
Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings are both successful and intriguing fantasy films that have many similarities and differences. The Harry Potter series is about a world full of wizards, focusing on a boy, Harry Potter, who is also known as “the chosen one”.  Since birth, Harry is the only person who is capable of killing the Dark Lord Voldemort. The Lord of the Rings is about an old ring that was lost for centuries, but has been found by a Hobbit named Frodo Baggins. Since Frodo found the ring, he has to go on a long journey to destroy it by throwing it into the Cracks of Doom, which is the only place it can be destroyed. These franchises are two of the highest grossing in cinematic history. Both films have been nominated for Oscars although Harry Potter did not win any and LofR won 17. 

These films seem like they have an endless amount of similarities including the story line of a young boy who emerges into a hero and who is counted on to defeat the main antagonist and also have characters who play certain roles. Harry and Frodo are both young orphans who grow up living at their uncle’s houses. Harry’s parents were killed by Voldemort when Harry was only a baby. This incident is how Harry received the symbolic scar on his forehead. Frodo’s parents 

died in a boating accident that happened when he was 12. Both of these movies have comparable characters such as Harry and Frodo, Ron and Sam, and also, Voldemort and Sauron. Ron is Harry’s faithful best friend who always has his back. Frodo has Sam who is his best friend in LofR.

Despite the similarities, there are also many differences between Harry Potter and LofR. The characters in Harry Potter are constantly using witchcraft and different spells, back and forth, which the characters learned at Hogwarts. Hogwarts is a fictional school, somewhere located in England, where students are trained to become wizards and acquire magical powers. Although LofR contains a wizard in the series, the main characters use their own skills instead of witchcraft. Another major difference is Harry Potter does not display any Biblical references or analogies because the story’s main point was to show the magic used by these wizards. On the other hand, LofR has numerous Biblical analogies. These two films have a completely different setting. In Harry Potter, the main setting is Hogwarts, in the new world. LofR takes place in the Middle-Earth, which is an imaginary world.

Both of these series of films are obviously extremely popular around not only the United States, but worldwide. These franchises have been very influential to our society and other fantasy films or novels. Harry Potter was a huge deal in England considering almost all of the actors and actresses are British. The LofR trilogy was released in 2001, 2002, and 2003 and grossed nearly three billion dollars worldwide. The LofR changed cinema forever. It made a huge growth in literary movies, such as The Hunger Games, The Chronicles of Narnia, Twilight, etc.   

I really have never thoroughly enjoyed The Lord of the Rings as much as the Harry Potter series because there is never a dull or boring moment during any of the movies. You are constantly on the edge of your seat waiting for whatever will occur next. As a child, my dad and I used to read all of the Harry Potter books and watch all of the movies, which I will never forget because that is the first series, where I have read every single book. J.K. Rowling did an outstanding job in my eyes, creating this magical fantasy of Harry Potter. I have never read the LofR novels, although I know a handful of people who have and really enjoyed them. It is clear that both franchises are outstanding and crowd favorites, but I think overall, the general people have picked The Lord of the Rings as the favorite.  

  