The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim

In an epic cross-cultural collaboration, director Kenji Kamiyama has answered the question “What if The Lord of the Rings were anime?” For the first 17 seconds of this trailer, the orchestral brass play Howard Shore’s resounding Riders of Rohan theme as we see six live action shots of Gandalf and company galloping in Rohan, from The Two Towers.

At 0:19 the melody is passed to solo violin as anime replaces the live action visuals after a slight percussion hit. Miranda Otto (Eowyn in The Lord of the Rings) narrates as we see horse riders lining up for battle. As they charge, we hear war horns and large drums.

At 0:43, at a stunning shot of the exterior of Rohan’s great hall, bathed in starlight, a women’s chorus sings a 3-note modal melody reminiscent of Howard Shore’s compositions such as “The Passing of the Elves.” This mystical melody echoes twice more, at 0:50 and 0:53, while Wulf proposes marriage to Héra and is refused. The women’s singing here helps the audioviewer connect with the perspective of Héra, which clearly has modern-day feminist overtones.

Replacing the women’s chorus, male voices hold a single low note at 0:59 as a confrontation and fist-fight erupts between Héra’s dad (Helm Hammerhand, King of Rohan) and Wulf’s dad (Freca, a Dunlending lord). There is no music during the fight, only the reverberant sounds of fists connecting with their targets.

The fight leaves Freca dead and sets off a revenge story–Wulf vows to kill the King. At 1:18 the orchestra enters, with pulsing minor arpeggios in the upper strings. (The intertitle “This Holiday Season” reminds us that Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings and Hobbit likewise appeared at the festive time of year.) At 1:24 arrows are being shot and are synched to three consecutive beats of the music, functioning to cue us into the ¾ time signature here. In the next bar of music, a war horn sound is integrated in tune with the orchestra. The music swells into an accent, on beat, at 1:28 when we cut to an oliphaunt, rigged for war, crashing through a burning wall.

Choir is added to the mix, with the women singing tense, repeated rhythmic melodies. From 1:30 it is clear that Héra will be an action hero in this story, though she must stand up to patriarchy and a father who at 1:32 tells her she knows nothing of war. The music crashes to a stop at 1:40 as Rohan’s fortress of Hornburg (later known as Helm’s Deep) is breached. Against this background silence Héra is given words of guidance and at 1:44, as she communicates with a giant eagle, large drums cue the orchestra back in.

An epic monster battle begins (Oliphaunt vs. Watcher in the Water) at 1:49 as King Helm’s words to Héra, “My pride, my joy, you could rule the world” are timed perfectly with the music: he clearly has changed his mind about her abilities! At 1:56 powerful solo female voices join the orchestra, and we again hear the horn of battle. We cut to silence at 2:05 for Héra’s turn phrase. As the title card reveals itself at 2:10, over a low drone, the women’s chorus sings the 3-note motif from earlier.

The use of Howard Shore’s original Rohan theme, the subtle use of women’s and men’s chorus, and the synching of sound design, music, voice and visuals, all give a fresh feel to this action trailer, while honouring The Lord of the Rings’ sonic legacy.

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is in theatres beginning December 11th.

— Jack Hui Litster