10 Best Times The Lord Of The Rings Appeared In Other Movies
The Lord of the Rings is EVERYWHERE.
When a piece of media finds itself being referenced in other pieces of pop culture, it's a sure sign of its established position in the zeitgeist. It's been over 20 years since the first Lord of the Rings movie hit screens, and during that time the property has seeped into all facets of media, from video games and TV shows, to audio adaptions and stage productions.
The Lord of the Rings has became at least equal to the Star Wars franchise in terms of the zealot-like devotion fans exhibit for it. Frodo and Sam are as loved and recognised as Han and Chewie. Next to Star Wars and Harry Potter, there hasn't been many other movie franchises to receive such devotion and wild enthusiasm from fans.
The love for the trilogy hasn't just been resigned to monthly conventions or underground hobbit appreciation societies. Its popularity has seen it appear in some of the biggest TV shows of the last 20 years, from Family Guy to How I Met Your Mother and South Park. And, countless movies have made references to Peter Jackson's trilogy, sometime subtly and something blatantly.
With that in mind, then, here are the ten best references to The Lord of the Rings that can be found in other feature films.
10. The Interview (2014)
There was a time when a Seth Rogen flick was guaranteed to bring laughs. Together with Judd Apatow, he was one of the leading forces to reinvent the American comedy movie during the 2000s. We were treated to 40 Year Old Virgin , Superbad, Pineapple Express and Knocked Up, all of which displayed Rogen's knack for delivering humorous lines, centring around pop culture and stoner jokes.
The Rogen racehorse started running out of steam during the 2010s, however. We started getting films like The Guilt Trip, Neighbors 2 and the infamous Green Hornet. This Is The End was perhaps the last hurrah for the classic Rogen line-up.
When The Interview was announced, it sounded like it had promise. The premise alone was controversial enough to start an international incident between North Korea and Sony. But, the wild plot - which centred around an assassination attempt of Kim Jong-un - wasn't enough to save a movie filled with derivative and predictable gags.
James Franco was hit or miss, but he did make several humorous references to Lord of the Rings, one of which implied the name "Boromir" was synonymous with betrayal.