First, I have a confession — I wept and I wept throughout the second half of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. Some of it had to do with the moments from the film, the best and biggest film of The Hobbit trilogy. But a lot had to do with the fact that a 13-year journey was coming to an end. And just as I had feared, and as it was proven by the fact that the ushers couldn’t get me up from my seat till the last Warner Bros logo flashed on the screen, I was not ready to say farewell to Middle-earth.
Orlando Bloom, who played Legolas in all six films — three Hobbit and three Lord of the Rings — was 21 when he first joined Peter Jackson’s epic saga that spanned 16 years; he is 37 now. Elijah Wood (Frodo Baggins) celebrated his 19th birthday in Hobbiton, he is 30 now.
I was 20 when I watched The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring in 2001, full of trepidation because someone had the audacity to film the beloved JRR Tolkien saga. Somewhere in the first hour of the movie, the trepidation changed to absolute adoration, an adoration that has grown over the six films Peter Jackson brought to life.
Oh, he took a lot of liberties with the films — cutting out Tom Bombadill from the LOTR films, bringing Legolas into the Hobbit films, adding the character of Tauriel and writing up a romance between her, an Elf, and the Dwarf Killi — all of which made me, a Tolkien purist, frown. But just as the LOTR trilogy turned out to be the perfect adaptation of the books, there is no other adaptation of The Hobbit that I’d rather watch.
Why? Because he found New Zealand, the most perfect Middle-earth I could imagine. Because he got Howard Shore to write the most haunting soundtrack. Because he found Orlando Bloom to play Legolas, Viggo Mortensen to play Aragorn, Hugo Weaving to play Lord Elrond. Because Martin Freeman was his Bilbo Baggins, Luke Evans was his Bard the Bowman. Because Richard Armitage will be the only Thorin Oakenshield, because Andy Serkis is, and will be, the only Gollum. Because there couldn’t have been a better Thranduil than Lee Pace. The list could go on.
But the biggest reason is because Peter Jackson is the biggest Tolkien nerd and got the heart of the matter absolutely right.
I have so many memories surrounding the films. I remember writing an essay on The Fellowship of the Ring for my Masters entrance examination. I remember running from PVR to PVR in Delhi to watch The Two Towers. I remember watching two back-to- back shows of The Return of the King. But most of all, I remember eagerly waiting for December to come so that I could watch another Tolkien film. And I can’t believe that Peter Jackson won’t be bringing any other Tolkien work to life.
The sense of loss began as soon as Peter Jackson announced the wrap on shooting of the films in July 2013, with pictures from the last days on the set. The feeling grew with every single trailer of The Battle of the Five Armies that went up. And it settled like a heavy weight the moment Thorin Oakenshield asked his Company of Dwarves, “Will you follow me one last time?”
And what a finale it was! If anyone had any complaints about the pace of the first two Hobbit films, Peter Jackson has given them all the action they could have ever wished for in the last one. From the first frame as Smaug the Dragon comes flying to Lake-town laying waste to it, to Thranduil, the king of the Woodland Realm, riding into battle on a huge elk to the final face-off between Thorin and Azog, the Orc chieftain — it was an adrenaline rush.
I cried as my favourite characters from childhood, the ones who had become family over the last three years, fell in battle. I cried harder when the credits rolled and beautiful sketches of our favourite characters appeared next to their names for the last time on the big screen. And then Billy Boyd (Pippin, from LOTR) sang The Last Goodbye, written by him, Philippa Boyen and Fran Walsh, and left me breathless.
But with it all there was a strong urge to go back right to the beginning, or rather the next step, and watch The Fellowship of the Ring once again. Not just because the ending of The Battle of the Five Armies blends smoothly into the beginning of LOTR trilogy, but also to remind myself that Middle-earth was not lost to me. Not really.
And there was this faint hope that the Tolkien estate would agree to sell the film rights for Sillmarilion so that Tolkien fans across the world can make the journey with Peter Jackson once again. We waited eight years for The Hobbit movies after LOTR ended... we’ll wait another eight hoping that our wish comes true. And while I wait, I look forward to Middle-earth marathons with fellow Tolkien fans watching all six movies, with their extended cuts, at a go.
Go on, shake your heads, roll your eyes, it will not faze us. “You have my word”.
Are you ready to bid goodbye to Middle-earth? Tell us why/ why not at t2@abp.in