The War of the Rohirrim

This article contains spoilers for The Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim.The Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim had some truly franchise-defining moments in its 134-minute runtime. This animated film was released in December 2024 as the first anime picture of The Lord of the Ringsafter the release of Ralph Bakshi's animated film The Return of the King in 1980. The War of the Rohirrim film is directed by Ghost in the Shell master Kenji Kamiyama. He brought decades of anime experience to the best fantasy franchise, creating some of the The Lord of the Ring best scenes.

The War of the Rohirrim the photo is the first Lord of the Rings film since 2003 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. This landmark moment faced enormous pressure, especially with The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum set for release in 2026. The film received mixed reviews but a generally positive reception from audiences, with fans commenting on the film's intriguing interpretation of JRR Tolkien's classic story. Based on "The House of Eorl", a story from Appendix A of LOTRthe film is full of scenes that reinvent the classic fantasy world.

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A Southerner is an omen of distant threats

War of the Rohirrim Teases Tolkien's Wider World

One of the most intriguing moments The Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim it was the surprise appearance of a southerner. This mysterious race was one of the Lord of the Rings' types of men most closely associated with warfare, and were also known as Haradrim. The Haradrim, or Southerners, came from Haradan even lower southern location in the LOTR map of what Mordor.

Located just below Mordor, Harad was often under the rule of Sauron. This scenario made the appearance of the southerner in The War of the Rohirrim a tasty piece of long-standing tradition Lord of the Rings fans. The decomposing corpse of a southerner was included near the beginning of the film as an omen of bad things to come. In truth, war was coming to Rohan, while the War of the Ring was just beginning to take shape. This exciting context made this one of the best parts of the War of the Rohirrim.

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A watcher in the water is lurking

The mythical beast got a new look in the Rohirrim war

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim brought back JRR Tolkien's scary Watcher in the Water for life. This high fantasy creature debuted on screen in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring film. Coming out of the Lake of Sirannon, this beast tried to pull Frodo back into the depths. Peter Jackson's iconic portrayal of the beast precipitated Kenji Kamiyama's.

Kamiyama's Watcher in the Water was a far cry from Peter Jackson, bringing all of the anime legend's experience to bear on its design. Ralph Bakshi also included the Watcher in the Water in The Return of the Kingmaking Kamiyama's beast look entirely unique. With what appeared to be trees growing out of his head, This monster nailed the camouflageremembering anime creatures from classics like Pokémon and creating one of the The War of the Rohirrim best scenes.

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Shieldmaidens are back

Éowyn's importance in The Lord of the Rings is recognized

The War of the Rohirrim paid homage to Éowyn in many ways, which resulted in some of the film's best scenes. The Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim centered on Hèra, the unnamed daughter of Helm Hammerhand in "The House of Eorl". THE War of the Rohirrim told the story of the shieldmaidens in one of its opening scenes, mentioning how this ancient tradition has almost disappeared.

This had a strong parallel with The Lord of the Ringsand the tradition of the shieldmaiden was even more unknown. Hèra and her servant, Olwyn, assumed the mantle of the shieldmaidens in War of the Rohirrim. This referred to Éowyn, of course, one of the The Lord of the Rings' strongest women and their most famous shieldmaiden Rohirrim. Lief gazed in wonder at the shieldmaidens' banner as he listened to their story, resurrecting all the awe and majesty of the previous stories in one of the film's best scenes.

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Saruman becomes known in the war of the Rohirrim

Christopher Lee returns to Lord of the Rings

The iconic Christopher Lee returned from the dead for a perfectly timed cameo in The Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim. Lee played Saruman in Peter Jackson Lord of the Rings trilogy, but unfortunately passed away in 2015. THE War of the Rohirrim was able to use archive footage to create the necessary lines, mixing old recordings of Lee's voice. Lee's return to the screen for Saruman was easily one of the best scenes in the film.

Saruman's appearance in the film was a canonical element of the adaptation, as he also appeared at the end of "The House of Eorl" as an omen of his future rule. Saruman was just moving to Isengard at the time of The War of the Rohirrim. Therefore, ending the film with his appearance perfectly foreshadowed his rise to power. Lee's anime avatar even looked like him in this highlight War of the Rohirrim scene.

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Hèra rides to meet Gandalf in the War of the Rohirrim

Gandalf rune means new beginnings

Hèra went out to find Gandalf in a hatched Easter egg, alluding to one of the The Lord of the Rings' best characters. At the end of the film, Hèra was leaving for another adventure, as Hama had predicted with her song at the beginning of the film. However, this time, she met a mysterious figure who never appeared on screen. She carried a letter from him, emotively inscribed with his rune.

