A Lord of the Rings prequel told in anime form that introduces Héra, the daughter of Rohan ruler, Helm Hammerhand! The Two Towers (2002) focused on Rohan, the land of the horse lords, and Eowyn, daughter of Theoden. This film mines the appendix of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Return of the King (1955), specifically Appendix A, Part II, The House of Eorl. “To one of these councils Freca rode witrh many men, and he asked the hand of Helm’s daughter for his son Wulf.” This is similar to the approach of the Amazon Prime show, Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, taking material from the appendixes, in their case, from the Second Age. It is Helm’s daughter, but she is not given a name.
Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim is directed by Kenji Kamiyama who directed and wrote the short, “The Ninth Jedi” (2021) for Star Wars: Visions. It has a story by Phillipa Boyens who also co-wrote the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit films. The other story writers are Jeffrey Addiss and Will Matthews who created and wrote for the show, The Dark Crystal Age of Resistance (2019). Matthews and Addis co-wrote the screenplay that also includes Phoebe Gittins and Arty Papageorgiou, who co-directed and co-wrote The Sorrows (2013). The animation is by Sola Entertainment which also worked on the Blade Runner: Black Lotus series, directed by Kamiyama, that spun out of Blade Runner 2049 (2017).
The movie is 2 hours, 14 minutes long! The last anime released was The Colors Within with a run time of 1 hr, 40 min. so 34 minutes. shorter! It really feels like a six episode OVA and should have been released with three episodes and the rest put on streaming. The film opens with the LoTR theme by Howard Shore who also provided the theme for Rings of Power. The music is by Stephen Gallagher who composed the music for The Sorrows. We see a Middle-Earth map meld into the animation of Rohan, interesting. Two of the Great Eagles flying over the White Mountains. One has brown feathers and the other is white, I assume the female of the pair. There is narration that is by Eowyn (Miranda Otto) who tells of Rohan 200 before the War of the Ring. Two other voices from LoTR are Billy Boyd and Dominic Monaghan! Eowyn adds that there are other tales that were forgotten.
This moves to Héra (Gaia Wise) riding her horse. Wise starred in the bio pic, A Walk in the Woods (2015). Héra has red hair and rides in like Merida in Brave (2012). The character is interesting since there are few women protagonists in LoTR, but her character is wildly inconsistent. Warrior princess hacking down warriors left and right and then helpless at other times. She reaches the top of a cliff and the animation is strange the horse’s hooves look seperate from the rocks, no shadows, it looks odd. Héra takes out a large drumstick and then swings it in a throw that is caught by the white Great Eagle. The drumstick makes me think of the giant chicken, a prehistoric Phorusrhacos, from Mysterious Island (1961). She glides before Héra who reaches out to touch her beak, then flies away. Héra has an unusual way of riding with her hands at the side, not before the saddle, and she says she is the fastest rider.
There is “The King of the Golden Hall” theme as Héra reaches Edoras, capital of Rohan, and rides to the stable. At the stable is her young brother, Hama (Yazdan Qafouri), playing a harp and singing “Hama’s Song.” Qafouri was in the thriller, I Came By (2022). At the other side are black horses with marks on their foreheads. These are the horses of the Dunlendings, this is the tribes that had later allied with Saraman to raid the villages of the Westmark. They are met by Olwyn (Lorraine Ashbourne), Héra’s guardian. Ashbourne had a cameo as a theatre actor in King Kong (2005). We find out later that Olwyn was a former shield maiden and it would have been interesting to see her train Héra. Instead, she has her charge dress for the meeting of the lords. Héra appears in a green dress with gold embroidery.
At the Golden Hall, she also sees her older brother, Haleth (Benjamin Wainwright). Frederick Trenchard was played by Wainwright in the Victorian era drama, Belgravia: The Next Chapter. Héra also meets with her cousin, Fréaláf (Laurence Ubong Williams), who discusses with her about the shield maidens with their banner that still hangs in the hall. Williams starred in the horror film, Gateway (2021). He is the voice of reason who should be on Helm’s council. Lord Thorne (Jude Akuwudike) is also attending the meeting. Akuwudike was in The Little Mermaid (2023). Nervous about announcing the lords is the herald, Lief (Bilal Hasna), he takes part of the adventures, but doesn’t prove himself. Hasna was in the sci fi show, 3 Body Problem.
King Helm (Brian Cox) enters the hall and takes his throne joined by Haleth, Hama, and Héra at this side. Cox is of course known for playing Logan Roy in Succession, but I think he was also memorable for his Agamemnon in Troy (2004). Perfectly cast, Helm, is a powerful, veteran warrior who becomes superhuman in strength. The hall’s doors open and the Dunlending Lord Freca (Shaun Dooley) enters with his son, Wulf (Luke Pasqualino). Dooley starred in the British sitcom, Changing Ends. Freca’s size is mocked by Helm something that was in the Return of the King appendix. Pasqualino starred as D’Artagnan in the British series, The Musketeers. Wulf is a dark prince with a scar on his left eye. Also with them is General Targg (Michael Wildman). The actor made a cameo as a centaur in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007). Targg is more of an advisor than a ruthless military leader.
Freca mentions the rumor of a Gondorian princeling looking to marry Héra. Wulf kneels to propose to Héra, his childhood friend. Helm sees this as a ploy for Freca to take the throne and refuses the proposal. Freca is insulted, but Helm says that they cannot fight within the hall. Then, he mentions that they can take it outside. Fréaláf asks, “Is this wise uncle?”, but his caution is ignored. Everyone heads out to watch the fight while Wulf is left alone with Héra. Like Merida, she is not interested in marriage. In the courtyard, everyone has gathered around the two lords, and Freca taunts Helm saying, “Your daughter is no lady.” He starts to pummel Helm who ends up with a bloody lip. Helm then gives a roundhouse punch that gives him his nickname, One-Punch Man!, no, it’s Hammerhand. Wulf checks on his father. Helm tells Freca to get up and fight, but he has died! Wulf draws his sword and vows revenge. Helm takes him by the throat and Héra wants him spared. Instead, Helm banishes Wulf!
It is seasons later, Héra walks to the outside of Edoras and thinks back to her childhood. In their youth, Héra (Bea Dooley) is dueling with Wulf (Elijah Tamati). They are using swords and Héra accidentally slices Wulf’s eye! Fréaláf, Olwyn, and Lief for some reason, are with Héra when they discover the corpse of a Haradrim, the people seen in Two Towers. A wounded and berserk Mumakil, the giant elephants ridden by the Haradrim, crashes through a forest. Fréaláf trying to attack it and Héra sounds her horn to get its attention. The out of the control beast is like the Boar God in Princess Mononoke (1997). Héra manages to escape it, but General Targg captures her by putting a bag on her head. She is suddenly helpless, doesn’t struggle with the soldiers holding her, this made me think of a blanket put over a bird to calm it. Later, there is a battle with Helm, a siege of Edoras, Héra orders a retreat to the Hornburg, later called Helm’s Deep. This is enough for one movie. Then, the Long Winter, which has some fantastic effects, and another long siege, Orcs, and surprises at the end. War of the Rohirrim is a lengthy anime with some impressive scenes and Héra struggling to save her people!
Four Horns of Helm Hammerhand out of Five!
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