Very recently, my wonderful, and beautiful girlfriend and I watched The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. It was the extended edition, which is about 208 minutes (thanks amazon.com, the first google search result for āthe fellowship of the ring extended edition length). It had been about 4 or 5 years since I had seen any of the extended films in the trilogy, and Iāve got to be honest, Iād actively avoided these movies for some time. Not because I didnāt like the individual films upon first seeing them; in fact, I loved themā¦ but rather because the sheer length of these movies frightens me. I felt that if I watched them again, Iād end up burning out my love for them, due to overexposure. I can run things I adore into the ground, and quickly begin a love/hate relationship with something I once held exclusively dear.
However, Leslie, the beautiful girl from the beginning of this story, recently purchased the extended blu ray edition of all three movies. She wanted to watch them with me, and I thought āWhat the heck. Maybe Iām ready to take this journey again.ā Besides, her wish is pretty much my command.
I can say now, with swift assuredness and sheer, unadulterated certainty, that my gut has been wrong for the better part of the last decade. No burn-out whatsoever. The Fellowship of the Ring was everything I remembered and much more. Itās always been my favorite of the three; I absolutely love commencement stories. I very much enjoy the beginning of most stories, often times more than the end. I still cried when Gandalf fell, even though I know he comes back (Lucky for me, Leslie was taking a short power nap at the time). On top of that, I again teared up when Boromir takes the arrows to the chest and stomach, and again when he died in Aragornās arms. And so help me, I about lost it when Sam swam after Frodo, in the boat. All these occurrences happen each and every time I watch The Fellowship of the Ring, without fail.
Without turning this into a straight up review (11 years late) of the movie, I just want to say that I loved everything to do with the production of it. The cast was perfect, the story - well told, camera angles and use of effects enhanced the film without having the film rely on it. To top it off, Howard Shoreās score is amazing; absolutely perfect.
As I watched the movie, amidst the sense of adventure, and sheer thrill itās always brought me, I found myself looking at my own life, and the friends that Iāve been so graciously blessed with.
Though my friends and I donāt fight hordes of Orcs, Uruk-hai, or humans under the white hand of Saruman, I couldnāt help but think of us as The Fellowship. Not the same group of adventurers from the movie, but as a Fellowship that sticks together, and can truly rely on each other, no matter what odds. Even when weāre apart, we are united in this Fellowship. Iāve known all these things for quite some time, but seeing this movie again really opened my eyes to this.
As silly as it may sound, I couldnāt help but compare all my friends to the characters on screen, and I realized something. Near the end of the movie, there is a powerful scene where Frodo chooses to take one of the boats and leave the group amidst a great battle, so that he can carry the ultimate burden of returning the ring, alone. Sam runs through the trees, and steps into the water, yelling after Frodo, who tells him to stay, and that he must go it alone from here on. Sam then begins wading, quickly, into the water. Frodo shouts at him to stay on the bank, screaming āYou canāt swim, Sam!ā
Even though he can barely keep his head above the water, Sam says nothing, and with much determination, continues towards the boat. He eventually flails under the water, before being pulled up by Frodo. āI made a promise, Mr. Frodo! A promise! āDonāt you leave him, Samwise Gamgee!ā - and I donāt mean to. I donāt mean to.ā He says.
Like I said before, I about lost it during this scene. My eyes watered up like faucets, and I warned Leslie out loud āI might cry. I think Iām about to cry,ā but my realization was this; that there is not one friend that I have that I know wouldnāt swim out to the boat for me, and also that I would swim out to the boat for any of my friends. No matter what the cost may be, weād risk it all for each other, and on top of that, weād be determined to do so. Nothing can stop us.
As nerdy and silly as it might sound, I was deeply touched by the scene. I swear, if I had to undertake a task as crazy as ātake this evil ring, that will make you crazy, to a volcano in the middle of a hell-on-earth you canāt even imagine, filled with demon creatures who want to eat you, and a giant spider,ā I quite honestly would choose no one other than the friends I have now, to come with me. I know us, and weāre a Fellowship that carries each other, no matter what.
I just am in awe of my friends. Truthfully, I often am! Iām constantly aware that Iāve been blessed with real, true friends, in the purest form. This blessing, straight from Jesus Christ, is one that I never forget to thank God for, because Iāve had crummy friends before, who truly cheated me. I have great issues with trust because of this, but even so, I can see into each of my friends, and I know that they love me. Itās a great feeling, and I love them so, so dearly.
Proverbs says āIron sharpens iron, as one man sharpens another,ā as well as āWhere there is no guidance, a person falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety.ā
I thank God, greatly, for my friends. Real, true, pure friends. With them, I know I am safe.
Thank you God, for my Fellowship.
To be quite clear, this happened yesterday! We watched The Fellowship of the Ring, and Part 1 of The Two Towers. Tonight we finished Part 2, and watched The Return of the King, in it's entirety!
I can safely say this is my favorite trilogy. Yup, even more than Star Wars, which I also really dig... but nah, this story is just too incredible.
I'm glad I decided to write this, as it'll be a great reminder that I have amazing friends, and that I don't have to be afraid of how amazing The Lord of the Rings is.
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