Fans of The Hobbit will recognize this rune as the one Gandalf carved on Bilbo Baggins' door in the first Hobbit film. Not long after revealing the rune, The War of the Rohirrim confirmed that this indeed meant the presence of Mithrandir, who was in Middle-earth even at this point in the Third Age. This Tolkien delight made this final scene one of the highlights of War of the Rohirrim.

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Orcs prove that Sauron is already worried about the ring

Two Orcs were voiced by a very special duo

Orcs featured in one of The Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim best scenes. As a surprise Easter egg and reference to The Lord of the Rings, this pair of Orcs was voiced by none other than Billy Boyd and Dominic Monaghan. These actors, of course, played Pippin Took and Merry Brandybuck in the original trilogy. Their chemistry was still undeniable, even as two servants of Sauron.

However, what was most fascinating about the Orc scene in The War of the Rohirrim it was the picture he painted of the wider world. The War of the Ring was already beginning to breweven when the Rohirrim fought the Dunlendings. The film proved this by showing how Sauron was searching for the One Ring while the Rohirrim were engaged in their turf war - one of the Orcs wondered aloud what Sauron wanted with the rings as he kept one in his bag.

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Helm goes into Wraith mode in The Lord of the Rings anime

Helm Hammerhand loses his humanity

Helm Hammerhand went into demon mode in The War of the Rohirrimcreating an anime power-up that was a highlight of the film. Helm Hammerhand was the main character in "The House of Eorl", so his role in The War of the Rohirrim It always had to be huge. The War of the Rohirrim made Hèra the main character, which surprised many fans, as she only received one line in the source material.

The film was wise to make Hèra the protagonist, which allowed Helm, her father, to have an element of mystery. But the film would certainly have been remiss to leave out all of Helm's highlights of the tale. The War of the Rohirrim got that balance right, including the essential scene - Helm going crazy and killing enemies with his bare hands. The anime was the perfect format for this madness, with Helm's eyes whitened to express his descent into savagery.

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Hama faces her fate without fear

Hèra's brother was the film's unsung hero

Hama showed more courage than most characters throughout the entire film when she got off her horse and looked her impending doom in the face. The gentle Hama was one of the best parts of War of the Rohirrimmaking his tragic fate all the more poignant. Hama, like Hèra, was far from the main character in "The House of Eorl", but was given much more plot in the film.

Hèra's brother was more bard than soldier, preferring to play the lute and sing songs rather than secure the strongest horse in the army. The film made it clear that Hama had a slow horseforeshadowing his death. When he was trying to flee from Dunlendings, his companions managed to get away, but his horse slowed to a stop. Hama was calm and gentle, patting the horse on the back as it descended and drew the bow, making this one of the most heroic scenes of all time. War of the Rohirrim.

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Helm dies like a warrior

Helm Hammerhand freezes to death

Helm Hammerhand died a warrior in The Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrimcreating an exciting scene. Helm always had to die heroicallybut it wasn't certain whether the film would show him in all his glory. Helm was a morally gray figure, displaying brutal and overly aggressive behavior. The film could have easily made Helm more villainous, but it respected his legacy through his death scene.

Helm was known in Rohirrim legend, as per "The House of Eorl", for wandering the plains while he and his people were besieged in Helm's Deep. The Dunlendings may have kept the Rohirrim under siege, but Helm was not about to let that stop him from trying to defeat them. While others slept, Helm went out and killed his enemies one by one. Helm died during these final attempts to save his people in the film, freezing to death outside the fortress door.

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Middle Earth appears for the first time in 10 years

The Rohan theme has made a strong return

The Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim made the most of its time on screen to bring back pure nostalgia to viewers right from the start. The film's opening scene may have been the best, despite many incredible moments to come. Howard Shore's Rohan theme boomed triumphantly over the speakers as the scene gracefully rotated over the mountainous plains of Rohan, reminiscent of some of the best fantasy films.

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers introduced Rohan completely, introducing legendary characters such as Gríma Wormtongue, Théoden and Éomer. This soundtrack, incorporated with a new song by Stephen Gallagher, matched perfectly with the film's opening visual. This opening scene of The Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim it was crazily realistic for anime, evoking the beautiful New Zealand landscapes that Jackson's films were known for.