Dan Morris: A wizard is never late, but 25 years can fly in the blink of an eye

As I was reminded while combing through the pages of the most recent issue of a well-known movie mag, 2026 marks 25 years since the first installment of Peter Jackson’s epic The Lord of the Rings film trilogy hit our screens.

Back in 2001, as a bright-eyed 14-year-old nerd, I eagerly stomped into my local multiplex to get comfy with The Fellowship of the Ring.

It is no exaggeration to say that watching this incredible flick changed my life, and represented the moment when I first became inspired to become a film critic.

Jackson et al had done the impossible, and finally an adaptation that actually did justice to J.R.R Tolkien’s magnum opus was before us.

Using state-of-the-art SFX technology combined with the utilisation of one of the most talented ensemble casts ever brought together, the New Zealand director brought Tolkien’s Middle-Earth to life in a manner the great author himself could never have imagined. And, in doing so, he instantly put his homeland/the shooting location for the films on the map as the place to breathe the world of this wonderful literary legacy.

I hadn’t read the books before I saw the first film, yet as a die-hard fantasy dork, I knew it’d be right up my street, and, suffice to say, a box set of Tolkien’s three top tomes was the first thing on my Christmas list.

Twenty-five years and countless re-watches later, I remember the first time I delved into the Mines of Moria with Frodo and Co. like it was yesterday – yet, with a jolt this week, I was forcibly reminded that it wasn’t. 

Twenty-five years… For the life of me I can’t fathom where it’s gone. Well, in fact, doing the sums and reflecting on the interim, of course I absolutely can. 

Two degrees, the first of many legal pints, the start of my career and the birth of my daughter are among the many highlights of the last quarter-century.

It just doesn’t feel like it could possibly have been that long since my inaugural trip to Rivendell and my first Ian McKellen impression.

You still shall not pass…

Turning through the pages of the aforementioned magazine, I was intrigued to hear the cast and crew’s reflections on the milestone anniversary, and was unsurprised to read that, in general, it is as surreal for them as it is for me and doubtlessly many other fans.

Looking at photographs of the stars was interesting. Elijah ‘Frodo Baggins’ Wood doesn’t seem to have aged a day, while cheeky chappie fellow hobbit Billy ‘Peregrin Took’ Boyd, reminded me of a fine wine – handsome, but far more distinguished looking than in his Shire days, and now sporting an impressive salt-and-pepper beard.

I took a look in the mirror and reminded myself of the 14-year-old reflection that stared back at me many moons ago. My own beard (also now salt-and-pepper) has replaced the spots, and my hair is no longer mistreated with surfer boy highlights.

The odd ‘smile line’ has crept in, yet like with all of the stars of The Lord of the Rings, the eyes look pretty much the same – and these are the bits that still light up every time I revisit this magnificent bastion of cinema.

Looking back at treasured memories can, indeed, make us feel older – particularly when the passage of time between their creation and the now seems to have been so swift, and in fact it has not been.

However, there is perhaps a very good reason for this: happy memories live outside of time, and visiting them eclipses everything in between.

With it also of course having been 25 years this year since Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone hit the silver screen, I will have to prepare for a similar jolt of reality the next time I sit down to soak up a re-watch of this almost-as-wonderful treat.

And I will do this with the knowledge that, as a ‘good’ friend recently illuminated for me, while when the HP film series came out I would have been the right age to play one of the kids, I am now the right age to play one of the teachers.

Has the casting for the upcoming HBO TV series finished yet? If not, maybe this is worth a thought. If Johnny Flynn can play Lucius Malfoy, I think I’d make a cracking Sirius Black… or at least a half-decent Sirius Salt-And-Pepper. Here’s to getting older, but always remembering the magic. Maybe in another 25 years I can pitch for Gandalf or Dumbledore.

Wingardium leviosa!