blessed the production process and that is how we ended up with masterpieces!

[nathanielus]

People trying to take LOTR away from its Catholic roots is so upsetting

[TT-dxez]

The genius of Tolkien was his creation of a narrative based around Catholicism without jamming it down ones throat.

[jasone.]

I still remember back in 2003. When the Rohirm charge the field, the whole cinema erupted.

[legionofthedamned]

“May it be a light to you in dark places, when all other lights go out.” — Galadriel

[PerezosoDoom]

Amazing video, Pax! An insight you won't see in another YouTube channel, Tolkien was a genius, I totally share the admiration for his work.

[lukasg.]

Wow dude, what a great Analysis of this masterpiece of a trilogy. You really captured the things that seemed to be important to Tolkien. And i Iove the fact that you also talked about the religious background of these books. Many people today seem to overlook these - maybe even on purpose. But without Tolkiens Christian Faith, we never would've been able to enjoy his genius works

[Anonymousduck]

Tolkien was a huge admirer and great friend to CS Lewis. Lewis famously wrote that technology and “progress” were terms devoid of any real understanding. “Progress” is always used as a drumbeat for marching toward an unspecified and ultimately undefinable end. Technology promised to give man “power over nature, ” but all it did was give some men power over other men. I think Tolkien took these themes to heart and, undoubtedly with his supremely Catholic belief, manifested these ideas into his story telling.

[krissjames]

Great video. I've seen quite a bit of fairly well-argued criticism of the LotR movies for giving Tolkien's story the "Hollywood" treatment (lots of focus on the big battles, Gimli being effectively turned into a comic relief character, Arwen's role being expanded for the sake of "female representation", Faramir having his character altered for added drama, some parts of the story being cut entirely etc), but that does lose sight of the bigger picture, namely the sheer amount of passion and love for the source material that's clearly still present, and how its core values and message is still largely preserved. Realistically, I don't think we could have hoped for a better movie adaptation of the LotR.

[CaliOaklander]

I started to dig into past civilizations due to LotR, read the Bible as well, and found that in terms of civilizational building and cultural creations humanity has fallen and fallen hard. The only difference between back then and now is an "easier" life and industrial consumerism. Technology masks the pain of humanity imo and it's found in statistical papers that point to a ever decline.