The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim (2024)
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Set 200 years before the events of the main trilogy, the film follows the legendary King Helm Hammerhand and his daughter Héra as they face a devastating war against the Dunlendings.
The story
Set approximately 200 years before the events of the main trilogy, the film follows the legendary Rohan king Helm Hammerhand and his daughter, Héra. When a neighboring Dunlending lord, Freca, attempts to force a marriage between his son and Héra, a tragic accident leads to the death of Freca and sparks a brutal war. Héra, a determined and rebellious woman, must navigate the complexities of her lineage and the escalating conflict. As the Dunlendings, led by the vengeful Wulf, march upon the lands of Rohan, the kingdom faces a desperate struggle to defend its sovereignty and the lives of its people in a high-stakes conflict of honor and survival.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
The story is narrated by Éowyn, who recounts the life of Héra, a shieldmaiden of Rohan. The conflict begins when the Dunlending lord Freca attempts to force a marriage between his son Wulf and Héra. During a confrontation, Helm Hammerhand kills Freca, earning his namesake. Years later, Wulf, now the High Lord of the Dunlendings, seeks revenge. Héra is captured by Wulf's forces and later rescued by her cousin Fréaláf and aunt Olwyn. As Wulf invades Rohan, Helm and Héra lead the defense. Amidst the war, Héra discovers a traitor, Lord Thorne, and later faces a siege at the Hornburg. During the siege, Helm is mortally wounded and dies defending Héra. In the final confrontation, Héra challenges Wulf on a siege tower and defeats him, while Fréaláf uses Helm's horn to scare the Dunlendings into fleeing. The film concludes with Fréaláf becoming the new king and Héra seeking adventure, eventually encountering Gandalf.
- First release year
- 2024
- Runtime (minutes)
- 134
- Production countries
- New Zealand; United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Kenji Kamiyama
- Writers
- Jeffrey Addiss · screenplay; Will Matthews · screenplay; Phoebe Gittins · screenplay; Arty Papageorgiou · screenplay; Jeffrey Addiss · story; Will Matthews · story; Philippa Boyens · story
- Cast and characters
- Brian Cox · Helm; Gaia Wise · Héra; Luke Pasqualino · Wulf; Laurence Ubong Williams · Fréaláf Hildeson; Lorraine Ashbourne · Olwyn; Miranda Otto · Éowyn; Yazdan Qafouri · Hama; Benjamin Wainwright · Haleth
- Genres
- anime; fantasy
- Themes
- honor; revenge; family; resilience; responsibility; power
- Tone and mood
- dark; mature; tragic
- Premise and plot tags
- prequel; war; fantasy; anime
- Source material / true-story basis
- The Lord of the Rings (1954–1955) by J.R.R. Tolkien, specifically the appendices regarding the history of Rohan's rulers.
- Franchise connections
- The Lord of the Rings
- Content notes
- violence
- Reception
- The film received mixed reviews from critics and was noted for its high-quality voice performances and visual style, though some critics found the execution rushed.
- Reported review scores
- Metacritic · score: 54 · scale: 100 · review count: 32; CinemaScore · score: B · scale: A+ to F
- Awards and nominations
- Golden Reel Awards · Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing – Feature Animation · 2024 · Nomination; International Film Music Critics Association Awards · Best Original Score for an Animated Film · 2024 · Nomination
- Production trivia
- The film's production was fast-tracked to ensure New Line Cinema retained the rights to Tolkien's works.; An archival recording of Christopher Lee was used for the voice of Saruman.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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