Hello and welcome to my entry, where I will discuss reasons why you should watch the Lord of the Rings trilogy!

I haven't watched the extended versions yet, so if you think that is better, leave your reasons why in the comments :)

What is Lord of the Rings?

Lord of the Rings (LotR) is a high-fantasy trilogy that takes place in a fictional world called Middle Earth. It is (book-wise) the sequel to The Hobbit. LotR is about a hobbit named Frodo Baggins, who has a quest to destroy the One Ring alongside three other hobbits, a wizard, two men, an elf, and a dwarf. They must travel from the Shire to Mordor, but many perils lay ahead of them.

Reason 1: Visuals

My oh my, the visuals are spectacular! They capture the beauty of Middle Earth in such an amazing way, I can't put it into words! From the Shire, to Minas Tirith, and even Mordor, they all have their own atmosphere and were crafted meticulously to match (or nearly match) the descriptions from the books (author: J.R.R. Tolkien). Here are some examples:

The Shire (Click here if image didn't load)

Rivendell (Click here for image)

Minas Tirith (Click here for image)

Mordor (Click here for image)

Aren't they beautiful? Other than Mordor, of course. This is just a taste of what Middle Earth has to offer. This video has a much better showcase than I provided. :)

p.s. these were done with a goal of minimizing the usage of CGI (the production spanned from late 90's to early 2000s, so you can't really blame them lol)

Reason 2: Music

I love the music. The music makes the trilogy 5x more magical and brings emotion to certain situations as well as set the mood for what is to come. This could be suspense, hope, despair, success, etc. It features female and male choirs + lead singers, exquisite selections of instruments, and brings the story to its highest (referring to the lyrics for the choirs for certain scenes). Take a listen:

Edge of Night, sang by Peregrin "Pippin" Took (played by Billy Boyd) (appears in the third movie)

May It Be, sang by Enya (appears in credits)

Prologue (the very first thing you hear in the entire trilogy, without narration).

Concerning Hobbits (appears after the prologue)

These are some examples that I personally enjoy. There are much more in the soundtracks, so make sure to listen well when watching the trilogy!

Reason 3: Story

The story is the foundation of it all. Without a good story to tell, you can't have a good film to show. The genius, J.R.R. Tolkien, is the author of the Lord of the Rings. He describes everything delicately, from places, to people, and even the history and his own made-up languages (Elvish languages like Quenya and Sindarin, the Dwarvish Khuzdul, and more)!

The writers of the films (Philippa Boyens, Fran Walsh, Peter Jackson) have contributed their hard-work and dedication to the films to keep the adaptation as close as possible and to keep Tolkien's intended messages too. This is one of the most important aspects of the films, for it does something that some other adaptations cannot do (which is to keep the original messages of the story).

Conclusion

To wrap up this blog entry, you should 1000% watch the Lord of the Rings trilogy (theatrical) because the story, the visuals, and the music are what bring to the screens a fantastic and memorable trilogy that will forever change your like (for the better). Of course, there are much more reasons (such as characters), but I cannot fit them all here.

If you do decide to watch the trilogy, make sure to have lots of popcorn, as each film is 3hrs long (4hrs if you watch the extended version)! I personally recommend watching the theatrical first, and then moving on to the extended. This goes the same for The Hobbit trilogy, the (film-wise) prequel.

Watch LotR first, then The Hobbit. If you want, you can watch Amazon Prime's Rings of Power, the prequel of The Hobbit (set a few thousand(?) years before the events). I personally do not enjoy the Rings of Power, as (according to those more invested in the history of Middle Earth) it does not align with the other Tolkien books that well, and some consider it an insult.

I hope you enjoyed reading this, and hopefully you will also enjoy watching the trilogy too! Have a good day :)