“War of the Rohirrim” An Unique Animated, Sometimes Uneven Middle-Earth Story

Released a week prior to “Kraven the Hunter” last year, “Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim” is an anime feature based on characters created by J.R.R. Tolkien and is set roughly 200 years prior to the “Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit” trilogies. And, despite the anime being part of the Peter Jackson film canon, “The War of the Rohirrim” didn’t perform well at the box office.

So, let’s get into this anime “Lord of the Rings” story which, while not as exhilarating as the live-action trilogies, can still be an enjoyable feature.

Set a couple hundred years before the events chronicled in the original trilogy, “The War of the Rohirrim” tells the fate of the House of Helm Hammerhead, the legendary King of Rohan.

A sudden attack by Wulf, a clever and ruthless Dunlending lord seeking vengeance for the death of his father, forces Helm and his people to make a daring last stand in the ancient stronghold of the Hornburg - a mighty fortress that will later come to be known as Helm’s Deep.

Finding herself in an increasingly desperate situation, Hera, the daughter of Helm, must summon the will to lead the resistance against a deadly enemy intent on their total destruction.

“The War of the Rohirrim,” just like the previous live-action films, delivers some really compelling action sequences and is also a visually great-looking film. But, unlike the other films, “War of the Rohirrim” does lack in the story department a bit and doesn’t deliver as much emotional depth as the other films.

This “Lord of the Rings” anime does feature a unique animation style that works most of the time. Now, while the 2D animation, mixed in with some 3D visuals does look rather beautiful at times, especially during the battle sequences, there are a few scenes where

the animation does seem to look a little muddled and practically unfinished.

“The War of the Rohirrim” does also feature some intense battle sequences that are really fast-paced and so close to being just as epic as the live action films. The anime style of this film also gave the battle scene a unique look. This film also dives a little deeper into exploring the lore and its connections to Tolkien's “Lord of the Rings” work.

While the battle moments and most of the animation are some of the highlights of this film, the film’s story could have been more compelling and isn’t nearly as memorable as the live action films.

Overall, “Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim” can be a slightly enjoyable watch and fans of the live action trilogies (primarily the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy) could find this a worthwhile addition to the Middle-Earth sage - while others may not enjoy this just as much.

Trivia: There was a unique approach to how this film was created. The actors actually performed every scene in the film using motion capture picture technology, which was translated into 3D animation within Unreal Engine’s real-time game engine; this 3D environment was used to determine the film’s camera angles and movements, and this was translated into the final 2D production.

While looking at information about this film, I have also read that this film was quickly rushed into production so that New Line Cinema can still have the film rights to the “Lord of the Rings” and “Hobbit” trilogies, which can explain the rushed look of some of the animation.

MPA: Rated PG-13 for strong violence   (runtime 134 minutes)

You can currently stream “Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim” on the Max streaming service or rent it through various PVOD services.

• A unique approach was used to create the film's traditional 2D animation: the actors performed every scene of the film using motion-capture technology, which was translated into 3D animation within Unreal Engine's real-time game engine; this 3D environment was used to determine the film's camera angles and movements, and this was translated into the final 2D animation.

• The film is narrated by Miranda Otto as Éowyn, reprising her role from Sir Peter Jackson's "The Lord of the Rings" series.

• The movie focuses on the history and backstory of Helm's Deep, the same location seen in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002).

• This is New Line Cinema's first animated film to be released worldwide.

• Philippa Boyens has said that the more direct influences from Japanese cinema for their team came from filmakers like Akira Kurosawa and Hayao Miyazaki when making this film.

• The events of this movie set 123 years before Bilbo Baggins found The One Ring in Gollum's cavern, as it was seen in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012).

• The film uses archival recordings of Christopher Lee doing line readings from 'The Hobbit' films.

• When at the ending Olwyn questions Hèra where to go, Héra replies that a wizard asked to meet her for help him. When Hèra shows a letter from him, it can be seen a rune. This is the same symbol that Gandalf engraves at the Bilbo Baggins' door in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012).

• At a point during the siege to Hornburg there are two orcs collecting all the rings they find in the corpses, with one of them questioning the other why Mordor is suddenly so much interested about the rings. A hint for the future events of The Lord of the Rings.

• The film was announced in June 2021 and development was fast-tracked to prevent New Line from losing the film adaptation rights for Tolkien's novels.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCUg6Td5fgQ