'War Of The Rohirrim' Releases An English And A Japanese Trailer And They're Both Very Different

TV & Film

Aug 25

The Lord Of THe Rings — Image Source: Wallpapers Den

Warner Brothers has released two unique trailers for their upcoming animated feature film, War of the Rohirrim, one for American audiences and one for Japanese audiences. This not the first animated adaption of a Tolkien work relating to Middle-earth. Rankin-Bass produced animated musical adaptations of The Hobbit and The Return of King in 1977 and 1980, respectively. Ralph Bakshi also produced a partial adaptation of The Lord of the Rings in 1978, which was also animated. War of the Rohirrim is set to become the first Middle-earth story to be adapted Japanese anime-style.

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Peter Jackson and his crew who produced the original The Lord of the Rings trilogy in the early 2000s, will be returning as producers for War of the Rohirrim and Kenji Kamiyama (Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex) will be directing the film, which is set 200 years prior to the “War of the Ring,” specifically the events featured in the original trilogy. The events of the film return viewers to the Kingdom of Rohan, first introduced in the second story of the original trilogy, The Lord of the Rings: The Towers, as well as features the Rohirrim, or Riders of Rohan once again.

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The synopsis of the film according to IMDb.com is as follows:

“A sudden attack by Wulf, a clever and ruthless Dunlending lord seeking vengeance for the death of his father, forces Helm Hammerhand, the King of Rohan, and his people to make a daring last stand in the ancient stronghold of the Hornburg.”

Both trailers of the film released so far feature lovely hand-drawn animation that create some very vivid imagery suited to the tale being told, including a very neat transition from live action clips from Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy into the animation of the latest film. The daughter of the King of Rohan, Hera, appears to be the heroine of this tale, much as Eowyn was in the original The Lord of the Rings trilogy, is heavily featured as an active participant in the adventure in both trailers, much in keeping with heroines featured in popular Japanese anime series such as Utena Tenjou (Revolutionary Girl Utena) and Lady Oscar (Rose of Versaille).

The Japanese trailer manages to pack a significantly greater amount of drama than the American trailer in the same amount of runtime, including an extra scene not seen in the American trailer, featuring the mysterious presence of Saruman the White, Gandalf’s traitorous wizarding colleague, originally introduced in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. His role in this tale is unclear, although in The Two Towers, he was discovered to have been manipulating then-King Theoden of Rohan for nefarious purposes.

Actress Miranda Otto is set to return to voice Eowyn from the original Lord of the Rings trilogy, Brian Cox (Succession) will voice King Hammerhand, and Gaia Wise (A Walk in the Woods) will voice the aforementioned heroine, Hera. The film is expected to release theatrically in mid-December of this year both in the US and Japan. Another The Lord of the Rings-spinoff film from Peter Jackson, The Hunt for Gollum, is also expected in 2026. Additionally, the second season of The Lord of the Rings prequel series, The Rings of Power, is expected to premiere August 29th on Amazon Prime Video.

The trailers are both available to view here:

US: