by Silva Payne

Created on: August 24, 2008

Such a difficult choice, made harder by the fact that the question only refers to the set of 3 films by Peter Jackson, and not the characters as they are in the novels by JRR Tolkien. And yet, there is one character, or perhaps I should say 9, who had the very same effect on me when I saw them on screen as they did when I first tried to read the books as a 9 year old: the Ring Wraiths.

I say I tried to read the books, because I only got as far as when the Dark Riders arrive in Bree. The picture I had in my head of them by that point was simply too scary to let me continue with the story. So I switched to the Hobbit, and to this day that is my favourite book ever. The Lord of the Rings remained on my list of 'books to read' but somehow the thought of the Dark Riders always stopped me. Twenty five years on, I decided I was ready to face my fears, as the temptation of an epic trilogy on film was too great. I certainly was not disappointed!

There are many great characters in the films, each adding a necessary something to the story not given by the others. Aragorn is played wonderfully by Viggo Mortensen, just as intense and devoted as I felt he should be. The elves leave a little to be desired, except Galadriel's consort in the forest who brings just the right amount of scorn into his voice, and Galadriel herself in all her moods is excellently portrayed by Cate Blanchett. In an interesting way, the race of men are played well to show up their inadequacies; their pursuit of selfish ways and their lust for violence is matched only by the Orcs, and yet these are the race that finally won through. Sean Bean, who usually I find only able to play Sean Bean Action-hero, managed to bring out the torment of Boromir at having huge expectations on his shoulders and a festering grudge against Aragorn, and died very well at the end.

However, it was the Dark Riders who, for me, were visually and psychologically the best characters in the films. The little things, such as the frothing mouthed horses, brought out subtly the menace of them. The shroud-like tattered costumes were expected - these could not be polished knights, nor could they be slime-dripping ogres like the Orcs - but it added to their overall ethereal qualities. And the scream when the Hobbits make the Bucklebury Ferry ahead of them: oh my goodness, the sound of nightmares! I did find them slightly less scary when they turn to ghosts once Frodo put on the ring; it was a good interpretation, yet it removed some of the believability for me. It was a reminder that this is a film, not something real. You see, when I was little, we lived 2 villages away from a place called Bucklebury, in a Shire, and if those places were true, then maybe, just maybe....

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