When I was just about three years old, my brother told me that a spider the size of a skyscraper named Shelob lived in the spare room of our basement. When we were downstairs playing one time he screamed her name and ran upstairs leaving me to battle her on my own—and that is where my life of being a Lord of the Rings fan began.

I’m sure my parents didn’t let me watch the phenomenal trilogy until I was at least a few years older, but I have since seen them so many times that I don’t even remember my first watch. However, I will always remember my first watch of the award-winning trilogy on the big screen to start off 2026.

I was lucky enough to go to theatres this past January when the series was re-released to celebrate Fellowship of the Ring’s 25^th anniversary. The story I told earlier about Shelob took place less than a year after the release of Return of the King, so evidently, I wasn’t able to see them in theatres back then. Though they have come back in theatres a couple times since, I was never able to make it. Being that these are my second favourite films of all time I made sure I was going this time, and bringing my girlfriend with me (who told me these movies weren’t the best, but spoiler alert; has a different mindset now).

It was a Friday when we sat down in the back corner of the theatre to watch Fellowship of the Ring. This film is arguably my least favourite of the three, which doesn’t say a lot considering all three are perfect masterpieces. However, by the credits it ended up being my favourite experience. Getting to see fantastic scenes such as the Fellowship formation, from the early scenes of The Shire , to Boromir’s sacrifice and everything in between, all on the big screen was jaw dropping. My dad is somebody who has a strong priority on visual and sound - always having the top tier surround sound and newest flat screen. So, when I watched these a million times as a kid I definitely had a satisfying experience, but nothing compares to the theatre experience.

She had told me that in past attempts to watch Lord of the Rings that she had a hard time enjoying them. I thought that was unfathomable, but respected her opinion as I always hated Friends (before she opened my eyes and now it’s one of my favourite sitcoms.) 

Luckily, I could tell within the first ten minutes that she was enjoying these films, which is the magic of the theatre. When you are in a dark room with nothing but the screen—especially when Peter Jackson’s masterclass on filmmaking is playing—it is impossible to not have a good time. So, I was so happy to be relogging this film on Letterboxd with the usual five star rating, with a new five-star rating from her to match.

Once we left the theatre, I was ready to run through a brick wall. It felt like Christmas Eve now that the first film was over and I had my favourite of the three to look forward to. Luckily, we had a showing just past noon so the wait didn’t take long. The Two Towers is my favourite mainly thanks to the battle of Helm’s Deep. Seeing the rainy battle on screen that is filled with sadness and laughter was almost life changing, and this is a scene I have seen more times than I can count. It’s ironic that my favourite of three had to be in the worst screening however. I have to question how people can be on their phones or talking at full volume during a screening of Lord of the Rings of all things. These films are full of pure movie making magic that I can never take my eyes off of. So apart from the phone screens (that people can’t seem to go without nowadays), I had another fantastic experience seeing this on the big screen.

Unfortunately, my girlfriend and I both had a harder wait from The Two Towers to The Return of the King. We both had to work and the clock ticked and ticked as I waited for our 6 pm showing. It was the longest shift I’ve had since I had to work before my opening night screening of Avengers Infinity War. 

Legolas killing an elephant all on his own, Aragorn recruiting an army of ghosts to battle at his side, and Frodo and (the undisputed hero of the story) Sam finally getting to their destination were all scenes flashing through my head as I scanned customer’s items. It wasn’t much longer until I got to see these scenes on the big screen and when the time finally came, it was everything I wanted. Each movie we watched I thought, okay maybe this one is the best of three, and that is a key sign that this trilogy is perfect and timeless. Not only did I feel like this was my first time watching, but getting to see my girlfriend emotionally invest into this film was an experience I’ll never forget. The Return of the King is a once in a lifetime kind of film and it is no mystery to me how it won Best Picture in 2004. 

The whole eleven hours of the extended versions felt like maybe three hours total. Seeing characters I grew up with in a masterly created world in cinemas was something I won’t ever forget, I could almost compare it to seeing a concert. Lord of the Rings, from the score to the locations, to the costume design, to the acting, and to the story is a once-in-a-lifetime experience and, considering I was still growing in my teeth when they were in theatres, I’m happy they still hold up now that I’m older.