Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings

Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings is the first in a trillogy of films based on the story of the same name by J.R.R. Tolkein.

It stars Elijah Wood as Frodo Baggins. Sir Ian McKellen stars as the wizard Gandalf. Vigo Mortenson plays Aragorn. Orlando Bloom as the elf Legolas, and John Rhys-Davies as the dwarf Gimli. Released in 2001, and directed by Peter Jackson.

Frodo comes into possession of the one ring of power, an ancient treasure that an evil force named Sauron needs to control the world of Middle Earth. Frodo and his companions must make a quest to the volcanic Mt Doom to destroy the ring. Soon the fellowship broken apart and the heroes traveling leads them to impressive adventures and battles

The films of the trilogy where noted for the impressive cinematography, special effects and acting, but also for their great budget and run times. The battle scenes often required hundreds of combatants on field with some impressive weapons and armor costumes created for the forces opposing one another.

The films required the creation of several different fighting styles for the unique races in the films. The job fell to Tony Wolf, who designed nearly eight different methods of combat used in the films. These methods not only involved the strategy of the fighter but their weapon as well. For example, the elves had a very light method with their swords while the orcs where seen to have very little in the way of technique except for their brutality. Various single handed and two handed sword techniques can be seen as well as some other weapons such as axes, spears, and archery.

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